|
|
Training Programs at Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine
The Menninger Clinic Postdoctoral Training Program in Clinical Psychology
The Menninger Clinic is a not-for-profit inpatient psychiatric treatment center serving adolescents and adults with a broad range of psychiatric and substance abuse problems. Specialty units include an Adolescent Treatment Program, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Treatment Program, Eating Disorders Programs for adults and adolescents, a Young Adult Program, Professionals in Crisis Program and the Hope Program for severely mentally ill patients. Treatment follows an integrated biopsychosocial model in which pharmacological, psychotherapeutic and systems approaches are employed to assist patients in understanding and managing their symptoms. Much attention is given to careful and thorough diagnosis and a compassionate, client-centered approach to patient care.
General Clinical Track
The core training experience on this track centers on the fellow’s work as Primary Clinician on one or more hospital programs, currently including Hope, Compass Young Adult Program and Professionals in Crisis. The Hope unit serves a population of chronically/severely disturbed or addicted adults. Compas is a young adult program with patients ages 18-30, most often with dual diagnosis disorders. The Professionals in Crisis Program is oriented toward professional people, often with combinations of impairing psychiatric and addiction problems.
Working on an interdisciplinary treatment team, the fellow integrates diagnostic formulations into treatment planning, meets with the rest of the team in weekly rounds, and provides individual evaluation and therapy services, as well as family evaluation, therapy and discharge planning for patients. In addition to these responsibilities, fellows provide psychological testing. Testing and evaluation are seen as central parts of the learning experience on this track, as fellows receive a combination of didactic seminars and intensive supervision in this area. The fellow also sees several individual therapy patients from other clinical teams and programs, usually 2-3 times per week, and co-leads group therapy.
Opportunities also exist for fellows to gain experience with focal patient populations, in psychological testing/assessment outside of the core rotation. According to the fellow’s interest, evaluation of patients with primary eating disorders, substance abuse and/or obsessive-compulsive disorders can be done.
Fellows conduct group and individual therapy both for patients on the units where they are assigned and for those on other units. Fellows carry four to eight hours per week of individual and group therapy, family therapy and/or family intervention, in addition to their primary clinician duties.
Research opportunities
Fellows are encouraged to become involved in ongoing research activities at the hospital, which include program evaluation, protocols for Positive Psychology interventions, and work on theoretical models including applications of mentalizing/ theory of mind and application to treatment of patients with Axis II pathology.
Supervision and Didactic Training
Senior staff psychologists provide approximately 5 hours of clinical supervision per week. The theoretical orientation is integrative, broadly and flexibly psychodynamic, with cognitive behavior therapy, family systems and other skills-building and empirically supported treatment approaches represented.
Didactic training includes a weekly case conference seminar, Baylor Psychiatry Department grand rounds, a psychodynamically-oriented psychological testing seminar and a course in family intervention and therapy for primary clinicians.
Qualifications
- PhD or PsyD in clinical or counseling psychology
- Completion of an APA-accredited predoctoral internship
- Experience in a psychiatric inpatient setting
- Experience administering psychological test batteries including projective measures
Application/start dates
- Applications for the 2007-2008 class will be reviewed beginning Feb. 1, 2008
- July 1, 2008 is the preferred start date, but this is negotiable
Benefits
- Salary is $34,000
- Health insurance, vacation, and sick leave
To apply
Send completed, modified APPIC application form (download your copy), curriculum vitae, 3 letters from clinical supervisors and others familiar with clinical and academic work to:
Patty Daza, PhD, Director of Psychology Training
The Menninger Clinic
2801 Gessner
Houston, TX 77080
E-mail: pdaza@menninger.edu
Phone: 713-275-5421
CBT for Obsessive-Compulsive/Anxiety Disorders Track
The Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Treatment Program at the Menninger Clinic, with a capacity of 15 patients, is a specialized program providing intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy, medication and milieu treatment for adults and adolescents with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), OCD spectrum disorders and other anxiety disorders. Its treatment philosophy is rooted in evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Patients suffering from OCD frequently also struggle with other anxiety symptoms such as social anxiety and panic, as well as with varying degrees of depression. Patients also may meet criteria for disorders on the OCD spectrum such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Tourette Syndrome, Trichotillomania or Hypochondriasis.
Clinical responsibilities
The goal of this track is to become experienced in implementing different evidence-based protocols for treatment of depression and anxiety disorders, with the primary focus on OCD. The fellow at the Menninger OCD Treatment Program functions as the cognitive-behavioral therapist on the multidisciplinary clinical team, integrating diagnostic formulations with cognitive-behavioral therapy, reporting the patient’s progress to the treatment team in weekly rounds, providing family liaison/family therapy services and coordinating discharge planning. The fellow is the patient’s primary therapist and his or her advocate to the treatment team, using established measures to assist in treatment planning, and working closely with patients to identify their hierarchies of OCD triggers. Opportunities exist to provide consultation about and treat challenging patients on other units, including those with eating disorders, chemical dependency and severe psychiatric illnesses.
Research opportunities
Research opportunities also exist depending upon area of interest and feasibility. The postdoctoral fellow is in charge of the extensive battery of testing is provided to all patients on the OCD unit at admission and discharge. In addition, a smaller battery of testing is administered every other week to monitor progress. These tests are being used to monitor for treatment effectiveness (e.g., measures of specific OCD symptoms, anxiety, perfectionism, depression). While most of the tests are self-administered, a few require clinician administration, such as the SCID-I & II, and the RBANS.
Supervision and Didactic Training
The program director, Throstur Bjorgvinsson, PhD, provides primary supervision, a minimum of one hour a week. Additional supervision is available from other members of the multidisciplinary team.
The postdoctoral fellow is offered the option of attending any of the many seminars, including the grand rounds at Baylor College of Medicine and other seminars provided for the staff at The Menninger Clinic.
Qualifications
- PhD in clinical or counseling psychology
- Completion of an APA-accredited predoctoral internship
- Experience in the assessment and treatment of anxiety
- Evidence of research productivity is a plus
Start date
July 1, 2007 preferred, but negotiable
Benefits
- Salary is $34,000
- Health insurance, vacation, and sick leave
To apply
Send letter of research interests, curriculum vitae, reprints (if available), and 2 letters of recommendation to:
Throstur Bjorgvinsson, PhD
Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
The Menninger Clinic
2801 Gessner
PO Box 809045
Houston, TX 77280
E-mail: tbjorgvinsson@menninger.edu
Phone: 713-275-5420
|
