Postdoctoral Residency – Oakland

Our training program is committed to nurturing and integrating diversity training into all aspects of the residency by:
Providing residents with opportunities to work with patients who represent various aspects of diversity, including age, religion, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, values, and lifestyle.

Placing a high value on residents’ willingness to engage in self-reflection, and supporting the exploration of attitudes, beliefs and therapeutic postures that could impact clinical interactions.
Maintaining a consistent focus in clinical supervision on expanding residents’ multicultural awareness and competence in the provision of psychotherapeutic services and providing guidance, training, and resources on topics such as mitigating unconscious bias, respecting every voice, and cultivating a sense of inclusion and belonging in the workplace.

Residents are encouraged to participate in the Regional Mental Health Training Program EID Committee’s advanced trainings on topics related to cultural sensitivity and competence along with a forum to reflect on and discuss their varied experiences in a safe environment.

Kaiser Permanente as an organization strives to create an inclusive workplace for our employees, deliver quality health care that is culturally responsive to our members and patients, and address the total health of the communities we serve. To optimize patient care and the appreciation of diversity at an organizational level, Kaiser Permanente has established the Institute of Culturally Competent Care as well as “Centers of Excellence,” which responds to specific health needs of certain populations.

Kaiser Permanente has been recognized for several years and was named Diversity Inc Top 50 Hall of Fame for recognition of our diversity and inclusion practices in hiring, retaining and promoting women, minorities, veterans, people with disabilities and people in the LGBTQ community.

Regularly scheduled weekly didactic seminars, formerly held at the consortium level, are now organized, and administered regionally for all KP NorCal postdoctoral residents. Residents are required to attend a two-hour weekly virtual seminar, which focuses on developing competencies and expertise in clinical areas most relevant to their day-to-day work.

Our Regional Mental Health Training Program also sponsors seminars for continuing professional development. The seminars are offered at select times during the year for all KP mental health trainees and staff at Kaiser Northern California Medical Centers. We bring in local and national experts on a variety of cutting-edge topics in mental health treatment and research. Regional seminar dates and a list of speakers and topics can be found on the Regional Mental Health Training Programs website. In addition, many of the presentations are recorded and available under the continuing education lecture library webpage.

Residents attend various weekly team or departmental meetings depending on their track and rotation assignments. They may also attend Grand Rounds at the Medical Center.

All residents are supervised by psychologists and are assigned to a primary supervisor, and a secondary supervisor. These clinical supervisors meet with their assigned resident one hour per week for individual face-to-face supervision. Thus, each resident has two hours of individual supervision per week.

The primary and secondary supervisor in each rotation is responsible for supervising the direct delivery of clinical services. The primary supervisor takes the lead role in developing the resident’s learning plan, monitoring their progress, and evaluating their training schedule. The primary supervisor is responsible for supervising the clinical work and completes the resident evaluation after gathering input from the other supervisors and staff who have worked with the resident.

Residents are also provided with two hours of group supervision per week to present cases. Residents learn how to address treating their patients through a cultural framework including age, gender identity, cultural factors, family construct, work and school. Group supervision allows for vicarious learning and modeling. In addition, residents gain experience presenting cases, as well as giving and receiving feedback. Such feedback experiences help them to develop both collegial and supervisory aspects of their professional identities as psychologists.

Reflecting Kaiser Permanente’s core commitment to mental health and wellness in our communities, each resident will spend at least 32 hours during their training year on a Community Partnership Project that focuses on improving mental health in the local community beyond our Kaiser Permanente patient members. Projects may include presentations on mental health topics or career mentoring in such settings as colleges/schools, faith-based organizations, and other local organizations dedicated to assisting those in need.

The goal of this project is to provide outreach to underserved populations to promote health and advancement. Anchors for the project include developing alliances with individuals and/or systems to improve the lives of those served; providing education and training based on the empirical literature; and presenting relevant outcomes data to partnership stakeholders. Residents will meet with the Community Partnership supervisor to assist with placement and the development of a project.

Formal psychological testing opportunities may be offered depending on supervisor availability and approval of the primary supervisor, and training program director as well as resident interest, but are not required in most tracks.

Information on assessment which is integrated into the track experience can be found within the individual track descriptions. Appropriate supervision is provided.

Each resident is required to undertake a program evaluation project during their training year. The project is selected based upon the resident’s interests and skill set and should fall within the regular scope of departmental services.

It may involve collecting and analyzing data to improve administrative operations, or a quality improvement project aimed at improving or assessing a treatment program or process. Examples include developing and evaluating a treatment group, intake procedure or other new programming; evaluating factors associated with treatment outcomes; or a needs assessment of a service that may be enriched by psychological consultation. Residents meet with the program evaluation supervisor as a group regularly over the course of the training year to review progress on their projects.

The person selected for this position will be responsible for seeing patients presenting to the outpatient clinic’s crisis services in Oakland (located in walking distance of the hospital), on the adult team.  This position may involve after-hours call or pager work at some point during the training year.

The resident in this position is also placed in the general inpatient medical unit in a tertiary care facility. Adults are the only group regularly seen.  The Oakland Hospital services a major medical center for the San Francisco East Bay region.

The resident in this position performs evaluations of patients in the inpatient units to determine interventions that will reduce morbidities upon discharge.  The resident will also be aiding medical and psychiatry staff in determining which patients require a higher level of care, and which patients will need to be discharged to a facility for people with co-morbid psychiatric and/or medical problems.

Advanced competencies in psychological assessment using clinical interviewing of medically compromised patients and psychiatrically unstable patients are emphasized.

PLEASE NOTE: Residents are classified as essential employees under California regulations and Kaiser Permanente policy. As such, any resident may be required to work on site at any time and may be required to come in during a natural disaster or other event such as COVID19 at the sole discretion of the program.  Vaccination is required as part of this position.

Please go to https://mentalhealthtraining-ncal.kaiserpermanente.org/how-to-apply/ for the current and up-to-date application instructions.  We use a rolling offer for interviews and will continue to offer interviews until all slots are filled. Applications filed earlier are more likely to result in interviews being granted.

PLEASE NOTE — If you are applying after February 19, please contact Dr. Hays and advise him of your interest before completing an application through APPACAS.

Also — The deadline above is when we will start reviewing applications.  We will accept applications up to Uniform Acceptance Day unless position is filled at which point the portal in APPACAS will be closed.  APPACAS will remain open until we have an acceptance of an offer.

Priority will be given to current interns, and we will not follow procedures for them in order to allow other candidates external to the program a fair opportunity should an internal candidate choose to apply as an external candidate.

The postdoctoral resident on the multidisciplinary child and family team receives training in general child and family clinic work as well as formal psychological assessment with children and adolescents. The resident spends all clinical time in clinical cases working with children and families of children with medical disorders.

The pediatric behavioral medicine resident works closely with pediatricians in primary care and medical subspecialty areas to help support individuals and families coping with a range of psychiatric and/or medical conditions. The resident will have the opportunity to conduct CL (consultation/liaison) work with hospitalized pediatric patients. Additionally, the resident will be expected to carry an outpatient caseload working with youths w/complex medical and psychiatric presentations. The resident works closely with a multidisciplinary team of physicians, psychologists, social workers, nutritionists, and nurses in subspecialty areas such as diabetes and other medical specialties. The resident may the opportunity to co-facilitate various psychotherapy groups, such as a support group for parents of children with diabetes.  Advanced competencies in clinical work with children are emphasized.

The resident in this position may be required to supervise practicum student(s). The resident may also be required to complete call shifts multiple times during the training year, which may include weekends.

PLEASE NOTE: Residents are classified as essential employees under California regulations and Kaiser Permanente policy. As such, any resident may be required to work on site at any time and may be required to come in during a natural disaster or other event such as COVID19 at the sole discretion of the program.  Vaccination is required as part of this position.

Please go to https://mentalhealthtraining-ncal.kaiserpermanente.org/how-to-apply/ for the current and up-to-date application instructions.  We use a rolling offer for interviews and will continue to offer interviews until all slots are filled. Applications filed earlier are more likely to result in interviews being granted.

PLEASE NOTE — If you are applying after February 19, please contact Dr. Hays and advise him of your interest before completing an application through APPACAS.

Also — The deadline above is when we will start reviewing applications.  We will accept applications up to Uniform Acceptance Day unless position is filled at which point the portal in APPACAS will be closed.  APPACAS will remain open until we have an acceptance of an offer.

Priority will be given to current interns, and we will not follow procedures for them in order to allow other candidates external to the program a fair opportunity should an internal candidate choose to apply as an external candidate.

IOP is an outpatient crisis stabilization program designed to help our most vulnerable mental health patient population. The program has been successful in helping clinic patients avoid hospitalization and offering a step-down from a higher level of care to prevent quick return of symptoms and possible rehospitalization. The resident in this placement will actively participate in co-facilitating 3x/week process and psychoeducation groups, complete 2 IOP Intake Assessments each week and closely monitor and case manage a small caseload of IOP patients during their program stay. CCM manages cases where patients are suffering from severe and persistent mental disorders (SPMI). These are patients requiring longer term, intensive services to prevent hospitalization and maintain optimal functioning. The resident will carry cases and conduct groups in both programs.

Advanced competencies in working with people with SPMI are emphasized. The resident may also be required to complete call shifts multiple times during the training year, which may include weekends.

PLEASE NOTE: Residents are classified as essential employees under California regulations and Kaiser Permanente policy. As such, any resident may be required to work on site at any time and may be required to come in during a natural disaster or other event such as COVID19 at the sole discretion of the program.  Vaccination is required as part of this position.

Please go to https://mentalhealthtraining-ncal.kaiserpermanente.org/how-to-apply/ for the current and up-to-date application instructions.  We use a rolling offer for interviews and will continue to offer interviews until all slots are filled. Applications filed earlier are more likely to result in interviews being granted.

PLEASE NOTE — If you are applying after February 19, please contact Dr. Hays and advise him of your interest before completing an application through APPACAS.

Also — The deadline above is when we will start reviewing applications.  We will accept applications up to Uniform Acceptance Day unless position is filled at which point the portal in APPACAS will be closed.  APPACAS will remain open until we have an acceptance of an offer.

Priority will be given to current interns, and we will not follow procedures for them in order to allow other candidates external to the program a fair opportunity should an internal candidate choose to apply as an external candidate.

The resident will conduct initial evaluations and psychological assessments for adults with suspected neurodevelopmental conditions, specifically ADHD with very limited exposure to adult autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and co-occurring conditions. This position will include observations of conducting diagnostic assessments for ASD with adults. Preference is given to interns who have prior experience with ADHD assessment/treatment with children or adults. This position may be placed in either Oakland or Richmond or both locations based on supervisor and space demands during the training year.  Emphasis is placed on advanced competency in formal psychology testing and assessment skills.

Please note that this is not designed to be a full-time neuropsychology residency. It is one year only and will not be extended.  It does not offer any experience in working with children or child cases.    It is specifically designed to build fundamental skills sets in psychological testing and assessment with adults in a very specific area.  Persons wanting exposure to a broad range of psychopathologies or to full and extended batteries or who want an internship to create skills required for a full-time neuropsychological assessment training program should carefully consider this position and determine if the position will match their interests and training goals.

The resident may also be required to complete call shifts multiple times during the training year, which may include weekends.

PLEASE NOTE: Residents are classified as essential employees under California regulations and Kaiser Permanente policy. As such, any resident may be required to work on site at any time and may be required to come in during a natural disaster or other event such as COVID19 at the sole discretion of the program.  Vaccination is required as part of this position.

Please go to https://mentalhealthtraining-ncal.kaiserpermanente.org/how-to-apply/ for the current and up-to-date application instructions.  We use a rolling offer for interviews and will continue to offer interviews until all slots are filled. Applications filed earlier are more likely to result in interviews being granted.

PLEASE NOTE — If you are applying after February 19, please contact Dr. Hays and advise him of your interest before completing an application through APPACAS.

Also — The deadline above is when we will start reviewing applications.  We will accept applications up to Uniform Acceptance Day unless position is filled at which point the portal in APPACAS will be closed.  APPACAS will remain open until we have an acceptance of an offer.

Priority will be given to current interns, and we will not follow procedures for them in order to allow other candidates external to the program a fair opportunity should an internal candidate choose to apply as an external candidate.

The resident will conduct initial evaluations and psychological assessments for adults with suspected neurodevelopmental conditions, specifically ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) with very limited exposure to ADHD and co-occurring conditions. This position will include observations of conducting diagnostic assessments for ASD with adults. Preference is given to interns who have prior experience with ADHD assessment/treatment with children or adults. This position may be placed in either Oakland or Richmond or both locations based on supervisor and space demands during the training year.  Emphasis is placed on advanced competency in formal psychology testing and assessment skills.

Please note that this is not designed to be a full-time neuropsychology residency. It is one year only and will not be extended.  It does not offer any experience in working with children or child cases.    It is specifically designed to build fundamental skills sets in psychological testing and assessment with adults in a very specific area.  Persons wanting exposure to a broad range of psychopathologies or to full and extended batteries or who want an internship to create skills required for a full-time neuropsychological assessment training program should carefully consider this position and determine if the position will match their interests and training goals.

The resident may also be required to complete call shifts multiple times during the training year, which may include weekends.

PLEASE NOTE: Residents are classified as essential employees under California regulations and Kaiser Permanente policy. As such, any resident may be required to work on site at any time and may be required to come in during a natural disaster or other event such as COVID19 at the sole discretion of the program.  Vaccination is required as part of this position.

Please go to https://mentalhealthtraining-ncal.kaiserpermanente.org/how-to-apply/ for the current and up-to-date application instructions.  We use a rolling offer for interviews and will continue to offer interviews until all slots are filled. Applications filed earlier are more likely to result in interviews being granted.

PLEASE NOTE — If you are applying after February 19, please contact Dr. Hays and advise him of your interest before completing an application through APPACAS.

Also — The deadline above is when we will start reviewing applications.  We will accept applications up to Uniform Acceptance Day unless position is filled at which point the portal in APPACAS will be closed.  APPACAS will remain open until we have an acceptance of an offer.

Priority will be given to current interns, and we will not follow procedures for them in order to allow other candidates external to the program a fair opportunity should an internal candidate choose to apply as an external candidate.

The resident in this position will be working in adult services with a variety of patients who have failed to respond to multiple episodes of care, or who have required care for extended periods of time, but do not meet criteria for a typical SPMI diagnosis such as Bipolar Disorder, Recurrent Major Depressive Disorder, or a Psychotic Disorder.  In this position, the resident will be developing and implementing treatment plans for these patients, consulting with staff members on these cases, and working with medical providers on optimal treatments for these cases.

The resident may also be required to complete call shifts multiple times during the training year, which may include weekends.

PLEASE NOTE: Residents are classified as essential employees under California regulations and Kaiser Permanente policy. As such, any resident may be required to work on site at any time and may be required to come in during a natural disaster or other event such as COVID19 at the sole discretion of the program.  Vaccination is required as part of this position.

Please go to https://mentalhealthtraining-ncal.kaiserpermanente.org/how-to-apply/ for the current and up-to-date application instructions.  We use a rolling offer for interviews and will continue to offer interviews until all slots are filled. Applications filed earlier are more likely to result in interviews being granted.

PLEASE NOTE — If you are applying after February 19, please contact Dr. Hays and advise him of your interest before completing an application through APPACAS.

Also — The deadline above is when we will start reviewing applications.  We will accept applications up to Uniform Acceptance Day unless position is filled at which point the portal in APPACAS will be closed.  APPACAS will remain open until we have an acceptance of an offer.

Priority will be given to current interns, and we will not follow procedures for them in order to allow other candidates external to the program a fair opportunity should an internal candidate choose to apply as an external candidate.