The incumbent serves as Psychologist on the multidisciplinary team that is located in a community-based Vet Center that provides Veterans, service members, and their family members with community outreach, counseling, therapy, treatment, direct services, and referral to VA and community resources and community education in the effort to address problems, needs, and to make the transition from military to civilian life successful. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/15/2024. Time-in-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements, by the closing date of this announcement. If you have not held a GS grade at any time in the past 52 weeks, this requirement does not apply to you. Basic Requirements Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Services English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR) Degree: Applicants must have fulfilled all of the requirements for a major or equivalent in Psychology for all specializations, except Clinical Psychology and Counseling Psychology. These two specializations have additional educational requirements, as stated below: Clinical Psychology: For positions at grades GS-11 and above, satisfactory completion of all the requirements for the Doctoral Degree (Ph.D. or equivalent) directly related to full professional work in Clinical Psychology is required. Counseling Psychology: For positions at grades GS-9 and above, satisfactory completion of 2 full academic years of graduate study directly related to professional work in Counseling Psychology, or satisfactory completion in an accredited educational institution of all the requirements for a Master's Degree directly related to counseling Psychology is required. Licensure: Applicants must 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. GS-13 Specialized Experience: For this position, you must have two (2) years of post-Doctoral Degree experience as a professional Psychologist directly related to the duties to be performed (VA or Non-VA), with at least one (1) year equivalent the next lower grade, GS-12, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. NOTE: In addition to the basic requirements, a Doctoral Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy or comparable degree in mental health that meets the current VA qualification standard of that profession (License Professional Mental Health Counselor, Social Work, Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, and Psychiatry) may be substituted for the required one (1) year of marriage and family therapy experience in a clinical setting. Specialized experience includes, but is not limited to: Knowledge of community resources, how to make appropriate referrals to community and other governmental agencies for services, and ability to coordinate services Skill in independently conducting psychosocial assessments and treatment interventions for a wide variety of individuals from various socio-economic, cultural, ethnic, educational, and other diversified backgrounds Knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities and treatment procedures (i.e. acute, chronic and traumatic illnesses / injuries, common medications and their effects / side effects, and medical terminology) to formulate a treatment plan Skill in independently implementing different treatment modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups who are experiencing a variety of psychiatric, medical, and social problems to achieve treatment goals Ability to provide consultation services to new Social Workers, Social Work Graduate Students, and other staff about the psychosocial needs of patients and the impact of psychosocial problems on health care and compliance with treatment 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/. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G18, Psychologist Qualification Standard dated February 7, 2018. ["Major Duties Include (But are not limited to): Providing services to eligible individuals who are experiencing a variety of military related psychological and psychosocial problems. Must possess the knowledge and experience to independently implement psychotherapeutic modalities in working with individuals, families, and groups to enhance the readjustment of Veterans, active-duty service members, and their families. Independently conducts readjustment counseling intake procedures, including assessments of risk for self-harm, military history, and military related psychosocial stressors, assesses family readjustment stressors, and documents identified behaviors or symptoms. Formulate, implement, and periodically update individualized readjustment counseling service plans that reflects a course of therapeutic and psychosocial interventions, including the identification of measurable, achievable objectives, treatment goals, and desired outcomes. Provides case management and care coordination, incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment, and makes psychosocial and psychiatric diagnostic inferences, within the clinical scope of practice. Conduct timely assessments of Veterans in crisis to identify immediate needs, evaluate risks, and initiate safety planning, as appropriate. Utilizes community resources to make appropriate referrals to community and / or other government agencies to coordinated services, opportunities, and care to maximize individual's independence, health, and well-being. Establish and maintains a network of community care relationships, internal and external to VA, to coordinate access to readjustment counseling services and to ensure that eligible individuals receive the full spectrum of services to support their readjustment that are outside the scope of readjustment counseling. Will periodically engage in Vet Center outreach activities to promote Vet Center access for eligible individuals, to include establishing and maintaining ongoing education programs for Veterans, service members, community representatives and agencies, students, and staff to facilitate understanding of social work interventions specific to Veteran and military populations. Actively participate in staff meetings designed to promote team building and staff development. Documenting all clinical interactions with eligible individuals and episodes of care coordination on their behalf as required by RCS policy. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; may be required to work some evenings and weekends, based upon the operational needs Compressed / Flexible: May be available, based upon operational needs Telework: May be available, based upon operational needs Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Title / Functional Statement #: Psychologist - Readjustment Counseling Services / 63065A Relocation / Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required"]
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.
