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. 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.

Duties

This vacancy will remain open until filled. The first cut-off date is 8/31/2023. Additional applications will be referred as needed. Clinical Responsibilities: The HBPC Psychologist functions as the primary mental health provider of the HBPC team, providing mental health prevention, assessment, treatment, management, and professional consultation services. This individual may also provide coverage in other geriatric or behavioral health care settings, but at least 0.5 FTE must be dedicated to HBPC. Specific duties include: 1. Providing screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all major and secondary psychological and psychiatric disorders (i.e., Axis I and II disorders) with an emphasis on the application of time-limited, evidence-based treatments for common disorders, such as depressive, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and other disorders/conditions associated with chronic illness and/or end-of-life; 2. Assessing and providing treatments for subclinical symptoms of dysphoria and anxiety, adjustment difficulties, such as grief and bereavement, and excessive use or misuse of alcohol or other non-prescribed drugs (for which the patient may have a lower than normal tolerance due to their medical conditions and the potential for negative interactions with prescribed medication); 3. Providing psychological prevention services to patients at significant risk for psychological problems; 4. Providing services to the families of Veterans with dementia and other complicated medical/psychiatric conditions being served by HBPC, when such care is directly related to the overall treatment plan for the Veteran, will allow better care for the Veteran and allow the family to sustain the Veteran in the home environment. For example, family members may be trained to better manage behavioral problems associated with dementia; such training may allow the HBPC team to reduce the use of psychoactive medication as a means of controlling behavioral problems; 5. Providing clinical services through the use of telemental health/telehome technology; 6. Providing screening for cognitive deficits to address specific functional questions or to determine if a referral for a complete neuropsychological evaluation or dementia assessment is needed; 7. Performing capacity/competency assessments when there are questions about a patient's ability to make medical decisions, perform other specific functions, or live independently; 8. Assessing Veteran's understanding of advanced directives and other forms of informed consent and assisting staff in determining how to present treatment options and other such material to patients in a format they can comprehend, understand and make judgments based on the information; 9. Providing individual and group interventions to support patients that are coping with feelings of grief and loss associated with chronic or acute illness, disability and other life transitions; 10. Providing psychoeducational and supportive interventions, in conjunction with the Veteran, for spouses, family members/caregivers, and others that are crucial to managing the Veteran at home; 11. Providing effective interventions with couples or families, when appropriate, to address relationship difficulties, provide support to caregivers of Veterans with dementia or other significant illness/frailty, and/or promote collaboration with the HBPC team for the benefit of the Veteran. At all times, the necessity for and benefit of the intervention for the Veteran should be documented and included as part of the Veteran's treatment plan; 12. Facilitating transition and adjustment to new living situations (e.g., nursing home, assisted living facility, return home from hospital/nursing home), and providing seamless intervention services, as appropriate; 13. Providing behavioral medicine interventions to manage pain, disability, sleep problems and substance use; also to facilitate weight loss, promote smoking/tobacco cessation, and enhance medical compliance; 14. Promoting communication/interactions among medical team members, patients, and their families to facilitate the medical/psychological treatment process; 15. Providing clinical supervision to students, Interns, fellow, and residents. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: Staff Psychologist (Home Based Primary Care) Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: AUTHORIZED for a highly qualified individual. EDRP Authorized: Contact the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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 Requirement - Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. Education Requirement - You 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 applicant is to be employed. OR, have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully completed a 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; and b) the specialty in which you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for; OR, have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship Requirement - You 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. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification). NOTE: 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: Candidates 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. 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. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. 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). Preferred Experience: Full independent licensure as Clinical Psychologist. Experience providing individual psychotherapy for a wide array of diagnoses Experience as a therapist in the VA Experience providing psychological interventions in PCMHI or similar primary Grade Determinations: GS-11 Staff Psychologist (Entry Level): Experience. None beyond the basic requirements. GS-12 Staff Psychologist (Developmental Level): Experience. At least 1 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. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate 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 Staff Psychologist (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. 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. *Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral degree experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties performed. 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 considered to be creditable experience on a year-for-year basis. References: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18 Psychologist Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-11 through GS-13. Physical Requirements: Light Lifting/Carrying (under 15 pounds); use of fingers; Operation of a motor vehicle; have sight and depth perception; mental and emotional stability

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. Failure to provide transcript may result in non-referral of your application if your education cannot be verified.

The doctoral degree must be fully accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) https://accreditation.apa.org/accredited-programs, the Psychological Clinical Science Accreditation System (PCSAS) https://www.pcsas.org/, or the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) https://cpa.ca/accreditation/cpaaccreditedprograms/ at the time the program was completed.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]