Staff Psychologist – Primary Care Mental Health Integration

Omaha, Nebraska, Nebraska, 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. 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. 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: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA policy) Education: (1) 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. 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. OR 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. (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature. Internship: (1) 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 (2) 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 (3) 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 (4) 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 (5)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. 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. Exception: Non-licensed applicants who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment as a “graduate psychologist” at the GS-11 or GS-12 grade under the authority of 38 U. S. C. § 7405 [(c)(2)(B)] for a period not to exceed two years from the date of employment on the condition that such a psychologist provide care only under the supervision of a psychologist who is licensed. Failure to obtain licensure during that period is justification for termination of the temporary appointment. English Language Proficiency: Psychologists must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

Grade Determinations: GS-11 Staff Psychologist (Entry Level) Experience: None beyond the basic requirements. GS-12 Staff Psychologist (Developmental Level) Experience: At least 1 year of experience as a professional psychologist equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-11). Psychologists who are not licensed must practice under the supervision of a licensed psychologist but with less intense supervision than at the GS-11 grade level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Knowledge of and ability to apply a wide range of professional psychological treatments or assessment methods to a variety of patient populations. Ability to design and implement effective treatment strategies. Ability to incorporate new clinical procedures. Ability to conduct research activities, such as designing and implementing clinical research projects (staff psychologists with specified research job duties). Ability to perform basic research tasks of scholarship and research execution within the context of an established research team, including research participant relations, research documentation, data acquisition, maintenance, and collaboration. GS-13 Staff Psychologist (Full Performance Level) Experience: At least 2 years of experience as a professional psychologist, with at least one year equivalent to the GS-12 level. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 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. All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package. We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience in your resume may result in disqualification. It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA in your application package. References: VA handbook 5005 Part II appendix G18The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-11 to GS-13. [“**This is an OPEN CONTINOUS ANNOUNCEMENT. We are accepting applications on an ongoing basis; applicants will be reviewed on a weekly basis, as long as vacancies exist** A recruitment/relocation incentive has been approved for highly qualified candidates.

This Full Time Permanent Psychologist is located in the Mental Health Service Line at the Omaha VA. This Psychologist is actively involved in providing behavioral health interventions in Primary Care Clinics in the Medical Center and is physically co-located in the Primary Care clinic. Major duties include, but are not limited to the following: Primary Care Mental Health Integration Clinic (85%) Provides focused clinical interviews and psycho-diagnostic assessments, including symptom report measures and neurocognitive screening instruments, to assist in developing appropriate treatment plans for implementation of evidence-based behavioral health interventions in providing quality care to Veterans with a range of mental health and neurocognitive issues. Provides a full range of evidence-based therapeutic interventions including individual and couple interventions for patients with a wide range of behavioral health concerns commonly encountered in the Primary Care setting, including but not limited to: ineffective management of chronic health conditions, chronic pain, bereavement, insomnia, habit control, substance misuse, sexual dysfunction, anger dysregulation, mild to moderate depression, adjustment reactions and phase of life issues, mild to moderate anxiety disorders or trauma related disorders, and cognitive disorders such as early or mild cognitive impairment. Facilitates Veterans’ timely referral to specialty mental health or substance abuse treatment as appropriate. Provides informal consultative services with Primary Care providers to address questions about how to approach Veterans with mental health concerns and how to direct their care to appropriate specialty services as appropriate. Is involved in program evaluation and quality assurance activities; monitors information from and participates as much as possible in monthly national conference calls on subjects relevant to the integration of mental health into primary care settings. Provides training and potentially oversight, with appropriate supervision from a Licensed Psychologist, of predoctoral Psychology interns in the Mental Health in Primary Care training rotation, as well as practicum extern students, as required. Provides administrative duties in support of clinical service provision including: Prompt, professional communication, either directly or through the medical record with primary care providers who refer patients to the primary care Psychologist. Returning Veteran’s phone calls Responsible for timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation required by the medical center of healthcare system, as appropriate.

Other Therapy, Psychological Evaluations and Consultative Services (10%) Provides a full range of psycho-diagnostic services for Veterans with a range of mental disorders, including assessment and use of the most appropriate evidence-based psychotherapeutic modalities in providing quality care. Provides clinical, psychodiagnostic interviews and neurocognitive screening assessments for Veterans in various settings as requested. Serves as a consultant to other medical staff treatment teams and trainees and assists in their formulation of the psychological characteristics and appropriate treatment expectations regarding their patients; may participate in team conferences to review results of comprehensive psychological examinations and participate in feedback sessions with Veterans and family members per request of Primary Care providers or other treatment teams. Conducts and/or facilitates program evaluation and/or research activities as needed for the NWIHCS Mental Health Service Line and Omaha VA Mental Health Clinic. Academic, Teaching, Training, Research (5%) Serves on the NWI Psychology Internship Faculty and provide rotation specific supervision to Doctoral Interns in Psychology. Provides educational presentations for trainees and colleagues of various disciplines. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Approved for highly qualified candidates. EDRP Authorized: Contact VHAVISN23EDRP@va. gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance Financial Disclosure Report: Not required”]

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