This position is assigned to the Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Program, located within the Behavioral Health Lab (BHL) at the Harlingen VA Outpatient Clinic and is that of a highly skilled and experienced Psychology Technician.

Duties

The Psychology Technician is assigned clinical responsibilities that fall primarily in the following areas: administration and scoring of specified psychological tests, assessment of behavioral and mood presentation of patients, case management, facilitating psycho-educational groups, and the training and education of patients and their families in quality of life issues and improved healthy living choices. In the capacity of a psychology technician on an assigned interdisciplinary team, the incumbent will perform direct care, consultative and teaching functions under the supervision of the clinical psychologist on that team and according to principles of cooperative team organization and administration. Direct Care Duties Responsible for the day-to-day administration of the screening and testing program. This will include conducting assessment and evaluation interviews with patients, family, and significant others to obtain pertinent information regarding the patient's history, symptoms, cognitive abilities and willingness to participate in treatment of psychological disorders. Psychological tests may be conducted face-to-face or using various psychological computer software packages. The technician will be able to use the Mental Health Assistant and the Behavioral Health Lab software to assist with the recording of psychological testing material. The incumbent will assist the clinical psychologists with the administration and scoring of selected tests and screening protocols in accordance with defined procedures. Some of these tests or test protocols may have been designed ad hoc to assess particular impairments of the individual patients or to screen for particular sets of symptoms or conditions. The scoring of these unique tests may necessitate the incumbent applying variations or extrapolations of standard scoring practices for specific populations with the guidance of the supervising psychologist. The standard batteries and subtests utilized which the incumbent may be expected to administer and score include, but are not limited to, such tests as: MMPl-11, PAI, BAI, BDI, PHQ-9, and PCL-M. The incumbent will maintain and schedule the administration and operations of the screening and testing program to conform to the policies and procedures of the VATVCBHCS. Test administration and scoring will be in accordance with rigorous standardization requirements. Assess the patient's emotional function, psychosocial stress indicators, and physical adjustments during treatment activities. The incumbent will review and summarize pertinent psychosocial data for clinical psychologists assigned to PCMHI within the VATVCBHCS. The incumbent will provide ongoing assessment and screening of patients as specified in the treatment plans and through the "watchful waiting program." They will also aid in facilitating referrals to case management and follow-up assessment of patients who require referral to more specialized Mental Health Clinics. For example, patients requiring referral to the PTSD Treatment Team may receive follow-up phone calls from the psychology technician until care is started by the new clinic and the technician will track whether or not the patient follows through on the referral. Facilitate counseling, behavioral therapy, and psycho-education group therapies. The incumbent will collaborate with the clinical psychologist to provide programmatic treatment activities and educational presentations for the group(s) and will revise groups and classes as indicated. The psychology technician may facilitate manualized group treatments in these areas under the supervision of the psychologist, for example, in teaching sleep hygiene techniques, behavioral activation skills, communication skills, and healthy behaviors. Programmatic Duties Maintain and operate the computerized psychological assessment program, and will be responsible for scheduling of patient appointments in a manner that ensures compliance with applicable performance measures. The incumbent will be expected to monitor testing supplies, provide nomenclature to and notify their supervisor when it is time to reorder. The incumbent is expected to coordinate the Psychology Service's computerized assessment activities including both those instruments available on the DHCP and any stand-alone software. For example, the incumbent will enter testing data into the Mental Health Assistant and Behavioral Health Lab software. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Psychology Technician (PCMHI)/PD0305A0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Note: This is a Bargaining Unit Position.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/04/2023. You may qualify based on your education as described below: Education: You must have Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a major in an appropriate social or biological science, which included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours in psychology. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Interpersonal Skills Listening Communication Psychological Assessment Clinical Data Collection/Documentation Administration and management Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The position will require light lifting (under 15 pounds), light carrying (under 15 pounds), and use of fingers. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

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.

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]