Clinical Child/Pediatric Psychology Speciality Track
Message from the program director
Thank you for taking the time to explore the Clinical Child/Pediatric Psychology Postdoctoral fellowship at Mayo Clinic!
Before you review information about our program, we want to highlight a few areas we think are unique:
- To prioritize training, none of our clinical services are dependent upon trainees. Further, we do not require fellows to do any clinical call coverage. This allows our program to maintain focus on fellows' individual goals and professional development.
- Our faculty share a commitment to ongoing professional growth. Further, we represent a diversity of career stages, identity dimensions, and areas of expertise across clinical, research, education, and administrative shields. We are lifelong learners who seek to better understand and advance evidence-based practices grounded in cultural responsiveness and equity.
- With 30% of their time protected for research activities and with strong research mentorship throughout their two years at Mayo Clinic, our fellows are strong candidates for academic medical center positions. The fellowship also financially supports trainees’ travel for poster and paper presentations and connection with the broader scientific community at national/international meetings and conferences.
- The fellowship is embedded within a healthcare organization that specializes in complex, multispecialty evaluation and treatment. Psychologists are valued collaborators within this system and fellows have frequent opportunities to observe and participate in clinical care that is team-based and multidisciplinary.
Please feel free to reach out directly if you’d like additional information!
Daniel Hilliker, Ph.D., L.P.
Clinical Child/Pediatric Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Director
hilliker.daniel@mayo.edu
About the track
The Mayo Clinic Clinical Child/Pediatric Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship is a two-year program accredited by the APA Commission on Accreditation. The program is well suited to learners seeking comprehensive, personalized training to prepare them for the highest level of certification in clinical child/pediatric psychology and for a trajectory of leadership in academic medical centers.
The program offers personalized training across clinical, research, educational, and other professional activities. Fellows typically engage in activities across clinical child and pediatric psychology, with integration of complex mental health and medical concerns frequently present in practice.
Personalized training plans and progress review are guided by specialty competencies as defined by Council of Specialties in Professional Psychology and the Clinical Child Psychology Specialty Council and the American Board of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
As such, fellows’ training has both breadth and depth. Fellows will develop broad advanced-level competencies, facility with evidence-based practices across common psychiatric and health problems presenting in childhood and adolescence, and the ability to work with children and families facing complex, multi-diagnostic concerns. Fellows will also develop expertise in an area of interest through targeted selection of clinical, research, and other professional activities.
Our faculty have diverse interests and expertise, including:
- Intensive Group-Based Treatments (Whiteside, Biggs, Harbeck-Weber, Sim, Weiss, Matthews)
- Anxiety Disorders and OCD (Whiteside, Biggs)
- Mood Disorders (depression and emotion dysregulation) (Matthews)
- Disruptive behavior disorders and parent management training (Berry)
- Chronic Pain and other Somatic Symptom Disorders (Harbeck-Weber, Sim, Hilliker, Weiss)
- Consultation-Liaison Services (Hilliker, McTate)
- Health Promotion and Weight Management (Biggs)
- Psychiatric Inpatient Consultation (Matthews)
- Disordered Eating and Feeding-Related Concerns (Sim, Lebow, Hilliker, Matthews)
- Coping with and Management of Chronic Illness and Treatment Demands (Hilliker, McTate)
- Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care (Lebow, Cassidy)
Training overview
Fellows work with the specialty director, a primary clinical supervisor, and a primary research supervisor to develop an overarching training plan. This plan includes selecting rotations, types of outpatient therapy cases, research projects, and other professional activities linked to specific training needs and interests. Fellows will review their training plan with the program and specialty directors and primary supervisor every six months.
Although the fellowship is primarily clinical, the 30% protected time allotted for supervised research makes it well-suited for those pursuing careers in academic medical centers. Clinical activities include managing an ongoing outpatient therapy caseload (20% time) and rotations in specialty practices (see below; 40% time).
In most cases, fellows will spend the first year in three major clinical rotations (CL service, PPRC, PADC), and the second year will be individually designed and may include a second experience in clinical rotations of particular interest.
Rotation descriptions
The following are brief overviews of clinical rotations within the Clinical Child/Pediatric Psychology track.
Pediatric Psychology Consultation and Liaison (CL) Service within the Inpatient Medical Hospital
Fellows work alongside CL providers to field consult requests from the general pediatric hospital service and a wide range of pediatric subspecialties (e.g., gastroenterology, neurology, hematology/oncology, endocrinology), as well as surgery, critical care, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and palliative care. Consultations often focus on child and family adaptation to chronic illness or acute injuries, differential diagnosis within the context of medically unexplained symptoms, and development of behavioral plans to assist with treatment optimization. Fellows interact closely with our colleagues in pediatrics, nursing, social work, child life, and chaplain services. Opportunities exist for the fellow to participate in the intensive behavioral feeding program.
Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center (PPRC)
The PPRC is a three-week intensive outpatient interdisciplinary program for adolescents and young adults, ages 13 to 21 years, with chronic pain, autonomic dysfunction, and other chronic symptoms that negatively affect functioning. Treatment consists of psychoeducational and cognitive behavioral groups focused on pain and stress management skills, as well as physical, occupational, and recreational therapy. Parents attend parenting groups on how to support their child’s treatment plan. Fellows have the opportunity to conduct evaluations and brief psychoeducational assessments, lead both teen and parent groups, attend medical rounds, and see patients for individual and family consultations.
Pediatric Anxiety Disorders Clinic (PADC)
The PADC offers assessment services and both individual and group-based treatment, either through a once-weekly or an intensive outpatient format, to families of youth who are struggling with significant anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Through the PADC, fellows gain experience administering structured diagnostic interviews, integrating assessment information from multiple sources (clinical interview, parent and child report forms) into a treatment plan, and working in a multidisciplinary clinic. Fellows work alongside PADC providers to facilitate parent-coached exposure therapy through the weekly groups and an intensive treatment program. Fellows are encouraged to participate in a weekly PADC Team Meeting during which the maintenance of the anxiety clinic practice, research projects, and case consultation is discussed.
Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic (PMDC)
In the PMDC rotation, fellows observe and provide outpatient clinical interventions for school-aged youth with primary symptoms of depression and emotion dysregulation. Treatments center around caregiver involvement, aiming to strengthen family relationships and foster caregiver support and self-efficacy via evidence-based skills acquisition. Participating fellows gain experience in the assessment and conceptualization of depression, emotion dysregulation, and suicidality and will provide evidence-based treatments for youth with diverse symptom presentations, including a) outpatient management of acute suicidality; b) multi-family and caregiver-only DBT groups; c) multi-family behavior activation group; d) caregiver-only skills group (derived from CBT, ACT, and DBT); and e) family-based psychotherapy. Fellows will have opportunities to collaborate with program therapists and participate in program development and outcomes-based research initiatives.
Pediatric Behavioral Weight Management Clinic
In this rotation, fellows gain familiarity with conducting collaborative assessments with children, adolescents, and their parents/caregivers of their health habit goals and with formulating and discussing recommendations with families related to their goals. Fellows gain familiarity with evidence-based health behavior and lifestyle interventions for obesity. Fellows also have the opportunity to follow patients for family-based behavioral weight management intervention, and to participate in psychosocial evaluations and behavioral interventions with adolescents interested in bariatric surgery. Opportunities also exist for fellows to participate in program development, evaluation, and research related to pediatric weight management and health promotion.
*Note: Activities on this rotation are typically less than the 16-20 hours/week allocated to rotations and are typically combined with other rotation experiences.
Pediatric Integrated Behavioral Health (Primary Care)
Fellows on this rotation have the opportunity to provide psychological care within an active interdisciplinary primary care center. Fellows gain experience conducting brief evidence-based assessments and interventions, participating in warm hand-offs and case triage, and providing consultation for pediatric and family medicine providers. Fellows are encouraged to attend weekly multidisciplinary case consultation meetings, as well as attend and potentially help run monthly didactic trainings on the provision of evidence-based psychological interventions. Opportunities for program development also exist, with an emphasis on population-based care (groups, care coordination programs, etc.).
*Note: This rotation is typically offered in Year 2 after demonstration of relevant competencies and foundational experiences.
Pediatric Neuropsychology
Rotations in pediatric neuropsychology are tailored to the fellow’s level of experience and interests and thus range from primarily observation-based experiences to conducting clinical interviews and contributing to testing reports and feedback sessions. Opportunities exist to engage with the pediatric neuropsychology service through three main areas of practice: (1) assessment of current functioning in children with complex medical presentations (traumatic brain injury, seizure disorder, brain tumors, etc.) on referral from medical specialties, (2) evaluation for developmental concerns (autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, extreme prematurity, etc.) in young and school-aged children presenting to Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics (a multidisciplinary team comprised of pediatric neuropsychology, developmental-behavioral pediatrics, speech pathology, audiology, social work, and nursing), and (3) assessment of developmental disabilities, learning issues, and social-emotional functioning in children followed in the multidisciplinary Craniofacial Clinic.
Examples of personalized training plans
Consistent with postdoctoral specialty training, fellows' training plans include at least 90% of activities within the clinical child/pediatric psychology specialty, with up to 10% time afforded for exposure to pediatric neuropsychology, adult health psychology, and other areas (e.g., sleep medicine, transgender, and intersex clinic).
Chronic pain training plan
Highlighted aspects of training opportunities geared towards a fellow interested in developing expertise in chronic pain could include:
- Rotations:
- Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center to work with patients doing the intensive multidisciplinary program and to gain with curriculum development experience
- Pediatric Behavior Medicine Clinic to provide consultation related to chronic symptom management
- Briefer rotation in Consultation/Liaison to provide consultation to patients with chronic symptoms in the inpatient environment
- Briefer rotation in Pediatric Anxiety Clinic and/or Pediatric Mood Clinic to round out skills in clinical child assessment and evidence-based treatments
- Outpatient caseload: Focus on referrals to therapy for chronic pain management and/or coping with illness or treatment demands
- Research:
- Supervision and mentorship from Drs. Harbeck-Weber, Weiss, and Sim
- Projects involving investigating parenting factors related to chronic pain presentation and response to treatment
- Participation in quarterly meetings of an interdisciplinary workgroup focused on research to understand autonomic dysfunction in adolescents
- Observational/Exposure experiences: Shadowing medical providers in pediatric pain medicine, neurology, the Mayo Clinic autonomic dysfunction clinic, and Adult Pain Rehabilitation Program
- Educational experiences: Mentored experience teaching a course on chronic pain for medical students
Anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders training plan
For a fellow interested in childhood anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive disorders, the training plan could include:
- Rotations:
- Pediatric Anxiety Disorders Clinic to gain experience in evidence-based assessment of anxiety disorders and OCD and in parent-coached group-based exposure-focused therapy (weekly groups and 5-day intensive program)
- Pediatric Mood Clinic and Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center to gain familiarity with assessment and intervention for conditions commonly comorbid with anxiety disorders
- Outpatient caseload: Focus on referrals for anxiety-related concerns for additional opportunities to provide exposure-focused therapy to individual youth and their families, with additional referrals for mood disorders including some with complex medical presentations, as well as some behavior management-focused cases to round out clinical child skills
- Research:
- Supervision and mentorship from Drs. Whiteside and Biggs
- Projects involving evaluating clinic outcomes and/or technology-facilitated delivery of exposure therapy
- Educational Experiences: Umbrella supervision of a psychiatry resident or fellow in the delivery of exposure therapy
Supervision and mentorship
Fellows choose two primary supervisors; (1) an outpatient therapy supervisor (one for each year of the fellowship) who serves as a primary clinical supervisor, as well as (2) a lead research supervisor for the duration of fellowship (though opportunities exist to engage in collaborative research endeavors with multiple faculty).
Each week, fellows engage in an hour of supervision with their primary clinical supervisor, focused largely on their outpatient therapy caseload and professional development goals. They also engage in an hour of delegated supervision with a supervisor in their current clinical rotation.
Faculty approach supervision and training from a developmental model. Fellows work alongside faculty as junior colleagues and transition from observing to co-facilitating to operating independently with supervision. Opportunities for learning and mentorship exist across the broader psychiatry and psychology faculty, as well as faculty from other specialties (pediatrics, neurology, etc.).
Less formal learning and mentoring opportunities are abundant. For example, fellows have gained experience in program development by supporting faculty in revamping a clinical program, gained insight into interdisciplinary practice through observing team members and referring providers from other specialties, learned about the peer review process by co-reviewing journal submissions with faculty, and learned about grant writing through authoring mentored proposals.