This position involves clinical and administrative duties that require an understanding of standard and accepted psychological theories and a practical understanding of psychological techniques and practices in the treatment of patients. You will independently provide direct patient care, under supervision, including assessment, psychoeducation, brief counseling, health coaching and other care management protocols.

Duties

Major Duties: Assessment, provision of care management, facilitation or co-facilitation of psycho-educational groups, and training and education of patients and their families. Assesses the patients' emotional functioning, psychosocial stress indicators, and physical adjustment. Facilitates brief counseling and care management that may include behavioral therapy and psycho-educational group therapies. Responsible for the day to day administration of the screening and testing program. Maintain and operate the computerized psychological assessment program. Oversees daily activities of the assigned clinic and facilitates the flow of care. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Psychology Technician/PD675-07087-A and PD675-07074-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Physical Requirements: Physical demands are generally minimal. The work is primarily sedentary although the stress involved in dealing continuously with persons in emotional distress and who may be uncooperative and occasionally violent make the work notably more demanding that most sedentary jobs. The work environment involves everyday risks or discomfort which requires safety precautions typical of hospital, offices, and meeting rooms. There is the occasional risk of physical harm from a violent patient which requires special precaution and training. Special precautions are required regarding infectious diseases through patient contact and airborne organisms (e.g., AIDS and tuberculosis).

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/17/2023. This occupational series has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) which is a minimum qualification requirement. To be considered for the position, you must ensure that the experience is reflected in your resume and/or if applicable, transcripts must be uploaded to support education requirement or substitution.: Experience that involved the observation of and assistance in the application of techniques relating to behavior, capacities, traits, interests, and activities of either humans or, under laboratory conditions, animals. Experience may have been gained in connection with a program of research or direct services in psychology that gave a practical understanding of some of the principles, methods, and techniques of psychology needed to assist professional psychologists. 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. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-8 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-8. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-8: Specialized experience GS-8 is defined as assessing the patient's emotional functioning, psychosocial stress indicators, and physical adjustment; reviewing and summarizing pertinent psychosocial data for clinical psychologists; facilitating brief counseling and care management that may include behavioral therapy and psycho-educational group therapies; 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; assisting the clinical psychologists with the administration and scoring of selected tests and screening protocols in accordance with defined procedures; maintaining and operating the computerized psychological assessment program; overseeing daily activities of the assigned clinic and facilitates the flow of care; assisting in coordinating and implementing technology and training in regards to the use of telehealth across sites of care;OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 1/2 years of graduate level education in Psychology. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended; OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 year (18 semester hours). GS-9: GS-9 Specialized Experience: two (2) years of technical work under the direction of a professional psychologist in a program of professional services, training or research. Specialized Experience is defined as experience that involved the observation of and assistance in the application of techniques relating to behavior, capacities, traits, interests, and activities of either humans or, under laboratory conditions, animals. Experience may have been gained in connection with a program of research or direct services in psychology that gave a practical understanding of some of the principles, methods, and techniques of psychology needed to assist professional psychologists; OR, Education: Two (2) full years of graduate-level study in psychology in an accredited college or university may be substituted for experience and meets in full the requirements at the GS-9 level. 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying one year of full-time study (transcripts required); OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond 1 1/2 years (27 semester hours). You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationsComputer SkillsEducation and TrainingPartneringTechnical Competence *Preferred Experience: Administers and scores psychological screening assessments; Completes clinical documentation per protocol and requirements; Prepares Excel data collection and data analysis to provide timely summaries; Utilizes time management and organizational skills to manage daily workload fluctuations; Understands risk factors and applies protocol for further evaluation; Excellent communication skills to multiple professionals both verbally and in writing; Works effectively with Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Excel and Word; Clinical screening telephone care experience; Experience with VA medical record system; Experience working in the Primary Care Mental health integration model within VA. 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. 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.

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 Orlando VA Medical Center 13800 Veterans Way Orlando, FL 32827 US
• Name: Yvonne Misiak
• Phone: 727-318-8684
• Email: [email protected]