The position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Asheville VA Medical Center, within the Mental Health Service (MHS). The primary purpose of this position involves providing needed psychological and neuropsychological testing and observation for MHS.

Duties

The Psychology Technician confers with licensed psychologists and neuropsychologists to determine what assessment instruments are needed for each patient. The incumbent administers the selected assessment instruments, notifies the Psychologist of any patient safety risks, documents behavioral observations, scores testing responses, and then provides the raw results and behavioral observations to the Psychologist. The incumbent is expected to create a good testing environment for the patient, focusing on rapport building and encouragement of patient motivation. The position requires understanding of psychological theory and techniques as well as professionalism with patients, families, and staff. The incumbent reports directly to the Section Chief. Duties include, but not limited to: Due the nature of work within the assigned service area, the incumbent will have encounters with veteran patients with a variety of complex mental health and medical issues. The incumbent must have prior experience in psychological testing and observation. The incumbent is responsible for the administration and scoring of a wide range of assessment measures, including specifically the following assessment measures: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Instrument Second Edition/Restructured Format/ Third Edition (MMPl-2, MMPI­ RF, MMPl-3), Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), Beck Depression Inventory- Second Edition (BDI- 2), PTSD Checklist (PCL-5), Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - 4th Edition (WAIS-4), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test - Revised (BVMT-R), California Verbal Learning Test - Second Edition (CVLT-2), Trail Making Test - Parts A & B (Trails A and B), Conner's Continuous Performance Test-Second Edition (CPT-2), Grooved Pegboard, and Hand Dynamometer. Additional measures may be learned as part of the position as new tests and procedures are developed. The incumbent prepares materials for testing and maintains an appropriate physical setting to obtain valid assessment results. The incumbent maintains tests, instruments, and supplies in an orderly manner and informs the Psychologist of new testing material needs. The incumbent maintains files and records according to both American Psychological Association record keeping guidelines, in addition to requirements by the Department of Veterans Affairs Records Control Schedule. The incumbent organizes and enters collected patient data into computerized scoring and record-keeping systems and assists with program evaluation tasks as needed. Finally, the incumbent maintains a useful file and record system to preserve raw testing response sheets and other physical data from test administrations. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00AM-4:30PM Telework: Ad-hoc; at discretion of Supervisor Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: May be authorized for highly qualified candidates. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 5/17/2024 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-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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: Individual Occupational Requirements: Specialized Experience (for positions at GS-4 and above) 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 and Training For GS-3: Successful completion of l year of study that included at least 6 semester hours in courses such as psychology, statistics, or other directly related subjects. For GS-4: Successful completion of 2 years of study that included at least 12 semester hours in subjects as shown above for GS-3. For GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or at least 24 semester hours in any combination of subjects as shown above for GS-3. AND Specialized Experience/Education: Experience: Possess one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade in federal service (GS-07). Specialized Experience that with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Examples of Specialized Experience is, but not limited to: Expressing information (for example, ideas or facts) to individuals or groups effectively, taking into account the audience and nature of the information (for example, technical, sensitive, controversial); making clear and convincing oral presentations; listening to others, attending to nonverbal cues, and responding appropriately. Having a knowledge of, and ability to apply, a wide range of professional psychological theories and assessment methods to diverse patient populations. Identifies a need; gathers, organizes, and maintains information; determines its importance and accuracy, and communicates it by a variety of methods. Has the knowledge of the concepts, principles, and theories of human behavior and performance in various contexts, mental processes, or the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders. OR Education: Possess a master's or equivalent graduate degree or two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond two full years of graduate education or a master's degree. Preferred Experience: Experienced in providing psychological and neuropsychological testing and observation. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: -Communication -Psychology Assessment -Manages and Organizes Information -Psychology 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 work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as papers, books, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. 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 Charles George VA Medical Center 1100 Tunnel Road Asheville, NC 28805 US
• Name: Christina Trull
• Phone: 828-318-6521
• Email: [email protected]