Psychologist

NOTE: Readjustment Counselors are multi-disciplinary and can be filled by: Social Worker Psychologist Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor and Marriage & Family Therapist. Each discipline is announced separately and applicants must apply to the announcement for which they are qualified.

The incumbent will be responsible for providing the following Vet Center services to eligible individuals. Incumbents must possess the knowledge and experience to independently employ therapeutic modalities of individual family marriage and group intervention to enhance the readjustment of Veterans active duty Service members and their families.

Duties of this position include but are not limited to:

• Intake Screening and Assessment: Will work directly with eligible individuals to establish a therapeutic relationship sufficient for completing all required readjustment counseling intake procedures to include an assessment of risk for self-harm and psychosocial functioning. This information will be used as the foundation for identifying the presenting clinical focus areas and for developing the readjustment counseling service plan.
• Readjustment Counseling Goal Setting and Service Planning: Based on the outcome of the initial assessment will develop and periodically update an individualized readjustment counseling service plan that reflects a course of therapeutic and psychosocial interventions inclusive of outcome measurements. Readjustment counseling service plans are developed in direct interaction with the client and will reflect the clients presenting problems and counseling goals.
• Direct Counseling Service Provision: Will implement the individualized counseling plan through an appropriate course of individual group marriage and/or family readjustment counseling. Throughout the course of readjustment counseling will maintain an effective therapeutic relationship with eligible clients fully guided by professional ethics.
• Risk Assessment and Crisis Intervention: Will apply risk assessment procedures during the initial assessment and periodically throughout the planned course of readjustment counseling as required and appropriate. For individuals identified from intermediate to high risk will work with the individual to develop a safety plan that identifies the precipitating life stressors and safety procedures identified by the client. Throughout this process will provide crisis case family members.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

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 drivers 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the Required Documents section of this announcement.

• 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.

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.

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. 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. Strictly for the purpose of determining eligibility for appointment as a psychologist in VHA there is no distinction between the specialty areas (with the exception of school psychology).

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.

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

• 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;

• VHA facilities that offered full-time one-year pre-doctoral internships prior to PL 96-151 (pre1979) are considered to be acceptable in fulfillment of the internship requirement;

• 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.)

• 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 candidates doctoral program. If the internship experience is not noted on the applicants 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.

• 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.

• 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