I have yet to find a postdoc in CA for licensure. Anyone know of any good ways/agencies that will do hours for licensure statewide? Also I know you can work in prisons without a license - can you use this work as licensing hours?
postdoc hours in California
- Thread starter yadashley
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Try the state developmental centers like:
http://www.dds.ca.gov/Sonoma/Index.cfm
This is where I did my postdoc, and started at about 60k as a postdoc. You get 2 years to get licensed.
http://www.dds.ca.gov/Sonoma/Index.cfm
This is where I did my postdoc, and started at about 60k as a postdoc. You get 2 years to get licensed.
Are these actual post-docs or unlicensed psychologist positions? Were you able to get your licensure in 1 year, stigmata?
VA's and Kaiser are the largest providers of post-docs in California. You need an APA internship for VA and Kaiser requires apa/appic. You can also try being a psych assistant under someone else's licensure, but the income is very varied and you may not get enough hours. California requires 4 hours of supervision per week if you want to get licensed within 1 year so keep that in mind.
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Wow...that is the most I've seen, though I think it is good to require that type of supervision.
Yep, and CA also has 4 courses that you need to take that are generally not offered in grad school.
NJ is even more stringent. They require 1,000 face to face client hours (not including internship here), 4 hours per week of supervision (200 total) and also an oral exam (heard the pass rate is 50%).
People don't realize how challenging it can be to get licensed!!! You can't just graduate from ANY internship and create a post-doc out of thin air. Who will provide you with 4 hours of supervision per week? How will you get 1,000 face to face hours (in NJ)? Most of us don't get this many throughout grad school. There is no guarantee that you will get this amount of hours unless its a formal post-doc. Another reason to avoid non-apa internships in my opinion.
i realize i'm getting off topic.
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time to put Cali in my rearview
california board of psychology: http://www.psychboard.ca.gov/faq.shtml
they require human sexuality, child abuse, substance abuse, and spousal abuse. My program didn't offer any of these courses, but 1. Most people take these later.
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1. If possible, I would DEFINITELY recommend that people go for an APA-accredited internship, or at the very least APPIC. I see too many people here in California go for a CAPIC internship (which I know can't be avoided in certain unique circumstances), and end up behind the 8-ball when it comes to postdoc, jobs, etc. It's difficult enough to get licensed as others have pointed out, so shooting for APA even if it requires some uprooting for 1 year is usually well worth it.
2. Don't be intimidated by the additional courses required for licensure in California. You can often find them in bundle packages online for ~200 bucks, and you can complete them all in an afternoon. Of all the challenges that may exist for practicing clinical psych in CA, those are the least of your worries
2. Don't be intimidated by the additional courses required for licensure in California. You can often find them in bundle packages online for ~200 bucks, and you can complete them all in an afternoon. Of all the challenges that may exist for practicing clinical psych in CA, those are the least of your worries
I landed an APPIC internship, and I think it's actually fairly easy to obtain an APPIC postdoc, however I don't want to work at Kaiser. And there's very little else listed on the site for postdocs... unfortunately. But thanks on the feedback regarding the CEUs needed for licensure.
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No problem. Are you on the APPIC listserv for postdocs? I've also seen a couple of other resources floating around for postdoc listings. Can I also ask why the aversion to Kaiser? I wouldn't want to tell you how to live your life, but I might reconsider eliminating one of the largest employers of psychologists in the state, especially if you can't consider VA's due to the non-APA piece. It's only one year, can open up a number of options down the road, and will guarantee that you get the hours you need towards licensure. Just food for thought.
Well I did actually interview at a number of Kaisers and they seemed impressed with my background. I have been working at another large corporate healthcare setting this past year in CA - and the Kaiser interviews for the most part shared the same approach in their training program - that the psychology interns/residents are no more different then the social workers. At Kaiser (unless I were to do a specialized track), I would have to have a quota of patients I see every week, most likely for only 20 minutes each, see them only once per month, do groups, and do intakes and help find resources/referrals. Not much for assessment either. I've been doing this currently though more on the social work focus this past year despite being a psychology intern, I've been assigned social work patients. At Kaiser, it felt like an assembly line of care - not my cup of tea. No disrespect, I'm sure there are variations and I'm probably generalizing - but the three sites I interviewed at in Northern CA did not seem to offer me much more that was new or different, then my current year. I think I'm just burnt out on the corporate, managed care. It would be social work in combination with meeting a quota and making them money, not really aligned with my values as a clinican, unfortunately. In fact, I'd rather make less money but helping people out in the community or in rural areas, then working in those settings, I would most likely learn more, gain more assessment experience. I also wouldn't mind getting more experience with children and teens too.
I am assuming you just finished internship so it depends on how desperate you are to find a position. I really think in this field you have to be geographically flexible, especially in a saturated state like CA. The whole non-apa internship will count against you for post-docs. If you are eliminating Kaiser and the VA, I'm not sure how likely it is to find a position that guarantees those hours for licensure. You'll need 4 hours of supervision per week in CA. Kaiser seems more tolerable than a CA prison facility to me.
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To echo this, if you're cutting out 80% of the options in CA, it might be an uphill climb. Am I to assume that you turned down options within Kaiser for postdoc since it didn't fit what you were looking for? If so, I respect your passion but would hate to see you get burned for closing those doors. Again, I think the main priority for internship and postdoc ought to be getting a position that fulfills your requirements and keeps as many options open as possible. My advice would be to reconsider, particularly since the description you gave of Kaiser positions, though surely representative of certain specific sites, hasn't been my experience over the years. And at least in my book, it sure beats prison...most of the time at least
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1. If possible, I would DEFINITELY recommend that people go for an APA-accredited internship, or at the very least APPIC. I see too many people here in California go for a CAPIC internship (which I know can't be avoided in certain unique circumstances), and end up behind the 8-ball when it comes to postdoc, jobs, etc. It's difficult enough to get licensed as others have pointed out, so shooting for APA even if it requires some uprooting for 1 year is usually well worth it.
2. Don't be intimidated by the additional courses required for licensure in California. You can often find them in bundle packages online for ~200 bucks, and you can complete them all in an afternoon. Of all the challenges that may exist for practicing clinical psych in CA, those are the least of your worries
I was under the impression that we can elect to take these classes while still in grad school, too. My school offers them to local practitioners and current students and alumni pay something like 50$.
Yes, of course you can. You just have to prove that you have taken them. I have to say that I find it weird that people did not have human sexuality or a course in law and ethics which covers child abuse in a doctoral program???
grad schools outside of california don't offer courses in child abuse or domestic violence so if you want to get licensed in CA you have to take these courses. Of course we had a course that was called "ethics." The board of psychology in CA makes it seem like you have to take a course in child abuse or domestic violence specifically.
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A general course on ethics, no matter how thorough, doesn't typically suffice as far as the board of psych is concerned. Some programs offer these pre-licensure courses as electives while in grad school, while others offer discounted rates for alumni. As I mentioned earlier, many choose to complete them online in which case you can plow through most of them in an afternoon or so. Either way, not a big deal.
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I am seeking a postdoc position near Santa Barbara or Los Angeles, California. Has anyone tried cold emailing places and had luck? I am thinking of emailing community mental health centers asking for a postdoc position. Any suggestions for how to obtain a postdoc in California? Thanks!
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