Summary

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply.

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Duties

At the full performance level, the Psychologist will be assigned to the Psychology Service which is part of the Mental Health Interdisciplinary Care Community (ICC) of the Syracuse VA Medical Center. The psychologist will be assigned 50% of the time in support of the Palliative Care Service (inpatient and outpatient), 25% within the Community Living Center (CLC), and 25% in SCI/Rehab. He or she has specialized knowledge and expertise in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of general mental health disorders/conditions.

As a part of the CLC, the psychologist facilitates a culture within the CLC to develop a home-like and person-centered environment. The psychologist applies knowledge of successful aging, medical complications in older adults and psychotherapeutic techniques in the assessment and treatment of patients with the goal of assisting patients to partner with the interdisciplinary team in working to diminish, eliminate, or better cope with issues of aging, as well as stabilization of common psychological conditions.

As a part of the Palliative Care team, the psychologist will be required to have training or experience in the areas of basic cognitive assessment and behavioral and cognitive behavioral therapy with understanding of the interaction of health conditions and psychosocial factors and their impact on adjustment in the context of palliative care and end-of-life.

As a member of the SCI/Rehab team, the psychologist is expected to spend most of the day in direct patient contact; work as an integral part of the Inpatient and Outpatient Treatment Teams by providing the full range of diagnostic and psychological assessments, including formal diagnostic, personality, and cognitive testing, as well as semi-structured and structured clinical interviews; participate in Inpatient and Outpatient Treatment Team meetings and consult with the interdisciplinary team on treatment planning, care coordination, and discharge planning. He or she will also provide the full range of therapeutic interventions in the Inpatient and Outpatient milieu including individual, couples, family, and group psychotherapy.

Major duties of the position include but are not limited to:

• Perform evaluations for patient conditions that include depression, anxiety, substance abuse and general emotional and cognitive functioning
• Provide a full range of therapeutic interventions with a strong emphasis on evidence-based models of care in the management of mental illness and behavioral management
• Provide suicide screening and crisis management services to patients using evidence based tools and VA approved templates
• Conduct assessment appropriate to individual patient with attention to on the implications of test results for a veteran's every day, real-world function and successful treatment/management of health problems with an emphasis on behavioral health factors associated with their illness and aspects of aging
• Provide group, individual, and family psychotherapy and counseling to veterans and family members
• Provide psychoeducation to patients and family members to support healthcare adherence and around the aging process, palliative care process/treatment, and spinal cord injury and rehabilitation
• Collaborate with Interdisciplinary clinical teams and participate in regular meetings
• Provide direct services in a range of settings including the inpatient acute care units, hospice designated beds, outpatient clinics, as well as outpatient mental health clinic locations. Care may be provided in face to face settings, as well as using telephone and virtual care technology
• Provide empirically validated treatments (such as Cognitive-Behavioral therapy for Chronic Pain) and relaxation strategies and, as indicated, complementary and alternative Medicine approaches (such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), as well as motivational enhancement interventions, environmental interventions, psycho-educational interventions, and crisis interventions
• Serves as a member of the Psychology Internship Training Committee
• Works with Interdisciplinary Team Members to develop programming, including treatment protocols and care process in the area of telehealth pain management applications
• Implement program design and assists in clinical management of program staff
• Timely completion of all clinical charting and documentation
  
  

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (or as determined by the needs of the service)

Telework: Ad-hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 38136F

EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.Contact vhaedrpprogramsupport@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more

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Requirements

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.
• 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. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must 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).
  
  

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:

• 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 chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3.g, this part.)
• Education: 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.
  
  

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:
• The re-specialization program must be completed in an APA or a CPA accredited doctoral program; and,
• the specialty in which the applicant is retrained must be consistent with the assignment for which the applicant is to be employed.
• Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.

AND

• 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 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.
  
  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: Holds 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.
• 
  
  Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
• 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.
  
  

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).

Grade Determinations:

Creditable Experience:

• Quality of Experience: Experience is only creditable if it is post-doctoral experience as a professional psychologist directly related to the duties to be performed. Qualifying experience must also be at a level comparable to or exceeding professional psychology experience at the next lower level.
• Part-time Experience: Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full- time workweek. For example, a psychologist employed 20 hours per week, or on a half time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.
• Post-Doctoral Degree Fellowships: Postdoctoral fellowships or residencies are training programs in an advanced area of clinical practice. Training as a fellow or resident is creditable experience on a year-for-year basis.
  
  

GS-11 (Entry Level):

Experience: None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-12 (Developmental Level):

Experience: At least one 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. AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

• 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 (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. AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate 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.
  
  

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.



The 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.



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: 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.

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.

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