Student Affairs : Counseling Services : Training : Multicultural Postdoctoral Residency

Multicultural Postdoctoral Residency

DESCRIPTION OF RESIDENCY:    The Multicultural Postdoctoral residency begins mid-August, 2010. The 1500 hour residency ends in early June 2011. A postdoctoral resident will be expected to perform all the duties of a generalist clinician in a comprehensive multicultural university counseling center and will receive supervision according to the State of California Board of Psychology guidelines. Duties include but are not limited to: short-term individual, group, and couples counseling; possible supervision of practicum students; counseling assessment and referral; crisis intervention; consultation with students, faculty, staff, and parents; and developing campus outreach activities for a target population (e.g., the International House, creating outreach programs for Muslim students, Black History Month, co-leading the social justice/outreach seminar, etc.).

Multicultural Postdoctoral residents will have an opportunity to work with a student population which is very diverse with regard to ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, transgender, disability, age, and religion. SJSU's latest enrollment census shows that ethnically we have a student population which is approximately 32% Asian American/Pacific Islander, 7% Filipino, 11% Mexican American, 3% Other Hispanic, 28% European American, 4% African American. The mean age of students at SJSU is 26.

AGENCY DESCRIPTION AND SETTING: Counseling Services is a department within the Division of Student Services at SJSU. Counseling Services is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services (IACS) and is established as a comprehensive counseling center offering core clinical services, developmental and life skill interventions, counseling for achieving academic and career goals, consultation, and outreach to our diverse student population. Short-term counseling and psychotherapy are the primary means of direct service delivery and all services offered by Counseling Services are consistent with the educational mission of our metropolitan university.

San José State University is California's oldest institution of public higher learning and is a leader of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. SJSU enrolls approximately 28,000 students and is a metropolitan university located in downtown San José), the third largest city in California (Pop. 919,000). SJSU interacts with the surrounding community in a wide variety of civic, cultural, athletic and professional activities. The new Martin Luther King Jr. Library, a cooperative venture between SJSU and the City of San José, is the first joint-use academic/public library partnership of its kind in the United States. Beyond the local community, many recreational, cultural, and tourist attractions are within easy driving distance, including renowned sites such as the Monterey Peninsula, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, and Napa Valley.

QUALIFICATIONS AND STIPEND: Applicants must have completed a Doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology from an accredited educational institution and 1500 pre-doctoral internship hours. Preference is given to applicants who has experience in working with a ethnically, or otherwise diverse student populations.  The postdoctoral residency carries a stipend of $27,432 with medical, dental, and vision benefits, pending budget approval.  Residents will also have staff privileges that include a private office, library use, gym privileges, and ten days off for holiday closures. Other discretionary days off are available with the permission of the Director of Counseling Services.

TRAINING COMPONENTS

TRAINING:

 Supervision:  Counseling Services highly values our role as supervisors. Counseling Services meets or exceeds the supervision requirement in the Board of Psychology’s Supervised Professional Experience (SPE) regulation.  Each postdoctoral resident will have at least one hour per week of individual face-to-face supervision for the training year. They also receive one hour of weekly group supervision.

 Training Seminar: The Training Seminar meets weekly. This is an opportunity for trainees to discuss cases and clinical issues and to develop conceptualization skills. During the seminar meetings, various clinical topics will be presented and discussed by faculty at Counseling Services and guest speakers from the larger community.  Previous presentation topics have included domestic violence, working with specific cultural populations, sexual identity, gender identity, boundaries in therapy, eating disorders, substance abuse, etc.  Early in the training year, postdoctoral residents spend additional weekly time in training seminar as they learn new clinical skills and have time for fostering connections with staff and other trainees.

 Process Group in Diversity: As mentioned earlier, individual and cultural diversity is an important component to the Training Program.  Self-awareness is vital to the development of the competent practitioner.  The Process Group in Diversity is an opportunity for trainees to develop their awareness in diversity.  The group is optional but strongly encouraged for all trainees and is held weekly.  In order to ensure the emotional safety of trainees, information discussed in this seminar is entirely confidential, is led by a counselor who is not part of the evaluation team, and contents discussed are not included in the evaluation process.             

 Social Justice Seminar:  Involvement in social justice is highly valued by faculty at Counseling Services. The hour long weekly meeting is an opportunity for trainees to discuss social justice issues, group therapy, and to develop outreach presentations and systemic intervention skills that address the needs of the diverse University Community. Depending on the needs of Counseling Services and available supervision, postdoctoral residents may be able to develop specialization areas in which they focus their outreach and group efforts (e.g., LGBT student services, sexual assault, first-generation college students, suicide prevention).

 Supervision of Supervision Seminar:  The Supervision of Supervision Seminar is a weekly meeting focusing on relevant supervision topics.  The second semester focuses on the application of the topics presented and is process-oriented to support the postdoc resident while providing supervision. Post-doctoral residents may have the opportunity to provide secondary clinical supervision to practicum trainees during the spring semester, if available.  Post-doctoral residents may also obtain supervision experience by co-facilitating outreach activities, workshops, and groups with pre-doctoral interns and practicum trainees. In order to foster a larger understanding of the plethora of issues involved in running a training program, postdoctoral residents attend the weekly Training Committee meeting that is attended by all clinical supervisors and participate in the selection of future trainees.

 Clinical Consultation Meeting: This weekly meeting is for all faculty and trainees.  It is an opportunity to present cases to each other and is a venue to give and receive consultation on each other’s clinical work. The emphasis in the meeting is on viewing our work as a team effort to provide the best possible service to students. The Counseling Services psychiatrist also attends to discuss cases in common.

 Case Presentations: The Postdoctoral residents are required to give two formal case presentations over the course of the year in a Training Committee meeting.  Trainees are strongly encouraged to obtain feedback from supervisors regarding their case presentations (e.g. review write-up, attend presentation.)

Direct Clinical Service:

Postdoctoral residents are expected to provide 22 direct service hours per week throughout their time at Counseling Services. Direct service hours are provided through individual, couple, and group counseling sessions; outreach presentations; and consultation with faculty, staff, students, and departments.

 Individual/Couple Psychotherapy: Postdoctoral residents are responsible for managing a caseload of 22 diverse individual/couple counseling sessions per week throughout the year. This number may be impacted by the types of clients, complexities in their current case load, and participation in groups and outreach presentations.

 Groups: Postdoctoral residents may be involved in providing group therapy.  Formation of groups will be discussed in orientation, individual supervision, and the Social Justice Seminar. Groups are generally co-led with another trainee or faculty member and assignment to groups is based on past clinical experience and consultation with the supervisor. Please see the Counseling Services website for examples of groups that have been offered in the past.

 Consultation and Outreach: Postdoctoral residents are encouraged to be involved in various Counseling Services programming efforts over the course of the year. Involvement may be with programs presented during re-occurring events such as Eating Disorders Awareness Week, Women’s History month, LGBT Peer Mentor Program, The Tunnel of Oppression, or African American History month.  Other outreach projects are designed to meet the needs of the university community as they arise and still others arise from the interests and expertise that trainees bring to us (e.g., sleep management, perfectionism, healthy relationships). Time spent on these projects varies widely. Please see the Counseling Services website for examples of outreach programs and workshops that have been offered in the past.

Other Activities:

 Assessment/Crisis Coverage: Assessment/crisis coverage is a 2.5 – 4 hour shift between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM.  Students who wish to receive personal counseling are immediately seen in an assessment/crisis session.  These sessions generally last 15 – 20 minutes and are used to “assess” the student’s reason for wanting personal counseling and address any risk factors. Crisis sessions may require additional time. Trainees are not responsible for after-hour emergency coverage. 

 Case Management: Trainees are encouraged to schedule time into their weekly schedules to complete their case records and attend to other administrative tasks.  In addition, certain blocks of free time for case management will present themselves from time to time (cancellations, no-shows).

 Professional Development/Research Time: Postdoctoral residents may schedule some professional development time for such purposes as dissertation, research, studying for licensure, or attending a pre-license class or conference.  The amount of time permitted, up to four hours per week, is granted through collaboration between the trainee, the trainee’s primary supervisor, and Training Committee. The amount of professional development time granted is dependent upon how busy Counseling Services is at any particular time of the year.

 Other Consultation, Club, or Committee Work: In the past, trainees have become involved with other organizations that correspond to their own interests.  These have included the Career Services; Health Services; MOSAIC Cross-cultural Center; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resource Center; the Women's Resource Center; etc. 

 Attendance at Division or Departmental Meetings and Functions: As part of Counseling Services, trainees attend various meetings throughout the year that involve the staff and faculty, such as Division of Student Affairs meetings and other professional development opportunities (e.g., Grand Rounds trainings by faculty). Attendance is integral to understanding the larger context of working on a university campus.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Please submit the following: a letter of interest which includes a statement of your career goals and relevant history; a current curriculum vita that reflects all clinical experiences; three recent (less than 3 years old) original letters of recommendation, including at least two letters from licensed clinical supervisors; and transcripts of terminal degree. Application material and questions should be forwarded to:

• Angela Krumm, Ph.D., Training Coordinator
  Counseling Services
  San José State University
  One Washington Square
  San José, California 95192-0035
  PHONE: (408) 924-5910
  FAX: (408) 924-5933
  email: angela.krumm@sjsu.edu

All documents in the application must be received by 5:00 PM on FRIDAY, JANUARY  22, 2010, to be considered in the initial review.  Applications received after the deadline will be accepted and reviewed if the positions are not filled.     

SJSU does not discriminate on the basis of accent, age, ancestry, citizenship status, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, medical condition, national origin, race, religion or lack thereof, sex, sexual orientation, transgender, and veteran's status. This policy applies to all SJSU student, faculty, and staff programs and activities. Questions regarding this policy should be directed to the Office of Equal Opportunity, One Washington Square, BB Building, San José, CA 95192-0003, (408) 924-1115. SJSU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Reasonable accommodations are made for applicants with disabilities