Staff Psychologist - BHIP Therapist

Summary

Full-time clinician in the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program at the Erie West VA Outpatient Clinic, providing recovery-oriented, trauma-informed outpatient mental health care to Veterans. Responsibilities include psychotherapy, psychosocial assessment, crisis intervention, and stabilization within a multidisciplinary team supporting Veterans' resilience and long-term recovery.

Duties

VA Careers - Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9Xck

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major Duties and Responsibilities, include but are not limited to:

• Provide evidence-based, recovery-oriented, strength-based, and trauma-informed mental health care, collaborating with Veterans and their identified Caregivers to determine appropriate clinical interventions.
• Conduct comprehensive psychosocial assessments and develop individualized treatment plans with measurable, attainable goals, incorporating Measurement-Based Care tools.
• Demonstrate knowledge of treatment protocols for a range of psychiatric disorders and competence in evidence-based modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT).
• Maintain general understanding of common psychotropic medications and their effects.
• Accurately use mental health and medical terminology to support effective communication with interdisciplinary team members.
• Complete timely, thorough clinical documentation in the electronic health record and review interdisciplinary notes to ensure coordinated, comprehensive care.
• Perform rapid assessments and develop crisis intervention plans, including determining the need for psychiatric hospitalization or readiness for admission to mental health or substance use residential programs.
• Participate in collaborative clinical discussions and advocate for Veterans' psychosocial and mental health needs, particularly as they relate to treatment engagement and adherence.
• Routinely assess Veterans' mental health status throughout the course of treatment and coordinate with the care team to support appropriate transitions to the least restrictive level of care while maintaining clinical stability.
• Implement timely and effective discharge or transition plans.
• Maintain a general understanding of available Veteran benefits, services, and specialized programs.
• Demonstrate flexibility by assuming additional responsibilities as needed to support the mission of the organization, the outpatient mental health service line, and the Veterans served.
• Engage in ongoing professional development through self-assessment, supervision, and participation in clinical discussions.
• Competence and comfort in providing clinical care both virtually through telehealth and in person are required.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

Compressed/Flexible: Not authorized.

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized.

EDRP Authorized: Position(s) listed under this Open Continuous Announcement (OCA) MAY be eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. Applicants selected for an EDRP-eligible position will be notified in their conditional job offer. The selectee must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit an 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 review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants are ineligible to apply.

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

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 authorizedVirtual: This is not a virtual position.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized.

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

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.
• Education: 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.

OR,

1. 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.
2. Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

AND,

1. Internship: 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,

1. 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,

1. 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,

1. 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,

1. 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. NOTE: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the requirements of this qualification standard.

• Licensure: Holds 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.

Grade Requirements: Creditable Experience:

• Quality of Experience: Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to or exceeding professional psychology experience at the next lower level.

• Part-time Experience: Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full- time workweek. For example, a psychologist employed 20 hours per week, or on a half time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

• Post-Doctoral Degree Fellowships: Postdoctoral fellowships or residencies are training programs in an advanced area of clinical practice. Training as a fellow or resident is creditable experience on a year-for-year basis.

GS-11 (Entry Level) Experience. None beyond the basic requirements

GS-12 (Developmental Level) Experience. At least one year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level.

AND,

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.

2. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.

3. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.

4. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).

5. Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration.

GS-13 (Full Performance Level) Experience: At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level

AND,

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Knowledge of, and ability to apply, professional psychological treatments to the full range of patient populations.

2. Ability to provide professional advice and consultation in areas related to professional psychology and behavioral health.

3. Knowledge of clinical research literature.

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).

Reference: