Postdoctoral fellowship in clinical child psychology

Philosophy

The Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology at Children’s Health℠ Children's Medical Center Dallas provides training in clinical child psychology through the incorporation of specialized experiences in eating disorders, outpatient psychology and pediatric health psychology in the pediatric setting. Fellows are trained as practitioner-scholars through a focus on direct clinical care and evidence-based practice. These skills are developed through multidisciplinary experiences in assessment, intervention, and consultation, including individual and group supervision, didactics, and a postdoctoral seminar. Supervision follows a developmental model. Multicultural competence and ethical practice are integral components of all areas of training. At the completion of the training year, fellows will be prepared for licensure and independent practice with children and adolescents and their families.

Concentrations

Service recipient populations and direct service delivery

Postdoctoral fellows at Children's Health work with children, adolescents, and families presenting with a variety of mental health and medical diagnoses. Training at Children's Health also provides the opportunity to work with diverse and underserved populations, as a large number of families at Children's Health receive government subsidized health insurance, are of an ethnic minority population, and/or speak a language other than English as their primary language. The large majority of fellows' time is spent in direct service delivery. In the years that the training program includes bilingual trainees, a bilingual licensed psychologist offers group supervision in Spanish to facilitate trainees’ understanding and expression of psychological constructs and concepts in Spanish.

Opportunities related to diversity

Children’s is the largest pediatric healthcare provider in North Texas, serving patients from a geographically large catchment area including urban and rural communities throughout Texas and surrounding states. Fellows have the opportunity to provide clinical care to patients and families from diverse and underrepresented groups.

Training at Children’s offers postdoctoral fellows rich and varied training in cultural and individual diversity, grounded in a Cultural Humility framework. Developing advanced skill in applying knowledge of individual and cultural diversity within clinical and interprofessional work as well as professional self-reflection is a program competency; individual supervision and other learning activities support fellows’ growth in this area. Diversity topics are a focus of group supervision and postdoc seminar, and diversity roundtable discussions in these forums allow for in-depth exploration of these topics and how they come up in fellows’ professional activities.

The following diversity-related activities are also accessible to fellows at Children’s:

  • Membership and participation in the hospital’s Health Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission (HEDIC), including workgroups focusing on underrepresented and marginalized groups
  • Bilingual (Spanish) individual supervision and group supervision including bilingual fellows and other psychology trainees when
  • Collaboration and mentorship with the Mental Health Disparities Scholar, a first-year graduate student in clinical psychology completing research and clinical work at Children’s Health
  • Mentorship of undergraduate student apprentice through program within department aimed at increasing professional exposure/experience for students from underrepresented backgrounds interested in a career in psychology.
  • Participation in the Cultural Diversity Club offered at UTSW’s Clinical Psychology program

Supervision

Postdoctoral fellows receive at least two hours of individual, scheduled face-to-face supervision each week from two different supervisors, and another two hours of structured learning activities (e.g., didactics, seminars, group supervision). Postdoctoral fellows will have at least two supervisors during the training year, with one serving as the fellow’s primary supervisor.

Didactics

Sample schedules from didactics and other structured learning activities are listed below:

Program aims

The aims of the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology at Children’s Health Children’s Medical Center are outlined below.

AIM 1: Produce clinicians who are competent to practice in the field of clinical child psychology.

  • Aim 1a: Produce clinicians who are competent in assessment and evaluation.
  • Aim 1b: Produce clinicians who are competent in intervention and therapy.
  • Aim 1c: Produce clinicians who are competent in consultation.
  • Aim 1d: Produce clinicians with an expertise in an area of concentration (e.g., Eating Disorders, Outpatient Psychology, Pediatric Health Psychology).

AIM 2: Produce clinicians with competence in ethical decision making and a sensitivity to individual differences.

  • Aim 2a: Produce clinicians who can identify and resolve ethical dilemmas.
  • Aim 2b: Produce clinicians who identify and respect individual and cultural differences.
  • Aim 2c: Produce clinicians who integrate knowledge of ethical and diversity issues into all areas of their clinical practice.

AIM 3: Produce clinicians with competence in professional development and scholarship.

  • Aim 3a: Produce clinicians who are reflective of their own knowledge and professional development and know the limits of their competence.
  • Aim 3b: Produce clinicians who demonstrate overall professionalism and respect for others.
  • Aim 3c: Produce clinicians who understand, appreciate, and implement evidence-based practice.
  • Aim 3d: Produce clinicians who are life-long learners and appreciate the pursuit of knowledge.

AIM 4: Produce competent clinicians who are prepared to function independently in the field of clinical child psychology.

  • Aim 4a: Fellows will obtain licenses to practice psychology within 6 months of completion of fellowship training.
  • Aim 4b: Upon completion of training, fellows will obtain positions in the field of clinical child psychology.
  • Aim 4c: Fellows who choose to will continue to hold positions in the field of clinical child psychology long-term (i.e., more than 5 years after completion of fellowship).

Duration of program and program completion

The Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology at Children’s Health Children’s Medical Center is a full-time, 12-month program that begins in late August or early September each year.

To complete the training program successfully, the fellow must achieve overall ratings of “acceptable for this point in the training year” on all core competency areas on their final evaluation; an overall “acceptable” rating for each competency are requires ratings of “is able to do independently” or “is able to do with minimal consultation” for all corresponding competency elements.

  •  Due process policy was either not implemented, or if implemented, the fellow responded to feedback and successfully remediated areas of skill deficit
  • The fellow has completed 12 months of supervised, full-time work during postdoctoral fellowship, and
  • The fellow is prepared to apply for licensure as a psychologist (i.e., all requirements are completed for licensure once hours are accrued).

How to apply

APA accreditation status

The Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program in Clinical Child Psychology is accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). Questions related to the program’s accreditation status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation:

Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242
202-336-5979

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