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Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Education

Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship in Behavioral Medicine

Program Description

The Johns Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences offers a 1-2 year postdoctoral fellowship that provides the requisite training, supervision, and clinical and research experience necessary to develop expertise in behavioral medicine/health psychology. The mission of the fellowship is to provide a comprehensive program of didactic and experiential education and training experiences to facilitate fellows’ development of advanced competencies sufficient for independent practice and leadership in clinical care and research.

Training Overview

We offer 2 training tracks. The Clinical Track offers full time clinical training in evaluation, assessment, and treatment of various sleep disorders and other health conditions, with the option for participating in research activities as interested. The Clinical Research Track offers advanced training in research and clinical care in the context of large scale studies.

For more information about the various tracks and guidelines for applying, click the following links:

Didactic Training

Fellows will have access to lectures offered in the rich academic environment of the Johns Hopkins University campus both within and outside the department. This includes seminars relevant to specific areas of research and practice (e.g., Sleep Medicine, Obesity Medicine), the Department of Psychiatry’s weekly Grand Rounds, and professional development seminars offered through the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.

Supervision

Fellows will receive a minimum of 2 hours of direct supervision per week and ad hoc supervision as needed. Supervision follows a sequential development model.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Johns Hopkins strives to acknowledge, embrace, and engage diverse identities, perspective, and experiences. As such, our postdoctoral fellowship program is committed to fostering an environment that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive for all who train and are provided with care here. We strive to accomplish this through our clinical and research work, as well as in our hiring processes. Fellows are encouraged to explore and connect with various groups and organization at Johns Hopkins through the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Fellows can also join or contribute to our research laboratory’s Diversity and Advocacy Committee (DAC). The DAC aims to promote open conversations and action related to DEI by raising collective awareness about various forms of marginalization/oppression and work together to fight biases as they impact our staff, patients, research participants, and community members. This is accomplished through monthly emails, group discussions and presentations, and a social justice media club.

Salary and Benefits

The stipend is consistent with National Institute of Health recommendations for postdoctoral fellows, which is expected to be approximately $55, 251 for the 2024-2025 academic year. Our fellows receive generous benefits and 15 days of paid vacation per year.

Fellowship Supervisors

Michael Smith, PhD, DBSM
Director, Division of Behavioral Medicine

Luis Buenaver, PhD, DBSM
Director, Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program

Molly Atwood, PhD
Director of Clinical Training, Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program

Janelle Wilder Coughlin, PhD
Director, Obesity Behavioral Medicine Program

Sheera Lerman, PhD
Director, Burn Psychology Service

Clinical Track

Program Description

The Johns Hopkins Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program is accepting fellowship applications for the 2024-2025 academic year.  This fellowship is housed in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences on the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center campus and is accredited by the Society for Behavioral Sleep Medicine (SBSM). Primary goals of the fellowship are to provide requisite training, supervision, and clinical experience to be eligible for state licensure and certification to become a Diplomat in Behavioral Sleep Medicine (DBSM) by the Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

The fellowship is designed to provide both breadth and depth of training in behavioral sleep medicine, and behavioral medicine more broadly. Fellows will learn to flexibly deliver cognitive behavioral treatments for a range of sleep disorders using a case-conceptualization approach. Most patients are adults with insomnia, often with co-existing psychiatric and/or medical conditions.  Additionally, fellows will obtain experience in the assessment and treatment of other sleep disorders, including cognitive behavioral approaches to improve CPAP adherence, treatment of circadian rhythm disorders, and parasomnias, as well as scoring and interpreting clinical actigraphy data. Interested fellows may also maintain a small caseload of general psychotherapy patients.

Structure of the Program

The fellowship is structured to provide fellows with a balance of direct and non-direct clinical training experiences. Fellows will spend approximately 50% of their time (or 20 hours per week) in direct clinical care, with the remaining time dedicated to supervision, didactics, administrative responsibilities, professional development, and research. Fellows can tailor their training experience to disorders or clinical presentations of particular interest, as available, as well as participate in one or more minor rotation training experiences (described below).

The fellowship is ideally suited for students who have trained in scientist-practitioner and clinical scientist graduate and/or internship programs. Successful applicants must demonstrate strong clinical skills in health psychology/behavioral medicine or training in cognitive behavioral therapy. Specific predoctoral experience in behavioral sleep medicine is an asset but not a requirement.

Description of Minor Rotations

Fellows have the option of participating in minor rotations over the course of their training year. Duration of training in minor rotations is a minimum of 6 months and can continue throughout the training year, dependant on the fellow’s training goals and interests. Percentage of effort devoted to minor rotations is flexible, but will not exceed 50% of direct clinical service hours (i.e., no more than 10 hours per week). 

Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery/Medical Obesity Rotation. 
Individuals who select this rotation will receive training through the Obesity Behavioral Medicine Program in the Johns Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Fellows will gain specialized experience in the evaluation and cognitive behavioral treatment of patients pursuing metabolic and bariatric surgery as well as those with binge eating disorder. They will receive further training in the evaluation and treatment of individuals participating in the Johns Hopkins Healthy Eating, Activity and Weight Program, an obesity medicine specialty clinic. 

Burn Psychology Rotation.
The burn psychology rotation at the Johns Hopkins Adult Burn Center focuses on assessment, treatment and consultation for adult burn survivors. This rotation will introduce the trainee to all aspects of burn care and working closely with the Burn Center team of surgeons, nurses and therapists. The mission of the rotation is to mentor postdoctoral clinical and research fellows to become independent scientist-practitioners in burn psychology, with a focus on understanding and reducing the emotional, physical and social challenges that accompany burn injuries and promoting psychosocial wellness in burn survivors. Fellows will provide direct assessment and treatment to burn survivors during their acute admission to the Burn Center as well as following burn survivors over time at the outpatient Burn Psychology Clinic. Areas of emphasis includes non-pharmacological interventions for pain, itch and sleep, treatment of depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, ICU delirium and psychological coping with chronic illness, changes in appearance and function. There are also opportunities for outreach activities such as providing burn education to nurses, physicians, paramedics and firefighters in the geographic area. 

Didactic Training

Fellows will participate in a weekly sleep medicine seminar with Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, and Neurology sleep medicine fellows and faculty. This seminar provides breadth and depth of coverage on all sleep-related issues. Fellows will be expected to present at this seminar at least once during the year on a topic of their choosing. Behavioral Sleep Medicine fellows are also expected to attend a bi-monthly Sleep Research Seminar.

In addition to the above opportunities, fellows will have access to lectures offered in the rich academic environment of the Johns Hopkins University campus both within and outside the department. This includes the Department of Psychiatry’s weekly Grand Rounds and professional development seminars offered through the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs . Fellows will also be encouraged, and provided time, to attend didactic trainings provided by the Society for Behavioral Sleep Medicine and the annual Association for Professional Sleep Societies conference.

Research

In addition to training in the delivery of high quality clinical care, fellows will have the option to participate in research training, including collaborating and co-authoring manuscripts, conference presentations, and book chapters during their training.  This will be provided by matching the fellow's interests with ongoing faculty research and mentorship in the following areas:

  1. Sleep in psychiatric and medical disorders. Current studies are focused on understanding the effects of sleep loss on brain function and drug response; understanding the relationships among insomnia, weight loss, and breast cancer, and; determining the optimal treatment of insomnia in the context of traumatic brain injury.
  2. Psychosocial variables associated with weight loss outcomes among patients pursuing metabolic and bariatric surgery; behavioral weight loss intervention interventions for patients with early-stage breast cancer.
  3. Factors contributing to adjustment to chronic pain and burn injuries; identifying predictors of psychological treatment outcomes for these patient populations.

Supervision

Fellows will receive a minimum of 2 hours of direct supervision per week and ad hoc supervision as needed. Supervision follows a sequential development model. During the first few weeks, fellows will observe their supervisor. Fellows will then see patients individually with increasing autonomy over the course of the year, consulting in real time with supervisors for new patient intakes. Fellows might also have the opportunity to contribute to the development and co-facilitation of a CBT-I group with Dr. Atwood. 

Application Requirements and Instructions

To be considered, applicants must have completed a PhD or PsyD in Clinical Psychology from an American Psychiatric Association or Canadian Psychological Association accredited program by the time the fellowship starts. Psychology fellows at Johns Hopkins are required to be registered as Psychological Associates in Maryland, which includes passing the State’s jurisprudence exam prior to the start of fellowship (this is not required to apply). To apply, please send and a two-page (maximum) cover letter before Dec 15, 2023 describing:

  1. Your behavioral medicine and/or relevant clinical experience
  2. Your career goals
  3. What you would like to accomplish during this postdoctoral fellowship to advance your career goals
  4. When your degree is expected, including the dates of your successful dissertation defense

Please include: a copy of your curriculum vitae; graduate school transcript(s), and two letters of recommendation from clinical supervisors who comment on your clinical strengths and weaknesses. Strong candidates will be offered the choice of a virtual or in-person interview with the Training Director and secondary faculty supervisor. We especially encourage applications from members of ethnic and racial minority groups. Johns Hopkins is a non-discriminatory/affirmative action employer. 
Send all application materials to:
Molly Atwood, PhD
[email protected]

Clinical Research Track

Program Description

This fellowship is housed in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences on the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center campus and is accredited by the Society for Behavioral Sleep Medicine (SBSM). The fellowship position is guaranteed for 1 year with the possibility of an additional 1 to 2 years to be determined early in Year 1. Interviews and admissions will be rolling until the positions are filled. The start date for the position is Summer/Fall 2024. The primary goal of the fellowship is to provide requisite training to receive Diplomat Certification in Behavioral Sleep Medicine (DBSM) by the Board of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, provide supervised hours for state licensure in psychology, and prepare fellows for a career in academic psychology within a medical center environment.

There are currently two areas of focus:

  1. Working on a Department of Defense-funded, multi-site randomized clinical trial. The fellow will gain experience delivering manualized CBT for insomnia and mindfulness-based treatment for insomnia. Each fellow will be collaboratively mentored by Behavioral Sleep Medicine faculty. Development of manuscripts from archival data and submitting pilot and/or career development grant applications is expected.
  2. Working on an NIH funded randomized clinical trial of behavioral weight loss in breast cancer survivors with insomnia. The fellow will gain experience deliver manualized CBT for insomnia or behavioral weight loss and running large scale clinical research projects. Fellows will also have the opportunity to gain clinical experience in the Johns Hopkins Obesity Behavioral Medicine Clinic or Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic. Fellows will be collaboratively mentored by Behavioral Obesity and Behavioral Sleep Medicine faculty. Development of manuscripts for archival data and submitting pilot and/or career development grants is expected.

Application Requirments and Instructions

Preference will be given to candidates with strong research interests and potential. To be considered, applicants must have completed a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from an APA accredited program by the time the fellowship starts. The position includes health insurance, dental insurance, retirement plan, paid vacation and sick days, professional development time. To apply, please send a brief cover letter describing:

  1. Your BSM and / or relevant clinical experience
  2. Your career goals
  3. When your doctoral degree was or is expected to be conferred

Please include: a copy of your CV and arrange to have graduate school transcript(s), and two letters of recommendation from clinical supervisors who comment on your clinical strengths and weaknesses. Applicants may also send a copy of a manuscript in submission, in press, or published (optional). Successful applicants must demonstrate strong clinical skills in health psychology / behavioral medicine or training in cognitive-behavior therapy. While specific pre-doctoral experience in behavioral sleep medicine is a plus, it is not a prerequisite. We especially encourage applications from members of ethnic and racial minority groups. Johns Hopkins is a non-discriminatory/affirmative action employer.

Send all application materials to:
Luis F. Buenaver, PhD, CBSM, DBSM
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology
Director, Johns Hopkins Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Suite 100
Baltimore, MD 21224-6823
[email protected]
T: (410) 550-7986
F: (410) 550-0117
http://www.hopkinsbmrl.com/