December 16, 2015

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center

Announcement of Postdoctoral Fellowship in Professional Psychology  (December,  2015)

The Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center (Kovler Center) in Chicago, Illinois is continuing its one-year, full-time postdoctoral residency in clinical or counseling psychology, beginning September 2016.  The position consists of training in and experience with therapeutic services for a widely diverse population of refugees and immigrants who are survivors of torture. 
The residency offers a monthly stipend of $2160 ($25,920 annually), with full employment benefits.  It also entails the responsibilities and supervision requisite for state licensure eligibility.  For consideration, an applicant must have satisfactorily completed before the starting date all requirements for the doctoral degree from a professional psychology program accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), preferably with an APA-accredited internship. 
Preference will also be given to applicants with significant backgrounds in biopsychosocial and multicultural services, trauma-informed and systemic treatment models, human rights or social justice advocacy, work with interpreters, and experience with immigrant, refugee, or other international populations.  Applications deadline is February 1, 2016, and the more qualified candidates will be invited to interview by phone or in person in order to fill the position byMarch 1.    
Background
The Kovler Center was established in 1987 as a program of Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights.  As the principal anti-poverty, non-profit, and non-governmental organization based in the Midwest, Heartland Alliance serves almost a million people a year in need of health care, housing, jobs, rehabilitation, and advocacy through its multiple programs in Chicago and internationally. 

Since its inception, the Kovler Center’s mission has been to aid asylum seekers and refugees from 84 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.   The center consists of 20 multidisciplinary staff including psychiatry, mental health counseling, advanced practice nursing, occupational therapy, case management, and program evaluation and administration.  It also has two licensed psychologists and a clinical social worker who provide training and supervision for four advanced therapy practicum students as well as the postdoctoral resident; and it makes use of an extensive network of almost 200 volunteers, the majority of whom are professionals, who annually render over 10,000 hours of pro bono assistance at the center.

Over the preceding year, the center helped 366 individuals from 56 countries, including 90 new clients.   Its services include culturally sensitive and strengths-based mental health and integrated primary care treatment, case management, crisis intervention, forensic evaluation and consultation, and community development.   It also has been providing training in clinical and counseling psychology, social work, psychiatry, and related health fields for more than two decades.

The center is a member of the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs, a network of 35 organizations in 17 states and the District of Columbia, seeking to address the needs of an estimated 1,300,000 survivors of torture who have come to the United States in the last forty years.  The center is also one of more than 140 member organizations in 70 countries comprising the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims.  As such, the Kovler Center participates in the worldwide movement to promote the recovery and resettlement of those who have suffered persecution and deliberately inflicted trauma for political, religious, social and cultural, racial and ethnic, or sex and gender-based reasons.

The Fellowship Structure
As the postdoctoral project enters its second year, it is not yet a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC), but it is designed according to the association’s guidelines and the licensure requirements in the State of Illinois for 2000 hours of supervised clinical activities. Accordingly, the responsibilities of the residency ensures that more than half the designated hours are spent in face-to-face treatment and assessment.  The weekly 40-hour schedule will average:
2   -   4 hours intake assessments and forensic evaluations
16 - 18 hrs. psychotherapy / crisis intervention (individual – adult or child, and family or group)
3          hrs. or more, provision of supervision, in the second half of the year (individual and group for externs or practicum students)
2          hrs. or more, receipt of supervision (primary - one on one, by licensed, board-certified psychologist, and secondary – by other clinical staff, for specialized activities)
1 ½      hrs. didactic seminar
1 ½      hrs. clinical staff meeting
2   -   3 hrs. case management and other administration
3   -   6 hrs. documentation, program preparation, and other report writing
4   -   6 hrs. optional rotations (to be arranged)                      

Optional Rotations
The Fellow will be able to negotiate with the Postdoctoral Training Committee a series of additional experiences over the course of the year, according to available opportunities, needs of the center, and particular learning interests.  These options will include but not be limited to:
·         Training leadership or co-leadership, for volunteers, interpreters, clinicians, other agencies
·         Consultation, for case managers, students, administration, other professionals
·         Special project design and implementation (e.g., psychoeducational support groups, adjunctive therapy activities, health promotion workshops, community outreach)
·         Program evaluation and development
·         Systems linkage and advocacy
·         Professional presentations and writing.

Application Process
Applications should be submitted by February 1, 2016 with a cover letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, a completed application form (attached), and three letters of reference, directed to the Fellowship Coordinator:
William Gorman, PhD, ABPP
Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center
1331 W. Albion Avenue
Chicago, IL 60626      (wgorman1@gmail.com)
http://www.heartlandalliance.org/kovler/

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