Postdoctoral Fellowship

The Real Talk Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is a 12-month, full-time training program in Clinical Psychology in Houston, Texas. Fellows provide at least 50% of their clinical sessions in person at our office, with the remainder conducted via HIPAA-compliant telehealth to clients located in Texas. 

The primary training population is adults presenting with complex presentations that may involve mood and anxiety disorders, grief, trauma, relational difficulties, and adjustment and identity concerns. Fellows may also carry select adolescent and child clients when the clinical infrastructure supports that level of care.

​

Goals, Objectives, and Competencies

The program pursues three goals: professional identity and core competence across the APA Profession-Wide Competencies; advanced psychotherapy competence in case formulation, intervention, ethics, diversity, and consultation, within a depth-oriented framework; and licensure readiness, including the supervised hours required in Texas, preparation for the EPPP, and the Texas Jurisprudence Examination. 

Fellows are evaluated across nine competency domains: Integration of Science and Practice; Ethical and Legal Standards; Individual and Cultural Diversity; Professional Values, Attitudes, and Behaviors; Communication and Interpersonal Skills; Assessment and Case Formulation; Intervention; Consultation and Interprofessional Skills; and Supervision.

​

Training Methods and Curriculum

Each fellow's training week totals 36 hours: up to 25 hours of direct clinical service; 2 hours of individual supervision (one hour with the Clinical and Training Director and one hour with the Clinical Preceptor, both licensed psychologists who share professional practice responsibility for the fellow's cases); 2 hours of didactic seminar, with one session per month dedicated to a case conference; and approximately 7 hours of documentation, scholarly reading, and EPPP preparation.

Fellows complete a scholarly project and deliver one professional presentation during the year.

​

Training Resources and Faculty

Supervision and didactic instruction are provided by at least two licensed psychologists. Fellows have private, furnished therapy offices with secure entry, a HIPAA-compliant electronic health record, and HIPAA-compliant telehealth systems. Licensed psychologists are present in the building during all scheduled in-person sessions, ensuring immediate supervisory access.​

​

Admission Requirements

Fellows must have completed all doctoral degree requirements from a regionally accredited institution of higher education. Also, candidates must have completed a doctoral internship that is APA-accredited or that otherwise meets APPIC standards. For internationally trained applicants, the program requires documented evidence that the internship was a formal, organized, supervised training experience of a breadth and quality consistent with an APPIC-member internship and sufficient to support licensure eligibility in Texas under 22 TAC § 463.11, as determined by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council.

• Required application materials are a curriculum vitae, a cover letter describing clinical interests and training goals, and two letters of reference.

• Selection decisions are made without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, national origin, or other protected status.

​

Evaluation

Fellows receive formal written evaluations at least twice per year, at mid-year and year-end, using a behaviorally anchored 6-point scale. The Minimum Level of Achievement is 3 in all domains at mid-year and 5 in all domains at year-end. A score below the Minimum Level of Achievement at any evaluation point triggers the program's formal due process procedures. The program maintains separate written due process and grievance procedures, which are provided to fellows at the beginning of training.

​

Stipend

The annual stipend is $60,000 for a 36-hour training week, with benefits, paid as a W-2 employee.

​

Licensure

Successful completion of the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program satisfies the postdoctoral supervised practice requirement for licensure as a psychologist in the State of Texas, in accordance with the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council and the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (22 TAC § 463.11). ​

​​

Accreditation Status

The Real Talk Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is not accredited by the American Psychological Association and is not currently a member of APPIC. The program has submitted an application for APPIC membership, which is pending review. There is no assurance that the program will achieve APPIC membership or APA accreditation.