Clinical Health Psychologist -Liver Institute F72840-Department of Psychiatry

Mission or Goal of Unit :

Provide Consultation Liaison services in the VCU Health System and teaching to trainees, and Health system medical providers.

Chief Purpose of this position :

The Department of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, in collaboration with the Stravitz-Sanyal Liver Institute, invites applications for a qualified health psychologist to provide clinical services, teaching, and research to our hepatology and metabolic disease programs, as well as other areas of collaborative care.

This program also serves as the training venue for an APA accredited post-doctoral fellowship in clinical health psychology and responsibilities include clinical supervision of advanced psychology trainees.

Position Responsibilities :

1. Clinical

• To evaluate patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease to identify underlying mental health problems eating disorders and to identify mental health-behavioral barriers to engaging in lifestyle interventions
• To provide counseling re mental health disorders identified with a specific focus on enhancing engagement with lifestyle interventions and compliance with therapies
• To provide behavioral strategies to address mental health related pathology and identify those to be referred for psychiatric care
• To evaluate patients with alcohol related liver disorders and identify underlying mental health disorders contributing to the liver disease
• To provide brief alcohol intervention to those with alcohol use disorder
• To work with Addiction programs at VCU to provide alcohol related counseling and behavioral therapies for those with alcohol related liver disease
• To provide a behavioral assessment of patients with severe liver disease where compliance has been problematic
• To participate in the Multidisciplinary care pathway working groups
• Participation in quality improvement in multi-disciplinary care

2. Research

• To perform mental health assessments as needed for specific clinical research projects
• To develop and execute specific behavioral studies in populations with liver disease, although this is not mandatory it is certainly desired
• To work with SSLI staff to build and maintain data related to the clinical work done and outcomes of patients

3. Teaching

• To give occasional lectures to residents and fellows and faculty / staff of the SSLI
• To develop a 3-5 lecture curriculum on the role of behavior and mental health in liver disease to be delivered annually to fellows, faculty and staff
• To train and mentor local, national and international trainees and faculty who come to work and learn at the SSLI
• To work with the SSLI training director to provide rotations to selected fellows in clinic to provide them with hands-on experience in multi-disciplinary care of liver patients
• To train APPs on brief intervention for alcohol

4. Service

• Assist in training within the health psychology postdoctoral fellowship
• Service on appropriate committees of the department, university, and health system
• Provide national and local leadership, advocacy, and public education / public policy guidance related to health behaviors research

A. Required Qualifications :

• Ph.D. or Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from an APA accredited program, advanced training and experience in clinical health psychology, licensed or license eligible in the Commonwealth of Virginia
• Experience in a broad range of behavioral health interventions to include but not limited to transplant, weight loss, primary care, geriatric, cancer, and other settings
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU

B. Preferred Qualifications :

• APA accredited postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology and a h istory of external funding and multidisciplinary collaborations highly desirable
• Demonstrated experience in multidisciplinary research collaborations developing approaches to challenging behavioral problems related to health psychology

A. Application Process :

To apply, please include a diversity statement, letter of interest and CV