Confusion about Southern California Post-Docs/Relocation?

[Callost]

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My wife and I are in a really odd position and we are unsure how to proceed. Does anyone here have any advice on southern California post-doctoral programs and options?

For background - My wife and I currently live in the San Francisco bay area. She is coming to the end of her APA-accredited internship and does not currently have a post doc lined up (due to some massive screw ups from her dissertation chair, her dissertation completion got delayed and she won't be done until the end of the fall semester). I recently received a job in Los Angeles and we are planning on moving there late August.

She was looking at post-doc opportunities in the area and has not been able to find much anything of anything. She had looked occasionally in the past (as we always knew my work would lead to us moving to LA).

She's looked at APPIC, CAPIC, SCAPTP, and just done general job-hunting for post-docs or psych assistantships.

From everything we gathered, it seems like the schools in the SoCal area directly contract with agencies and that's how the area fills their post docs?

Does anyone have any recommended courses of action? Her getting a post-doc somewhere else and just living apart for a year is not an option as we cannot financially sustain that.

 

[Ollie123]

Is she looking for research, clinical or combination post-docs?

I've never heard of schools directly contracting with agencies for post-docs, though there are certainly informal "pipelines" many places.

If she has a solid research background there are boatloads of options in SoCal, so if she is flexible and just wants to be in that area it should be easy to find something. These will also likely be a bit more flexible on dissertation completion because licensure issues are less of a concern.

When in doubt, cold-contacting universities/hospitals and networking is not a bad way to go. It should be pretty easy to find <something>, the challenge with post-doc is usually finding something that fits your needs.

 

[Callost]

Thanks for the response, Ollie. She generally prefers an assessment focus, but is open to anything just so she can have a job. She doesn't really have too much research experience since she's a PsyD, not a PhD.

Even when we were looking at APPIC during the formal post-doc process, there appeared like there were only about 5-6 options, where as in the bay area, there were about 5x that. She's been scouring every site she can without much luck.

 

[futureapppsy2]

A lot of postdocs, including SoCal ones, seem to get posted on Division listservs.

 

[StellaB]

She should also do a general job search, as some employers will hire unlicensed psychologists and provide appropriate supervision without referring to the arrangement as a post-doc. Based on some stuff on this board recently, she should verify for herself that she would be getting the right number of supervision hours by licensed psychologists.

 

[foreverbull]

She should also do a general job search, as some employers will hire unlicensed psychologists and provide appropriate supervision without referring to the arrangement as a post-doc. Based on some stuff on this board recently, she should verify for herself that she would be getting the right number of supervision hours by licensed psychologists.

Completely agree. I was in a similar position years ago (didn't get an "official" postdoc lined up, but moving to CA with partner), and this is exactly how I found a postdoc in CA--job searching mental health clinician, mental health therapist, postdoctoral therapist, psychologist, psychological assistant, etc. on Indeed and Craigslist. My site just happened to offer supervision from a psychologist so I got my postdoc hours as a "psychological assistant," if I recall correctly.
Not sure if she does college counseling, but University Counseling Jobs is another route to find college counseling postdocs.

 

[erg923]

How can one earn hours as a psychologist when they are doing tech and secretarial work?

 

[AbnormalPsych]

How can one earn hours as a psychologist when they are doing tech and secretarial work?

In CA this is considered "supervised professional experience." You don't need any face to face clinical hours. Heck, even graduate level teaching and supervising prac students counts (if supervised) from what I've heard from colleagues.

 

[Mindfulpsych22]

How can one earn hours as a psychologist when they are doing tech and secretarial work?

I’m not sure I’m correctly getting what you were trying to communicate in your post but most psychological assistants I know in CA are accruing a majority of their hours doing therapy, assessment and receiving supervision.

 

[calimich]

Perhaps erg is confused as to what a psych assistant means in California?

 

[erg923]

I’m not sure I’m correctly getting what you were trying to communicate in your post but most psychological assistants I know in CA are accruing a majority of their hours doing therapy, assessment and receiving supervision.

Ok. I guess that is just a CA term for unlicensed post-doc? I saw "psychological assistant" and I thought it meant like a psychologists secretary or office manger or something.

 

[deleted343839]

Postdocs tend to be more flexible with start dates. I know a couple of folks who are just getting their notifications of NIH funding and are busy posting positions now, though these are more for academic-type postdocs and perhaps not what your wife is looking for.

As someone else mentioned, APA division listservs, state/local psych associations, and professional society boards/listservs are a good source of these announcements. In my field, I've seen a couple of posts just in the past week or two. Also try setting up a job search notification in Indeed (use generic language such as "psychology" - you'll get more misses than hits but you won't overlook anything). Try the Chronicle of Higher Ed for research/academic postdocs. Find every medical center and university in LA and search their job boards for opportunities. Look into the local VA system as well (though their postdocs are fairly structured, they sometimes hire new psychologists who are working toward licensure for clinical positions).

It's a tight job market for psychologists in CA, but I suspect the problem has more to do with the large number of people vying for similar positions, rather than programs with pre-existing arrangements with particular agencies.

 

[Mindfulpsych22]

Ok. I guess that is just a CA term for unlicensed post-doc? I saw "psychological assistant" and I thought it meant like a psychologists secretary or office manger or something.

Nope, in CA if you have a master’s degree and are not yet licensed at the doctoral level and are being supervised by a psychologist or psychiatrist, you can get supervised experience toward licensure through applying and registering as a psych assistant with the CA board. Psych assistants follow all the same rules for supervised experience that you would in a practicum or post doc, including meeting supervision ratios and maintaining logs of hours. You renew with the board annually and there is a limit to how many years you can register (to prevent people from working this way and never being licensed). It’s a very common way for CA folks to get additional training to their school practicums or complete their post doc hours. Most psych assistants work in a psychologist’s private practice or small private clinics.

 

[AbnormalPsych]

Psych assistant just means you don't have your license yet. You are being supervised by a licensed psych in the same organization.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

Most psych assistants work in a psychologist’s private practice or small private clinics.

I know a few "entrepreneurs" who just LOVEEEEE psych assistants. they are their favorite part of their business model.

 

[deleted343839]

I know a few "entrepreneurs" who just LOVEEEEE psych assistants. they are their favorite part of their business model.

Oh, that reminds me... OP, jump on your early career listserv for your local area and network with LA-area psychologists ASAP. Be sure to vet potential employers because exploiting new grads in need of licensure is most definitely a "business model" and it can be a hard situation to extract yourself from.

 

[foreverbull]

Ok. I guess that is just a CA term for unlicensed post-doc? I saw "psychological assistant" and I thought it meant like a psychologists secretary or office manger or something.

Yes, California is weird about this. "Psychological assistant" is a term specific to California’s BOP that means pre-licensure but accruing licensure or practicum hours.

For some reason, official/formal postdoc positions have separate paperwork and designation as a "postdoctoral" clinician or therapist. Otherwise, you're a "psychological assistant" if you work outside of universities, VAs, and medical centers, etc. It's weird, in my opinion, and I'm not sure why there's a different term for it when both are counted toward licensure and provide clinical training.