Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellowships
Our year-long Pediatric and Adult Health and Rehabilitation Psychology fellowships develops and strengthens future clinicians' ability to assess and treat a wide mental health concerns.
Overview
The Pediatric Psychology Fellowship is a 1-year fellowship, while the Adult Health and Rehabilitation Psychology Fellowship is a 1-year fellowship with the option to extend it to 2 years. The anticipated start date for both programs is September 8, 2025. The end date for both programs is September 4, 2026, if the Adult Health and Rehabilitation Psychology fellow decides to complete a 1-year training experience.
The Adult Psychology Post-Doctoral Fellowship is not recruiting for the 2025-2026 academic year and will not be accepting applications.
Of all fellowship graduates:
100%
retained post-fellowship employment
50%
practice at Gundersen
Fellowship goals and objectives
Pediatric program
Mission and vision
- Our vision is to train excellent, early-career pediatric psychologists.
- Our mission is to train culturally competent fellows, who will graduate from their fellowship experience with the clinical and professional background necessary to be highly competitive for the position of their choosing.
Aim of fellowship
- Function independently as a psychologist in a medical center and outpatient practice setting, providing evidence-based psychological assessment and treatment to children with a variety of medical and psychological conditions
- Complete supervised training requirements necessary to obtain state licensure to practice psychology (the fellowship meets licensure requirements for licensure in the state of Wisconsin)
Competencies of fellowship
- Competence in clinical care that recognizes the mutuality and interaction of science and practice
- Competence in the interdisciplinary and biopsychosocial model of healthcare delivery
- Competence in clinical care that is effective, sensitive and respectful for persons of diverse backgrounds
- Competence in ethical and professional issues
Competency 1: Competence in clinical care that recognizes the mutuality and interaction of science and practice
Learning elements
- Fellows promptly and competently complete diagnostic assessment in an accurate and timely manner, while also prioritizing rapport development with the family/patient.
- Fellows are able to systematically and efficaciously conceptualize and formulate goals about how to treat a wide range of psychological conditions affecting children, adolescents and their families.
- Fellows autonomously write well-organized psychological documentation on children and youth seen in a medical setting, which clearly answers the referral concerns and provides the multidisciplinary team with appropriate diagnostic input and directions/recommendations for interventions.
- Fellows implement interventions that are well-timed, effective and consistent with empirically supported treatments.
- Fellows complete consultations that are well-timed, effective, consistent with empirically supported treatment, and address the medical team needs.
Competency 2: Competence in the interdisciplinary and biopsychosocial model of health care delivery
Learning elements
- Fellows independently interact with professionals and colleagues from other disciplines and can integrate their information with the information provided by other professionals.
- Fellows are knowledgeable about the interaction between biological and psychosocial variables influencing the clinical presentation and are able to accurately assess psychosocial aspects of clinical cases.
Competency 3: Competence in clinical care that is effective, sensitive and respectful for persons of diverse backgrounds
Learning elements
- Fellows are aware of the patient's worldview and how it impacts conceptualization of assessment and treatment with culturally-diverse children, adolescents and their families.
- Fellows are aware of their own biases and how these impact work with children, adolescents and families from diverse backgrounds so as to provide culturally-sensitive services.
Competency 4: Competence in ethical and professional issues
Learning elements
- Fellows demonstrate good knowledge of the following and are able to apply principles consistently, seeking consultation as appropriate using:
- Ethical Principles of Psychologist and Code of Conduct established by the American Psychological Association
Wisconsin Psychology Law
- Fellows demonstrate use of positive coping strategies to manage personal and professional stressors to maintain high standards of professional functioning.
- Fellows effectively prioritize and accomplish tasks in a timely fashion.
- Fellows demonstrate professionalism in relationships with colleagues and staff and are adherent to department policies, including clinical and administrative responsibilities.
Activities to meet the fourth area of competency—competence in ethical and professional issues—allow fellows to read and understand the Principle Code of Ethics for Psychologists. Fellows are provided two or more hours of individual supervision, during which supervisors address any ethical/professional challenges or concerns that arise during practice. Additionally, fellows participate in one hour of professional development training per week, which is organized by licensed psychologists. Fellows also attend didactics presented by a member of the Gundersen Ethics Review Board and Legal Department to increase awareness of frequent hospital-based challenges and familiarize themselves with these departments and resources. Fellows attend ethics trainings during their year, as well as have ample opportunities to shadow their supervisors.
Adult program
Mission and vision
- Our vision is to develop competent early-career clinical psychologists by providing advanced training in health and rehabilitation psychology, which includes the provision of psychological assessment and intervention to medical populations, as well as consultation to interdisciplinary medical teams.
- Our mission is to train fellows who will graduate from their fellowship experience with the clinical and professional foundation necessary to practice high quality, evidenced-based care and to attain the psychologist position of their choosing.
Aim of fellowship
- Function independently as a psychologist in a medical center and/or outpatient practice setting, providing evidence-based psychological assessment and treatment to adults across the lifespan with various medical and psychological conditions
- Complete supervised training requirements necessary to obtain state licensure to practice psychology (the fellowship meets licensure requirements for licensure in the state of Wisconsin)
Competencies of fellowship
Adapted from the following:
Training Competencies from the Society for Health Psychology
- American Board of Professional Psychology. 2018. American Board of Rehabilitation Psychology, Certification Guidelines and Procedures, Candidate's Manual. Retrieved from https://www.abpp.org/BlankSite/media/Rehabilitation-Psychology-Documents/Candidate-manual-september-10-2018.pdf.
- American Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation. 2015. Standards of Accreditation for Health Service Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/about/policies/standards-of-accreditation.pdf
Competency 1: Integration of Science and Practice
Description: The integration of scientific literature and evidence-based theory and research into clinical practice. This includes fellows' ability to utilize knowledge of the existing literature in approaching assessment, conceptualization and intervention.
Learning elements:
- Fellow critically evaluates and applies relevant literature to inform the approach to assessment and intervention with patients and families.
- Fellow utilizes relevant literature to conceptualize assessment findings and formulate an approach to intervention that is tailored to the unique needs of the patient.
- Fellow provides consultation to the interdisciplinary care teams that is based on relevant scientific findings related to the patient’s presenting concerns.
- Fellow can demonstrate knowledge of psychometric strengths and limitations of psychological and neuropsychological measures administered and can interpret such measures given a patient’s presenting concerns and functional capabilities.
Competency 2: Individual and Cultural Diversity
Description: The recognition and understanding of how one's own cultural background impacts clinical practice, while also striving for multicultural competence across various aspects of cultural diversity, including disability
Learning elements:
- Fellow demonstrates awareness of how the fellow’s own cultural background and worldview influences interactions with patients.
- Fellow demonstrates awareness of how a patient’s cultural background/worldview influences the patient’s beliefs about health and wellness as well as interaction with the healthcare system.
- Fellow demonstrates sound interpretation of psychological and neuropsychological measures in accordance with a patient’s cultural background.
- Fellow demonstrates knowledge of disability and age as other facets of diversity and can address these factors in interactions with patients.
Competency 3: Ethical and Legal Foundations
Description: The awareness of standards of professional conduct, ethics and law, as well as how these impact clinical practice of psychologists within a medical setting.
Learning elements:
- Fellow demonstrates knowledge of applicable laws and ethical standards pertaining to the broader practice of psychology as well as the specific practice of psychology in the medical setting.
- Fellow demonstrates knowledge of HIPAA and institutional policies protecting the privacy and confidentiality of patients.
- Fellow demonstrates knowledge of Wisconsin Statutes governing the practice of psychology.
Competency 4: Assessment
Description: The appropriate selection, administration, modification (where indicated) and interpretation of standardized tests, behavioral observations, and/or clinical interviews based on the needs of the patient and upon which recommendations are made and communicated to optimize patient outcomes
Learning elements:
- Fellow can accurately assess adjustment to illness/disability in patients.
- Fellow can accurately assess adjustment to illness/disability in family members.
- Fellow can accurately assess the extent and nature of disability and preserved abilities/strengths.
- Fellow can accurately evaluate educational and vocational capacities where indicated.
- Fellow can accurately assess mood and personality functioning to inform interventions.
- Fellow can accurately evaluate cognitive functioning.
- Fellow can accurately evaluate decision-making capacity.
- Fellow can accurately assess for substance use disorders.
- Fellow can accurately assess pain and associated psychological factors.
- Fellow can accurately evaluate psychological strengths and risk factors of individuals seeking surgery and make appropriate recommendations to interdisciplinary teams regarding candidacy for surgery.
- Fellow can accurately assess social/behavioral functioning in patients with neurologic conditions.
- Fellow can accurately assess concerns related to sexual functioning in individuals with disabilities.
- Fellow can accurately conduct functional analysis of target problem.
Competency 5: Intervention
Description: The selection of appropriate treatment modalities for the needs of the patient, and conducts said interventions with skill, sensitivity, and use of a relevant knowledge base to optimize patient outcomes.
Learning elements:
- Fellow can select and utilize empirically supported interventions across a wide range of presenting psychological concerns including depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and acute and chronic stress.
- Fellow can effectively utilize empirically supported behavioral interventions for medical conditions including pain, obesity, insomnia, cancer, tinnitus, and other acute or chronic illnesses.
- Fellow can effectively utilize empirically supported interventions as related to adjustment to disability and prevention of chronic illness.
- Fellow can effectively utilize empirically supported family/couples therapeutic interventions as related to disability/illness and the prevention of chronic illness.
- Fellow can implement behavioral management interventions for individuals with neurologic/cognitive impairments.
- Fellow can utilize assessment of concerns related to sexual functioning in individuals with disabilities to guide intervention.
Competency 6: Consultation
Description: The effective consultation with other professionals appropriate to the needs of the patient, in ways that will promote efficiency of care and transdisciplinary collaboration.
Learning elements:
- The fellow can consult with interdisciplinary team members to improve behavioral functioning of patients to optimize participation in rehabilitation efforts.
- The fellow can provide consultation to interdisciplinary teams regarding psychological and behavioral interventions for shared patients.
- The fellow can provide consultation regarding cognitive functioning and appropriate modification of rehabilitation efforts.
- Fellow can engage the interdisciplinary team in vocational/educational planning for individuals with neurologic illness.
- Fellow can accurately clarify referral problem with medical team and patient.
- Fellow can consult with members of the interdisciplinary team regarding findings on assessment of psychological factors that impact participation in care and adherence to recommendations.
Competency 7: Professional Values, Attitudes and Behaviors
Description: The sensitivity to the welfare, rights, and dignity of others as a priority in clinical practice This also involves the capacity to empathetically relate to clients/patients and others, including members of the interdisciplinary care teams, in ways that enhance the effectiveness of services provided.
Learning elements:
- Fellow respects and attends to the welfare, rights, and dignity of patients across clinical work.
- Fellow can assess a patient’s capacity across multiple domains, and advocates for patients’ autonomy in accordance with their capabilities.
- Fellow demonstrates good boundaries with patients and staff.
- Fellow can collaborate effectively with other disciplines to the benefit of the patient.
- Fellow can understand and operate comfortably within a primary care environment.
- Fellow is receptive to feedback and suggestions from supervisors and other professional colleagues.
Benefits
Our competitive benefits include an annual salary of $51,500, paid time off, paid health insurance premiums, stipends to support your continued learning and wellness goals and more.
Activities provided to meet competencies, goals and objectives
The fellow will be provided with a reading list at the beginning of the fellowship year, which highlights relevant books and peer-reviewed journal articles that provide the scientific foundations of the assessment, intervention, consultation, ethical, and diversity issues they will encounter while on fellowship. During individual supervision and through didactics and professional development presentations, fellows will be given information on and asked to describe the scientific basis for their approach to patient-care. In-vivo supervision will provide fellows with an opportunity to be evaluated on their application of the scientific base.
Fellows will gain skills in this area through readings provided at the outset of fellowship, through face-to-face assessment and intervention with diverse patient populations, and through supervision, where this topic is routinely explored when staffing new and ongoing patients. Didactics and Professional development topics devoted to diversity are also included in the fellowship year.
Fellows will gain skills in this area through readings provided at the outset of fellowship and through supervision, where this topic is routinely explored when staffing new and ongoing patients. Didactics and Professional development topics devoted to legal and ethical foundations are also included in the fellowship year. Fellows will develop and deepen their knowledge of and commitment to consumer protection primarily through work in the Rehabilitation and Neuropsychology clinics, where patient populations include individuals with neurological impairments that could impact decision making capacity. Shadowing the primary supervisor, Dr. Kolberg, and working closely with the multidisciplinary teams in this clinic will enrich their understanding in this area.
While working with the internal medicine and family medicine integrated care primary care clinics, the fellow will have opportunity to provide screeners including evidenced-based screeners for mood and cognition, and assessments for adult ADHD in internal medicine clinic. Assessments for patients with physical and mental health concerns presenting in primary care.
While working with the Internal Medicine integrated care primary care clinic, the fellow will have the opportunity to conduct brief, empirically supported therapy interventions for patients with a variety of co-occurring medical and mental health conditions.
Fellows will engage in multidisciplinary care and consultation on the Primary Care/Behavioral Health rotation. Fellows will have the opportunity to develop consultation skills by shadowing their supervisors during interactions with multidisciplinary teams. Fellows will transition to taking on more independence with consultation to other providers and will receive feedback in supervision.
Fellows will collaborate closely with their supervisors and multidisciplinary teams throughout the hospital. They will learn citizenship and strategies for communication with medical providers through shadowing and direct and indirect supervision
Why Gundersen
Call La Crosse Home
We have it all in La Crosse, Wis. Our vibrant city and region support your dream lifestyle with a welcoming community, culture and outdoor adventure.
Housing
Steps from our flagship medical center in La Crosse, our housing options allow you to enjoy the company of your family and the comradery of your colleagues.
Prioritizing Your Wellness
As you learn how to become the clinician you aspire to be, we’ll provide space to prioritize your mind and body wellness, and reach the work-life balance you need.