Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowships

Program Coordinators

Joy Kawamura, PhD, and Erin Olson, PhD

Program Overview

Seattle Children's has an international reputation for excellence in clinical care, research and teaching, and serves as the primary tertiary facility for pediatric care in the Pacific Northwest.

The primary goals of the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Clinical Psychology are to help fellows develop the clinical and research skills necessary to provide care for diverse pediatric populations and to receive advanced training to support a future career in a pediatric healthcare setting or university-based training program after fellowship completion.

Psychology postdoctoral fellows will participate in a variety of clinical and didactic experiences and will have opportunities to integrate research goals into their overall plan for the fellowship. In addition, fellows may have opportunities to participate in the supervision of psychology interns, and practicum students and to collaborate in multidisciplinary training opportunities. We strive to promote the strongest match possible between your training needs and goals, and our program mission and goals.

Specialty Program Opportunities

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Seattle Children’s is pleased to be recruiting for psychology postdoctoral fellows in the following programs for the 2024-2025 academic year:

• Autism Center
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Evidence-Based Intervention Training Design and Implementation
• Early Childhood Mental Health
• Mood Disorders and Digital Intervention Development
• OCD Intensive Outpatient Program
• Pediatric Psychology: Oncology Psychology
• UW LEAH Fellowship

Application Requirements

Applicants must have completed their training in an American Psychological Association (APA)- or Canadian Psychological Association (CPA)-accredited PhD or PsyD program in clinical, counseling or school psychology, as well as an APA-accredited internship. Applicants must have completed all doctoral degree requirements by the fellowship start date, including internship completion and successful dissertation defense. Preferred candidates will have a commitment to learn and actively engage in anti-racist work.

Salary and benefits

For the 2024-2025 academic year, the expected salary is $65,484.60. See a detailed description of benefits offered by Seattle Children's.

How to Apply

Please submit completed applications to the primary contact person listed below for each individual fellowship position. Final candidates will also need to apply through Seattle Children's Careers page.

All psychology postdoctoral fellowships will start in September 2024. Unless otherwise noted, psychology postdoctoral fellowships are a one-year commitment.

For More Information

General questions regarding the fellowship program should be directed to Joy Kawamura, PhD, director of postdoctoral training, Outpatient Psychiatry, at joy.kawamura@seattlechildrens.org, or Erin Olson, PhD, director of training, Seattle Children’s Autism Center, at erin.olson@seattlechildrens.org.

Fellowship Opportunities for 2024-2025

Autism Center (one position)

Seattle Children’s Hospital is currently recruiting a postdoctoral fellow specializing in autism for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year. The overall goal of the UW/Seattle Children's Autism Fellowship is to train the next generation of scientist-practitioners who will demonstrate leadership in the areas of service, training, research and excellence in the care of autistic individuals and their families. We are committed to training compassionate and ethical fellows, with a deep understanding of the specific and complex needs of autistic youth and their families.

Objectives of the UW/Seattle Children's Autism Center Postdoctoral Fellowship

Reflecting the complex and diverse nature of specialized clinical programs at Seattle Children’s Autism Center and research opportunities at UW, we are offering a one-year combined clinical/research postdoctoral fellowship, with the expectation that a minimum of 20% time is spent in research activities, with remaining time in clinical training at Seattle Children’s Autism Center. Research activities can include participation in ongoing studies at the UW and Seattle Children’s Research Institute, or engagement in clinical research activities at the Autism Center. Applicants should indicate the clinical rotations and research programs that are of interest. For additional information regarding rotations and research opportunities, please contact Dr. Erin Olson.

How to apply

Applicants should send a curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation and a letter of intent describing their clinical and research interests. Inquiries or applications can be sent to: Erin Olson, PhD, training director, Seattle Children’s Autism Center, at Erin.Olson@seattlechildrens.org.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Evidence-Based Intervention Training Design and Implementation (one position)

The University of Washington School of Medicine, in association with the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Seattle Children's Hospital, seeks applicants interested in opportunities to specialize in developing, implementing and studying scalable approaches to evidence-based training for community-based teams serving high-acuity youth in Washington state. The fellowship also provides the chance for specialized training in dialectical behavior therapy for youth and their families.

This one-year fellowship position will be approximately 60% program development and research with CoLab for community and behavioral health policy, and 40% outpatient clinical activities in the Adolescent Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT-A) Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

As a part of the CoLab team, the fellow will be involved in a collaboration with the Washington State Health Care Authority to develop a scalable training and coaching strategy for implementing an evidence-based intervention that integrates components from dialectical behavior therapy, behavioral parent management training and crisis intervention frameworks for high-acuity youth in Washington state. The project will expose the candidate to novel approaches in workforce training and systems planning, including digital training platforms and tailored implementation strategies.

The fellow will also be a part of Seattle Children’s Hospital's DBT team, where they will be involved in providing full comprehensive outpatient DBT for adolescents ages 13 to 17 and their families. The fellow may also have opportunities for other cross-service training and experiences within Seattle Children’s Hospital.

The fellow will also be involved in efforts to improve cultural competence and equity of care for diverse patients served across both projects/rotations.

Competitive applicants have interest and experience in clinical practice, program development, training and research focused on implementing culturally sensitive evidence-based care for high-risk youth and their families.

How to apply

Interested candidates should send a curriculum vitae, a letter of interest, a statement of individual and cultural diversity and three letters of recommendation. Email these to both Kyrill Gurtovenko, PhD, at gurtoven@uw.edu, and Sarah Walker, PhD, at secwalkr@uw.edu.

Please include in your letter of interest: experience with specific evidence-based treatments in a child clinical or pediatric population; theoretical orientation; research experience and interests; and relevant/specific experience with DBT.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Drs. Gurtovenko and Walker via email with any questions about the fellowship.

Early Childhood Mental Health (one position)

We are seeking a postdoctoral fellow in early childhood mental health and development to begin July 2024. The postdoctoral fellow will participate in an NIH-funded clinical trial testing a remote parent-focused intervention to promote language development in toddlers with cleft palate (Book-Sharing for Toddlers with Clefts – BOOST; Collett, PI). The fellow will participate in treatment delivery and fidelity coding, with opportunities for co-authorship, secondary data analyses and grant writing to support related research.

Our team has several other studies in progress on parent-focused interventions in vulnerable, under-served populations, and would invite fellows to assist with these efforts. Our studies include English- and Spanish-speaking families, providing multiple opportunities for research with culturally and linguistically diverse participants.

Postdoctoral fellows can receive up to 40% clinical training in our Early Childhood Clinic for children ages 0 to 4 years. This includes experience in child assessments and delivery of evidence-based treatments (e.g., Incredible Years, PC: CARE, PCIT). Postdoctoral fellows able to provide care in English and Spanish can see patients in a specialty clinic for Spanish-speaking patients (CALMA) with bilingual supervision.

How to apply

Interested candidates should send a current CV, a letter of interest describing research and clinical experience with young children and underserved populations and three letters of recommendation to both Brent Collett, PhD, at brent.collett@seattlechildrens.org, and Cindy Trevino, PhD, at cindy.trevino@seattlechildrens.org.

Please feel free to contact either Dr. Collett or Dr. Trevino with any questions.

Mood Disorders and Digital Intervention Development (one position)

The postdoctoral fellow will be hired through the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, as well as hold a clinical appointment at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The fellow will participate in research, professional development and clinical activities, including digital mental health intervention development, clinical trial implementation and development of scientific products (50%); direct clinical service that includes assessment and individual and group depression intervention (40%); and professional development (10%).

The training goals for this position include:

1. Hone clinical trial implementation and research evaluation skills.
2. Develop expertise in assessment, intervention, and advanced treatment decision-making for youth with depression and anxiety.
3. Gain proficiency in qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating digitally supported evidence-based treatments for adolescent depression.

This is a one-year appointment with the possibility of extending to a second year, contingent on funding. Specifically, this position will support a recently funded clinical trial through NIMH (R61MH132809; PI: Jessica Jenness, PhD) seeking to develop and test a novel digital just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) approach to evidence-based depression intervention in primary care for adolescents.

Research activities may include:

1. Assistance on clinical trial start-up activities such as IRB submission and maintenance, training research assistants on clinical and research protocols, and supervising research staff
2. Collaborating on creation and implementation of clinical trial recruitment protocols
3. Supervising data collection protocols
4. Conducting and supervising diagnostic assessment and research interviews as part of a clinical trial protocol
5. Conducting and supervising risk assessment and management protocols related to suicide, self-harm and general child safety

Clinical activities will include participation in Seattle Children’s Mood and Anxiety Program (MAP) conducting evidence-based assessment and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, conducting assessment and interventions for suicidality and professional development time. Professional development activities are dependent upon the fellow’s interests and may include advanced clinical training, first and co-authored manuscripts and conference presentations, grant preparation and advanced statistical training.

How to apply

Interested applicants should submit the following materials for consideration to Dr. Jessica Jenness at jennessj@uw.edu):

1. Current curriculum vitae
2. Letter of interest that includes your experience with conducting research in the area of adolescent depression treatment and/or digital mental health treatment development; evidence-based treatment of depression; and why you believe you are a good fit for this fellowship
3. Three letters of recommendation

OCD Intensive Outpatient Program (one position)

A full-time postdoctoral fellowship at Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (September 3, 2024 through August 31, 2025) in clinical child and adolescent psychology with focus on treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and related disorders.

While the primary placement will be in the OCD Intensive Outpatient Program, time will also be spent in the Mood and Anxiety Outpatient Clinic (which serves clients with a broad range of presenting concerns). Goals are to provide clinical, research and program development training in the evidence-based treatment of OCD, other anxiety disorders and co-occurring disorders.

Evidence-based treatments emphasized include but are not limited to CBT for OCD and other anxiety disorders; exposure and response prevention; comprehensive behavioral intervention for tics (CBIT); CBT and HRT for body-focused repetitive behaviors; behavioral activation for depression; and CBT for insomnia.

Fellows will have an opportunity to receive inter-professional training on a variety of topics (family-centered care, health equity, bias, technology-facilitated healthcare) through didactic, clinical and experiential learning opportunities. Fellows are allotted 0.2 FTE to engage in our ongoing research and program development.

Ideal candidates have some experience with behavioral treatment of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, and an interest in OCD.

How to apply

To apply, applicants should submit the following materials:

1. Current curriculum vitae
2. Letter of interest that includes your experience with evidence-based treatment, theoretical orientation relevant experience with anxiety disorders in children, and why you believe you are a good fit for this fellowship
3. Three letters of recommendation

All application materials should be sent in one email to Kaylene.West@seattlechildrens.org with the subject line: “Fellowship Applicant: [Your full name].”

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis beginning immediately. Competitive candidates will be offered interviews. Applications will be accepted until the position has been filled.

For questions about the fellowship please contact Geoffrey Wiegand, PhD, at geoffrey.wiegand@seattlechildrens.org; Lisa Barrois, PhD, at lisa.barrois@seattlechildrens.org; and Kalina Babeva, PhD, at kalina.babeva@seattlechildrens.org.

Pediatric Psychology: Oncology Psychology (one position)

The Oncology Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship is designed to prepare the postdoctoral level trainee for a career in a medical-academic setting providing behavioral healthcare to medically ill children in a multidisciplinary setting. The fellow will work primarily with patients served in the Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and provide behavioral health assessments/interventions; short and longer-term individual and family therapy; psychological diagnostic evaluations; and group interventions.

Additional experiences in other medical subspecialty clinics have historically been incorporated into the fellow’s training based on availability and training goals. Such experiences have included work in diabetes, pulmonology, cardiology, nephrology and gastroenterology. Additionally, the fellow will be allotted 0.2 FTE (one day/week) to participate in program development aligned with standards for psychosocial care for children with cancer and their families and research related to psychosocial outcomes in pediatric oncology.

There are also opportunities to supervise practicum students in a tiered supervision model in the Cancer Survivorship Clinic (pending practicum student recruitment).

This fellowship is jointly supervised by Drs. Joanna Patten and Sherilynn Chan.

How to apply

Applicants should send a curriculum vitae; a letter of interest including a rank-ordered list of minor rotation preferences; a diversity, equity and inclusion statement; and three letters of recommendation, via email, to Dr. Joanna Patten at Joanna.patten@seattlechildrens.org. Applications will be accepted and reviewed until the position has been filled.

UW LEAH Program (one position)

Leadership in Adolescent Health Education Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship

UW LEAH is dedicated to training future leaders in adolescent health with the goal of reducing health disparities, as well as improving health equity and services delivery for adolescents. UW LEAH fellows and trainees participate in mentored, hands-on and didactic training in adolescent health, focusing on interdisciplinary practice, leadership skills, clinical work with adolescents, research, public health, advocacy and policy.

This fellowship is a partnership between the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital. The fellow is employed by the University of Washington.

How to apply

Interested applicants should submit an online application, which includes a brief personal statement describing your background, particular interests in adolescent health and how LEAH multidisciplinary training will further your goals; and a copy of your curriculum vitae or resume.

Applicants will also need to email two letters of recommendation to the UW LEAH Program Coordinator, Division of Adolescent Medicine, at uwleah@seattlechildrens.org.