VA Mental Health Provider Venting / Problem-solving / Peer Support Thread

[Shiori]

My therapeutic (and life) approach is CBT/ACT and my stance in these cases has been to "drop the rope." I regularly struggle with not picking the rope back up, but sometimes all I can do is be an empathetic ear while someone makes the decision to stay where they are for now.

If it feels any better, I often have clients tell me about fabulous work they did with their previous therapists, but they weren't ready to do the work then. In other words, plant seeds.

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[summerbabe]

But this just feels like it's been falling flat with a few patients and I'm feeling a bit stuck, particularly with some of my older male veterans, even those who seem like they are actually putting in the work.

You're doing exactly what I would do in this case.

Sometimes I give permission to remind myself that there are very much limits to psychotherapy and that it's OK if we can't make as much of a difference as we'd like, especially for folks who are really struggling.

I have one veteran who needs more money, which would likely help with some of his mental health struggles.

Maybe in some of these cases, our empathy, encouragement, support, problem solving (if our patient wants to) or venting that we offer (if our patient wants to) is the best thing that we can offer versus an intervention.

And if they can get some traction or some things change for the better with their life circumstances, then our standard interventions which we're good at will be able to take root.

 

[Sanman]

Almost all of my work is within the health psych and geropsych world. Majority of my patients are coping with health consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle and aging (I guess that's just sort of the VA population, eh?). A lot of my patients right now are just experiencing one medical issue after another - to the point where they really can't catch a break. For example, I have one patient who needs chemo for the rest of his life, just had eye surgery, but now needs more intensive eye surgery because the VA messed something up and he can't see out of his eye anymore, and just found out that he may need heart surgery. His low mood mostly stems from this sort of endless "sick person" role, the accompanying functional limitations, and anxiety about "what's going to happen next?" My typical approach has been mostly CBT/ACT-based, modified values-based behavioral activation, exploring how this impacts their life, what they'd be doing differently if they weren't sick/coming to the VA for appointments all the time, bolstering coping skills and support network, and focusing on what is within their control. But this just feels like it's been falling flat with a few patients and I'm feeling a bit stuck, particularly with some of my older male veterans, even those who seem like they are actually putting in the work. Wanted to just see what's been successful for you all.

Your technical approach seems sound and mirrors a lot of what I do with this population. The question here, I think, is more one about goals of care and case conceptualization. What exactly is the problem? Yes, they are aging and getting sick. This is inevitable and never easy. You can't fix this. You can engage them in work in certain areas:

1. Gaining acceptance of their situation
2. Locus of control: This is not happening to them, it is their life and they can be an active participant in their health choices. Have they had a discussion with their physician regarding goals of care? Do they have a MOLST form or taken any other steps to prepare for possible outcomes (healthcare proxy/power of attorney)? Do they want surgery? Do they want a palliative approach to care? Having these conversations with family and their physicians can certainly be important goals for treatment and feeling a sense of control over their health and their life
3. Concrete, problem-solving issues such as help at home or transportation to medical appts. Usually helping them engage a social worker can be part of the plan.
4. Life review, connecting with family ,etc.

So, what is goal for the individuals you are struggling with? Do you need to revisit the goals in your sessions if they are struggling or have finished with one set of goals?

 

[cara susanna]

I do more of an acceptance-based approach, with focus on values and what they can do to make their lives more worth living as opposed to symptom improvement. Also letting go of control.

 

[cara susanna]

It definitely feels problematic. I'm an ECP and have limited exposure to other systems so I didn't even realize what is happening here may be out of step with the model.

I should look into (maybe just to torture myself) how BHIPs are supposed to be implemented. I sort of thought they were supposed to be the MH analog of the PACT but at least at our VA it's basically like a ****ty group private practice where the disciplines are basically saving on overhead by working in the same space but don't really collaborate. But unlike in private practice where at least you have some say over your cases it has the flavor of ****ty community mental health where you get as many cases as possible no matter the fit and you can't ever get rid of them.

I keep hearing we're supposed to get social workers whose whole job is doing MHTC stuff but I'll believe it when I see it.

Quick update: the new PTSD directive specifies that PCTs cannot restrict referrals based on trauma type

 

[butteredtoast27]

Wow. Thanks for the heads up on this option/program.

The fact that I have to hear about this from an anonymous colleague on an internet message board (rather than from a supervisor or one of the many 'Innovation Champions/Czars' at my own) VA speaks volumes.

This is the first I've ever heard of CPRSBooster

It's almost like the powers that be seeking to preserve "the VA way" don't want us to be more efficient? 🤣 I only heard about it from a colleague who tried using it on her own out of curiosity. The dot phrases are life-changing.

 

[JustNoticing]

It's almost like the powers that be seeking to preserve "the VA way" don't want us to be more efficient? 🤣 I only heard about it from a colleague who tried using it on her own out of curiosity. The dot phrases are life-changing.

okay I'll bite, what is CPRS booster, and where can I find it?

 

[psycho1391]

okay I'll bite, what is CPRS booster, and where can I find it?

It should be under your GoldStar apps

This is the guide I've used https://sites.duke.edu/nephfellow/files/2022/03/CPRS-Tips-Tricks-from-Residency-Program.pdf

 

[butteredtoast27]

okay I'll bite, what is CPRS booster, and where can I find it?

It's an add-on to CPRS that allows you to create dot phrases (similar to in Epic) and automate certain functions. For example, you can program it to automatically put in your access code to sign a note and reduce the number of clicking and keystrokes. At my site it's available when I double-click on GoldStar, then select the "Shortcuts" folder. It's titled "CPRS Booster" and has a spaceship icon.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

It's an add-on to CPRS that allows you to create dot phrases (similar to in Epic) and automate certain functions. For example, you can program it to automatically put in your access code to sign a note and reduce the number of clicking and keystrokes. At my site it's available when I double-click on GoldStar, then select the "Shortcuts" folder. It's titled "CPRS Booster" and has a spaceship icon.

IMO, most VAs could probably sacrifice a dozen or so different champion-oriented team meetings in favor of something like a CPRS Booster intro class and a specialty-specific CPT code orientation session.

Added bonus: if it makes CPRS easier to use, it would probably count as both self-care and burnout reduction.

 

[Shiori]

My job is so much easier now that I CPRS booster is how I want it. I also use OneNote constantly. I have pages for everything. I have the main number for the hospital on its own page, my extension, the clinic extension, all my clinic names, etc. I keep it all separate so I don't have to go digging around for information. I get pulled in so many directions all day, sometimes my ability to recall mundane information is shot. It takes time to set up, but it makes life so much easier in a system that has so many fiddly details to keep up with. It helps that I have 3 screens open. OneNote, a booster CPRS, and miscellaneous (VSE, VVC appointments, SharePoint, etc).

 

[butteredtoast27]

My job is so much easier now that I CPRS booster is how I want it. I also use OneNote constantly. I have pages for everything. I have the main number for the hospital on its own page, my extension, the clinic extension, all my clinic names, etc. I keep it all separate so I don't have to go digging around for information. I get pulled in so many directions all day, sometimes my ability to recall mundane information is shot. It takes time to set up, but it makes life so much easier in a system that has so many fiddly details to keep up with. It helps that I have 3 screens open. OneNote, a booster CPRS, and miscellaneous (VSE, VVC appointments, SharePoint, etc).

Your setup sounds just like mine! All about working smarter, not harder 😉

 

[SikeThatsTheWrongNumber]

My job is so much easier now that I CPRS booster is how I want it. I also use OneNote constantly. I have pages for everything. I have the main number for the hospital on its own page, my extension, the clinic extension, all my clinic names, etc. I keep it all separate so I don't have to go digging around for information. I get pulled in so many directions all day, sometimes my ability to recall mundane information is shot. It takes time to set up, but it makes life so much easier in a system that has so many fiddly details to keep up with. It helps that I have 3 screens open. OneNote, a booster CPRS, and miscellaneous (VSE, VVC appointments, SharePoint, etc).

I saved the VA MH coding guidelines OneNote journal for quick reference. Makes my CPT coding decisions so fast and informed.

 

[Sanman]

I saved the VA MH coding guidelines OneNote journal for quick reference. Makes my CPT coding decisions so fast and informed.

Got a link to that?

 

[SikeThatsTheWrongNumber]

Got a link to that?

It’s an internal VA website. The quickest way to find it is to search for the OMHSP SharePoint site. Then navigate to coding resources. There should be a link to the OneNote guide. Once downloaded, you should be all set.

I can try to send a link when I return to office.

 

[Shiori]

One of my work hobbies is digging around in the different SharePoints. There is some wild stuff. I read through ELT meeting notes, technological proposals, the origin stories of some our favorite platforms like BHL Touch vs MH Checkup vs EScreening, etc. There was a national Q&A for bookability and you can read the very strong feelings of providers across disciplines.

If you're curious about the rationale for something, you can usually find the answer with enough digging. If someone in leadership gives me an answer that doesn't make sense, I can go find some poor soul who has made a PowerPoint slide deck for it with references.

If you're in the mood for extra dry reading, there is a VA policy search engine so you can explore all the different levels of policy by your keyword of interest.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

One of my work hobbies is digging around in the different SharePoints. There is some wild stuff. I read through ELT meeting notes, technological proposals, the origin stories of some our favorite platforms like BHL Touch vs MH Checkup vs EScreening, etc. There was a national Q&A for bookability and you can read the very strong feelings of providers across disciplines.

If you're curious about the rationale for something, you can usually find the answer with enough digging. If someone in leadership gives me an answer that doesn't make sense, I can go find some poor soul who has made a PowerPoint slide deck for it with references.

If you're in the mood for extra dry reading, there is a VA policy search engine so you can explore all the different levels of policy by your keyword of interest.

Just out of curiosity, did you run across anything addressing the theoretical ideal percentage of provider slots that we should be aiming to have 'booked up' vs' 'free (to schedule new patients)' into?

 

[Shiori]

Unfortunately, no. This sounds like it'll vary widely site to site and probably even clinic to clinic in some places. National gives such broad guidance on what they want, VISNs try to make sense of it, and pass it along to the local sites. The attitude of our site has adopted is we fully embraced bookability and can't put the responsibility of clinicians to sort all that out. We have a data analyst who looks at who is full and who still has room for more clients. Then consults get assigned accordingly. We strive to keep our long-term folks to a minimum, but some are just high need. The VA didn't provide a good mechanism to address that, so here we are. We're also prioritizing "the dose of care" over access at this point and sending folks to community. It's not ideal, but the solution isn't on the clinician or even really the program manager. It's on leadership to fully staff and expand if we're not meeting demand. It's on higher leadership to know what is feasible. We all try to act our pay grade.

 

[cara susanna]

We actually can't use bookability right now (the data isn't accurate due to how our VVC grids work), so we're only using RVUs. Sucks.

 

[psycho1391]

One of my work hobbies is digging around in the different SharePoints

I do this too and have found some really helpful stuff!

 

[deleted1038433]

Some jokes about our joke of a work environment. Or dark and depressing facts, choose your own adventure and whatnot:

What it is like being a VA psychologist: The emotional equivalent of being held down and raped day in and day out. Ask me how I know.

Continuity of care in VA therapy: Squeezing 100 plus patients into about 20 "weekly" slots until they get burned out or you do by the poor standard of treatment.

Purpose in VA: Showing up for a paycheck for patients who are also coming in to maintain their income.

What do VA psychologists daydream about?: Mostly resigning.

 

[WisNeuro]

Some jokes about our joke of a work environment. Or dark and depressing facts, choose your own adventure and whatnot:

What it is like being a VA psychologist: The emotional equivalent of being held down and raped day in and day out. Ask me how I know.

Continuity of care in VA therapy: Squeezing 100 plus patients into about 20 "weekly" slots until they get burned out or you do by the poor standard of treatment.

Purpose in VA: Showing up for a paycheck for patients who are also coming in to maintain their income.

What do VA psychologists daydream about?: Mostly resigning.

That uh....got dark rather quickly.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

Some jokes about our joke of a work environment. Or dark and depressing facts, choose your own adventure and whatnot:

What it is like being a VA psychologist: The emotional equivalent of being held down and raped day in and day out. Ask me how I know.

Continuity of care in VA therapy: Squeezing 100 plus patients into about 20 "weekly" slots until they get burned out or you do by the poor standard of treatment.

Purpose in VA: Showing up for a paycheck for patients who are also coming in to maintain their income.

What do VA psychologists daydream about?: Mostly resigning.

Sounds like a rough day at the office

 

[deleted1038433]

Sounds like a rough day at the office

I don't have good work days in VA. It is a spectrum of abusive to bad. I hear it is marginally better in specialty clinics and PCMHI. The average outpatient therapist in general mental health/BHIP doing the clinical work and not selling out their time to admin roles to cope is struggling. Check on your colleagues y'all. We're not okay.

 

[PsyDr]

I know the military gives some form of half @$$ IQ test. Is there any personality components to that test?

It can’t just be, “Are you interested in a career in violence?! Here’s a gun!”

 

[Sanman]

I know the military gives some form of half @$$ IQ test. Is there any personality components to that test?

It can’t just be, “Are you interested in a career in violence?! Here’s a gun!”

Clearly, you have never been to a Marine recruitment center.

EDIT: If you need a serious answer, look up the TAPAS.

 

[PsyDr]

Clearly, you have never been to a Marine recruitment center.

EDIT: If you need a serious answer, look up the TAPAS.

thanks!

 

[summerbabe]

I don't have good work days in VA. It is a spectrum of abusive to bad. I hear it is marginally better in specialty clinics and PCMHI. The average outpatient therapist in general mental health/BHIP doing the clinical work and not selling out their time to admin roles to cope is struggling. Check on your colleagues y'all. We're not okay.

If you're needing/wanting to stay in the VA & would be open to a virtual job, I would really recommend applying to everything and anything on USAJobs if you haven't done so recently (there are some open right now - filter by remote).

At the very least, you can get out of your current system/culture, clear out your caseload, and maybe find yourself in a better spot. Or if it's a bad spot, leave again. It's a bloodbath out there for recruiting talent in some systems so your options may be broader than you think.

I've been at 4 VAs now (and one of those VAs had 3 split campuses covering a wide region, each with a very different culture) and each one had a dramatically different work culture, from super toxic to pretty decent all things considered.

The broad things stay the same (RVUs, no flexibility, etc) but site specific differences can make a huge deal, including leadership who are understanding of provider burdens and try to make our lives easier vs people who are metric/promotion driven and will burn the farm down to achieve their own ambitions.

Good luck!

 

[Sanman]

I don't have good work days in VA. It is a spectrum of abusive to bad. I hear it is marginally better in specialty clinics and PCMHI. The average outpatient therapist in general mental health/BHIP doing the clinical work and not selling out their time to admin roles to cope is struggling. Check on your colleagues y'all. We're not okay.

From what I know of you, you're too young (or at least new to this career) to be this bitter. Maybe time to start thinking about a change.

 

[Sanman]

thanks!

No problem. For what it is worth, I have only ever met one person who was deemed psychologically unfit for duty (and subsequently rejected from all the other branches of military service he applied to after discharge) and it was when I was a trainee. That guy spoke in detail of picturing stabbing me in the eye with a pencil and killing me during my initial interview with him. So, the bar is not very high.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

I don't have good work days in VA. It is a spectrum of abusive to bad. I hear it is marginally better in specialty clinics and PCMHI. The average outpatient therapist in general mental health/BHIP doing the clinical work and not selling out their time to admin roles to cope is struggling. Check on your colleagues y'all. We're not okay.

I hope (think?) things are reaching a crisis point. We appear to be in a classic 'death spiral' positive feedback loop scenario with respect to outpatient psychotherapy providers (esp. those who carry caseloads).

Personally, I've made some necessary modifications in my approach/practices (importantly, WITHOUT 'running it by leadership' or otherwise asking permission) and these have been extremely helpful).

If 'leadership' objects to me holding off on a PTSD dx for a veteran who:

(a) in CPT (sent to me for this) cannot identify a single stuck point, negative automatic thought, belief, assumption that emanates from his own head that I don't have to 'spoon feed' him' in context of me providing 2+ hrs of clinical time trying to elicit from him and

(b) produces an invalid profile on the MMPI-2-RF clearly indicative of extreme overreporting of psychopathology to the tune of F-r >= 120, Fp-r >= 120, RBS = 118 (you get the idea)...

Then one of my responses will be...

I MIGHT be persuaded to reconsider my approach just as soon as ya'll stop slamming me with an avg of between 4 and 7 new patients/consults added to my therapy caseload every single week.

I'm The Mandalorian...not a friggin Stormtrooper for The Empire at this point.

 

[summerbabe]

That guy spoke in detail of picturing stabbing me in the eye with a pencil and killing me during my initial interview with him.

Since you're still here, obviously he's a quitter & I'm glad we screened him out

 

[deleted1038433]

If you're needing/wanting to stay in the VA & would be open to a virtual job, I would really recommend applying to everything and anything on USAJobs if you haven't done so recently (there are some open right now - filter by remote).

At the very least, you can get out of your current system/culture, clear out your caseload, and maybe find yourself in a better spot. Or if it's a bad spot, leave again. It's a bloodbath out there for recruiting talent in some systems so your options may be broader than you think.

I've been at 4 VAs now (and one of those VAs had 3 split campuses covering a wide region, each with a very different culture) and each one had a dramatically different work culture, from super toxic to pretty decent all things considered.

The broad things stay the same (RVUs, no flexibility, etc) but site specific differences can make a huge deal, including leadership who are understanding of provider burdens and try to make our lives easier vs people who are metric/promotion driven and will burn the farm down to achieve their own ambitions.

Good luck!

This might be the only way for me to make VA sustainable. Thank you for the well wishes and advice ❤

 

[Sanman]

Since you're still here, obviously he's a quitter & I'm glad we screened him out

He never said he intended to do it. It was just what he happened to be thinking about during the interview. Still, one of the scarier moments in my career.

 

[summerbabe]

This might be the only way for me to make VA sustainable. Thank you for the well wishes and advice ❤

Not sure if you've ever switched VA facilities before but I would WHOLLY recommend it when we don't like how things are going.

Worst case scenario: you find yourself in an equally bad or worse position elsewhere. But at least you start with a fresh slate of patients and it'll take some time to discover exactly why this new facility kinda/very much sucks. Whereas you really, really know why your current facility sucks & it bleeds into your work day all the time.

And then you can start looking again ASAP. Everything that people say about 'Oh you need to stay __ years in a job before you look for a new one' is out the window in this current market. I know somebody who left after 6 months for another VA job this year. Hell, it probably took 6 months to get them onboaded lol.

Better case scenario: some of the problems you are currently experiencing are actually being influenced by very site-specific factors (e.g., an ACOS who implements every VA SOP by the letter & not the spirit of the order) and while no facility is perfect, you might find another clinical job much more bearable when some of those factors change.

In fact, I'm in a pretty to very good remote spot right now & I look all the time just to see what else might be out there. Good luck!

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Just jumping in to agree that there can be vastly different experiences from one VA to the next. As summerbabe and others have said, a lot of it depends on your immediate and next-level bosses (e.g., service line chiefs and lead psychologists), your admin/MAS and IT staff support, and the toxicity/non-toxicity of your co-workers.

 

[deleted1038433]

From what I know of you, you're too young (or at least new to this career) to be this bitter. Maybe time to start thinking about a change.

Lolz I prefer the term righteous indignation, and I'll have you know I'm a fully emerged adult. Jk thank you for the laugh Sanman. Patients call me everything from kid to babyfaced to little bird on a regular basis, and one former cop joked that they'd like to see my ID at the start of our next session. I'm way too young to be this miserable 40+ hours a week.

 

[Sanman]

Lolz I prefer the term righteous indignation, and I'll have you know I'm a fully emerged adult. Jk thank you for the laugh Sanman. Patients call me everything from kid to babyfaced to little bird on a regular basis, and one former cop joked that they'd like to see my ID at the start of our next session. I'm way too young to be this miserable 40+ hours a week.

So, not retiring next year. Like I said, it might be time for a change.

 

[Shiori]

I went from crying once a week to being the most well-adjusted I've ever been. In the same location. Management can make a huge difference.

 

[WisNeuro]

No problem. For what it is worth, I have only ever met one person who was deemed psychologically unfit for duty (and subsequently rejected from all the other branches of military service he applied to after discharge) and it was when I was a trainee. That guy spoke in detail of picturing stabbing me in the eye with a pencil and killing me during my initial interview with him. So, the bar is not very high.

I had a Vet on internship who had a diagnosis of Borderline PD for group and individual who described fantasies of both shooting me and stabbing me with a pen/pencil. Had to be searched and escorted to appointments.

 

[aim-agm]

I had a Vet on internship who had a diagnosis of Borderline PD for group and individual who described fantasies of both shooting me and stabbing me with a pen/pencil. Had to be searched and escorted to appointments.

I like the concordance of this story with your signature quote.

 

[Sanman]

I had a Vet on internship who had a diagnosis of Borderline PD for group and individual who described fantasies of both shooting me and stabbing me with a pen/pencil. Had to be searched and escorted to appointments.

Oh good, I thought it was just me. Then again, you were going to get shot as well. I guess the vets like me better.

 

[WisNeuro]

Oh good, I thought it was just me. Then again, you were going to get shot as well. I guess the vets like me better.

I'd had some DBT and seen some patients with BPD prior to that, so it was pretty obvious what was going on. In group we commonly had activities that require writing, so I'd just sit next to her every week and place the box of pens/pencils between us.

 

[ccpsych16]

Had one of those days that made me question if I really want to be a practicing psychologist for my whole career. Nothing to do w/VA stuff and everything to do w/the normal ugly stuff (like back to back sessions with unexpected ruptures & people being mad at you that they keep saying reportable incidents). I’ll be fine soon, but tonight I’ll be fantasizing that I hit the jackpot and never have to work to pay bills ever again.

 

[Grenth]

I'm not quite where ilovecbt is at but man I empathize. I think many of our psychologists at my facility are leaving most to remote positions at other VAs. For me I've got kind of the golden handcuffs where I have been allowed to create a position that is perfect for me (in terms of supervision, patient type, etc.) in a location I love, hybrid which I prefer, EDRP, etc.


But the leadership is so bad and the workload is so untenable that every day I'm feeling more and more like the village idiot for not getting out of here. I am the most senior psychologist in my whole clinic and I have been here for ~3 years. We have had a staff psychologist position go unfilled for 14 months now.

But our senior leadership doesn't think we're having enough trouble with recruiting and retaining to justify specialty pay for psychologists. Even though our social workers have it. Resulting in equivalent grade/step social workers out earning psychologists.

 

[deleted1129370]

As I read all of these posts....I am so thankful that my last day at the VA was back on October 27th. I am no longer stressed, I am seeing the patients I want, when I want. I practice how I want. I practice in PJs and a t-shirt. I take long breaks and get paid 3x an hour more than what I did at the VA, and see less folks. No more paperwork, TMS trainings, Karen-level bosses....I love it. I travel and also see my patients since my practice is 100% online. You could not convince me to go back to the VA or work for anybody else.

 

[summerbabe]

I'll add that despite all of the stressful things going on in VA that will likely continue in the future due to the current political priorities (while ackolnowleding I'm in a really good spot in my current job), I still remain super passionate about the work itself.

I had some (at least in my opinion) awesome sessions today with motivated patients who I think I can genuinely help change for the better which hopefully will eventually radiate into their relationships and maybe even community.

They were also really appreciative and articulated tangible goals that they will work on between sessions. And I don't think these are folks who would be getting much mental health treatment otherwise if not for the VA, which is a major work/life value of mine.

Not every day is like that but regardless, in the meantime, I'll take every liberty possible such as ignoring administrative asks and doing what I think is appropriate for my license and nothing else (unless I have the capacity for it) in order to sustain myself and focus on what I find meaningful in the VA.

 

[cara susanna]

I'm not quite where ilovecbt is at but man I empathize. I think many of our psychologists at my facility are leaving most to remote positions at other VAs. For me I've got kind of the golden handcuffs where I have been allowed to create a position that is perfect for me (in terms of supervision, patient type, etc.) in a location I love, hybrid which I prefer, EDRP, etc.


But the leadership is so bad and the workload is so untenable that every day I'm feeling more and more like the village idiot for not getting out of here. I am the most senior psychologist in my whole clinic and I have been here for ~3 years. We have had a staff psychologist position go unfilled for 14 months now.

But our senior leadership doesn't think we're having enough trouble with recruiting and retaining to justify specialty pay for psychologists. Even though our social workers have it. Resulting in equivalent grade/step social workers out earning psychologists.

That's how I feel - I'm also in a position that's perfect for me and a senior psychologist in our clinic (which is mildly hilarious because I haven't been here that long) but feeling just burnout related to systems issues that will not be resolved. Recruitment is also an issue and hopefully senior leadership will eventually grant higher pay because we are NOT filling psychologists jobs.

 

[WisNeuro]

That's how I feel - I'm also in a position that's perfect for me and a senior psychologist in our clinic (which is mildly hilarious because I haven't been here that long) but feeling just burnout related to systems issues that will not be resolved. Recruitment is also an issue and hopefully senior leadership will eventually grant higher pay because we are NOT filling psychologists jobs.

Stark change from almost a decade ago. We'd get DOZENS of applications for posted psych positions.

 

[Psychologist1234]

Stark change from almost a decade ago. We'd get DOZENS of applications for posted psych positions.

Same situation at my VA. I understand that the availability of full-time telework jobs in private practice is siphoning off a lot of would-be VA applicants, but it seems like that doesn't account for the recruiting difficulties entirely. It's a really interesting problem to me.