Serves as an independently licensed psychotherapist & will spend a minimum of 30 percent of time providing expert specialized high-intensity Evidence-Based Psychotherapy services outlined in VHA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines. Incumbent will be located in outpatient clinics and specialty programs within Behavioral Health service & will be an active member of the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Duties include, but are not limited to: Independently providing specialized evidence-based psychotherapies, included in the VA EBP Training Initiative and VA/DOD, to Veterans enrolled in outpatient Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program teams, the SUD Program or other areas as assigned within behavioral health service. Examples of these services include: For Veterans with PTSD: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (CBCT-PTSD) For Veterans with Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy For Veterans with SUD: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for SUD (CBT-SUD), Contingency Management For Veterans with Co-Morbid Insomnia and Chronic Pain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Insomnia (CBT-I); Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - Chronic Pain (CBT-CP) When providing evidence-based psychotherapies, provides treatments to Veterans and their families consistent with treatment protocols, the VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) and VHA Handbook 1160.05 Conducting full psychosocial diagnostic evaluations using the DSM-V as well as evaluations to aid in the differential diagnosis of complex cases Regularly using valid measurement instruments to monitor treatment progress, guide clinical decision making and guide treatment planning Using shared decision making to arrive at clinical decisions and develop culturally-sensitive treatment plans Utilizing outcome evaluations to further treatment and design system changes based on empirical findings Assisting in leading BHIP huddles, organizing and implementing patient flow plans for BHIP teams and program evaluation Participating in programmatic quality improvement and preparation for The Joint Commission surveys Work Schedule: Fulltime, Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required This is a Bargaining Unit position

Requirements

Qualifications

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 master's degree in social work from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for the master's degree in social work. Licensure: Persons hired or reassigned to social worker positions in the GS-0185 series in VHA must be licensed or certified by a state to independently practice social work at the master's degree level. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). 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). Grade Determinations: GS-12 Senior Social Worker Experience/Education. The candidate must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Senior social workers have experience that demonstrates possession of advanced practice skills and judgment. Senior social workers are experts in their specialized area of practice. Senior social workers may have certification or other post-masters training from a nationally recognized professional organization or university that includes a defined curriculum/course of study and internship or equivalent supervised professional experience in a specialty. Licensure/Certification. Senior social workers must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes. Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. Preferred Experience: At least one year conducting assessment of patients' needs in a health care setting Experience in working with a multidisciplinary treatment team (at least 1 year) At least one year experience in electronic medical record documentation of health and behavioral issues At least one year experience in working with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD Experience in EBP's (evidenced based psychotherapies) References: VA Handbook 5005/120 Part II Appendix G39 Social Worker Qualification Standard GS-0185 Veterans Health Administration September 10, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12. Physical Requirements: heavy lifting (45 pounds and over); heavy carrying (45 pounds and over), reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, both hands required, walking (1 to 2 hours), standing (1 to 2 hours), repeated bending (1 to 2 hours), both legs required, ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously, near vision correctable tat 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, hearing (aid permitted) and emotional and mental stability.

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.

Accreditation Information: The master's degree must be fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy status do not meet this requirement until the School of Social Work is fully accredited. Verification of the degree can be made by going to http://www.cswe.org/Accreditation to verify that the social work degree meets the accreditation standards for a masters of social work.

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

NOTE: If your school was accredited by the Council on Social Work Education at the time of graduation but is no longer listed on the Council on Social Work Education website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

Contacts

• Address Thomas E Creek VA Medical Center 6010 Amarillo Boulevard, West Amarillo, TX 79106 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]