Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory

Elements of quality clinically focused postdoctoral training

The Division of Psychology at Phoenix Children’s Hospital is pleased to announce a one-year postdoctoral fellowship/residency for the 2026–2027 academic year, with a dual focus on assessment and intervention. This specialized training opportunity is designed for candidates seeking to build or deepen expertise in autism/IDD assessment and clinical intervention skills. The fellowship offers advanced clinical training in the assessment and treatment of both neurotypical and neurodivergent children. Particular focus within the intervention training is given to conditions including tic disorders/Tourette Syndrome, body-focused repetitive behaviors, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, phobias, and selective mutism—often in the context of complex comorbid psychological and medical diagnoses.

The Division of Psychology Autism Program provides outpatient diagnostic evaluation services for children referred for assessment of autism, intellectual developmental disorder, and other neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., ADHD) who have co-occurring medical and mental health conditions. We regularly collaborate with developmental-behavioral pediatricians, psychiatrists, and other medical providers as well as child life specialists and therapists, in addition to our growing group of pediatric psychologists with various subspecialties. Psychologists in our Autism Program also provide consultation for our consultation/liaison psychologists when supporting neurodivergent children on medical floors.

The Division of Psychology Outpatient Program provides psychotherapy for children with various mental health conditions and co-occurring medical conditions. In the anxiety clinics, the resident-fellow will develop and/or expand their skills with evidence-based treatments such Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT), Habit Reversal Training (HRT), the ComB model, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM), SPACE treatment, psychoeducation, and parent coaching. This resident-fellowship position provides opportunities for assessment, individual, group, and family-based interventions, interdisciplinary collaboration, and involvement in ongoing research and program development.

Phoenix Children’s is located in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona, currently, the fifth largest city in the United States. Our patient populations include children from the entire Southwest region of the United States. Arizona is home to a population of 7.58M people with 20.5% reporting Spanish as their household’s dominant language. Phoenix Children’s Division of Psychology is committed that all individuals and groups are welcomed, supported, respected, and valued as integral to our community.

Clinical Experiences: At least 40% of the resident-fellow’s time will be spent in direct service. Outpatient Autism Diagnostic Evaluation Clinic (50-60% of supervised experience):• Psychology’s Autism Diagnostic Clinic prioritizes seeing patients with medical complexities (e.g., neurology conditions such as epilepsy, stroke, cerebral palsy, metabolic disorders, gastrointestinal and sleep disorders), genetic conditions (e.g., Down Syndrome, Fragile X, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1, Turner Syndrome), and sensory organ impairments (i.e., Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind, Visually Impaired). The resident-fellow will be provided a range of clinical and didactic opportunities to develop advanced competencies in the specialty area of diagnostic assessment of autism and related disorders. The resident-fellow will become knowledgeable and trained in current best practices for autism assessment (including the use of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition [ADOS-2]). The postdoctoral psychology resident-fellow will build their differential diagnostic skills as well as their ability to recognize and understand the impacts of language, social determinants of health, and co-occurring medical and mental health conditions. The resident-fellow will focus on building expertise in conducting culturally responsive, ecologically valid assessments, including strong clinical conceptualization and provision of patient- and family-centered feedback about strengths and support needs. Around 50-60% of the resident-fellow’s week is spent in activities related to diagnostic evaluations. Outpatient Intervention (<40% of supervised experience):• The training year is enriched by targeted therapy experiences focused on the assessment and treatment of a range of diagnoses commonly seen in our outpatient pediatric psychology clinics. These include Tic Disorders/Tourette Syndrome, Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Social Anxiety, Phobias, and Selective Mutism. Resident-fellow will develop expertise in delivering evidence-based care to youth with complex medical histories, utilizing a variety of treatment modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT), Habit Reversal Training (HRT), the ComB model, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Selective Mutism (PCIT-SM), SPACE treatment, psychoeducation, and parent coaching. Additional opportunities may be available for the resident-fellow to co-facilitate group therapy and engage in teaching and supervision activities within the general therapy clinic. Required:• Participation in and successful completion of the ADOS-2 training. This training will be paid for by Phoenix Children’s and completed at the beginning of the resident-fellow’s training year. • Presentation at Phoenix Children’s Neurosciences Grand Rounds and case presentations during Psychology didactics. • Advocacy Project:• Develop mentored expertise in social media such as providing media interviews, producing blog and vlog posts. • Purpose of this project is to promote psychological science in ways that are easily understandable to the public. Additional Experiences: Umbrella Supervision:• Resident-Fellow will take on a peer supervision role for the current pediatric psychology intern and/or practicum student(s). • Supervision for the patients will ultimately be the responsibility of a licensed clinical psychologist on staff.

Individual, Group Supervision, Case Conference, and Rounds are included.