Postdoctoral Residency in Health Service Psychology

Aims and Objectives of the Residency

 The goal of the residency program is to provide advanced training in Health Service Psychology and enhance professional identity as a psychologist so that graduates are eligible for independent practice and employment in a variety of settings in professional psychology, with specialized experience in college counseling centers, student health centers or other services/centers within higher education. We are committed to training professionals for the independent and interdependent professional practice of psychology within a community psychology model of service delivery. We provide a unique training opportunity for the application of therapy, outreach, consultation and multicultural counseling to a diverse student population.

Specific objectives include:

• Consolidation of clinical skills by maintaining a regular caseload, facilitating groups, attending formal and informal training, and receiving weekly supervision with cases.
• Continued strengthening and integration of awareness, knowledge and skills pertaining to working with diverse college populations.
• Consolidation of crisis management skills through managing urgent cases on personal caseload and managing regular urgent care shifts with appropriate supervision and back-up support.
• Consolidation of outreach and consultation skills through outreach and consultation opportunities, shadowing, and ongoing consultation and mentoring from secondary supervisors.
• Hone skills essential to function and thrive in a University Counseling Center.

Competencies

• Integration of Science and Practice
• Individual and Cultural Diversity (awareness, knowledge, & skills)
• Legal and Ethical Standards
• Professionalism (professional values, attitudes and behaviors)
• Clinical Competence (intervention, therapeutic skills, crisis intervention, group psychotherapy)
• Consultation and Interpersonal/Interdisciplinary Skills (outreach and consultation skills)

Training Setting

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) is known as one of the top research universities in the world, located in beautiful La Jolla, California. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), a unit within the UC San Diego Health cluster of Student Health and Wellbeing, delivers campus-based mental health services for a wide range of psychological problems and clinical conditions within the undergraduate, graduate, and professional school student clientele. CAPS staff and Postdoc Residents provide multicultural, multidisciplinary, and student centered psychological services within a community based setting, To that end, a primary decentralized strategy has been employed in locating CAPS staff members within the university setting. CAPS staff and Postdoctoral residents have a primary office location in one of the seven undergraduate colleges on the UCSD campus or at the Student Health Center. About two thirds of the professional staff have been grouped into small teams and placed in offices within, or near the administrative complexes of the eight undergraduate colleges on the UCSD campus. These colleges include Revelle College, John Muir College, Thurgood Marshall College, Eleanore Roosevelt College, Earl Warren College, Sixth College, Seventh College and Eighth College.. Each of these colleges have their own separate sets of general education requirements and academic philosophies, as well as having their own separate academic advising service.

The remaining CAPS staff are housed at Revelle College in a central service office. Other staff have offices at the Women’s Center, OASIS and the International Center. The decentralized nature of CAPS allows for the application of the community mental health model which is deeply ingrained in the provision of services provided. Because the colleges are the places on campus where programs involving residential life, undergraduate activities, and academic advising are centered, they can be productive staging areas for psychological outreach and consultation services. The college outreach team, usually consisting of a Postdoc, and two senior staff members, serve as in-house, psychological consultants to the administration of the college.

Trainees and staff spend the majority of the time in these locations providing direct services. Most of the CAPS’ administrative meetings, Postdoc training seminars, group services and emergency/urgent care services take place at the central service offices. As a result, there is frequently a mix of college counselors and Postdocs with Central staff throughout the week. This encourages professional enrichment, as well as reinforcing the staff's primary identification with CAPS. Additionally, since the Central Service is removed from the colleges and their administrative complexes, its location offers a more private entry-point for undergraduate students seeking services.

Training Experiences

The formal and informal training opportunities that strengthen the resident’s knowledge base, in concert with clinical experience, allow the residents to further consolidate their learning and to meet the competencies and objectives of the Residency. The residents work with various staff in different capacities throughout the year in a planned sequence which includes orientation, training seminars, supervision, professional development, group supervision and consultation/outreach. The components and sequence of the training year includes:

• Orientation training lasts several weeks commencing at the beginning of the training year and lasts several weeks. This encompasses learning about CAPS policies and procedures, electronic record-keeping, urgent care procedures, and the campus’s multiple college system as well as being familiarized with campus resources/agencies available to students.
• Individual supervision is provided for two hours every week.
• Group supervision is provided for one hour every week. Each week the focus varies on the following topics: ethics, multicultural/diversity issues, and clinical psychology topics relevant to the training experience. 
• Each resident provides in-house Consultation and Outreach services as part of a small CAPS team (with two licensed clinicians) within one of the eight colleges on the UCSD campus where the resident’s office is located. This involves 1-2 hours every week.
• In addition each resident is assigned an Outreach/Consultation emphasis area providing focused services to a specific student population (see below) for approximately 5-7 hours per week.
• Optional Research meetings with a paired research mentor, provides professional development allowing residents to discuss, develop and receive guidance and supervision in research skills and optional resident research project (see below). The typical time allocation is 1-2 hours per week.
• Secondary supervision is provided as needed on a weekly basis and may entail supervision related to group therapy, consultation, outreach, or requested areas of specialty.
• Case Consultation Teams offers an opportunity to discuss case conceptualization and explore ethical dilemmas and uses of transference and countertransference within multidisciplinary teams. Case teams are offered for one hour every week.
• Monthly Training Seminar series presenting on clinical issues and treatment intervention skills with specific student populations such as Latinx, Black, Eating Disorders, trauma informed care, etc.
• Monthly, Professional Development visitor series where staff or invited community psychologists discuss the integration of their treatment modalities and their professional journeys and work both in and out of counseling center settings.
• Formal half-day or all-day in-service and continuing education trainings on professional topics such as ethics and supervision are offered three to five times throughout the year for all staff.
• Informal in-service trainings are offered frequently throughout the year to keep the staff up to date on pertinent topics (e.g. working with Disability Services).
• Throughout the year the residents work with various staff and have the opportunity to learn from their expertise.
• Residents attend weekly CAPS staff meetings which allow them to learn about the administrative functioning of a University Counseling Center.

Outreach and Emphasis Areas

In addition to providing outreach and consultation services within the individual colleges where postdoc offices are located, Postdoc Residents will be matched to one of the following emphasis areas for approximately 5-7 hours of focused outreach, program development and consultation experiences, with the exception of the Behavioral Health Specialty which is a fully embedded experience:

• Flourishing Initiatives/Positive Psychology: The postdoc in this area focuses on providing in-person and virtual outreach, workshops, and presentations. They also assist in creating well-being content (e.g., new workshop development, digital handouts, videos, podcasts) and provide consultation to campus community and partners that focuses on student mental health, resilience and well-being. The postdoc creates and organizes content for the Student Health and Well-being weekly newsletter. Some of the major projects included in this emphasis area are: facilitating a RISE Workshop for Fall quarter, workshop development and presentation for the Student Well Fest in Winter quarter, and coordination of “May is Mental Health Month” in the Spring quarter. If desired, there may be an opportunity to co-facilitate Outback Adventures/Tritons Flourish day and/or weekend trips. This position includes regular meetings and collaborations with Dr. O’Meara. Additional opportunities may also include, but are not limited to: outreach and consultation for student organizations, program development for prevention and well-being, assisting in management of iFlourish online tech offerings (e.g., Headspace), and marketing and advertising. To learn more about the Tritons Flourish Initiative please visit our webpages (Tritons Flourish, RISE Program & Workshops, iFlourish Self-Care Resources).
• Community Centers Outreach: The postdoc in this position collaborates with an identified community center psychologist in determining places/spaces on campus to focus on for outreach, training and consultation serving under-represented student groups. This is based upon needs of the campus community and goals of the resident. Past communities identified have been undocumented students, international students, black students, Latinx students and, Asian students to name a few.
• Graduate Students: The postdoc assigned works in collaboration with the Graduate Student program manager providing consultation, training and outreach services for the various graduate student populations on campus (masters and doctoral level students). This includes the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Business as well as the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Activities have included providing workshops on topics such as imposter syndrome, questioning career transitions and graduate student support groups.
• Behavioral Health Specialty: This is an embedded experience in which the postdoc assigned will be housed at the UCSD Student Health Services Center. The postdoc will work collaboratively with a CAPS psychologist and psychiatrist providing mental health services for students seen at the Student Health Center. They will also work in partnership with the medical health professionals at the center providing consultation services within a behavioral health framework.
• Eating Disorders: This program is developed in collaboration with the UCSD Eating Disorders Program. It is an on-campus program for students with the goal to provide a comprehensive, campus option for disordered eating and/or body weight issues. The postdoc works collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team which includes psychiatry, psychology, primary care, nutrition and LCSW providers.
• Athletics: This emphasis area involves the postdoc joining the CAPS Sport Psychology Outreach/Resource Team (SPORT). The post doc will work with the CAPS SPORT psychologists in providing support, outreach and consultation to UC San Diego's Intercollegiate Athletics Department (ICA) and the NCAA Division I program. This may include activities such as brief telephone assessments for scholar athletes (SAs), coordination of yearly mental health screenings for all SAs, drop-in, support spaces as well as providing leadership and performance enhancement skills training and workshops for SAs that would count toward CMPC hours. CAPS SPORT also provides consultative services to coaching, administrative, athletic training, sport medicine and other ICA departmental staff.
• Tritons RISE Ambassador Program: The Tritons RISE Ambassador postdoc will be involved in coordination of the Tritons RISE Ambassador Program. This will include the training and development of Tritons RISE Ambassadors, the supervision and implementation of preventative interventions (i.e. outreach presentations, workshops, and tabling events), and helping to increase awareness of skill-building and educational mental health resources. In collaboration with campus partners, the RISE Ambassador postdoc will also help to plan, develop, and facilitate campus-wide outreach events focused on well-being. The postdoc will attend weekly RISE Ambassador meetings held on Monday afternoons and provide ongoing supervision to the RISE Ambassadors. A more detailed description of your responsibilities will be provided at the start of your position. Review more information about the larger Tritons RISE Together Program.
• Urgent Care Specialty: The postdoc assigned will be housed at CAPS Central’s Urgent Care office.  Under direct supervision, the postdoc will be responsible for the delivery of crisis intervention services and urgent mental health support to students on a walk-in basis. In addition, the person in this role will participate in a range of activities including conducting triage assessments, providing consultation to clinical staff and campus community members, delivering bridge care and case management support, and serve on the Hospitalization Oversight Team. The resident may be responsible for coordination of a post-hospitalization discharge plan in collaboration with other UCSD departments (Emergency, College Mental Health Program, and Student Affairs Case Management).

Supervised Experiences

Residents gain experience in the provision of a wide variety of activities including:

• Individual and Group Counseling/Psychotherapy: The counseling center provides short-term individual counseling for the diverse UCSD student population, which includes undergraduate, graduate and professional school students. They may also lead or co-lead a psychotherapy group such as Building Social Confidence, Interpersonal Process, etc. Residents provide 14-17 hours of these services each week which also includes 3 hours of initial assessments (intakes). 
• Crisis Intervention/Triage: Every other week, residents provide 4.5 hour, half-day urgent care shifts in which they provide crisis intervention, consultation and brief triage appointments for CAPS walk-in service. These urgent services are offered at the CAPS Central Office where multiple licensed staff (including the Assistant Clinical Director of Urgent Care Services) are housed and available for consultation and support. Residents receive several hours of urgent care training during their first month of orientation as well as a follow up refresher training just prior to their first scheduled urgent care shift.  
• Consultation/Outreach and Program Development: Residents provide on average 1 hour of consultation/outreach services in the college setting where they are housed and additionally 5-7 hours within their emphasis areas described above. Each resident works in concert with a licensed staff clinician who also provides consultation and outreach in the particular area as well as under the direction of the Director for Outreach Services. Initial training is provided in the first weeks of orientation on such topics as the role of a consultant in the college setting, the delivery of high quality and professional outreach presentations, tabling strategies and practices to name a few. Each resident also meets regularly with their emphasis supervisor for secondary supervision related to program development, and ongoing needs assessment for the population in which they are serving. 

Other Optional Activities

• Resident Research Project: In order to develop and enhance program evaluation and research skills, each resident has the option for participating in a research, program evaluation, or program development project. This project is supervised by a psychologist mentor at UCSD CAPS. At the beginning of the training year, postdocs will meet with the CAPS Information Systems (IS) Director, along with several identified CAPS psychologists interested in research, to discuss and identify possible projects. Postdocs will be matched with a mentor with similar research interests and propose a project to the IS Director. The IS Director will review proposed projects and provide feedback and guidance on the selection of a project that is both meaningful and practical to complete within the timeframe of the residency year. Postdocs will meet with their mentor periodically throughout the year and at the end of the year will present to CAPS staff on their project. 
• Committee/Administrative Work: Residents have the opportunity to participate in various counseling center committees such as the Training Committee, Staff Wellness Committee, Outreach Committee. In this capacity they work with other counseling center career staff in addressing and assessing various needs of the center as well as gaining an understanding of the administrative work involved in a university counseling center.
• Psychological Testing: Residents have the opportunity to further develop and consolidate administration and interpretation of psychological testing under the supervision of the CAPS testing coordinator, a licensed testing psychologist. Typical assessments include ADHD and ASD testing.

Sample Resident Work Week

Average Hours Per Week:

Clinical

Program Responsibilities

The residency program assumes the following responsibilities to ensure residents receive comprehensive, ethical, and professional training:

• The residency program will provide orientation to residents which highlight the following:
  • University system; CAPS Center
  • Statement of goals for their residency
  • Review of the standards and guidelines
  • Access to and review of Policies and Procedures Manual (P&P)
  • Review of competency expectations and evaluation criteria
• The residency program will provide supervision by licensed psychologists who adhere to professional legal and ethical guidelines.
• The residency program will provide ongoing formal and informal feedback to facilitate the professional development and growth of the residents. These forums for feedback include, but are not limited to:
  • Self-evaluation at beginning, mid, and end of residency year.
  • Written evaluations at mid and end of residency year.
  • Quarterly meetings with Training Director and informal meetings as necessary.
  • Regular, weekly meetings with primary supervisor.
  • As needed meetings with secondary supervisors e.g., in emphasis areas, or colleges.
  • Regular supervisors’ meetings may generate additional feedback session.

Outreach Experience

Consultation Experience

Decentralized Model

Support from Others

Urgent Care

Highlights of Working at UC San Diego

Bryan Balvaneda, Ph.D.

Wenhsin Chang, Ph.D.

David Diaz, Ph.D.

Fengqin Lian, Ph.D.

Louie Limas, Ph.D.

Tay McCavanagh, Psy.D.

Michael McGlenn, Psy.D.

Shane Saenz, Psy.D., CMPC

Allison Wagner, Ph.D.

Learn more about the Training Committee and Supervisors’ Group on our staff page.

POST-DOCTORAL RESIDENCY ANNOUNCEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR 2025-26 (PDF) 

Former Post-Doctoral Residents & First Job Post-Training Year

Links & Forms for Residents:

POST-DOCTORAL RESIDENCY ANNOUNCEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR 2025-26 (PDF)

• Post-Doctoral Resident Evaluation Form (PDF)
• Post-Doctoral Resident Program Evaluation Form (PDF)
• Due Process and Grievance Procedures for Trainees (PDF)
• Postdoctoral Residency Program Tables (PDF)