The goal of the Adult Clinical and Health Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship is to train fellows in the development of advanced clinical skills, interdisciplinary professionalism, and leadership in both clinical and health psychology for assessment and treatment of adult patients with a wide range of emotional, behavioral and health problems.
Our program of training is comprised of two APA psychology specialties: Clinical Psychology and Clinical Health Psychology. Our fellowship fits best for a psychology graduate who has previous adult clinical psychology training, counseling psychology training, or solid generalist skills in assessment and psychotherapy treatment with a background in adult psychopathology and psychotherapy interventions. It is anticipated that psychologists completing this training program intend to work with adult patients in multidisciplinary health care or community settings as a major emphasis for their careers. Satisfactory completion of this postdoctoral training program meets all postdoctoral supervised practice requirements for licensure in the state of Wisconsin.
Overview
During our one-year fellowship program, fellows provide a wide variety of traditional outpatient clinical services and integrated health psychology services in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health,
Department of Oncology and Hematology,
Psychological Testing Service,
Bariatric Surgery Program, and Primary Care Behavioral Health Service in the Internal Medicine Department. Fellows also provide services in conjunction with the
Sleep Medicine Department. We follow a training model of structured skill development that entails shadowing, to supervised practice, to independent practice. Training for various services is guided by defined observable practice activities (OPAs).
Fellows receive two to three hours per week of scheduled individual supervision with additional supervision of direct clinical activities. Fellows gain 20–30 hours per week of clinical practice experience across diverse clinical services. Fellowship training is anchored by numerous didactic experiences including a weekly Adult Core Fellowship Seminar, monthly Professionalism, Ethics, and Leadership Seminar, clinical service team meetings, Grand Rounds, and other learning activities. Through these training activities, fellows gain both breadth and depth of clinical knowledge and experience.
The fellowship encourages use of a variety of therapeutic approaches
grounded in evidence-based practice. Faculty supervisors are
integrative in their therapeutic approach with an emphasis on
Cognitive-Behavioral, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Interpersonal, and Acceptance
and Commitment therapeutic orientations. Fellows receive extensive
training in assessment and intervention to include: diagnostic evaluation,
psychological testing, consultation, individual therapy, marital/family
therapy; and structured patient education. Fellows additionally gain
experience working in multidisciplinary teams, interacting with administration,
and engaging in program development and advocacy. We anticipate that
graduates of this fellowship will progress in their careers to function at
leadership levels.
Training Opportunities:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Fellows work with adults exhibiting a wide range of emotional and behavioral problems including adjustment disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, behavioral disorders, medical conditions, and relationship distress. The patient population covers a broad spectrum of psychopathology, symptomatology, and functioning spanning from seeing patients typical of those presenting to community mental health settings, to patients with significant medical comorbidity, to patients who are highly accomplished professionals. This breadth provides fellows a full range of clinical exposure to diverse patient populations. Assessment includes diagnostic evaluation, collateral contacts with family and other professionals, psychological testing, and use of screening instruments. The fellow conducts diagnostic assessments, conceptualizes cases, develops treatment plans, collaborates with other professionals for care of a patient, and implements interventions. Interventions include individual psychotherapy, marital/family therapy, and consultation. Fellows train in short-term psychotherapy and consultation involving rapid assessment and formulation of interventions. Fellows gain experience with long-term psychotherapy with persistent conditions such as trauma, clinical depression, and personality disorders. Fellows have many opportunities to collaborate with other professionals to include psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical social workers, and nurses.
Department of Oncology and Hematology
Fellows work with adult patients diagnosed with cancer as part of the Psycho-Oncology Service. Fellows work in consultation with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, neuro-oncologists, surgeons, nurse practitioners, nurses, patient navigators, medical social workers, and medical assistants to meet patient care needs. Brief assessment, consultation, and individual and family consultation are provided to patients screening high in distress and/or requesting Health Psychology services as part of their medical care. Fellows gain exposure to adjustment disorders, anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric disorders precipitated or exacerbated by a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment and learn to treat these conditions in the context of cancer. Fellows learn how to interact effectively and efficiently with medical specialists, document services in medical records, and participate in a variety of team based meetings to include Cancer Committee, Breast Cancer Committee, HPC Transplant Committee, and the Oncology Continuum of Care Committee.
Psychological Testing Service
In the Psychological Testing Service, fellows administer and interpret comprehensive psychological evaluations to assess for anxiety, depression, thought disorders, personality traits, atypical behaviors, ADHD, and cognitive disorders. Fellows become proficient at administering and interpreting objective personality measures with additional training opportunities in cognitive, academic, executive functioning, and projective personality measures. Fellows learn to combine testing data, relevant background information, and other sources of data into an integrative report. Fellows become skilled at communicating the results to patients and medical professionals.
Bariatric Surgery Program
Fellows join a team of multidisciplinary providers and staff who comprise the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence program. Fellows learn to conduct comprehensive pre-surgical psychological evaluations with patients seeking bariatric surgery. Fellows become proficient at record review and report writing. Fellows also learn to communicate diagnostic impressions and recommendations to the treatment team regarding a patient's candidacy for surgery, management of the patient through the pre to post-surgical regime, and any mental health treatment needs that the patient may have requiring alignment of additional resources.
Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH)
PCBH training includes rapid diagnostic evaluation, proficiency with use of screening instruments, brief psychotherapy intervention, and consultation and coordination of care with primary care physicians, psychiatrists, integrated behavioral health nurses, nurse practitioners, and other staff within an embedded integrated care service. Services in PCBH center around management of mental health conditions and chronic disease with patients seen in the primary care setting.
Sleep Medicine Program
Fellows learn to provide an array of cognitive/behavioral and mindfulness-based psychotherapy interventions for the treatment of insomnia and other sleep disorders diagnosed at either the Marshfield Medical Center Sleep Lab and by physicians and APCs in the health system. Fellows learn to coordinate care with neurologists, nurse practitioners, and other staff specializing in Sleep Medicine.
