Psychologist

About the role

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Responsibilities

• Provide a full range of psychological assessment services, ensuring the timely and accurate completion of assessments that demonstrate interpersonal competence and accuracy in rendering mental health diagnoses.
• Deliver comprehensive, evidence-based therapeutic interventions through both in-person and telehealth services.
• Provide therapeutic services through individual therapy, couples/family therapy, and psychoeducational groups.
• Develop treatment plans and set achievable treatment goals in collaboration with the patient. The treatment plan will be completed no later than the end of the patient's third visit for mental health services and updated as required by the Mental Health Integrated Care Community (MH ICC), or more frequently if there is a change in the patient's condition or needs.
• Evaluate service delivery and outcomes by consistently using measurement-based care to guide interventions and treatment.
• Conduct crisis screening and assessment, developing crisis management plans for the appropriate level of care. In the event of a medical or psychiatric emergency, follow the protocol of the Mental Health Clinic at the VA Medical Center.
• Provide consultation to professional staff within the Fargo VA Healthcare System and to community providers regarding patient diagnosis and treatment, as well as the delivery of care.
• Offer formal or informal supervision and/or training for psychology trainees, including students, interns, and residents.
• Ensure that the practice of psychology is consistent with the professional practice standards and ethics of the American Psychological Association and with the established policies and procedures of the Psychology Service, Fargo VA, State Licensing Board, and the Veterans Health Administration.

Requirements

The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Qualifications

• Basic Requirements:
• Doctoral degree in psychology from a graduate program in psychology accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS), or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) at the time the program was completed. The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
• OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a re-specialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the re-specialization program) meeting both of the following conditions:
• (a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program;
• (b) The specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
• OR Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• AND Internship:
• (a) Have successfully completed a professional psychology internship training program that was accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed and that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
• (b) New VHA psychology internship programs that are in the process of applying for APA accreditation are acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement, provided that such programs were sanctioned by the VHA Central Office Program Director for Psychology and the VHA Office of Academic Affiliations at the time that the individual was an intern;
• (c) VHA facilities that offered full-time, one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre-1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement;
• (d) Applicants who completed an internship that was not accredited by APA or CPA at the time the program was completed may be considered eligible for hire only if they are currently board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology in a specialty area that is consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.)
• (e) Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature may fulfill this internship requirement by having the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience in a site specifically acceptable to the candidate's doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicant's official transcript, the applicant must provide a statement from the doctoral program verifying that the equivalent of a one-year supervised internship experience was completed in a site acceptable to the doctoral program.
• Licensure: Hold a full, current, and unrestricted license to practice psychology at the doctoral level in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or the District of Columbia. Exception: Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a "graduate psychologist" at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U.S.C. § 7405 [(c)(2)(B)] for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment.
• English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.