Postdoctoral Residency – Richmond
Central Bay Consortium (Oakland and Richmond)
The city of Richmond is a port city located on a peninsula separating the San Francisco and the San Pablo bays. Located 16 miles northeast of San Francisco and on the western shore of Contra Costa County, the city has approximately 116,000 residents. Established in 1905, Richmond has been one of the fastest growing cities in California. In recent years, it has transformed from an industrial city (with the Chevron refinery being a major employer) to becoming a new home for high-tech and biotechnology companies.
The city of Richmond has a rich history. The Kaiser Richmond Shipyards was one of the biggest WWII wartime shipbuilding operations on the West Coast. Rosie the Riveter WWII National Historic Park highlights the city’s role in the home front effort. Richmond has over 32 miles of the Bay Trail, a 500-mile walking and biking route encircling the San Francisco and San Pablo bays. The community is ethnically and culturally diverse. Large percentages of the population are of African American, Latin American, European and Asian descent, with Native American and Pacific Islanders also represented. One third of the community is foreign born, with 45% of residents speaking a language other than English at home.
The Kaiser Permanente Richmond Medical Center – with 41 department and services – opened in 1995 and serves 77,000 health plan members. Our Kaiser Richmond Psychiatry department has supported a mental health training program since the 1990s.
Program Curriculum
Equity, Inclusion & Diversity
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.
Didactic Training
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.
Seminars and Meetings
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.
Supervision
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.
Community Partnership Program
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.
Psychological Assessment
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.
Program Evaluation
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.
Tracks and Rotations
Crisis Response Team (CRT) & Adult Assessment
CRT: This position will work with the Richmond Crisis Response Team doing return calls and emergency department consultations (5150s) for adults and children. The resident may also be required to complete call shifts multiple times during the training year which may include weekends. Advanced competencies in treatment, evaluation, and appropriate disposition of patients throughout the lifespan who are psychiatrically unstable and require crisis stabilization are emphasized. (3 days a week 8AM-5PM)
Adult Assessment: The position will also be required to administer, evaluate, and write diagnostic psychological reports: both full battery & expedited ADHD reports. (2 days a week)
The resident in this position may be required to supervise practicum student(s).
KP-RCH strives to provide culturally competent care to its patients as well as providing space and support in the form of consultation/support groups for its clinicians. The resident is invited to join our affinity groups should you identify as a member of that group: Collective Health for Asians (CHA), La Clinica, Queer and Trans Coalition, and Affirmations for your Ancestors (space for individuals in the African diaspora).
Advanced competencies psychological assessment using multiple modalities 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 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.
Adult Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) & Trauma Treatment (Adults)
IOP: Training on the IOP team provides experiences in crisis intervention, brief psychotherapy, psychoeducational groups, case management and intensive outpatient treatment services. Many patients who are served by this resident receive a team approach delivered by a psychologist or licensed clinical social worker (who provides psychotherapy), and/or a prescribing psychiatrist or clinical nurse specialist (who provides medication services), and/or psycho-educational classes and groups. (3 days a week)
Trauma Treatment Track: Training on the trauma treatment team provides the resident with advanced training in evidenced based trauma treatment. The resident co-leads therapy groups and observes as well as assists in teaching psycho-educational (primarily cognitive-behavioral oriented) classes in both IOP and the trauma treatment track. Advanced competencies in treatment in of patients who require intensive outpatient treatment (as an alternative to hospitalization) and trauma treatment are emphasized. (1-2 days a week)
The resident will also be required to administer, evaluate, and write diagnostic psychological reports: both full battery & expedited ADHD reports at various times throughout the year. Testing is not an emphasis in this position but will be expected for training purposes. The resident in this position may be required to supervise practicum student(s). The resident may rotate through the crisis response team and may also be required to complete call shifts multiple times during the training year which may include weekends.
KP-RCH strives to provide culturally competent care to its patients as well as providing space and support in the form of consultation/support groups for its clinicians. The resident is invited to join our affinity groups should you identify as a member of that group: Collective Health for Asians (CHA), La Clinica, Queer and Trans Coalition, and Affirmations for your Ancestors (space for individuals in the African diaspora).
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.
Schedule
- Direct Patient Care 25-30 Hours
- Non-Direct Patient Care 5 Hours (higher for testing experiences)
- Individual Supervision 2 hours
- Group Supervision 2 hours
- Community Benefits Project 1 hour
- Didactic Experiences 2 hours
- Study time for the EPPP and CPLEE (state required law and ethics exam) variable