Staff Psychologist

Summary

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.

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Duties

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This position is approved for the Education Debt Reduction Program (ERDP) which will pay up to $200,000 in qualifying student loans over a term of five years!

Staff Psychologists provide direct care to veterans and occasionally marriage/couple intervention; consultation for difficult/complex cases; staff education and intern/post-doctoral fellow supervision. In some situations, they may have research or teaching obligations, collateral supervisory responsibilities, or limited administrative/managerial duties.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provision of a full range of psychological assessment services along with diagnoses of mental disorders, for veterans referred to or enrolled in the Mental Health Clinic
• Provision of education to patients, family members, and significant others regarding assessment processes, VA services, treatment options, or other issues impacting the veteran or family
• Comprehensive, evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions, including individual, family, and/or group psychotherapy within the Mental Health Clinic, CBOC or inpatient setting as warranted
• Consultation with other professional staff within the Wilkes-Barre VAMC, its CBOC's and/or community providers, regarding clinical assessment findings and appropriate treatment plans for patients assigned to various mental health related programs
• Development, implementation, and documentation of the psychotherapeutic treatment plan for an assigned caseload of patients within Mental Health/Behavioral Medicine Services (MH/BS), including prompt completion of a variety of clinical reminders
• Functioning independently as a member of the WBVAMC Medical Staff, with full clinical privileges, assuming complete professional responsibility for his/her clinical assessment findings, patient care decisions, and documentation
• Assisting the Chief of Psychology and Chief of Mental Health and Behavioral Medicine in the design, development, and implementation of clinical programs for a team of treatment providers
• Adheres to operational policies and procedures for the treatment team, established by the Mental Health and Behavioral Service and the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center
• Assist the Chief of Psychology and Chief of Mental Health and Behavioral Medicine in the execution of ongoing program evaluation and data-driven quality improvement projects to monitor the effectiveness of the clinical program
• Facilitating liaisons with other healthcare programs in order to effectively coordinate services
• Complying with national and local performance measures, including timely health care screening and completion of clinical reminders for all patients
• Providing clinical supervision and instruction for students and/or residents assigned to the Mental Health Clinic rotation
• Participation in student/resident/staff training program, including facilitating or presenting in venues such as case conferences and training seminars; may be assigned to present on mental health issues to Clinical Staff Grand Rounds or other internal medical center educational activities
• Other related duties as assigned

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8am to 430pm

Compressed/Flexible: Not Available

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Learn more

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year). Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position

Functional Statement #: 693-05814-F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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.
• Language: Applicants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.
• Education Requirement: You must possess one of the following:
  • 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. NOTE: The specialty area of the degree must be consistent with the assignment for which an applicant is to be employed.
  • OR
  • A doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully complete a respecialization program (including documentation of an approved internship completed as part of the respecialization program) meeting both of the following conditions: (a) the respecialization program 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
  • OR
  • A doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
  • AND
  • An Internship:
  • 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. (NOTE: Once board certified, the employee is required to maintain board certification.)
  • 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.
• Licensure: You must possess 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

Grade Determinations GS-13:

• Specialized Experience: You must possess at least two years of experience as a professional psychologist with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 grade level.
• GS-13 Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: In addition to the criteria listed above, you 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.

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).

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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: 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:

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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