Kansas State University

Counseling Services

Position available depending upon funding

Clinical Post Doctoral Fellowship

  2009 - 2010

THE SETTING

KSU Counseling Services (KSU-CS)

Our mission at KSU-CS is to provide Kansas State University students with a wide range of services and programs, designed to help them achieve their personal and educational goals. KSU-CS is the primary counseling and mental health agency for a student body of over 24,000 students. Students come to us with a wide range of concerns including: career indecision, relationship problems, alcohol/drug abuse, abuse, stress, sexual assault, post traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and eating disorders. Our staff maintains close working relationships with local mental health and hospital facilities and we refer students who require more long-term or intensive care.

Among the services offered by KSU-CS are short-term individual psychotherapy, group therapy, psycho educational workshops, outreach presentations, prevention services, couples counseling, psychiatric consultation, crisis intervention, consultation to other university departments, career and vocational testing and counseling, psychological testing and assessment. The KSU-CS staff is committed to diversity and to providing an environment that embraces and supports individual and cultural differences.

Our staff members have a variety of interests and theoretical perspectives. Several staff hold faculty appointments and are very active in teaching and research. Many staff members are active in professional organizations including APA, ACCTA, and The Kansas Psychological Association. Our staff consists of the following professionals:

7 licensed psychologists (both clinical and counseling)
1 Ph.D. level Therapist
1 Master's level Biofeedback Specialist
2 Alcohol/Drug Specialists
1 Consulting Psychiatrist
1 Post doctoral Fellow
4 Pre doctoral Interns
1 Research Analyst
1 Graduate Assistant
4 Support staff

KSU-CS is located in an attractively renovated facility on the second floor of the English & Counseling Services Building, located in the heart of campus. KSU-CS staff, fellows, and interns have private, tastefully furnished offices equipped with computers connected to our word processing, scheduling and data collecting system. These also are connected to the University main frame allowing staff to complete any computer task including e-mail from their own offices. Staff can search the library or communicate on the Internet from the Counseling Service. We have a state of the art computerized biofeedback lab. Several larger offices accommodate therapy groups, and a large conference room is available for meetings or classes. Our reception area is roomy, comfortable, and attractive. There is also a fairly large staff work room which also accommodates sack lunch carriers and our occasional afternoon staff ice cream breaks.

Kansas State University

One of the nation's original land grant universities, KSU was established under the Morrill Act on February 16, 1863. The campus has many beautiful old limestone buildings along with newer buildings designed to blend easily. The 315 acre picturesque campus is filled with trees, shrubs, flowers and grassy areas. The campus is in Manhattan, 125 miles west of Kansas City via interstate 70. The city has a population around 43,000 located in the rolling Flint Hills of northern Kansas where the Big Blue River meets the Kansas River. Five miles north of Manhattan is Tuttle Creek Lake, with 110 miles of shoreline.

The land grant heritage of KSU is central to the University's philosophy and outlook. It is clearly reflected in the student body, of approximately 25,000 students, who enroll in colleges of agriculture, architecture and design, arts and sciences, business administration, education, engineering, human ecology, and veterinary medicine. Graduate programs and continuing education programs account for the remaining student enrollment.

While most of our students are Kansas residents, all 50 states and 70 countries are represented. The majority of students come from rural areas. The campus is largely residential with 4,500 students in residence halls, 600 or more in student family housing, 2,500 students in fraternities and sororities, and most others in off-campus apartments. There are students who commute from nearby towns but that is the exception rather than the rule.

Kansas State University students and faculty are committed to academic excellence. Among all public and private universities in America, Kansas State ranks in the top one percent in producing Rhodes Scholars. Further, Kansas State also maintains an excellent record of Fulbright, Truman, and Goldwater Scholars. While the University emphasizes academic excellence, it also provides a broad array of cultural and social activities.

A wide variety of recreational and leisure activities are available on campus and in the community. The McCain series brings national and international dance, theater, opera, and music to Manhattan. K-State competes in the "Big 12" NCAA division I athletic conference, providing ample options for the sports fan. The state park at the lake provides good camping, hiking, biking, or boating. Our expanded campus recreational complex includes weights, track, handball, racquetball courts, exercise equipment, basketball courts and swimming. Interns can purchase a facility use card at low-cost faculty rates.

Clinical Post doctoral Fellowship

Our fellowship program offers advanced training in several core service areas including: Individual psychotherapy, case conceptualization, intake and assessment, crisis management, group psychotherapy, diagnosis, consultation and outreach, supervision, and research.  Fellows will experience a supportive, collegial environment, with a balance of supervision and autonomy.  All staff have an open door policy, so consultation with senior staff is readily available.

The program stresses generalist training focused on preparing fellows for staff positions in a university mental health or counseling service setting.  In addition, several emphasis areas are available including:  Biofeedback, Sport Psychology, Administration, Research and Teaching, Career and Vocational Counseling, or an area of clinical interest.

Goals for the Clinical Fellowship

1.  Post doctoral fellows will be able to function as independent, competent, generalist psychologists within the scientist-practitioner model.

2.  Post doctoral fellows will develop competence in a wide range of skills encompassing clinical, counseling, therapeutic, programmatic, and educational interventions.

3.  Post doctoral fellows will demonstrate respect and understanding for human diversity and will provide effective services to diverse clientele.

4.  Post doctoral fellows will develop strong and effective professional identities.

Considerable flexibility is built into our training program to allow post doctoral fellows to individualize their training program.

Fellowship Components

Direct Clinical Service

Individual and couples therapy

Fellows will work with clients diverse in cultural background, age, and presenting problems.  While we focus on brief therapy (4-10 sessions), a few more long term clients are expected.  Fellows are expected to see 15-18 clients per week. 

On-call and After Hours On-call

After hours emergency services are provided to Counseling Service clients and other campus offices 24 hours per day. During after-hours coverage, the on-call counselor carries a pager and a cell phone and responds to crises calls. All senior staff, post-doc fellows, and interns provide this service, typically carrying the pager for a week at a time. Post doctoral fellows provide coverage 6-8 weeks spread throughout the year, with back-up coverage and supervision from senior staff. The after-hours number is available to counseling service clients, and several administrative departments within the university. We generally average less than 1 call per week. In addition, our counseling service provides daytime on-call services on site. Each fellow provides daytime on-call for one 4.5 hour time block during the week.

Group therapy

Post doctoral fellows may lead or co-lead a psychotherapy group each semester.  The following groups have been offered in recent years:

General therapy group
Stress management
Relationship therapy group
Eating disorders group
Women's Issues group
Academic performance enhancement

Providing Supervision

Fellows have typically supervised one doctoral student in our CACREP Accredited Counseling Education program.   Supervision of supervision meets weekly and combines didactic training with discussion of clinical issues.  

Outreach and Consultation

Our staff, fellows, and interns are actively involved in outreach to the K-State community. Typically, fellows make at least two presentations per semester. We encourage fellows to develop presentations in areas of interest to them. We are also frequently called upon to consult with faculty and staff on student issues. Most of our staff have an on-going liaison relationship with a department, housing hall, or student service on campus. Fellows are encouraged to become involved in these consultation and liaison activities.

Teaching and Training

Optional co-teaching possibilities are available in graduate level courses in Counseling and Educational Psychology, Stress Management, or academic or athletic performance enhancement. Senior staff and academic faculty provide supervision of fellow teaching.  In addition, post doctoral fellows can co-lead seminars, with senior staff for interns and other trainees including Multicultural seminar, Assessment seminar, or Supervision of supervision.

Research

We approach training in research with a mentoring model; therefore, fellows are encouraged to get involved with staff research projects that interest them or to develop their own projects.  Fellows are encouraged to work on a research committee within the counseling service or our on-going outcome research.  We provide an optional biweekly research seminar to provide on-going support of our research efforts.

Training Activities

Individual Supervision

Post doctoral Fellows receive two hours of individual supervision with a licensed psychologist focused on psychotherapy cases, therapy dynamics, and personal and professional development.

Case Conference

This provides an opportunity for all staff, fellows, and interns to present and review individual client cases and to process their own feelings and reactions. This weekly meeting allows for feedback in a supportive and collegial environment. Conferences alternate between more informal small group sessions with minimal formal structure, and more formal, large group, grand rounds conferences which require a fairly complete written report on the case. Case Conference meets weekly and is required for all staff.

Training Seminar

Monthly training seminar is attended by all staff and provides training in a wide variety of topics in psychology. Staff, fellows, and interns select topics. Some examples of past seminars include: ethics and managed care, empirically supported treatments for depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, DSM-IV diagnosis, group psychotherapy, and therapy with international students. Training seminar meets monthly for two or three hours.

Supervision of Supervision

Fellows meet weekly for supervision of supervision.  Focus is on learning theories and techniques in supervision and applying those with a doctoral student supervisee.

Duration, Salary, and Benefits

The fellowship is a 12-month, full time program leading to 2000 hours of supervised postdoctoral training, which meets the postdoc experience requirement for licensure in most states. The salary is $ 30,000 with university benefits.

Benefits

22 days leave time and 11 days sick leave. Individual medical insurance which includes dental coverage is available on the University group plan at a minimal cost to the intern (approximately $10 - $42 per pay period depending on the plan selected); family insurance is available at an additional cost. Typically some unrestricted fees have been used to support professional development activities and travel. Also, attempts are made to include fellows with other staff's travel plans whenever pooling of resources is possible.

Minimum Requirements

Completion of all Ph.D. requirements from an APA or CPA accredited doctoral program in clinical or counseling psychology.  Completion of an accredited pre-doctoral psychology internship program. 

At least one supervised practicum, internship, or work experience in a college student mental health setting.

Application Procedure

Questions can be addressed to:

Kansas State University is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer.