Job opening: Supervisory Psychologist (Vet Center Director)
Salary: $120 653 - 156 853 per year
Published at: Apr 30 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
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. Program 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
NOTE: Vet Center Directors are multi-disciplinary and can be filled by: Social Worker, Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, Marriage & Family Therapist, and Psychologist. Each discipline is announced separately and applicants must apply to the appropriate announcement for which they are qualified.
The Supervisory Clinical Psychologist/Vet Center Director for Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS) Vet Center in RCS District 2, Southeast, is responsible for the over-all clinical and administrative operation of this Vet Center, located in a community-based, store front setting. The Vet Center provides Veterans and their families with counseling, community outreach, therapy, education and referrals to VA and/or community resources. The counseling and therapeutic services provided by the Vet Center range from routine to complex and include suicide prevention, crisis intervention, short- and long-term treatment with clients exhibiting post-traumatic stress disorder, other psychiatric disorders and/or readjustment problems.
VA Careers - Psychologist: https://youtube.com/embed/77qHlLw9Xck
Psychologist: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-Psychology-Career-Flyer.pdf
Major duties include:
Provides clinical, professional, and administrative supervision to the clinical staff of the Vet Center.
Provides individual supervision and conducts administrative and clinical staff meetings on a regular basis.
Reviews performance standards with staff and evaluates staff performance.
Recruits staff for the Vet Center.
Ensures proper orientation of new staff to Readjustment Counseling Service and Veterans Health Administration.
Assessing the training needs of staff and assisting them in securing training to successfully meet the clinical and administrative demands of their positions.
Ensures the most efficient assignment of staff to meet client needs within allotted resources.
Responsible for planning, implementation, evaluation and improvement of outreach, readjustment counseling and other clinical, therapeutic and treatment services delivered by the Vet Center.
Program development, budget development and fiscal management, personnel management and resource utilization.
Develops, implements, and measures market penetration of Vet Center services through a comprehensive outreach plan for the primary service area. The incumbent frequently is called upon to perform presentations and other public speaking opportunities to educate the Veteran and general public about readjustment needs of Veterans and services offered by the Vet Center program.
Screening/assessment of Veteran clients, treatment planning and goal setting, referral to service providers, development of a resource file, Veteran advocacy, crisis intervention, education/health promotion, coordination of non-institutional and institutional services, and individual/group counseling.
Other duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am to 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive: Not Authorized
Telework: Ad-hoc telework may be available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
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:
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 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. 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. There are no job assignments in VHA that require the skills of a school psychologist; therefore, an applicant with a degree in the specialty area of school psychology is not eligible for appointment. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA, there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).
OR
(2) 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:
(a) The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and, (b) the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
NOTE: The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion
of the re-specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship.
[Psychologists who have successfully completed a re-specialization program as described above and
who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard
are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards.
OR
(3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution,
with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
AND
Internships:
(a) 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
(b) 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
(c) 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
(d) 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.)
OR
(e) Applicants who have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionallyaccredited
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.
NOTE: Psychologists who meet the requirements of this revision and who were employed by the
Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully
met the requirements of this qualification standard.]
Licensure: 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.
Board Certification: Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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. The board certificate must be current and the applicant must
abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education. Loss of Credential: Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required board certification must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment.
Grade Determinations: GS-13
Experience: At least two years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:
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.
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.
References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/103, PART II, APPENDIX G18
Physical Requirements: The physical demands of the work are generally minor. The work is primarily sedentary in climate controlled clinical and administrative settings. Driver's License required.
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:
https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Contacts
- Address Readjustment Counseling Service
120 SE 6th Avenue, Ste. 102
Topeka, KS 66603
US
- Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
- Phone: (844)456-5208
- Email: [email protected]