Staff Psychologist

Veterans Health Administration • Columbus, OH

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Staff Psychologist is a key member of the Behavioral Health Integrated Program (BHIP) team, providing outpatient psychological assessment and evidence-based psychotherapy to Veterans with a broad spectrum of diagnoses, including depressive disorders, anxiety- and trauma-related conditions, personality disorders or traits, and serious mental illness (SMI). The psychologist conducts evaluations for Veterans seeking services for mood and anxiety disorders and provides individual and group psychotherapy. The role also includes consultation with medical center staff on patient-care issues and may involve program evaluation or research activities.

The position is primarily sedentary, with some bending, walking, and stooping. The work requires reading printed material and computer screens, distinguishing colors, perceiving depth, and moving safely around the workspace while making appropriate contact with patients and staff. The schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework is available, but this is not a virtual position.

Applicants must meet VA requirements for doctoral-level psychology education, internship training, and licensure, subject to the stated temporary graduate psychologist exception. The vacancy may be filled at GS-11 through GS-13, with GS-13 identified as the full-performance level. The position is permanent, and recruitment or relocation incentives are authorized. Eligible employees may qualify for the Education Debt Reduction Program, subject to program requirements and approval.

Requirements

• Be a U.S. citizen, subject to the stated exception for non-citizen appointments when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
• Demonstrate proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Hold a qualifying doctoral degree in psychology from an APA-, PCSAS-, or CPA-accredited program; alternatively meet one of the stated respecialization or grandfathered doctoral-degree pathways.
• Complete a qualifying professional psychology internship, subject to the listed exceptions.
• Hold a full, current, unrestricted doctoral-level psychology license in a U.S. state, territory, commonwealth, or the District of Columbia; eligible non-licensed applicants may qualify for a supervised temporary graduate psychologist appointment for up to two years.
• For GS-12, have at least one year of professional psychologist experience equivalent to GS-11 and demonstrate the listed knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• For GS-13, have at least two years of professional psychologist experience, including at least one year equivalent to GS-12, and demonstrate the listed knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Meet background and security investigation requirements, complete online onboarding and application documentation, and participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program.
• Serve a one- or two-year trial period, during which continued employment is subject to written certification that it advances the public interest.
• For positions requiring research duties, demonstrate the applicable ability to conduct research or perform research tasks within an established research team.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with evidence-based and/or evidence-informed therapy.
• For GS-12 research duties, ability to conduct research activities such as designing and implementing clinical research projects.
• For GS-13, knowledge of clinical research literature.

Responsibilities

• Conduct psychological assessments, including clinical interviews and objective and projective testing, to diagnose mental health disorders.
• Evaluate Veterans seeking services for mood and anxiety disorders.
• Provide evidence-based psychotherapy to Veterans, including individual and group treatment for mood, anxiety, trauma-related, personality, and serious mental illness conditions.
• Demonstrate competency in at least one evidence-based psychotherapy, such as Cognitive Processing Therapy.
• Consult with medical center staff on a wide variety of patient-care issues.
• May participate in program evaluation and/or research activities.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
• Education Debt Reduction Program student-loan reimbursement may be available, up to $200,000, subject to eligibility, approval, and program terms.
• 37–50 days of annual paid time off, consisting of 13–26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid federal holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 12 months of employment, in connection with a birth, adoption, or foster-care placement.
• Eligible full-time employees may qualify for a childcare subsidy after 60 days of employment, subject to family-income and other program limits.
• Traditional federal pension, with five-year vesting, and federal 401(k) contributions of up to 5%.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term-life, and long-term-care insurance; many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement.
• Telework is available.
• Recruitment or relocation incentives are authorized.

What This Job Offers

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