Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship focusing on Mindfulness and Pain Intervention. The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt (OCIM) is hiring for a two-year Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship for those with interest in mindfulness intervention research and delivery with chronic pain and surgical populations. The fellow will spend 50-75% of their time on mindfulness intervention research and 25-50% of their time on supervised clinical service at the Osher Center, with the actual division of effort dependent on the Fellow’s training goals.
Anesthesiology; Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
The Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Vanderbilt (OCIM) are excited to offer a two-year Postdoctoral Psychology Fellowship position for those with interest in mindfulness intervention research and delivery with chronic pain and surgical populations. The fellow will spend 50-75% of their time on mindfulness intervention research and 25-50% of their time on supervised clinical service at the Osher Center, with the actual division of effort dependent on the Fellow’s training goals.
Primary research activities will include delivering a telehealth mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) intervention to patients recovering from spine surgery as part of a K23 research study funded by the NCCIH (PI - Carrie E. Brintz, PhD); manuscript preparation, including first-authored and collaborative papers; and the option to design and implement a mentored research project. The Fellow will work with Carrie Brintz, PhD, Kristin Archer, DPT, PhD and other OCIM faculty members and have access to Vanderbilt’s Clinical and Translational Career Development resources, including mentorship in grant writing and publication.
OCIM is a large and well-utilized integrative medical center that provides services to adolescents and adults with a broad spectrum of complex medical illnesses. One of nine Osher Centers for Integrative Medicine in the world, OCIM is committed to improving lives through clinical care, education, and research in integrative medicine and health psychology. The clinic has strong foundations in mindfulness-based services and focuses on a relationship-centered care model with patients, who are often engaged with multiple practitioners from different disciplines simultaneously. The relational care model at OCIM emphasizes the crucial role of trauma in the expression of illness. Psychological services at OCIM include individual therapy and group therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, and hypnosis for patients with chronic medical conditions. Additional clinical opportunities may include conducting pre-surgical evaluations for spinal cord stimulator implant within the VUMC Interventional Pain Clinic.
Qualifications: Applicants should have a doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology, advanced training in research methodology, training in cognitive behavior therapy, a personal mindfulness practice, and some prior experience facilitating mindfulness practices with groups or individual patients. Preferably, the Fellow will have prior experience with or exposure to interventions such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and/or MBCT and experience delivering psychological interventions to patients with chronic pain. Additional training in mindfulness facilitation, MBCT, and chronic/postsurgical pain management will be provided as needed.
The preferred start date is July 2022. Interviews will start in late January 2022 and continue until the position is filled. Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and CV to Carrie Brintz, PhD atcarrie.brintz@vumc.org.
Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and CV to Carrie Brintz, PhD atcarrie.brintz@vumc.org.