Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta ranks among the “best children’s hospitals” in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has over 800 licensed beds in three hospitals (Arthur M. Blank Hospital (AMBH), Hughes Spalding and Scottish Rite), an affiliate specialty outpatient center (Marcus Autism Center), the Center for Advanced Pediatrics (CAP) and 20 neighborhood locations throughout Atlanta. The AMBH is a state of the art two-million-square foot hospital facility on the CHOA North Druid Hills campus that will have 446 licensed beds. Many of the CHOA health service psychology programs will be housed at this facility. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta enhances the lives of children through excellence in patient care, research and education. With over one million annual patient visits, it is one of the largest pediatric healthcare systems in the country. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is recognized for excellence in cancer treatment, neurosciences, rehabilitation medicine, cardiology and transplant services, etc. Marcus Autism Center, a subsidiary of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, is one of the leading institutions in the country for autism spectrum disorder clinical care and research. More than 5500 children with autism and related disorders are treated there annually. As one of the largest autism centers in the U.S., and one of only three National Institutes of Health (NIH) Autism Centers of Excellence, Marcus Autism Center offers families access to the latest research, comprehensive evaluations and intensive behavior treatments. With the help of research grants, community support and government funding, Marcus Autism Center aims to maximize the potential of children with autism today and transform the nature of autism for future generations. There is an APA accredited doctoral internship program in health service psychology at the Marcus Autism Center that most recently was re-accredited in 2015.

Two full-time pediatric psychology postdoctoral residency positions with a specialty in Hematology/Oncology will be offered at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, primarily serving patients at our newly-constructed AMBH location. Residents will be exposed to a wide variety of pediatric subspecialties, such as Oncology, Neuro-Oncology, Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT), Sickle Cell Disease and Hemophilia. Residents will receive year-long training in outpatient and inpatient consultation-liaison, outpatient therapy, including supervised training in biofeedback for pain management and will provide evidence-based psychological services to a variety of multidisciplinary outpatient specialty teams. Residents will rotate through additional clinics based on their areas of focus, which will be determined at the start of residency with the help of their mentors and faculty supervisors. Available clinic rotations include brain tumor survivorship, cancer survivorship, sickle cell teen transition, sickle cell chronic pain, sickle cell neurology, sickle cell developmental and research. A variety of current psychological research opportunities are available in Sickle Cell Disease, Oncology and Cancer Survivorship. Protected research time will be provided during the first year; a second-year residency position may also be available to qualified candidates interested in pursuing research/academic medical careers. Residents also are provided with professional development funds to support travel to conferences or specialty training. 

One full-time pediatric psychology residency position with a specialty in Congenital Heart Disease/Heart Failure/Heart Transplant will be offered at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in the Transplant Center. Residents will be exposed to a wide variety of presenting cardiac diseases and disorders, including but not limited to, Single Ventricle Heart Disease and Dilated Cardiomyopathy, as well as a variety of surgery and medical palliations for these defects/diseases. Residents will have the opportunity to follow patients and families with CHD and/or in acute heart failure and pre/post heart transplantation. Residents will receive year-long training in inpatient consultation-liaison services, outpatient therapy, brief bedside intervention, subspecialty primary care, neurodevelopmental assessment and pre-heart transplant evaluations. A major focus of the rotation will focus on integration into multidisciplinary medical teams and shared decision-making. Residents will have the opportunity to tailor their training year based on their preferred areas of focus, which will be determined at the start of residency with the help of their mentors and faculty supervisors. Available clinic rotations include heart failure clinic, heart transplant clinic, single ventricle clinic and the cardiac neurodevelopmental program. Opportunities for research are also available, including participation in international collaboratives such as the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative (CNOC). Protected research time will be provided during the first year; a second-year residency position may also be available to qualified candidates interested in pursuing research/academic medical careers. Residents also are provided with professional development funds to support travel to conferences or specialty training. 

One full-time pediatric psychology residency position with a specialty in gastroenterology will be offered at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. This position is a joint clinical/research training opportunity funded through a new NIDDK R01. Currently funded projects focus primarily on developing and evaluating psychological treatments for youth with inflammatory bowel disease and symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress. The postdoctoral resident will be involved in the following clinical activities: conducting clinical assessments and suicide risk assessments (as needed), leading CBT-based therapeutic groups and coaching youth in use of biofeedback techniques. Clinical training will include broad exposure to evidence-based strategies to promote adaptive coping and symptom management in pediatric GI populations. In this research-intensive position, the postdoctoral resident will engage in supervising/training, data analysis and management and manuscript preparation. There may also be opportunities for grant writing. Research is ongoing in several areas for this project including effects of CBT based coping skills treatment for youth with IBD, depression, anxiety, stress, treatment with biofeedback, physical health outcomes, parenting behaviors and relational health. Novel research techniques used in this project include psychoimmunology, psychophysiology, biofeedback training, virtual treatment delivery and multidisciplinary implementation. Applicants with prior scientific writing experience and peer-reviewed publications are strongly preferred.

One postdoctoral residency position is available in which the resident will spend time within both the BHM Outpatient Clinic and the Integrated Care Team. The BMH Outpatient Clinic serves a general pediatric population referred from internal CHOA specialty medical clinics and aims to increase the continuity of care available to CHOA patients to include behavioral and mental health care. The outpatient clinic serves children with a broad range of concerns associated with anxiety, mood disorders, somatic symptoms, medical adherence concerns and behavioral problems. Many patients have comorbid medical conditions and are referred from endocrinology, oncology, neurology, transplant and orthopedics. A multidisciplinary team of psychologists, social workers, nurse practitioners and physicians provide both assessment and treatment services for children. Treatment modalities include individual therapy, group therapy and parent training. Evidence based practices such as cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, parent-child interaction therapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy are used. Medication management is provided as needed for patients. Faculty have interests in treating trauma, mood disorders, anxiety, chronic pain and developmental disabilities. Postdoctoral residents will participate in monthly multidisciplinary case consultations and staff meetings. They will assist in providing supervision to doctoral interns. CHOA’s Integrate Care Team provides behavioral health in primary care and provides consultative and brief intervention services in the pediatric primary care practice at Hughes-Spalding. The practice serves a high proportion of children insured by Medicaid and is comprised of a team of pediatricians, medical residents and interns, fellows, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, nurses, medical assistants, social workers, nutritionist, interpreters and a growing team of behavioral and mental health therapists (LCSWs and LPCs). Residents can expect to provide brief behavioral and mental health consultations during patients’ medical appointments. Common presenting concerns seen in consultations include disruptive behavior, trauma, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, anxiety and depression. Postdoctoral residents will also participate in follow-up visits focusing on brief, solution-focused interventions, either in conjunction with medical visits or during standalone behavioral and mental health visits. In addition, postdoctoral residents may participate in conducting expedited autism assessments for young children.

The Children’s Multidisciplinary Feeding Program is recruiting for a resident with experience in applied behavior analysis, pediatric psychology and/or feeding disorders. The Feeding Program is one of the largest in the country providing intensive day treatment services, outpatient therapy, parent consultation and assessment for children with chronic feeding concerns including Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and/or Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). The program also provides opportunities for specialized experiences, such as treatment of food avoidance due to food allergy, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to address behavior management concerns outside the meal setting and a parent-mediated intervention to improve mealtime behavior. The resident will work with children with various chronic medical conditions, including but not limited to developmental delay, autism spectrum disorder, eosinophilic esophagitis, post-transplant status, cystic fibrosis, various gastrointestinal conditions and genetic syndromes. The resident will function within a multidisciplinary setting including professionals from pediatric gastroenterology, nutrition, occupational therapy, speech pathology and nursing. Clinical training will involve managing cases for patients in our intensive multidisciplinary day treatment program, conducting multidisciplinary evaluations and providing direct services through our outpatient clinic. The resident may also gain experience with consultation services within a pediatric gastroenterology clinic. Intervention focuses on evidenced-based treatments with a heavy emphasis on behavioral treatment, parent training models of care and building community capacity. There will also be opportunities for independent and/or collaborative research – building upon our research lab that has ongoing clinical trials and epidemiological studies. Previous experience is not required to apply for this position. 

One postdoctoral resident position is available within the Project ImPACT Early Intervention Clinic. The Project ImPACT Early Intervention Clinic is an interdisciplinary clinic that uses an outpatient parent coaching model to support families of autistic toddlers or those with social communication delays. The clinic centers on the evidence-based Project ImPACT curriculum, a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention or NDBI, while also supporting families in navigating barriers to care. The program emphasizes family engagement by coaching families on how to implement developmental and behavioral teaching strategies across daily routines and then creating plans for weekly practice. Children seen range from 12 to 40 months and demonstrate varying degrees of social and communication delays (e.g., skills ranging from limited vocal and gestural communication to speaking in short sentences with challenges engaging with others). Presenting concerns include autism but also language disorders, genetic disorders, cerebral palsy, global developmental delays and factors associated with preterm birth. Residents will thus work with children with complex medical presentations in addition to children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Residents work primarily with licensed psychologists; they engage in weekly group supervision with speech language pathologists as well. For interested trainees proficient in Spanish, bilingual therapy and supervision opportunities are available.

Mentored experiences will center on developing clinical expertise in early therapy and parent coaching as well as secondary supervision of graduate students and doctoral interns. Moreover, residents have the option to work toward status as certified Project ImPACT providers. Residents interested in conducting and publishing research are encouraged to join ongoing projects. The resident may also participate in neurodevelopmental assessment across childhood (see Clinical Assessment and Diagnostics). Interested residents have the option for a split fellowship with the Clinical Assessment and Diagnostics Department.

One to two postdoctoral resident positions are available within the Clinical Assessment and Diagnostics Department. Clinical Assessment and Diagnostics is a multidisciplinary department and research enterprise that provides diagnostic assessments of individuals with a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders. This department emphasizes flexible, empirically supported approaches to clinical assessment with an emphasis on family-centered care. Within half- and full-day diagnostic assessments, residents support individuals ranging from infancy to late adolescence with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders, all including a presenting diagnostic question of autism. Children and adolescents are commonly assessed for autism spectrum disorder, as well as differential diagnoses such as intellectual disability, language disorders, anxiety disorders and ADHD; most children seen in this clinic are five years or younger. Assessments are designed to identify cognitive and developmental strengths and areas of challenge, assess adaptive functioning, provide diagnostic clarification and aid families in identifying and accessing community-based supports.

Clinical teams often consist of one psychologist working alongside a resident, with opportunities to consult with related professionals, including psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, speech language pathologists and social workers. Residents may also join psychologists conducting multidisciplinary evaluations with developmental behavioral pediatricians and neurologists. Residents will have the opportunity to participate in assessments that include interpreters and, for interested trainees proficient in Spanish, bilingual assessments and supervision are available. Further, residents have the option to participate in existing research and conduct secondary supervision of graduate students and doctoral interns. 

The resident may also participate in intervention services, such as brief parent training, parent-mediated early intervention (see Project ImPACT Early Intervention Clinic), or cognitive behavioral therapy. Interested residents have the option for a split fellowship with the Project ImPACT Early Intervention Clinic.

The Complex Behavior Support Program clinical postdoctoral residency position focuses on providing behavioral assessments and interventions for children who engage in behavior that cause significant danger or disruption to their lives or the lives of their families. While there is no restriction on the type of behavior targeted for reduction, those most frequently encountered include aggression, self-injury, property destruction, disruption, noncompliance, elopement (running away from supervision) and pica (ingesting inedible objects). Patients in the Complex Behavior Support Program also represent a range of backgrounds and diagnostic categories. Treatments are matched to the individual needs of the child and their family, but frequently include the teaching communicative alternatives to target behaviors. Caregiver training and generalization to the natural environment are key aspects of the treatment model: parents, teachers or other care-providers are trained in the implementation of the treatment both at the Marcus Autism Center, as well as in naturalistic settings such as in the child’s home, classroom or other public venues. Children admitted to the intensive outpatient program (IOP) attend five hours per day, five days per week, for an average of 12 weeks. For children with less severe target behaviors, outpatient admissions are available that focus on parent training. These positions are a clinical training experience in treating individuals with autism and related disabilities who engage in behavior targeted for reduction within a multidisciplinary team. The trainee would oversee client cases under the supervision of a BCBA-D. This would include working with RBTs on protocol development, overseeing protocol implementation, supervising staff, implementing and overseeing behavior-management techniques, conducting parent training and other programmatic responsibilities. The position would be primarily clinical in nature; however, the position is supportive of conducting research, whether through chart review, recruitment of research subjects and/or conducting research protocols with existing clients. Preferred qualifications include holding a BCBA certification or completion of the coursework to sit for the BCBA exam.

The Complex Behavior Support Program clinical-research postdoctoral residency position emphasizes clinical-research related to the behavior targeted for reduction exhibited by children with ASD and related disorders. The exact divide between clinical and research work and the specific opportunities that will be available may vary based on opportunities available and the interests of the postdoctoral resident. (1) Approximately 20% of time will be spent with clinical care in one of our outpatient treatment models. This may include seeing patients in a parent-training model where families are seen once a week for a two-hour appointment, conducting intakes to determine which of our clinical programs are most appropriate for new clients, assisting with consultation or follow-up for clients in the intensive outpatient program or assisting with consultation that we conduct at other centers throughout the hospital system. (2) The remaining time will be spent on research tasks that are likely to include engaging in independent work on projects that the postdoctoral resident is personally interested in that aligns with the research agenda of the department, working with clients that are being seen for clinical concerns through research grants (e.g., acting as therapist for clinical trial treatment studies, managing cases for children being seen for single-subject research treatment evaluations), managing data, assisting with administrative tasks, gaining grant-writing experience through assisting PIs with grant submissions, preparing manuscripts for publication submission and contributing to conference presentations. While we only require a one-year commitment, we encourage applicants to consider applying for a second year (pending continued funding). For applicants staying for two years, submission of a postdoctoral or early career training grant is encouraged and our department is dedicated to helping postdocs achieve grant funding through assistance with the grant application from well-established researchers at Marcus and grant-writing workshops specifically aimed at early-career mechanisms offered through Emory.

The Skill Acquisition Program at Marcus Autism Center serves children on the autism spectrum between the ages of 2 and 12 years (average four years of age) who are exhibiting significant language and social communication delays. Services provided focus on building communication skills, bolstering appropriate play and social skills, targeting foundational learning skills such as imitation and matching and reducing barriers to learning (e.g., limited reinforcers, mild to moderate behavioral difficulties). The goal for each child admitted to the program is to acquire the critical skills they need to thrive in a less intensive setting. Children receive services between three and six hours per day, five days per week. All services are provided in a 1:1 format that utilizes a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) approach to meet each child’s individual and developmental needs. Intervention also heavily involves caregivers via both didactic and in-vivo training to facilitate generalization, speed treatment progress and support families holistically.

Postdoctoral residents in the Skill Acquisition Program will have the opportunity to gain direct and indirect experiences with the profound autism population by overseeing case management responsibilities and supervising a clinical team under the supervision of a licensed psychologist and BCBA-D. This includes working with direct care staff overseeing protocol implementation, supervising staff, implementing and overseeing skill-based and behavior-management techniques, conducting caregiver training and other programmatic responsibilities. The resident will learn to conduct and utilize comprehensive language assessments to aid in intervention programming. Mentored experience will focus on developing expertise in clinical and supervision skills and conducting and publishing research in the context of ongoing clinical services. The optimal candidate will have interest in and experience with the following clinical and research areas: skill acquisition procedures, NDBIs, verbal behavior, social and play skills and caregiver and staff training.

The Department of Neuropsychology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine will have one opening for a postdoctoral resident for 2025-27, beginning September 1, 2025. Our training program is a member of the Association of Postdoctoral Programs in Clinical Neuropsychology (APPCN) and meets criteria set forth by the Houston Conference Policy Statement. Children’s Pediatric Neuropsychology Residency program builds competency in the neuropsychological assessment and treatment of children (newborn to young adult) with a variety of neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders. Upon completion of the two-year, full-time program, residents have gained clinical and research skills required for independent practice and/or academic pursuits in pediatric neuropsychology and pursue board certification (ABPP-CN).

Approximately 75% of the resident’s time is devoted to clinical activities, and 25% to research and education. The Children’s Neuropsychology department includes 14 neuropsychologists, seven of whom are certified through the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP/CN). Remaining staff are in the process of pursuing board certification through ABPP/CN. All have adjunct faculty appointments in the Emory University School of Medicine and some hold faculty appointments in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. These neuropsychologists reflect a diversity of training backgrounds and bring to supervision a variety of developmental models and theoretical orientations. Additional details about the program and the facilities are available at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Department of Neuropsychology web page and the online Neuropsychology Residency brochure.

The areas of training consist of interdisciplinary involvement in a CARF-Accredited inpatient and partial-day rehabilitation program for acquired brain injury and medical disorders that affect cognition and physical functioning; inpatient/outpatient epilepsy, including video-EEG monitoring, Wada and epilepsy surgery; outpatient epilepsy social support group; inpatient neuropsychological consultation; concussion evaluation and education; congenital heart disease outcome; fMRI, cortical mapping procedures and neurological and neurosurgical outpatient evaluations. Treatment opportunities are offered through a cognitive remediation program targeting executive functioning in pre-adolescents and adolescents, with a parent-training component, to prepare for transition of care to adult medical providers and young adulthood.

Residents participate in and/or develop research topics and are encouraged to present at national meetings. Current faculty research interests include learning/memory in children with epilepsy and traumatic brain injury, cognitive and family functioning in children with neuromuscular disorders, fMRI / DTI / Morphometry in children with frontal and temporal epilepsy and the effectiveness of cognitive remediation with children with neurological disorders. Specific research opportunities and topics of interest can be found in the fellowship brochure. Opportunities are also available for the resident to be mentored in book, test and journal article reviews.

Residents receive mentoring by their faculty supervisors to participate in hierarchical supervision of doctoral externs, in didactic, assessment and clinical treatment situations. Residents also receive mentoring so that they are prepared for board certification. This mentoring effort includes weekly didactic opportunities within the department and with the Emory University School of Medicine on such topics as neuroanatomy, case conceptualization, ethics and fact-finding.