Staff Psychologist - Primary Care Behavioral Health

Veterans Health Administration • North Little Rock, AR

16h • Onsite

About The Position

This Staff Psychologist position serves the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Mental Health Service and conducts psychological assessments, diagnoses mental disorders, treats mental disorders through a variety of modalities, provides adjunctive interventions for the treatment of medical disorders, and provides behavioral health consultation to providers on medical, mental health, and a variety of other patient care issues.

Requirements

• 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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents).
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• 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.
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
• 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, OR Have a doctoral degree in any area of psychology and, in addition, successfully completed a 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 you were retrained is consistent with the assignment you are am applying for; OR Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally-accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Board Certification: Persons hired to psychology positions in the VHA who completed an internship that was not accredited at the time the program was completed must be 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. The board certificate must be current and the applicant must abide by the certifying body's requirement for continuing education.
• Loss of Credential. Once board certified, psychologist must maintain a full, valid and unrestricted board certification to remain qualified for employment. A psychologist who fails to maintain the required board certification must be removed from the occupation, which may result in termination of employment.
• 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).
• 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.

Nice To Haves

• One and a half years (1.5 years) of experience with PCMHI certification as a CCC or similar experience working on integrated behavioral health teams
• Demonstrated success in teamwork, collaboration, and interpersonal effectiveness especially in busy settings
• Experience and success in PCMHI same-day access and implementation via scrubbing the PCMHI dashboard to generate patient referrals, huddling with PACT teams, creative outreach
• Strong computer and written communication skills
• Experience providing suicide risk assessments and initial treatments
• Commitment to continual growth in culturally competent practice
• Experience in treating behavioral health conditions such as chronic pain, sleep disturbance, diabetes treatment adherence, and tobacco cessation
• Strong background in the provision of brief, individual and group evidence-based therapies (i.e., Motivational Interviewing/Motivational Enhancement Therapy, Behavioral Activation, Mindfulness and Acceptance-based interventions, Problem Solving Therapy, Cognitive­Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain)
• Experience providing tele-mental health services
• Experience and willingness to supervise and train interns and fellows

Responsibilities

• Conducts comprehensive psychological assessments and formulates diagnostic impressions using standardized and clinically appropriate methods
• Delivers evidence-based and evidence-informed psychotherapy for mental health, substance use, behavioral, and psychosocial concerns within granted clinical privileges
• Completes all required clinical documentation and charting in accordance with healthcare system timelines, quality standards, and accreditation requirements
• Provides clinical supervision to unlicensed staff and trainees, guidance and education to assigned staff in psychological service delivery
• Serves as a resource to other professional personnel by offering consultation regarding psychological services and treatment planning
• Offers education to patients, patients' families, professional staff, and trainees on mental health conditions and treatment approaches
• Performs risk assessments for self-harm or harm to others and implements suicide prevention and crisis management procedures
• Functions as a contributing member of multidisciplinary medical and mental health teams in inpatient, outpatient, or specialty care settings
• Participates in performance improvement and quality assurance activities relevant to psychological services and assigned clinical programs
• Abides by the ethical principles addressed by psychology licensing boards
• Supports and/or participates in scientific activity
• May serve on internal and external committees
• May have administrative responsibilities of limited scope and complexity

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• 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)
• After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
• After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .
• Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
• Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree