Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship

Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship

Captain James A. Lovell

Federal Health Care Center

3001 North Green Bay Road

North Chicago, Illinois 60064

The Department of Psychology at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center is pleased to announce a clinical postdoctoral training fellowshipwith an emphasis inAddiction Treatment Programfor the academic year of 2016-17. The anticipated start date is September 1, 2016.

Addiction Treatment Program

The James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center Addiction Treatment Program (ATP) offers a “continuum of care” model for Veterans diagnosed with Substance Use Disorders and Co-Occurring Disorders providing postdoctoral fellows the opportunity to individualize their training experience. Areas of focus could include Consultation-Liason, Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (RRTP) and the Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP).

The mission of the ATP is to provide state of the art, high quality evidence based residential rehabilitation, intensive outpatient, outpatient, outpatient aftercare and care coordination treatment services for Veterans with substance use, mental health, medical and psychosocial challenges. The intent is to provide Veteran centered, non-linear, integrated, strengths based clinical programming, plan of care, treatment plan reviews, transition planning and outpatient and after services to promote the rehabilitation, recovery, health maintenance, quality of life and community reintegration goals identified by the person served. The goal of the ATP is to provide opportunities for Veterans to achieve and maintain their highest level of independent functioning and community reintegration through the provision of residential, outpatient, and case management services designated for improving functional status, sustained rehabilitation gains related to individualized substance use, mental health, medical and psychosocial management and recovery and breaking the relapse cycle. The Programobjectivesare to provide person centered residential, outpatient, aftercare and care coordination rehabilitation services, collaborating with the Veteran to identify and negotiate barriers focusing on the strengths, needs, abilities, preferences and goals of the person served. Individuals involved in ATP receive individualized person centered and driven residential rehabilitation and treatment services utilizing empirically based assessment services and interventions within the context of a modified therapeutic community based on peer and professional supports in a structured and supervised setting to promote the natural problem solving and healing resources within the person served. The Program provides rehabilitation and treatment services that address medical conditions, mental health challenges, substance use disorders, homelessness and psychosocial deficits. ATP facilities transition to clinically appropriate longer termresidential programming or safe, affordable and appropriate community housing of the persons’ served choice with Veteran collaboration for aftercare engagement. The Program assists the person served to identify and negotiate barriers to access and utilize community and natural supports needed to promote and enhance independent, self-supporting and successful individual recovery. The ATP is a distinct level of mental health residential care that is appropriate for Veterans in need of structure and support to address multiple substance use, mental health, medical and psychosocial challenges. The ATP recognizes the need for medical, substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health treatment and symptom reduction and provides opportunities to improve functional status through psychosocialrehabilitation and focuses upon the Veteran’s strengths. This rehabilitative approach recognizes that persons with substance use, mental health, medical and psychosocial challenges can achieve their goals for healthy and productive lives. The ATP is designed to provide comprehensive treatment and rehabilitative services meant to improve the quality of life.

Training Model and Philosophy

The postdoctoral fellow in this position would be assigned to the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center’s Addiction Treatment Program (ATP), including Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (PRTP), Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), and Consult Liason Track. The Substance Abuse treatment team includes a psychiatrist, 1 nurse, 5 psychologists, 2 social workers, 3 addiction therapists, 2 vocational rehabiliation therapist, 3 psych. technicians, 1 recreation therapist, 6 dom technicians and a dom technicians supervisor, 1 peer support specialist, and a program support assistant. The postdoctoral fellow will have the opportunity to encounter addicition treatment utilizing a team based patient centered approach. The ATP team collaborates with Veterans to create individualized mental health suite treatment plans and individualized recovery plans. The focus is always on the Veterans’ values, goals, and desires to create a personalized strategy to optimize the Veterans’ health, healing and well being.

The Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (RRTP) maintains 39 beds that provides Veterans with a safe, structured and supportive housing environment while engaging in a clinically and psychosocially determined individualized length of stay treatment experience, averaging 33 days and ranging from 7–110 days. The RRTP is characterized by a modified Therapeutic Community and offers programming that includes a variety of evidence-based Psycho-educational and Skills Oriented groups. Evidence Based practices include Motivational Interviewing, Brief Motivational Enhancement, Mindfulness, Seeking Safety, 12-Step Facilitation, Contingency Management, a Cognitive Behaviorally focused Relapse Prevention and Anger Management groups. The Mindfulness Skills group utilizes the DBT skills training manual. The Seeking Safety group is designed for female veterans. The Anger Mangement group is a SAMHSA Cognitive Behaviorally oriented Anger Management Group. Postdoctoral Fellows on this rotation have the opportunity to increase their clinical skills with this challenging population in a non-medically oriented program that stresses patient initiative, self-government and group process. The Postdoctoral Fellows rotation emphasizes assessment skills training/refining, individual counseling, treatment planning and therapeutic community education. In addition to the delivery of psychoeducational groups, the residential program in particular offers the opportunity to participate in core groups designed as smaller psycho-educationally stimulated, intensive group therapy where residents are able to work on individualized goals critical to their personal recovery journey.

Veterans in the Intensive Outpateint Program (IOP) engage in no less than 9 hours, distributed as 3 hours during each of 3 days, of clincal programming. The Intensive Oupatient Program (IOP) utilizes the same RRTP groups and classes, some of which are described above. However, IOP participants do not live in the RRTP. IOP Veterans collaborate with their Care Coordinator to negotiate an individualized clinically and psychosically determined Treatment Plan as they engage in the ATP. ATP participants may also make use of indiviudal therapy and groups and classess that are not only held in the ATP but in the larger hospital campus depending on their needs and interests. Traditionally, IOP participants are those who may not respond well to the structure, limit setting and rules of a RRTP or whose needs or circumstances are not well aligned with those of RRTP placement, due to stage of change or lifestyle circumstances (e.g. employment).In addition to the abovementioned experienced there is also an opportunity to participate in more population specific groups such as male Veterans with Military Sexual Trauma (MST), gender specific groups for female Veterans, and dualy disordered Veterans with PTSD and SUD issues.

The goal of the Consultation Liaison track is to link FHCC veterans, especially those in acute psychiatry and medical units, to SUD services in the RRTP, IOP or as an outpatient. This includes responding to Consults, assessments, Brief Motivational Enhancement interventions and Motivational Interviewing. The Consult Liaison utilizes a patient-centered approach, attempting to match the Veteran with a clinically and psychosocially appropriate level of care based on the Veteran’s stated values, goals, desires, and needs. The intent is to ensure that patients are able to move seamlessly between services to connect with the substance use treatment. Another goal is to reduce readmissions to acute psychiatry or medical units by connecting and engaging Veterans with appropriate services. Postdoctoral Fellows working on this rotation would be able to hone skills in forming relationships and communications with multi-disciplinary staff from across the FHCC campus, develop the ability to provide timely, on-site screenings on acute inpatient psychiatric and medical floors for referred patients and strengthen motivational interviewing and crisis intervention skills.

Compensation and Benefits

Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship is a 52 week, full-time commitment with a current salary of $46,287 per annum. Vacation, sick leave, authorized leave for conferences, and health insurance is available. It is important to note,"Trainees of VA sponsored programs are protected from personal liability under the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act 28, U.S.C.2679 (b)-(d)."

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, candidates must be U.S. citizens who are currently in or have completed an APA-accredited doctoral program in clinical/counseling psychology and who are enrolled in or have completed an APA-accredited internship. All Ph.D./Psy.D. requirements, including dissertation defense, must be completed prior to beginning the fellowship.

Application Process

To apply to our program, please submit the following by January 30.

A detailed letter of interest specifying your areas of expertise, qualities that fit with the program, research interests, and goals for your postdoctoral experience
A curriculum vitae fully describing your training, experience, research, and other relevant activities
Three letters of recommendation (which can be sent separately from your application packet)
A letter from the chair of your dissertation committee that details the status of your dissertation and the anticipated completion date of your doctoral training. Your doctoral degree must be completed before the start date of your postdoctoral training.

We are accepting applications through January 30, 2016 and we will conduct interviews mostly during the month of February.Please note as this is the first year for the on-line application process (APPA CAS), we are asking that applicants please try and utilize the new system. However, if having difficulty you can still submit application materials directly to Dr. Martin via email. For more information please contact:

Thomas E. Martin, Psy.D.

Director of Psychology Training

Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center

Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychology and Psychiatry

Rosalind Franklin University

(224)610-1069