Staff Psychologist - Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program

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

• Provides a full range of psycho diagnostic services, including psychological assessment and psychological testing of patients. He/She selects the optimum battery of tests or procedures to gain the appropriate information in each case. He/She oversees the administration and scoring of psychological assessment procedures, interprets and reports the findings of the evaluation in the medical record in a timely fashion, and integrates the findings to inform treatment planning for patients. Psychological assessments comply with the documentation and timeliness standards established by the Medical Center and The Joint Commission.
• Utilizes appropriate therapeutic techniques or combinations of techniques to provide Evidence-Based and Recovery-Oriented treatment to Veterans with complex mental health needs within outpatient and inpatient settings. The incumbent provides the full range of therapeutic interventions, including education, individual and/or family psychotherapy, and group psychotherapy to patients, family members, and significant others, as clinically indicated.
• Affords assistance to the Psychologist Program Manager in the design, development, and implementation of clinical programming, and assists BH leadership in the execution of ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of clinical programming. The incumbent facilitates liaisons with other health care programs in order to effectively coordinate and improve services.
• Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the treatment team, established by the Psychologist and/or Service Line Chief. He/She complies with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients. He/She complies with all Computerized Patient Record System documentation procedures, including timeliness standards for documentation and proper patient check out procedures (e.g., entering diagnostic and procedure codes).
• May perform independent research, based on his/her interest and ability and approval of the Psychologist and Service Line Chief. The incumbent takes responsibility for the ethical preparation and implementation of his or her research program to be approved by an institutional review board (IRB) and review process.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

• Basic Requirements:
• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in both spoken and written English.
• Education: Must possess one of the following:
• Have a 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. For the purpose of meeting this requirement, the term "specialty area" refers to the specific specialty areas recognized by the accrediting body and not to specific job duties that might require special skills. Currently, APA accredits doctoral programs in the specialty areas of clinical psychology, counseling psychology, school psychology, or combinations of two or more of those areas. PCSAS accredits doctoral programs in psychological clinical science. CPA accredits doctoral programs in clinical psychology, counseling psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and school psychology. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).
• OR
• 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:
• The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and
• 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
• Internships
• 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.
• OR
• 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;
• 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;
• OR
• 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.)
• OR
• 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