Career Opportunities

Come join our one-year clinical postdoctoral fellowship that is designed to provide fellows with a comprehensive understanding of assessment and treatment approaches for people who are experiencing behavioral sequelae and/or consequences associated with medical conditions or who are identified in routine primary care for needing behavioral health support. Fellows will have the opportunity to interact with patients, partners, families, care team members, and other learners in both outpatient and inpatient medical settings as well as consultation to inpatient hospital settings. Fellows will develop skills in evidenced-based targeted assessment, brief intervention, consultation to medical teams, and advocacy for patients. They will serve as integral members of our interprofessional inpatient and outpatient teams. This Fellow will also have the opportunity to work with the integrated care team on a scholarly project during their fellowship year to include program development.

Located in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico, UNMH is an outstanding public, safety-net, academic medical system affiliated with the University of New Mexico and UNM’s School of Medicine. UNMH provides medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, and vision services to our diverse, complex, underserved communities in Bernalillo County and across the state of New Mexico. The community we serve is 49.8% Hispanic/Latino and 4.8% Native American with numerous other ethnic minority groups represented. Approximately 80% of our patients are covered by Medicaid.

UNMH has a strong tradition of interdisciplinary integrated care. The multiple clinical sites within UNMH’s Behavioral Health Clinical Services line also support an APA-accredited doctoral clinical psychology internship, as well as numerous post-doctoral fellowship programs. Psychologists are full members of the Medical Staff and have letters of academic title within the School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry. Psychologists are both staff and faculty, contributing to direct patient care in a variety of settings (i.e., inpatient medicine, outpatient medicine, inpatient/outpatient specialty behavioral health, as well as consultant neuropsychology and psychology) and contributing to important research that serves New Mexicans. Training is a vital part of our service to New Mexico as we seek to support learners of various levels learning the role of psychology in medical care.

TRAINING STRUCTURE

Each fellow is accepted on an individual training plan tailored to the interests and career goals of the fellow. Training plans may include a mix of psychological and neuropsychological assessment, psychotherapeutic modalities such as individual, family, or group therapy, consultation, program development / improvement, teaching, supervision training, staff meetings, and didactics.

Fellows participate in 2 hours of formal training each week including a mental health didactic and Socratic seminar with their peers and other new employees, along with 2 hours of individual supervision. In reality, using a developmental approach, fellows receive much more supervision within the context of clinical work.  They present a professional topic during the clinic’s weekly didactic series and present patient cases during our Socratic seminar and clinic treatment team. Fellows assist with the supervision of at least one junior trainee (including cross disciplinary supervision) under the direction and oversight of their primary supervisor. Additionally, fellows complete a quality improvement or program development project.

Some of the evidence-based approaches that our training has had available during the training year includes but is not limited to:

·         Motivational Interviewing (MI) / Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)

·         Behavioral Activation

·         Cognitive Behavioral Relapse Prevention

·         Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Pain

·         Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) and Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training (CRAFT)

·         Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)

·         Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD

·         Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy

·         Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

·         Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)

·         and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

SITE

We have one opening for the Integrated Care Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow hired within UNMH. Fellows will have the unique opportunity to learn and implement evidence-based treatments and best practices through direct clinical service to individuals in primary care clinics. Fellows will gain experience providing assessment, intervention, and consultation to a wide array of comorbid psychological and medical conditions at UNMH. Fellows will provide psychological assessment and intervention to improve function as well as reduce the impact of psychiatric symptoms on medical illness and treatment.

UNMH offers competitive salary and a generous benefits package. All fellows are admitted into the full-time training programs in August or September of the starting year through August of the next year. This is a full-time, in-person position and requires routine vaccinations, a health screen, and completion of all required trainings associated with employment at UNMH.

UNMH’s Postdoctoral Training Program fulfills the licensure requirements for postdoctoral supervision in the jurisdiction of the program (New Mexico). We are committed to recruit, support and retain a diverse staff and therefore we encourage women and minority applicants.

QUALIFICATIONS:

·         Have received a Doctorate from an APA accredited graduate program in Clinical, Counseling, School, or Combined Psychology. Persons with a doctorate in another area of psychology who meet the APA criteria for re-specialization training in Clinical, Counseling, School, or Combined Psychology are also eligible.

·         Have completed an internship program accredited by the APA. The only exception regarding accreditation is for those who complete a new VA or other Federal internship that is not yet accredited. Please inquire if you the internship falls into this category.

HOW TO APPLY / APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

Applicants wishing to apply should submit a letter of interest and curriculum vitae to Dr. Kathryn Lenberg, Director of Integrated Behavioral Health Clinical Services and Training Director for Behavioral Health Clinical Services, at klenberg@salud.unm.edu. Notification for interview will be done within two weeks of receipt of materials. Candidates will be contacted by phone or email to set up a video conferencing interview with training and supervising psychologists involved in the fellowship training.

We look forward to your application and the many possibilities to expand your career!