POSTDOCTORAL RESIDENCIES IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
The Central Bay Consortium is an APA-accredited and APPIC-member psychology postdoctoral residency program* that is well-integrated into the Kaiser Permanente health care system. The central San Francisco bay region encompasses the cultural and geographic heart of the Bay Area. The training sites of the Central Bay Training Consortium are located in the cities of Oakland and Richmond.
The psychiatry service at each site provides psychotherapy, psychological testing, and psycho-educational programs. Each location includes an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that provides services to recently hospitalized individuals, or individuals at risk for psychiatric hospitalization. The Oakland location includes the Chemical Dependency Recovery Program (CDRP) which offers intensive and ongoing chemical dependency services. Each site runs many different groups such as Depression, Anxiety, and Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
The Central Bay Consortium postdoctoral residency program is sequential, cumulative, and graduated in complexity. Graduated and sequential aspects of the residency programs are achieved through supervision, evaluation, didactic seminars. Residents may have the opportunity to teach or gain experience conducting supervision. Residents are required to complete a program evaluation of an ongoing program over the course of the training. Furthermore, residents may be required to do a weekend call up to 10 times during the training year. Residents from the two training sites attend weekly didactic seminars which rotate between the Oakland and Richmond locations. To view the 2012-2013 Seminar Schedule for Central Bay Consortium, click here♦.
Residents also attend periodic half-day Kaiser Permanente Northern California Post-Doctoral regional seminars. One of the early regional seminar focuses on ethics and the law. This ensures all postdoctoral residents have a sound working knowledge of California's professional code of conduct. Other seminar topics have included diversity, chemical dependency, and professional development. These seminars provide an opportunity to develop professional relationships with a large community of resudents that will help orient the postdoctoral fellow to his or her career as a professional psychologist. A core feature of our training program is supporting and mentoring new professionals in their transition from internship through licensure.
We have made a commitment to evidenced-based treatments. Departments throughout the region have sent specialists to develop Best Practice guidelines based on the most current research for major psychological disorders. The Best Practices literature is made available to all residents and is considered part of the overall curriculum of the residency program.
*Accreditation information can be obtained from the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE; Washington, DC 20002-4242.
Phone: 202/336-5500; TDD-TTY: 202/336-6123.
Web Site: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/programs/traditional.aspx.
THE CENTRAL BAY
The Central Bay Consortium region encompasses the cultural heart of the Central East Bay Area, including the eastern bay cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, and Richmond. The Bay Bridge and the BART transit system connect the urban areas on the west and east side of the Bay. The area is geographically positioned to have easy access to the ocean and the Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties, and it is only a few hours drive from the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
PATIENT POPULATION
The patient population consists of Kaiser Health Plan members with psychiatric benefits. Our members consist of a wide spectrum of primarily middle/working class adults, families, couples, and children. The patient population is ethnically diverse and exhibits a wide array of psychological and chemical dependency problems.
LOCATIONS AND SERVICES
The Department of Psychiatry provides individual, group, couples, family, child and adolescent therapy, psychological and neuropsychological testing, and psycho-educational programs such as stress reduction, couples communication, assertiveness, meditation and other classes. Chemical dependency services include outpatient adult programs as well as adolescent and family programs. We also provide an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that serves crisis patients and recently hospitalized individuals who would otherwise be at risk for hospitalization. In addition, the department offers a wide range of therapy groups to address problems associated with stages of life (children to elders) and a variety of diagnostic specific groups such as Depression, Anxiety, and Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, Mindful Mood Management and Job Stress. Members of the staff represent a variety of theoretical orientations.
Oakland Department of Psychiatry
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY280 WEST MACARTHUR BLVD
OAKLAND, CA 94611
(510) 752-1075
Site Director and Consortium Director of Training: F. Myron Hays, Ph.D., ABPP
510-752-6685 E-Mail: myron.hays@kp.org
Training is provided in the outpatient psychiatry clinic of the Kaiser Permanente East Bay Medical Center in Oakland, California, a 340-bed teaching hospital and outpatient facility offering a full range of medical services. The Psychiatry Department at the Oakland Medical Center has four post-doctoral residency positions. The Department of Psychiatry provides a range of diagnostic and treatment services organized into four basic areas: Adult Service, Chemical Dependency, and Child and Family Service. The staff consists of clinical staff which includes psychologists, psychiatrists, licensed clinical social workers, nurses, nurse practitioners and marriage and family therapists. The theoretical orientations of staff members include cognitive-behavioral, biological, psychodynamic, family systems and eclectic, all of which are informed by research findings.
Depending on the position to which the resident applies, opportunities in the department exist to work with adults, children, couples and families who present a wide variety of acute and chronic mental illnesses and interpersonal and family problems. (Please see the Oakland site webpage for specifics). The patient population reflects a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic groups from the San Leandro, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Albany and Piedmont communities. The clinic emphasizes group treatment approaches consistent with the benefits of a health maintenance organization, as well as limited individual therapy.
Residents are encouraged to keep abreast of current theories and research findings. The hospital's medical library and computer literature searches are available to all residents and attendance at relevant training events within the Kaiser Permanente system is encouraged.
Richmond Department of Psychiatry
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY901 NEVIN AVE
RICHMOND, CA 94801
(510) 307-1591
Site Director: Emily Schiller, Psy.D.
510-307-1643 E-Mail: emily.schiller@kp.org
Richmond is located eight miles north of Oakland on a peninsula dividing the San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. The medical center is located a few blocks from a BART station (Kaiser provides a shuttle) and is close to the 80 and 580 freeways. Richmond's central location makes it within commuting distance of Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, Marin, and Solano Counties. Kaiser Richmond is part of the East Bay Service area, the most diverse within all of Kaiser. The clinic also serves a fairly large monolingual, Spanish-speaking population. Our patient population is also richly diverse socio-economically, educationally, and diagnostically.
The services available in Richmond are divided into four primary service teams: Adult, Child and Family, Intensive Outpatient/Case Management, and Chemical Dependency. All teams are in the same location allowing for efficient and effective consultation. We provide individual, group, and family (including couples) therapy, psychological assessment, psycho-educational classes, case management, medication management and psychiatric crisis management. Our department provides a broad assortment of groups in both English and Spanish for both children and adults. The Child Team also provides specialized group services in both English and Spanish. The members of the staff represent a variety of theoretical orientations with psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral being the most prominent.
BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
The postdoctoral residency program at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers (KPMC) in Northern California has a long and intricate history. Nicholas Cummings, Ph.D., led the development of psychology within KPMC in the 1960's. During the last twenty years, there has been a major movement to regionalize and standardize the mental health delivery system. During this time, it has tripled in size. Several new treatment programs were developed under the initiative referred to as the "model of care". As a result of this organizational maturation, the postdoctoral training program has grown increasingly organized and extensively supported by the KPMC.
Under the leadership of Lloyd Linford, PhD., we have made a commitment to evidenced-based treatments. To this end, departments throughout the region send specialists to meet regularly to develop Best Practice guidelines based on the most current research for major psychological disorders, such as: Depressive Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, and Eating Disorders. These guidelines are published in manuals which every department is expected to use in order to provide comprehensive and appropriate treatment. The Best Practices literature is made available to all residents and is considered part of overall curriculum of the residency program.
The program functions within the largest HMO in the United States. Each medical center provides a full range of services to thousands of patients. Health care, as envisioned by KPMC, is an integrated system. Providers from specialty areas such as pediatrics, internal medicine, neurology and psychology work together in a collaborative manner to provide integrated treatment. The postdoctoral residents train within this collaborative system and are seen as an integral part of the overall healthcare delivery system. Each medical center has psychologists working in various services and departments including Psychiatry, Chronic Pain, Chemical Dependency, and Behavioral Medicine.
The Central Bay Consortium emerged in 2006 as one of 6 consortia. The consortium system, now with 7 programs, restructured the larger regional Bay Area postdoctoral training programs into subregional consortia that localize training and provide an integrated and comprehensive training cohort. One training director oversees the quality assurance of training in each consortium and site directors manage the specific training programs within their departments.
MISSION AND TRAINING MODEL
The mission of Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers (KPMC) is to provide integrated, efficient, high-quality, evidence-based health care while supporting innovation and continuous quality improvement. The mission of the Central Bay Consortium Postdoctoral Training Program is to provide residents with advanced training within this highly integrated, multidisciplinary healthcare system, in order to prepare them for dynamic roles as practicing psychologists in the healthcare system of the future. Residents train in collaboration with, and with guidance from, psychologists and physicians.
The Central Bay Consortium Postdoctoral Training Program subscribes to the Practitioner-Scholar model of training. This model emphasizes the development of professional skills among practitioners who utilize the field's scientific knowledge (Evidence-Based Treatment) in their professional practice. The program is committed to training professional psychologists who are life-long learners dedicated to engaging in continuous education, scientific inquiry, and scholarly endeavors.
PROGRAM FACULTY
The program faculty includes licensed psychologists and board certified psychiatrists who lead seminars and conduct individual and group supervision. Each site is overseen by a Site Training Director and the Consortium is led by the Consortium Training Director. Additional administrative guidance is provided by the Northern California Director of Training. To view brief CVs of Central Bay Consortium training faculty, click here♦.
On-Site Training Directors: Each site training director in cooperation with the supervisors develops the resident’s schedules which includes supervision from the primary and delegated supervisors, group supervision for psychological assessment, case conferences, on site staff meetings, etc. Site training directors assign department programs/groups that meet residents’ particular interests and training goals. Site training directors are responsible for data collection/documentation and record keeping of trainees in their program, as well as program design, development and evaluation. Site training directors meet with supervisors once a week to discuss residents, program coordination, disseminate information, etc.
The site training directors and the consortium director meet with the Northern California Director of Training on a monthly basis to coordinate the consortiums training seminars, problem solve and insure standardization of training. Topics of discussion include: program development/evaluation, maintenance of records, recruitment, and keeping up-to-date with the Board of Psychology, APPIC, and APA standards.
THE TRAINING PROGRAM
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Our training philosophy is to foster clinical competence and professional identity through the mastery of basic and specialized skills. Our department stresses a commitment to a continuous reassessment, modification, and enrichment of therapy techniques. Residents are exposed to a unique and diverse community of clients. There is a clear emphasis on the role of the psychologist in a multi-cultural community, an outpatient setting and integrated with the medical center in providing quality health care to its members. Residents will be encouraged to become familiar with the demographic composition of the community in which our clients reside.
The Best Practices literature provides the foundation for the training program curriculum. This body of literature is comprised of well-researched treatment guidelines for various mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety.
The residency consists of three components:
- 1. Regular exposure through active participation to all relevant facets of outpatient services.
- 2. Professional guidance through formal supervision, staff meetings and informal contacts with staff members.
- 3. Regular training seminars.
GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND COMPETENCIES
RESIDENT MINIMAL LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT
The minimal levels of achievement expected of residents in order to successfully progress through and complete the program are identified and evaluated by the following. This information, along with the corresponding documents and policies, is located in the Policy and Procedures Manual, accessible from this webpage.
Baseline Assessment of Resident Foundational and Functional Competencies
On the first day of the training program, the resident and supervisor complete the Baseline Assessment of Resident Foundational and Functional Competencies. This assessment identifies resident’s level of experience at entry to the training program, in all competency areas anchored in the Competencies Evaluation (see below). The baseline assessment identifies competency areas on which the resident will focus during the year and provides the basis for the Resident Individual Training Contract (see below). The baseline assessment form is kept in the resident's file.
Resident Individual Training Contract
The Resident Individual Training Contract builds upon information gleaned from the Baseline Assessment (see above). In the training contract, the resident and his/her supervisor develop action plans to address the competency areas identified by the baseline assessment as ones in which the resident requires additional training focus. The resident also uses this form to list any competency areas on which he/she wishes to obtain extra supervision during the year. In addition, the training contract identifies resident’s primary and secondary supervisors, and lists residents' responsibilities and expectations for the training year. The training contract is completed within the first week of the training year.
Competencies Evaluation (CE)
The Competencies Evaluation (CE) is the training program's formal evaluation instrument for evaluating residents’ progress. The CE is a measurement tool that the supervisor uses to rate the resident on all behavioral anchors corresponding to program goals. The supervisor implements the CE at quarterly intervals throughout the training year to ensure that the resident meets the program's training goals. If a resident receives a rating of less than "3" for any behavioral anchor prior to the 4th quarter, the supervisor implements the Focused Competency Guidance process. If, by the end of the fourth quarter, the resident has not achieved ratings of "3" or higher for all behavioral anchors, he/she will not receive a Certificate of Completion.
"Good Standing" Definition
A resident is in good standing if he/she has ratings of “3” or more for all behavioral anchors on the CE or if he/she is in Focused Competency Guidance. A resident is not in good standing when his/her primary supervisor initiates the Letter of Warning and/or the Corrective Action procedure.
Disclosure of Difficulties Meeting Expectations
All residents are expected to fully and completely disclose any issue or problem which will impact or has the potential to impact client/patient care to the supervisor(s). Failure to disclose will result in a meeting with resident's primary supervisor to develop a plan to remediate this concern. The outcome of said plan may cause the resident to be subject to discipline, up to dismissal from the program.
Certificate of Completion
To receive a Certificate of Completion at the end of the training year, the resident must attain a minimum score of "3" ("Consistently Meets Expectations") for each behavioral anchor on the CE by the fourth quarter of the training year. The resident must also have accrued 2000 hours of supervised training by the end of the training year. The Certificate of Completion attests to the resident's completion of 2000 hours of supervised training and consistent achievement of all competencies relevant to the goals of the program.
EVALUATIONS
The training directors and supervisors are responsible for completing the resident’s Competencies Evaluation in collaboration with the rest of the training staff. All efforts are made to provide ongoing feedback to residents throughout the year. Residents also have an opportunity to evaluate this program twice a year.
GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE
It is the goal of the Psychology Postdoctoral Residency Programs to provide learning environments that foster congenial professional interactions among training faculty and residents that are based on mutual respect. However, it is possible that situations will arise that prompt residents to file grievances.
The Regional Policy and Procedure manual provides a full description of grievance procedures. The manual is available on the Psychology Postdoctoral Residency Programs main web page.
APPLICANTS
We offer a total of 6 postdoctoral residency positions in two training locations. In Oakland, we have one position, each, on the Adult, Child and Family and Chemical Dependency teams, as well as one position in Co-Morbid Conditions, which works with the Eating Disorders and Chemical Dependency teams. In Richmond, we offer one position on the Adult and IOP services team and one in the Child and Family Services program.
Candidates must complete all requirements for their doctoral degree from a clinical or counseling psychology program no later than August 31st for the residency program that begins in September of the same year. Candidates must graduate from APA-accredited doctoral programs, and complete their pre-doctoral internships at APA-accredited or APPIC-member programs. However, preference is given to applicants who have completed APA-accredited internships, or whose APPIC-member internship site has applied for accreditation or has hosted a site visit.
For additional information, please contact the site directors listed on the page for the medical center.
Starting with the recruitment cycle for the 2013-2014 training year, applications will be reviewed by the Central Bay Consortium Offices as they are received and forwarded by Kaiser Human Resources. Interviews will be offered to applicants on a rolling basis, beginning when the positions are posted and the application portal opens. All applicants are advised that the later an application is submitted, the fewer slots for interviews will be available.
To begin the application process, please click on the How to Apply heading above, and follow the procedure as listed. After completing the procedure, you may be contacted for additional information. If you are requested to send additional information, please follow the steps as listed, below.
The following three additional application items are specific to the Central Bay Consortium and should be provided only after being requested. These items should be sent via email attachment directly to the training director (myron.hays@kp.org). All items should be in PDF or Microsoft Word 97-2003 format (.DOC not .DOCX) format and clearly state the candidate's name on the top of each page. The subject heading of the email must identify the position (program/team) for which the applicant is applying.
The attachments should address the following information, respectively:
1) A letter of Intent, which must include the following information:
a) Specific team position that you are applying for (e.g., Adult, CD, etc.). If you are applying for more than one position, you must submit a separate application and letter of intent for each position that you are applying for
b) Timeline for completion of dissertation, including the date for the conclusion of your data collection and the date of your dissertation defense
c) Description of how your prior training and interests match the position
d) If your pre-doctoral internship program is NOT APA accredited, please indicate where your program is in the application process, or if your program is intending to apply for accreditation
2) One recently completed (with the prior six months) psychological testing report fully redacted with all identifying information removed.
3) A CV which clearly identifies your pre-doctoral internship and includes the name by which the internship program is listed in the online APA accreditation or APPIC directory
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