Staff Psychologist-Primary Care Mental Health Integration

A recruitment/relocation incentive may be authorized for highly qualified applicants.

VA Careers - Psychologist: Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The Psychologist is a member of the Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) team assigned to provide mental/behavioral health care/psychological services in the Primary Care setting at the St. Cloud VA Health Care System. The psychologist will provide clinical services for patients presenting in Primary Care for a variety issues. The incumbent provides the full range of psychological services as an integral member of the primary care team including assessment individual counseling psychoeducational groups and assisting the team in the clinical management of their patients by providing psychological expertise to the medical staff.

Assessment and Evaluation. Administers scores and interprets psychological assessment instruments. Obtains and evaluates personal educational and vocational histories reviews records of other services for pertinent data and prepares evaluative reports. Incumbent interviews and evaluates patients in order to analyze historical and dynamic factors pertaining to their illness with special concern for factors relating to diagnostic prognostic and treatment variables. Works with patients who present particularly difficult diagnostic prognostic or treatment problems. When assessing or providing patient care the employee considers the age of the patient as it relates to the ability to understand directions to provide objective self-assessment or to respond to any other medical milieu appropriate to the overall treatment plan. This requires the knowledge of psychological characteristics of all age groups.
Individual Psychotherapy. May plan conduct record evaluate and report on individual psychotherapy sessions. Individual psychotherapy refers to the professional process whereby the psychologist assists the patient in working through problems and formulating plans and ideas as distinct from those activities principally concerned with evaluating his/her potential and past history of training/experience. Specifically incumbent assists patients by evaluating their assets and liabilities and in their attempts to understand themselves to achieve better interpersonal relationships and to adapt themselves more effectively to their environments.
Group Psychotherapy. May plan conduct record evaluate and report on group psychotherapy sessions as well as facilitate patient education meetings milieu and ward therapy programs in addition to the professional processes outlined above in paragraph 2. May conduct family therapy sessions.
Consultation. May consult with other psychologists consultants professional staff medical center management or individuals and organizations in the community usually relating to the status of or plans for patients problems or procedures related to the operation of the Mental Health Partners Outpatient Clinic and/or problems referred by other services. May serve persons other than patients such as screening or counseling of personnel when they are referred.
Research. May review professional literature for research planning hypothesis development instrumentation data analysis and scientific reports. May conduct research that is local fact-finding or basic and developmental. May also conduct research that involves direct or indirect service to patients or to the medical center.
Training. May plan and personally participate in station-wide training programs and in the training of psychologists and other personnel. May serve on the Psychology Training Committee. Receives training from staff psychologists and other professional personnel including supervision in-service training and station workshops and seminars.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm Evenings and weekends maybe required
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): May be authorized for highly qualified applicants.
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave 13 days of sick leave 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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-By the time of hire the applicant must:
• (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.
• 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
• (3) Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• Internships-By the time of hire the applicant must: (a) 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
• (b) 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
• (c) 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
• (d) 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.
• OR
• (e) 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.
• Licensure-At the GS 13 level the applicant 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.
• 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.