Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory

Elements of quality clinically focused postdoctoral training

The Postdoctoral Fellowship in Clinical & Developmental Psychology is located in the Department of Psychology & Wellness Easterseals Rehabilitation Center in Evansville, Indiana. We are excited to offer an excellent training opportunity, with an emphasis in child clinical and developmental psychology. The program is designed as a 12-month, full-time postdoctoral fellowship, which has a flexible start date between July 1 and September 15 and provides 2,000 hours of clinical training. The focus of the fellowship is threefold. One, it is to provide the highest level of education and training utilizing the scientist-practitioner model, where fellows will engage in evaluation, therapy, assessment, consultation, supervising, and research services utilizing empirically-supported means across a variety of experiences and modalities. Two, the fellowship is designed as a preparatory year for independent clinical practice by further refining and advancing administrative, programmatic, and organizational skills need to develop and sustain a vibrant practice. Three, significant emphasis is placed on promoting flourishing, innovation, collegiality, and personal/professional balance, as it recognized that this is key to long-term stability for professionals, especially in preventing burnout and maximizing career satisfaction.

Fellowship Structure and Experiences

The Easterseals Rehabilitation Center is a longstanding nonprofit agency in Evansville, Indiana, with an excellent reputation in the community for service and expertise. The Easterseals Rehabilitation Center has changed lives for people with disabilities in this community since 1946. Our mission is to make profound, positive differences in the lives of local people every day, and to change the way our community defines and views disability. Our services enable individuals of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to pursue their goals and dreams. Physical, occupational, and speech/language therapies, audiology testing and services, and psychological services are provided regardless of ability to pay. The entire community is impacted by life-changing programs that range from these therapy services to inclusive early care and education to custom seating and mobility, adaptive equipment, aquatic therapy, augmentative and alternative communication, residential supports and employment services.

The Easterseals Rehabilitation Center is part of a larger, vibrant medical community in the heart of Evansville, Indiana, which is the third largest city in the state. Evansville is centrally located between Nashville, Louisville, and St. Louis, and serves as the epicenter for health care delivery in the Tri-State area of Southwestern Indiana, Southern Illinois, and Western Kentucky. With six major hospitals carrying a capacity of more than 2,000 beds, individuals and families travel from all over the region to receive care. The community of Evansville, Indiana, has consistently been ranked as one of the top cities in the United States to relocate families. It is the home of two universities, the University of Southern Indiana and University of Evansville. It became the most recent site of expansion for the Indiana University Medical School, which now has a full-time campus located in downtown, and an internal medicine and psychiatry residency that began in the summer of 2019. Evansville serves as an active cultural and arts center, and a few years ago became the smallest community in the world to establish a Ronald McDonald House on the campus of St. Vincent Medical Center (there are now two houses in town). With low cost of living and many diverse opportunities for entertainment and everyday life, Evansville offers a unique, comfortable place to reside and call home.

The psychology department has been an integral part of the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center for nearly six decades. In addition to offering comprehensive, multi-disciplinary assessments for youth and adult counseling services, the department provides a wide-range of intervention services, including individual, family, and group therapy. Services are provided to clients from a wide range of ages, ethnicities, socioeconomic status, family situations, and presenting concerns. The department is founded on three pillars: high-quality clinical services, a full educational model based on the scientist-practitioner paradigm, and innovative community outreach services. In addition to a fellowship program, the Department of Psychology & Wellness at the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center serves as a training site for students at the undergraduate, master’s level, pre-doctoral intern, and psychiatric resident level. The pre-doctoral internship is an APPIC member and is accredited (on contingency) by the American Psychological Association (APA).  Fellows will actively work with trainees at each of these levels throughout their appointment. The department serves approximately 30 counties in the Tri-State area, which includes Southwestern Indiana, Southern Illinois, and Western Kentucky.

The primary goal of the fellowship program is provide a comprehensive, tailored, research-supported experience that supports the holistic development of the fellow. More specifically, the program is geared to train psychologists dually, who make use of available research and scientifically-sound treatments while also providing the most compassionate, empathetic care. During the fellowship year, trainees will be provided with numerous experiences designed to enhance their knowledge and empathy for those that they will serve both as trainees and in their career as psychologists. 

As a means of creating an environment rich in knowledge, compassion, and empathy, the fellowship program actively seeks to recruit trainees from diverse backgrounds in addition to recruiting and retaining diverse faculty members over the long term. The Easterseals Psychology Fellowship Program maintains the non-discrimination policies of the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center. The fellowship program does not engage in discrimination based on attributes of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or physical or mental disability. The Psychology Fellowship Training program adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and will provide adaptations to fellows consistent with the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center's policies so that they can perform the essential functions of their job. It is the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center's policy not to discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities in regard to application procedures, hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, training, or other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Additionally, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities. It is the policy of the ESRC to comply with all federal, state, and local laws concerning the employment of persons with disabilities.

Learning opportunities will be offered, which will ultimately be designed to provide a rich, integrated experience with the primary training objectives in mind. These include to a) develop competencies with a diverse range of clients and systems; b) embrace a commitment to diversity and uniqueness of each individual; c) further an understanding of research-based practice and community activities; d) develop an ability to provide psychological services across a broad range of modalities and mechanisms; e) utilize an ethical framework for clinical decision-making based on the highest ideals; f) facilitate work with other professionals as part of a collaborative team; e) further develop advanced skills in administrative, supervisory, programmatic, and organizational areas, and ultimately, e) embrace a model of practice that embodies high quality care that is both empathetic and sustainable in the long-term.Learning opportunities will occur through direct clinical experiences, supervision, and didactics. To learn more about specific didactic hours and the current schedule and curriculum, please visit the Fellowship Didactics web page on the website.

Major rotations are offered in the following areas: consultation/diagnostic evaluations, child/adolescent assessment & therapy, interdisciplinary team evaluations, group therapy for children/adolescents, and adult therapeutic services. In addition to working with psychologists and other trainees, fellows will actively work with other professionals, including speech/language, occupational, and physical therapists, audiologists, residential professionals, and those with skills in assistive technology. Although some individuals that present to the psychology department have comorbid physical/developmental challenges, many referred individuals present with typical psychological concerns such as attention-deficit, learning, behavioral, mood/emotional, and familial issues. Further, more detailed information regarding each rotation can be found on our Fellowship Rotations web page.

An optional experience for the fellowship year is to be embedded into a new neurodevelopmental center that is a collaboration between Southwestern Behavioral Healthcare and Easterseals.  It is the first integrated neurodevelopmental center (NDC) in Indiana, and it provides services to youth ages 0-17 who have a suspected diagnosis of a mental health condition that includes an autism spectrum disorder and/or intellectual disability.  In addition to providing care coordination, comprehensive assessments are provided with the following disciplines as part of the team:  psychology/counseling, psychiatry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, audiology, and nutrition/wellness.