Postdoctoral Residency

Walnut Creek

East Bay Consortium (Walnut Creek, Antioch and Pleasanton)

Our Department of Mental Health and Addiction Medicine Recovery Services is close to freeways and the Walnut Creek BART station, allowing for easy commutes to Oakland, San Francisco, and the North Bay. The surrounding area includes urban, suburban and semi-rural communities, and our department is located within walking distance of the shopping, restaurant and entertainment venues of downtown Walnut Creek.

The patient population consists of Kaiser Health Plan members possessing mental health benefits and covers a broad ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic spectrum. A portion of our members are funded through Medi-Cal insurance plans. All age groups and virtually all psychiatric categories are represented. Approximately 130,000 members access medical care at Walnut Creek Kaiser Foundation Hospital and Medical Office Buildings across the year.

The resident training at Walnut Creek can expect to find the following: We have a portion of patients with LGBTQ-related presenting problems and transgender needs. The patients we see span major ethnic groups (African American, Latino, Asian, etc.). Patients range from those with a very high SES to those with a very low SES. Some of our patients are monolingual in Spanish and Mandarin/Cantonese and require an interpreter or bilingual therapist.

 

Program Highlights

Member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC)

There are more than 600 physicians and 5,000 employees providing care for our members at Walnut Creek Medical Center. Residing within a very large outpatient Mental Health and Addiction Medicine Recovery Services of over 100 professionals, The Walnut Creek Postdoctoral Residency training supports four full-time positions on the Adult Outpatient, Chemical Dependency, and Child and Family Teams.
Residents are part of a truly multidisciplinary treatment team within a larger Mental Health Outpatient Clinic and integrated primary care setting. In addition, we have a vibrant training cohort of 13 trainees, including four psychology interns, two psychology practicum students and three post-masters’ interns, in addition to the four post-doctoral residents.

The professional staff consists of full and part-time staff: 54 psychologists, 17 licensed psychiatric social workers, 20 Marriage and Family Therapists, and a team of 15 physicians and six nurses. Also, on staff are neuropsychologists, testing technicians, pharmacists and registered dieticians. A team of triage staff members provides front line access for patients through telephone and face to face contacts.
The Departments provide individual, group, family therapy, psychological testing, and psycho-educational programs. They also offer an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) that provides services to recently hospitalized individuals or those who would otherwise be at risk for hospitalization. In addition, they offer a wide variety of treatment groups to both adults and children, including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Life Transitions, Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression, Anxiety Management, and “Seeking Safety” groups. Walnut Creek Mental Health and Addiction Medicine Recovery Services provide the region’s highest level of care in several specialty areas of treatment, including chemical dependency, intensive outpatient psychiatry (post-hospitalization), and eating disorders intensive outpatient program. The Eating Disorder Program includes outpatient groups and individual therapy, as well as a regional program for Eating Disorder Intensive Outpatient treatment. We also provide treatment for patients with co-occurring disorders. The members of the staff provide treatment to patients utilizing a variety of theoretical orientations ranging from cognitive behavioral therapy to attachment-based relational to psychodynamic. Our departments offer patients brief, short-term and group treatment approaches consistent with the benefits provided by a health maintenance organization.

• Majority of residents are licensed within 1 year of program completion
• Residents receive financial reimbursement for exam study materials and time to attend training activities
• A fair number of residents have been hired by Kaiser Permanente in the past 5 years

Clinical Service Opportunities

• Individual Psychotherapy
• Family Psychotherapy (child resident only)
• Group Therapy/Psychoeducational Classes
• Psychological Consultation
• Psychological Testing (neuropsychological, AD/HD, psychodiagnostic)
• Community Outreach

Specialty Tracks

• Adult Neuropsychological Assessment
• Child Psychodiagnostic Assessment
• Addiction Medicine Recovery Services
• Eating Disorder Treatment Program

Location Rotations

• Intensive Outpatient & Adult Generalist
• Eating Disorder & Adult Generalist
• Addiction Medicine & Adult Generalist
• Child & Family Generalist

Schedule

• Direct patient care (individual & groups): 19 hours
• Non-patient care: 10 hours
• Individual Supervision: 2 hours
• Group Supervision: 2 hours
• Didactic Training: 2 hours
• Clinical Case Conference: 1 hour or more
• Staff Meeting: 1 hour or more
• Program Evaluation: 1 hour
• Assessment: 2 hours
• Community Benefit Project hours as needed (32 across the year)

Didactic Training

Current Opportunities

Position	Program	Track(s)	Location(s)
Pediatric Health Psychology	Postdoctoral Residency	Pediatric Health Psychology	Walnut Creek

Testimonials