Job opening: Staff Psychologist-Inpatient Mental Health
Salary: $117 313 - 181 348 per year
Published at: Sep 07 2023
Employment Type: Full-time
The Inpatient Mental Health Psychologist will promote the delivery of evidence-based, recovery-oriented psychosocial intervention for behavioral and other psychological problems on the Inpatient Mental Health Unit at the VHA in Long Beach, CA. The clinician will function as a full member of the inpatient interdisciplinary mental health team. May also be assigned collateral duties as needed including providing psychosocial services in the outpatient psychosocial rehabilitation & recovery center.
Duties
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Duties include but are not limited to:
Performs psychological evaluations for individuals with mental health and medical disorders for purposes of diagnostic clarification and treatment planning. These evaluations employ a comprehensive diagnostic interview, review of available records, collateral contact when available, as well as objective and cognitive tests when indicated.
Provides a full range of evidence-based therapeutic interventions on the Inpatient Mental Health Units, including individual and group psychotherapy, and family care or care provider education. Selects and provides the most appropriate psychotherapeutic techniques in providing quality care, including evidenced based, recovery-oriented care for psychosis, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and substance use disorders.
Serves as a full member of the interdisciplinary treatment team for Veterans on the inpatient units, collaborating closely with psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and providers of other disciplines (e.g., pharmacists, occupational therapists).
Leads psychosocial and psychotherapeutic treatment planning for Veterans on the inpatient unit. Guides, informs, and coordinates psychosocial and psychotherapeutic programming made available to each Veteran on the unit.
Ensures safety planning is completed prior to a Veteran's discharge.
Ensures that all clinical work is documented accurately and in a timely fashion, consistent with the facility expectations and policies.
Provides consultation to VA Long Beach Healthcare System staff regarding the care of patients on the mental health inpatient units.
Responsible for identification of patient problems requiring consultation with other interdisciplinary medical center staff and making appropriate referrals.
Provides clinical supervision and instruction for assigned psychology pre-doctoral interns and practicum students. To serve as a primary supervisor for interns, California State licensure is required along with biannual six hours of training in supervision.
Completes all required written training documents including initial training contracts and supervisory evaluation forms.
Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Compressed/Flexible: Not Available
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: Not Available
Functional Statement #: 000000
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not available
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
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:
Citizenship. Citizen of the United States.
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.
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.
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.
Preferred Experience: Experienced in Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program
Grade Determinations:
GS-12 Experience: Applicants must have at least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Assignment. Staff psychologists at this level diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders, and may conduct research. They may be assigned to any program area.
Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations.
Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies.
Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures.
Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties).
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 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. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Assignment. This is the full performance level for staff psychologists. At this level, psychologists are licensed to practice independently in the provision of psychological services, consulting with peers and supervisors as appropriate. They may be assigned to any VHA program and setting, such as inpatient or outpatient medicine, primary care, surgery, mental health, neurology, rehabilitation medicine, geriatrics, Compensation and Pension, Vet Centers, and the VHA National Center for Organization Development. Psychologists diagnose mental disorders, conduct psychological or neuropsychological assessments, treat mental disorders through a variety of modalities, and provide adjunctive interventions for treatment of medical disorders. Among the modalities provided are individual, family, and group psychotherapies and other interventions such as behavioral health and community interventions. Psychologists consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient care issues. Staff psychologists may be involved in program evaluation, teaching, training, and research activities.
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.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-13.
References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18- Psychologist Qualification Standard.
Physical Requirements: Pre-employment physical will be conducted in accordance with VA Handbook 5019.
Education
IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.
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 Long Beach VA Medical Center
5901 East Seventh Street
Long Beach, CA 90822
US
- Name: Heather Sisson
- Phone: 928-445-4860 X6872
- Email: [email protected]
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