Senior Psychologist- Service Chief Mental Health

This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment.

This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until June 30th, 2026. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be January 19th, 20205 with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as‑needed basis until positions are filled.

• United States Citizenship. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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.
• 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).
  • 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.
    • NOTE:
      
      The applicant must provide an official transcript and/or certificate documenting the completion of the re‑specialization program, which includes completion of an APA or CPA internship. [Psychologists who have successfully completed a re‑specialization program as described above and who were employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs prior to the implementation of this standard are considered to have fully met the educational requirements of these qualification standards.]
      
      - OR -
  • Have a doctoral degree awarded between 1951 and 1978 from a regionally‑accredited institution, with a dissertation primarily psychological in nature.
• Internships.
  • 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…