Postdoctoral Residency – Richmond

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.

This resident on this track will work on the Richmond Crisis Response Team performing return telephone calls and emergency department consultations (5150s) for adults and children. Advanced competencies in treatment, evaluation, and appropriate disposition of patients throughout the lifespan who are psychiatrically unstable and require crisis stabilization are emphasized.

Advanced competencies in psychological assessment using multiple modalities are also emphasized in this track. The resident will be required to administer and interpret test measures, conduct clinical interviews, and write diagnostic psychological reports: both full battery & expedited ADHD evaluations at various times throughout the year.

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

Kaiser Permanente Richmond strives to provide culturally competent care to its patients as well as space and support in the form of consultation/support groups for its clinicians. Residents are invited to join any one of our affinity groups should they 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).

The IOP training track provides experience in crisis intervention, brief psychotherapy, psychoeducational groups, case management and intensive outpatient treatment services. Patients are treated in this service with a team-based 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.

The resident will also be required to administer and interpret test measures, conduct clinical interviews, and write diagnostic psychological reports: both full battery & expedited ADHD evaluations at various times throughout the year. Testing is not an emphasis of this track 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 on-call shifts multiple times during the training year which may include weekends.

Kaiser Richmond strives to provide culturally competent care to its patients as well as space and support in the form of consultation/support groups for its clinicians. Residents are invited to join any one of our affinity groups should they 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).