About
UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers up to three postdoctoral fellowship positions in health service psychology for psychologists who have completed their doctoral training and internship in APA-accredited programs.
This year, we will also offer one position in the UCLA CAPS/Athletics Mental Health Services Postdoctoral Fellowship Track.
Important Dates:
Fellowship start date: First business day of August yearly
Application deadline: Friday, January 3, 2025
Finalists invited to interview will be contacted by: January 25, 2025
This 12-month full-time Fellowship provides advanced clinical training and supervision with a focus on brief empirically-supported therapies with undergraduate and graduate students in a multidisciplinary, multicultural university counseling center. The Fellowship begins the first business day of August yearly and ends the last business day of July yearly.
UCLA CAPS is a vibrant and highly utilized counseling service, situated centrally between the residence halls and the Student Union and adjacent to Pauley Pavilion, the Wooden Recreation Center and the Ashe Student Health Center. UCLA's student population numbers more than 45,000, is considerably diverse along almost every dimension and reflects a remarkable array of ethnic, socio-cultural and religious backgrounds. Clients present with a broad range of psychological and psychiatric problems, from developmental issues typical of college age individuals to debilitating conditions requiring psychiatric hospitalization. Last year direct clinical services were provided to over 7,000 UCLA students and outreach services to more than three times that number, providing an unusually rich opportunity to work in a variety of modalities with a large and diverse population.
General Fellowship Information
Fellows’ responsibilities include intake assessment, crisis intervention, individual and group psychotherapy, triage assessment and consultation, ADHD diagnostic assessment and treatment, supervision of other trainee classes, and workshops and presentations for the campus community. Direct clinical service responsibilities are approximately 20-25 hours weekly. Fellows participate in 4-month long training rotations of triage assessment and consultation and supervision of practicum, social work interns, or doctoral internship trainees.
| Average Weekly Hours | ||
| ACTIVITY | POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW | |
| Brief Screen Rotation | Supervision Rotation | |
| Clinical Direct Services (BS, intake, follow-up, group) | 22 | 20 |
| Providing Supervision | 0 | 2 |
| Office/Admin (case management) | 9 | 9 |
| Individual Supervision | 2 | 2 |
| Group Supervision | 2 | 2 |
| Assessment Supervision | 1 | 1 |
| Brief Screen Supervision | 1 | 0 |
| Supervision of Supervision | 0 | 1 |
| Seminar | 1 | 1 |
| Outreach/Prevention | 1 | 1 |
| Staff Activities (Meetings) | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 40 | 40 |
Fellows are expected to develop expertise in a specialty area, with specific clinical, administrative, and prevention-orientated contributions. Specialty areas include (but are not limited to):
- Eating Disorders, LGBT populations, international and other underrepresented racial/ethnic populations, student resilience and wellness promotion/prevention programming), sexual trauma.
Treatment modalities featured at CAPS include: Unified Protocol for Emotional Disorders; CBT (including exposure interventions); mindfulness-based interventions; dialectical behavior therapy based intervention; ACT; integrative psychotherapy; and brief psychodynamic therapy.
Fellows participate in a minimum of four hours weekly supervision, consisting of the following:
- Two hours of individual supervision
- Two hours of group supervision
- Two or more additional hours related to group treatment, prevention and outreach activities, and other direct service activities.
To support professional development in counseling center administrative responsibilities, fellows are encouraged to participate in departmental committees, employment and training selection processes, coordinate a monthly staff Brown Bag training series, and participate in staff professional development activities. Fellows also participate in a campus grand rounds and a twice monthly seminar to support professional development.
For purposes of licensure, it is expected that Fellows will accrue over 1,700 hours of supervised professional experience by the completion of the training year. This number is an estimate and depends on the fellows' schedule and activities.
UCLA CAPS/Athletics Mental Health Services Postdoctoral Fellowship Track
UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services, in collaboration with the Department of Athletics at UCLA, is pleased to announce an APPIC-accredited postdoctoral fellowship position providing services exclusively to UCLA’s student athletes. Designed for individuals pursuing licensure as a psychologist and seeking specialized experience working within an athletics department providing clinical services to a NCAA Division I student-athlete population.
Position Summary:In collaboration with UCLA CAPS and the Department of Athletics, the Fellow will join the team of psychologists under the UCLA Athletics Mental Health Services Program, which provides confidential counseling, mental health screening, consultation, education, and prevention services to approximately 700 student-athletes from 23 NCAA teams within a multidisciplinary, integrated team-based model of care. Emphasis will be placed on experiences with individual counseling, team/group performance interventions, outreach programming, and consultation with coaches. Additional training opportunities include consulting with sports medicine staff, interdisciplinary psychiatry and eating disorder treatment teams, and multidisciplinary performance teams. Specific responsibilities will be based on interest, availability and training needs.
Preferred Qualifications: Alongside required qualifications listed on this website for all postdoctoral candidates;specialized training/experience in sport psychology, multicultural psychology, health psychology, kinesiology, clinical work with student athletes is strongly preferred. Experience and/or demonstrated interest in college mental health, crisis intervention, multidisciplinary collaboration, skills-based and psychoeducational groups, outreach and consultation with intercollegiate teams, and/or working with student-athletes from diverse backgrounds is highly desirable.
Required Qualifications
Without exception, applicants must have completed an APA-accredited internship and possess a doctoral degree in counseling or clinical psychology from an APA-accredited graduate program by the start date of the Fellowship. Unfortunately we are not able to entertain applications from candidates who will not have graduated by the day before fellowship starts and/or did not attend APA-accredited doctoral programs and internships.
Demonstrated interest and experience working with diverse multicultural college student populations and established experience and clinical competency with brief psychotherapies are required. Fellows must also demonstrate considerable experience in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, risk assessment, and the integration of emotional regulation skills and distress tolerance into general clinical practice.
Pursuant to University of California policies, this Fellowship requires a satisfactory completion of a background investigation (i.e. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice fingerprint scans) prior to the start of the UCLA CAPS Fellowship. The investigation is conducted following an offer of acceptance into the Fellowship program, and final acceptance into the UCLA CAPS Fellowship is contingent upon the results of this background investigation.
Benefits & Compensation
The Fellowship includes medical benefits, accrued vacation and sick days. The stipend for the 2025-2026 training year is $71,000.
Application Procedures, Interviews, and Notification Dates
Our Postdoctoral Fellowship Program follows the guidelines set forth by the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Center (APPIC). Postdoctoral selection guidelines can be found at the APPIC website.
Our Postdoctoral Fellowship Program uses the APPA CAS (APPIC Psychology Postdoctoral Application - Centralized Application System). Applicants should complete and submit the APPA CAS application.
The specific application requirements for the UCLA CAPS Postdoctoral Fellowship Program are indicated below as well as within the APPA CAS system. The following must be submitted through the APPA CAS system by January 5, 2024:
- A cover letter indicating your specific interest in the UCLA CAPS Fellowship
- An updated curriculum vita, including the anticipated date of your graduation
- Three letters of recommendation from sources familiar with your clinical skills and academic background. One of these must be from your APA-approved internship site Director of Training.
- A letter (statement) from your dissertation Chair stating your anticipated defense date.
* If applying through the APPA-CAS system presents financial hardship, please contact Tanya Brown, PhD (tbrown@caps.ucla.edu) for an alternative application procedure.
Please contact Tanya Brown, PhD, Training Director by e-mail ( training@caps.ucla.edu ) or telephone (310-825-0768) if you have further questions.