Postdoctoral Residency – San Rafael

The Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Training Program has a long-standing commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity. Diversity training and consultation is a major component of our training tracks and curricula, encouraging our staff and residents to foster cultural humility, understanding, and competence.

Our Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Training Program provides a Cultural Diversity Case Consultation for all trainees twice a month. The goal of the cultural diversity case consultation is to provide trainees with a safe environment in which they can bring clinical cases and practice case conceptualization and treatment planning from a cultural diversity lens.

At the clinic level, Kaiser Permanente San Rafael also has a Diversity and Inclusion Committee where all staff are encouraged to attend monthly meetings designed to identify, problem-solve, and implement plans for addressing various diversity issues in our workplace and service system. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee also hosts advanced trainings for all staff on topics designed to promote cultural competence and cultural sensitivity in the workplace.

At the regional level, our Mental Health Training Program’s Regional Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Committee organizes monthly forums that are designed for trainees only. Forums are held with experts from the community, within Kaiser Permanente, and national leaders on EID topics impacting trainees clinical work and personal development. Example of forum topics include immigration, micro-aggression, unconscious bias, Black maternal mental health, white privilege, and gender-affirming care. In addition to the forums, our Regional EID Officers also provide optional monthly consultation sessions for trainees.

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.

Postdoctoral residents participate in weekly multidisciplinary team meetings, Feedback Informed Care case conferences, once-a-month all staff meeting, and a monthly all-staff education series.

All postdoctoral residents are supervised by licensed psychologists and are assigned to a primary supervisor and a secondary supervisor. The 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 supervisors are responsible for overseeing the direct delivery of clinical services. The primary supervisor takes a lead role in developing the resident’s learning plan, monitoring their progress, and evaluating their training schedule. The primary supervisor is also responsible for completing the resident’s evaluation after gathering input from other supervisors and staff who may have provided supplementary supervision during rotations or while co-facilitating groups with the resident.

Residents also attend group supervision with the postdoctoral training cohort that includes case consultation and discussion of professional development topics. Residents gain experience giving and receiving feedback which helps them to develop the 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 trainee will spend at least 32 hours during their training year on a Community Partnership Project that focuses on improving mental health in the Marin County 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.

Postdoctoral residents at Kaiser San Rafael are required to complete, at a minimum, four psychological assessments during their training year to meet competency for assessment. Two of the assessments will be full batteries and two of the assessments will be shorter evaluations (e.g., ASD or ADHD assessment). Residents will receive weekly assessment supervision from our team of assessment supervisors.

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.

Postdoctoral residents on the Adult track will work in a multi-disciplinary team of therapists, psychiatrists, RNs, and pharmacists to treat patients, 18 years and above on a wide range of diagnoses and presenting problems. Residents will provide a range of clinical services including individual intake assessments and 1:1 therapy, and co-facilitation of groups. We host over 50 groups each week for various populations and presenting problems. Assignment of groups will be based on the trainees’ areas of interests and clinical need.

Postdoctoral residents on the Adult track will also have opportunity to gain focused competency in trauma treatment protocols including Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). Time will be allocated for case consultation and didactics with trauma specialists. Residents will provide both evidenced-based 1:1 therapy and group therapy for trauma-related disorders.

Post-doctoral residents on the Child track will work in a multi-disciplinary team including therapists, psychiatrists, RNs, and pharmacists to treat patients, 18 years and younger for a wide range of diagnoses and presenting problems. Resident duties will include intake assessments, 1:1 and family therapy, and the co-facilitation of groups. There are over 20 Child groups each week for various populations and presenting problems Assignment to groups will be based on the resident’s areas of interests and clinic need.

The Eating Disorder post-doctoral resident will become an integral member of our close-knit multi-disciplinary team of specialists including mental health providers, dietitians, adult medicine physicians, pediatricians, and Hospital-Based Services. Together we treat patients of all ages and genders with a range of eating disorder symptomology (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, OSFED, ARFID). The resident will receive training and practice in evidence-based treatment models including family- based treatment, Motivational Interviewing, RFBT for ARFID, and CBT. Our EDO team meets 2-4 times a week to round on our patients, collaborate, and receive support.

As a resident, you can expect to:

• Conduct 1:1 and family therapy
• Co-lead groups
• Treat patients at all levels of programming: Early Recovery, Outpatient, Enhanced and Inpatient Medical
• Collaborate extensively with various members of our multidisciplinary team
• Assist in ongoing program development and refinement
• Receive extensive training and supervision

Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Addiction Medicine and Recovery Services (AMRS) is an outpatient treatment program providing recovery services for adults and adolescents with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric disorders. We work closely with the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) team as well as Kaiser Permanente’s nearby hospital emergency department, chronic pain center and medical offices.

Adult Programming
Outpatient Abstinence-based Program (OP), Psychoeducation and Relapse Prevention, Continuing and Long-Term Recovery, Harm Reduction and Controlled Use Support, Dual Diagnosis, Men’s & Women’s Recovery, Codependency/Family Support .

Adolescent Programming
Teen early intervention, harm reduction, and abstinence-based programs; Family therapy and psychoeducation.

Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
Detoxification and withdrawal, Anti-craving (Naltrexone, Camphral, Antabuse, Buprenorphine), General psychiatric medication support .

Addiction Medicine residents receive advanced training, supervision and clinical experience in assessment, diagnosis and treatment of substance use disorders. Residents work four 10-hour days, typically with Wednesdays off.