Psychologist - Readjustment Counseling Services

Summary

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.

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Duties

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

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background / security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• You may be required to pass pre-employment physical examination
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details
  
  

Qualifications

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.

Education

GS-13 Education Requirement (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED): For this position, applicants must:

• 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.
  
  Note: 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-

• 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-

• Have a Doctoral Degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
  
  

-AND-

• Internships:
• 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 (ABPP) 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. [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].
  

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/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or 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.

Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e. intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and / or Disabled Veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator.

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal / VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for Competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position, including all Selective Factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

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.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

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.

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Readjustment Counseling Service

120 SE 6th Avenue, Ste. 102

Topeka, KS 66603

US