Psychology Technician

Full Job Description

This position is located within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), VA Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center (HVAMC), under the Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences Service Line.

This position is aligned in the Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Program under Primary and Transitional Care Services and is located at the North Battlefield Campus.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/21/2026.

Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

For a GS-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-08. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service.

An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials.

If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement.

In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade.

Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment.

Basic Requirement: The following are basic requirements for appointment as a Psychology Technician in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which all applicants must met.

Basic Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a major in an appropriate social or biological science, which included or was supplemented by 12 semester hours in psychology.

(TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) In addition to meeting the basic requirements one of the following minimum requirement criteria must be met to be qualified for this position.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have two (2) year of technical work under the direction of a professional psychologist in a program of professional services, training or research.

NOTE: Candidates for grades GS-9 must have had at least 6 months of experience comparable in difficulty and responsibility to the next lower grade (i.e., GS-08) in the Federal service, or 1 year comparable to the second lower grade (i.e., GS-07) in the Federal service.

Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience that involved the observation of and assistance in the application of techniques relating to behavior, capacities, traits, interests, and activities of either humans or, under laboratory conditions, animals.

Experience may have been gained in connection with a program of research or direct services in psychology that gave a practical understanding of some of the principles, methods, and techniques of psychology needed to assist professional psychologists.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed two (2) full years of graduate study in psychology in an accredited college or university.

NOTE: One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study.

If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement.

Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended.

(TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED: If you do not submit your transcript, your application may not be reviewed.) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Interpersonal Skills Psychology Self Management Technical Competence Technology Application Writing Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week.

Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities.

Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Physical Requirements: The environment involves everyday risks or discomforts that require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting and training rooms, libraries, residences, or commercial vehicles, e.g., use of safe work practices with office equipment, avoidance of trips and falls, observance of fire regulations and traffic signals.

The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Major Duties:

Duties include, but may not be limited to the following: Clinical Support 40% Serves as the first line of care in the assigned clinic.

The incumbent is responsible for conducting outreach efforts, collecting information, and providing assessment and triage to veterans newly referred to PCMHI.

Discusses best disposition options with multidisciplinary team members and coordinates implementation of treatment recommendation. Completes psychiatric and physical diagnostic questionnaires.

Maintains clinical records and documentation, ensuring regulatory compliance and compliance with Good Clinical Practices.

Maintains responsibility for the implementation of the Behavioral Health Laboratory (BHL), working under the guidance of the supervisor or the Team Lead or designee.

This will include monitoring patients in PCMHI, running relevant reports, and maintaining data. Organizes and assists in the scheduling of patient appointments as needed.

Provides psychoeducation to Veterans using standardized individual and group protocols. Provides care management services to Veterans.

This includes coordination with multi­disciplinary team members involved in the patient's care. Supports the LIPs' interventions through methods such as telephone-based support services.

May encourage attention to health focused behaviors and treatment adherence. Completes clinical reminders on patients. Oversees daily activities of the assigned clinic and facilitates the flow of care.

Develops a working knowledge of various treatment modalities delivered by the clinical staff.

Conducts follow-up interviews and ongoing monitoring of patients' symptomatology utilized structured assessment instruments.

This includes gathering information regarding treatment adherence and recognition of emergent needs.

Manages and coordinates referrals to specialty behavioral health services including MH and SA services.

Conducts follow-up with patients referred to other clinics or services to motivate attendance to the appointment or aid in stabilization and management of that patient before their appointment.

Assists with the preparation of workshop and group activities. Assures availability of patient education and other materials related to PCMHI work.

Assists patients in meeting basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing, benefits. Maintains up-to-date contact information about commonly used community resources.

Psychological Assessment 30% Completes structured diagnostic and clinical assessments for Veterans.

Performs psychological, neuropsychological, or psychophysiological tests on Veterans referred for examinations. This includes both administration of instruments as well as scoring of said instruments.

Provides timely summaries of relevant data collected within the assessment.

Demonstrates and uses knowledge of medical terminology and diagnostic categories in the completion of psychological assessments.

Reviews assessments completed by others and obtains missing information from providers, Veterans, and medical records.

May assist in the training of new employees, pre-doctoral psychology interns and other trainees in test administration, scoring and the use of BHL for measurement-based care.

Triage & Clinical Interviewing 30% Independently triages patients, identifying immediate needs.

Assesses for the safety of patients with timely and appropriate hand-off to licensed independent providers, including providing an entry level suicide risk assessment.

Conducts patient interviews to assist in triaging Veterans to appropriate licensed clinical providers on the assigned team. Assists in determining appropriate level of care need for patients.

Refers to a variety of clinical options available in the assigned team or throughout the medical center and local community.

Contacts patients through written correspondence and telephone calls, and conducts follow up interviews. Performs other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Psychology Technician/PD000000