Career Center

Summary

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.

Qualifications

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
• Language: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)
• Licensure: Applicants must 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
• Education: Applicant must 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 applicants are 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
• 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: 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: Applicants must 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 OR 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 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 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
• May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria)
• Grade Determinations: GS-13 Experience: Applicants must have at least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist - with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities: In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Knowledge of - and ability to apply - professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations
• Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health
• Knowledge of clinical research literature Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this vacancy is 13
• Physical Requirements: The work requires the Staff Psychologist to be independently mobile throughout the medical center as needed
• Significant time is spent reading (charts - reports - etc.) - documenting in the computerized patient record - and verbally communicating with patients - colleagues - supervisors and/or community partners
• Some standing - walking - bending - pushing - and lifting (moderately heavy) may be involved
• S/he should be capable of prolonged movement and be physically capable of reading patient records/reports - documenting all clinical encounters in the patient computerized record.

Duties

• NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series
• For more information - refer to Required Documents below
• Our outpatient clinic provides primary care and specialty health services - including mental health care - dentistry and oral surgery - laboratory services - women's health services - and more
• The Psychologist position is assigned professionally to the Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) - Health Psychology Service of the Phoenix VA Health Care System located at the South East CBOC - Staff Sergeant Alexander W
• Conrad Veterans Affairs Health Care Clinic and will function as a full member of the Mental Health Medical Staff
• This position serves the outpatient primary care clinics and works closely with primary care teams
• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major duties include - but are not limited to: Provides a range of clinical services (e.g
• group and individual) - consultation - and functional assessment for Veterans for same-day and time-limited treatment formats
• Provides education to patients - family members - and significant others
• The psychologist will provide time-limited - evidence-based psychotherapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression (CBT-D) and/or insomnia (CBT-I) - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - or Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) - Motivational Interviewing (MI) - and Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression (IPT)
• The psychologist may also be asked to conduct Health Psychology duties including Medical Psychology Consult management - individual therapy for health-related concerns - and pre-surgical evaluations (pre-transplant and bariatric surgery)
• Assists the Psychology Section Chief in the design - development - and implementation of clinical programs
• Provides consultation to PACT teams - professional staff within Phoenix VAMC - and community providers - concerning the behavioral health care needs of the Veteran population - served
• Develops - implements - and documents the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients - including prompt completion of clinical reminders
• Facilitates liaisons with other health care programs in order to effectively coordinate services
• Attends relevant Psychology Section - Service - and MH&BSS meetings and complies with quality review procedures
• Work Schedule: Schedule will be discussed during interview Compressed/Flexible: Authorized at Supervisor's Discretion
• Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized for highly qualified candidates
• Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive
• Contact VISN22HREducationReimbursementTeam@va.gov - the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance
• Learn more Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience
• Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized