
Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship
Training in a Level I Trauma Center and Safety Net Hospital
About the Program
The Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship offers three tracks, including an adult track, a child track, and a health psychology track. We offer fellows the opportunity to work with a diverse patient population. Being part of a large teaching hospital and Level I Trauma Center, our fellows will have many unique training experiences.
The mission of the Postdoctoral Psychology Fellow Program at Hennepin Healthcare is to prepare fellows in the theories and techniques of assessment, intervention, and consultation necessary for an entry-level, professional psychologist position. This experience builds on skills developed during the internship, moving towards being prepared for independent psychological practice. The program adheres to the clinical scientist training model. Over the course of the training year, fellows are expected to perform in a progressively more independent manner. In accordance with our mission statement, the practice of psychology is guided by the theoretical and empirical knowledge base of the discipline.
Only students from APA-accredited or CPA-accredited graduate programs and APA-accredited or CPA-accredited internships are considered. Hennepin Healthcare fellowships are one year, full-time positions with the expectation of 2000 training hours.
Diversity Statement
The program is dedicated to an environment of valuing and respecting diversity, equity, and justice. We are committed to maintaining an atmosphere of openness and trust with our trainees and colleagues. We humbly acknowledge that we have blind spots and promise to continually work on self-reflection as a training program, listen to all voices but especially the voices muted by systemic racism and oppression, embrace and learn from our inevitable mistakes, and engage and take action to interrupt the pattern of inequality. We understand that working to dismantle systemic racism and oppression is a process, one that we are committed to pursuing. We embrace high-quality, evidence-based, and multiculturally competent services for our patients and their families. Our efforts to celebrate and promote diversity are further supported by our Psychiatry Department Diversity Council and the LGBTQ+ Psychology Consultation Group. Organizational initiatives further support diversity by the Trauma-Informed Care Steering Committee, the LGBTQ+ Allies employee resource group, and our Equity and Inclusion Director- Syl Jones.
Salary and Benefits
Hennepin Healthcare offers a competitive salary for the year, $51,100, and benefits, including health, dental, and life insurance, as well as paid vacation, time off for academic or interview leave, and confidential counseling through the Resident Assistance Program.
Adult Fellowship Track
The Adult Fellow has a year-long placement in the Adult Therapy Clinic. A variety of theoretical approaches to psychotherapy are practiced in this clinic, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Psychodynamic therapies. Both long-term and short-term approaches are used. Fellows are taught to implement specific interventions using a variety of evidence-based treatment modalities. The current patient population includes many individuals with serious and persistent mental illness, which can be challenging with regard to developing effective strategies. Additional duties include conducting psychological readiness evaluation for bariatric surgery.
The Adult Fellow can co-lead groups in the Adult Therapy Clinic depending on the fellow’s interest and the availability of staff and patients. Common group offerings include CBT, DBT skills, Cognitive Behavioral Social Skills Training, Co-occurring Disorders, LGBTQ Process, Interpersonal Process, and Mind-Body.
Child Fellowship Track
The Child Fellow is assigned to the Child Adolescent Psychiatry Service Clinic (CAPS) for the full year and conducts assessments and comprehensive psychological evaluations with children and adolescents. As a part of these activities, they administer, score, and interpret testing batteries that often include tests of intellectual functioning, academic skills, social-emotional functioning, attention, and personality tests. They also write diagnostic assessments and evaluation reports, give feedbacks, maintain chart records, and engage in various case management duties. They work with schools, community agencies, and the courts as necessary.
In addition to the activities described above, the Child Fellow also conducts individual and family therapy. Presenting therapy concerns include behavioral problems and parenting concerns, as well as a full range of psychiatric disorders. The primary therapy orientation is cognitive-behavioral, with a variety of specific interventions taught/supervised including, CBT, TF-CBT, behavioral activation, habit reversal, exposure/response prevention, and parenting skills training. Fellows are taught to tailor their interventions to the specific needs of the child in the context of their cultural background and particular life situation.
Pediatric Consultation Services
The Child Fellow provides consultation to pediatric inpatients on the Pediatric Unit, as well as on other medical units. Typical consult requests include assessment of suicide risk, mental health symptoms, and disposition planning, health and behavior evaluations, support with coping with injuries and/or recent trauma, behavior management issues, and coordinating better care between patients and staff. Psychology staff and trainees are often asked to facilitate communication between a patient and the patient’s family members when a significant injury or death has occurred.
Health Psychology Track
The Health Psychology Fellow has opportunities to engage in training and provide care within a variety of health psychology settings. Some of these opportunities include working on the Adult Consultation Service (described below), providing CBT-I in the Sleep Clinic, doing Bariatric Surgery Evaluations for psychological readiness prior to bariatric surgery, and working as part of the multidisciplinary team in the HHS Burn Center, Pain Clinic, or Knapp Rehabilitation Clinic.
Adult Consultation Service
Established in 1998, the Adult Consultation Service ensures timely provision of psychological services in the Department of Psychiatry and throughout the hospital. The service also trains psychology fellows in psychological evaluation and health psychology consultation. The Adult Fellow is typically scheduled for one afternoon a week on this service and the Health Psychology Fellow is typically on this service for two afternoons a week.
There are two main functions of this service. First, physicians from medical inpatient units in the hospital can request psychological consultations. These often focus on issues such as coping after trauma (e.g., motor vehicle accidents, thermal injuries), adjustment to disability or injury, behavior management, and pain management. Psychology fellows routinely have opportunities to provide consultative services to patients on the Orthopedic, Surgery, Medicine, Neurosurgery, and Burn units.
Second, psychology fellows may be involved in Critical Incident Support to teams around the hospital in response to various identified stressors.
Supervision & Didactics
The Psychology training faculty values the opportunity to work closely with fellows in training and supervision. While all training staff members have adopted an "open door policy" to provide supervision as needed, fellows are assigned, several specific supervisors. Each fellow has a primary supervisor who serves as a mentor and coordinates the training experience for the fellow throughout the training year.
All fellows receive additional supervision and consultation by attending weekly supervision groups and participating with individual supervisors for various services. For example, after group therapy sessions, fellows participate in post-group supervision with the staff therapist or facilitator. Individual supervision is also provided for all consultation/assessment clinics.
In total, fellows receive at least 2 hours of supervision per week, of which a minimum of 1 hour per week is individual supervision and 1 hour per week is group supervision. Often fellows will receive significantly more supervision.
Training Orientation
The fellowship year begins with two weeks of orientation, during which the fellows are introduced to the faculty, Hennepin Healthcare’s facilities, as well as to policies and procedures. The orientation also includes a series of lectures on basic topics such as interviewing, report writing, mandatory reporting of abuse, working with interpreters, and clinic procedures.
Seminars
Orientation is followed by a weekly seminar series. These seminars focus on assessment, therapy, and consultation services, with the increasing complexity of materials being presented as the year proceeds. Fellows are able to choose up to two, one-hour didactics to attend each week that fit with their training goals.
In addition to the psychology-specific didactic offerings, the Psychiatry Department sponsors a Special Topics Seminar and a Psychiatry Case Consultation series.
During the fellowship year, two all-day workshops are arranged jointly by several of the local internship and fellowship sites. The fall workshop focuses on diversity and the spring workshop focuses on supervision and ethics.
The Psychology training faculty values the opportunity to work closely with interns in training and supervision.
Our Faculty
- Manju Elizabeth Alexander, Ph.D., L.P.
- Marielle Demarais, Ph.D., L.P., Chief Psychologist
- Melissa Eisenmenger, Ph.D., L.P.
- Marchion Hinton, Ph.D., L.P.
- Marcia Jensen, Ph.D., L.P., Director of Psychology Training
- Lisa Legrand, Ph.D., L.P.
- Mohammed Lodhi Khan, Ph.D., L.P.
- Adrine Maresco, Ph.D., L.P.
- Patrick McMahon, Ph.D., L.P.
- Scott Miller, Psy.D., L.P.
- Mitch Radin, Psy.D., L.P.
- Lindsay Schreiber, Psy.D., L.P.
- Stacey Solakian, Ph.D., L.P.
- My-Tien Ton, Ph.D., L.P.
- David E. Tupper, Ph.D., L.P.
- Kristin Venables, Ph.D., L.P.
- Cameron Weaver, Ph.D., L.P.
- Kristen Wiik, Ph.D, L.P.
Meet Some of Our Fellows and Faculty
Application Requirements
COVID-19 Impact on Training
The impact of the COVID-19 public health crisis is significant, multi-pronged, and ongoing. COVID-19 has disrupted doctoral and internship training, creating numerous personal and professional challenges for us all. The psychology training program at Hennepin Healthcare is committed to providing transparent information about our program and training opportunities. As the pandemic continues, we are not able to predict how rotations and training opportunities will evolve during the 2023-2024 training year. It is likely that there will be a hybrid of delivering clinical services in-person and via telehealth, and continued utilization of technological platforms for educational opportunities. We do not anticipate any major changes to the clinical and training opportunities described in our training materials. We will continue to serve the diverse population of the Twin Cities.
Despite shifting to providing clinical services and training remotely since the beginning of the pandemic, our commitment to providing excellent clinical care and meaningful training experiences remains. The safety of our trainees, staff, and patients is a priority. We have taken numerous safety measures at our hospital and satellite clinics to ensure that every patient that comes into our system is screened for COVID-19 symptoms. Our Infection and Prevention team is working around the clock to implement strategies to keep everyone safe.
Requirements
WE ARE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE CHILD FELLOWSHIP 2023-2024 TRAINING YEAR. APPLICATIONS ARE DUE ON 1/10/2023.
All application materials to be submitted to Marcia Jensen, PhD, LP, Training Director at [email protected].
- A cover letter that describes your reasons for applying to the Child Fellowship position, perception of fit of past training experiences with our program at Hennepin Healthcare, experiences with interventions and assessments (especially those that are evidence-based), and career goals. Additionally, our program seeks applicants who would thrive in a training setting committed to diversity. We invite you to comment briefly in your cover letter about how you think you could contribute to this training site and training class in the domains of diversity knowledge, awareness, and sensitivity.
- Curriculum Vitae.
- 3 letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from an internship supervisor.
- A de-identified (per HIPAA standards) integrated assessment report.
- A letter from your dissertation chair regarding the status of your dissertation and the anticipated date of completion. If your dissertation chair is already providing one of your letters of recommendation, this information can be included in that letter.
Additional Information
Students from APA-accredited (as well as CPA-accredited) graduate programs will be considered. We also require the completion of an APA-accredited or CPA-accredited internship.
Hennepin Healthcare is committed to providing Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity. Matches to Hennepin Healthcare are contingent upon successful completion of pre-employment health screen, reference checks, compliance with U.S. Government Eligibility Verification form, and background checks including MN Statute 148.01 Sexual Exploitation Act.
About Our Facility
The Psychiatry Department is largely located within the Hennepin Healthcare downtown campus in Minneapolis. It is composed of a 102-bed adult psychiatric inpatient service, the Partial Hospitalization Program, Day Treatment Program, Acute Psychiatric Services, Child Adolescent Psychiatry Service, Pediatric Gender and Sexual Health Clinic, Adult Psychiatry Clinic, Mother-Baby Program, Neuropsychology, and HOPE Program (First Episode Psychosis Program).
What Sets us Apart?
Why is Hennepin Healthcare a great place to train as a Postdoctoral Fellow?
Our Mission to Provide Exceptional Care
Hennepin Healthcare is a safety net hospital and a nationally recognized Level 1 Trauma Center that serves adults and children/adolescents. A vital part of our mission is to provide exceptional care to underserved and vulnerable populations, regardless of ability to pay.
Academic Medical Center & Teaching Hospital
We were the first teaching hospital in Minnesota. We have a large, engaged, and supportive training staff, with more than 25 psychologists in the Psychology Department. We provide opportunities to develop skills while working on multi-disciplinary teams with a variety of healthcare staff.
Serve a Diverse Patient Population
37% identifying as White/Caucasian
31% identifying as Black/African American
20% identifying as Hispanic/Latino
3% identifying as American Indian/Native American
3% identifying as Asian
4% identifying as “Other”
2% identifying as two or more races
LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Top Performer
Offering a Wide Variety of Clinical/Training Experiences
Provide care as part of the integrated treatment team at a Level 1 Trauma Center
Have opportunities for both inpatient and outpatient training experiences
Develop skills in therapy, assessment, and consultation
Gain experience working with patients that have serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI)
Train in health psychology settings
Take on optional experiences in more focused training areas
Experience flexibility to help meet your training goals