STAFF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST 3 (MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES)

Definition

Under direct professional supervision of a clinical psychologist of a higher level in a state institution, community mental health center, or other setting in a state department, has responsibility for supervising programs of psychological services including program development and evaluation, training psychologists and other professionals and nonprofessionals and monitoring their performance, and carrying out psychological programs in accord with professional and administrative standards; representing psychology staff in contacts with other professionals, agencies, and the community, providing direct high level services to residents or inmates, and participating in administrative decision making within the psychology department; does related work as required.

Examples of work

• Supervises the organization, administration, instruction, and direction of the delivery of psychological services including supervising the activities of clinical psychologists of lower grades in the areas of psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy, and research.
• Assists in developing, evaluating, and training for programs of psychological services which are appropriate to the needs of clientele served by the organizational unit.
• Participates in a variety of administrative decision making opportunities within the psychology department.
• May assist in representing psychology staff in an official capacity in contacts with other professionals, agencies, and the community including serving on various committees of the organization unit, serving in a liaison capacity regarding professional matters, testifying in court as an expert witness, and providing orientation concerning matters related to psychology.
• Manages work operations and/or functional programs, and has responsibility for employee evaluations and for effectively recommending the hiring, firing, promoting, demoting, and/or disciplining of employees.
• Participates in and may coordinate, direct, or chair multidisciplinary staff meetings whose function is to create individual prescriptive programs of treatment for all patients and residents.
• Provides and may supervise and train in the administration of quality professional service in the areas of individual and group psychotherapy, behavior modification programs, and psychological consultation.
• Provides and may supervise the administration, scoring, and interpretation of a wide variety of psychodiagnostic instruments including projective techniques to all patients and residents.
• Provides for and instructs staff in the application of crisis intervention techniques in treating clients whose behavior threatens their own safety or the safety of others.
• Interacts with psychiatric residents and encourages therapeutic interaction between other staff members and residents including responsibility for organizing meetings of the units involving both residents and staff, leading group sessions with residents dealing with issues of medication compliance, selfmedication programming, and community reentry concerns, and functioning as a key participant in pos-discharge planning. Assists in developing and providing clinical training programs for members of the psychology staff, psychology interns, and other highly specialized technical information for psychologists but also material that is suited to the needs of other individuals requiring some training related to psychology.
• Actively participates in conferences regarding the placement activities of patients or residents who have been or are about to be admitted or released.
• In connection with community education, interprets the psychological and mental health programs of the Department of Human Services and may make presentations before organizations and groups interested in or concerned about the problems of mental health, developmental disabilities, or corrections.
• Assists in ensuring that the work of psychology staff meets professional and administrative standards and helps prepare staff for inspections by representatives of the administration and accrediting organizations.
• Supervises the training of psychology interns and practicum students.
• Provides supervision in the preparation of clear, technically sound, accurate, and informative psychological, statistical, diagnostic, and other reports containing findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
• Assists in the establishment and maintenance of essential unit records, histories, and files.
• Will be required to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and computerized information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.

Education

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Master's degree in Psychology and completion of one (1) year of supervised full-time clinical internship or of one (1) year of extensively supervised clinical experience. Graduate course training shall have included at least thirty (30) semester hour credits in a psychology program consisting of six (6) semester hour credits in counseling/psychotherapy, and three (3) semester hour credits in each of the following areas: individual intelligence testing, objective and/or projective testing, and abnormal psychology. At least fifteen (15) semester hour credits should be in courses relevant to clinical psychology such as learning theories, human motivation, personality theories, human growth and development, psychopharmacology, and statistics and research.

Experience

Two (2) years of responsible experience in addition to the supervised clinical internship in the field of clinical psychology in a community mental health center, mental hospital, school for the developmentally disabled, or penal, correctional, or juvenile institution, or other setting involving the use of psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy, projective techniques, and other clinical methods.

SPECIAL

License

Appointees will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey only if the operation of a vehicle, rather than employee mobility, is necessary to perform the essential duties of the position.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Knowledge of the discipline of psychology as demonstrated by the attainment of appropriate educational credentials, and approved internship, and professional work experience as specified above, and capable of demonstrating, for purposes of training staff members and serving clients, high quality professional skills in the areas of psychological program development and evaluation, individual and group psychotherapy, behavior modification and therapy, crisis intervention, psychodiagnostic testing, psychological consultation, and research.
• Knowledge of theories and approved practices and procedures of modern clinical research and abnormal psychology including familiarity with the problems involved in administering, scoring, and interpreting varied psychodiagnostic instruments.
• Knowledge of difficulties involved in carrying out a course of individual and group psychotherapy, crisis intervention techniques, and behavior modification techniques.
• Ability to apply to specific cases the rules, regulations, policies, standards, organization, and procedures of the Department of Human Services with particular reference to the administration of various types of psychodiagnostic instruments and the carrying out of various psychotherapeutic techniques.
• Ability to assist in the organizing of assigned administrative, supervisory, and technical field and office work in the areas of psychodiagnostics and/or psychotherapy.
• Ability to assist in developing effective work procedures.
• Ability to assist in providing satisfactory leadership as an administrator-clinician based on the knowledge of the theory and practice of management.
• Ability to assign and instruct clinical psychologists of lower grades in a psychology unit, and to assist in supervising the performance of other professional and nonprofessional employees.
• Ability to assist in supervising psychology trainees during their period of practicum or internship.
• Ability to work effectively with medical staff, custodial staff, superior officers, associates, child and adult patients or inmates, and others interested in or concerned with the work of the unit.
• Ability to keep current with new developments, trends of thought, and literature in the general fields of psychology, mental health, developmental disabilities, corrections, psychotherapy, and psychodiagnostics.
• Ability to assist in preparing accurate and informative case histories, research studies, and statistical and other reports containing findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Ability to assist in drafting detailed correspondence pertaining to technical work of the unit.
• Ability to establish and maintain essential records, studies, and files.
• Ability to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.
• Ability to read, write, speak, understand, or communicate in English sufficiently to perform the duties of this position. American Sign Language or Braille may also be considered as acceptable forms of communication.
• Persons with mental or physical disabilities are eligible as long as they can perform the essential functions of the job after reasonable accommodation is made to their known limitations. If the accommodation cannot be made because it would cause the employer undue hardship, such persons may not be eligible.
• CODES: 24/P24 - RKR/cah 3/19/94

Note

The definition and examples of work for this title are for illustrative purposes only. A particular position using this title may not perform all duties listed in this job specification. Conversely, all duties performed on the job may not be listed.

One (1) year of residency (advanced training beyond internship or extensively supervised clinical experience) is considered equivalent to one (1) year of experience.

Thirty (30) additional semester hour credits beyond the Master's degree in Psychology from an accredited college or university may be substituted for one (1) year of required experience which must be earned subsequent to the supervised full-time clinical internship.

OR

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Doctorate degree in Psychology (Ph.D.) or a Doctorate degree in Education (Ed.D.)in psychology and completion of a one (1) year supervised full-time clinical internship. Graduate course training shall have included a minimum of six (6) semester hour credits in each of the following areas: objective and projective testing, psychotherapeutic techniques and counseling, personality development and learning theory, motivation and psychopathology, and research design and statistical analyses.