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 2-million-square foot hospital facility on the CHOA North Druid Hills campus that has 446 licensed beds. Many of the CHOA health service psychology programs are 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 Solid Organ Transplant (Heart/Kidney/Liver) will be offered at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta in the Transplant Center. Residents will be exposed to a wide variety of presenting diseases and disorders, including but not limited to, Single Ventricle Heart Disease, Dilated Cardiomyopathy, End Stage Renal Disease, Biliary Atresia and Acute Liver Failure, as well as a variety of surgery and medical palliations for these defects/diseases. Residents will rotate through all three organ groups, with the cardiac rotation offering the opportunity to follow patients and families with CHD in addition to acute heart failure and pre/post heart transplantation. Residents on the kidney rotation will have opportunities to work with patients receiving dialysis and continue to follow these patients through transplant. Residents will receive year-long training in inpatient consultation-liaison services, outpatient therapy, brief bedside intervention, subspecialty primary care, transition to adult care, neurodevelopmental assessment and pre-transplant evaluations. A major focus of the rotation will be on integration into multidisciplinary medical teams and shared decision-making, especially as it relates to transplant listing decisions. 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-, kidney- and liver-transplant clinic; peritoneal dialysis clinic; hemodialysis clinic; teen clinics for all organs; and the cardiac neurodevelopmental program. Residents will also be able to participate in umbrella supervision of pediatric psychology doctoral interns and/or practicum students. Opportunities for research and community engagement are also available, including (but not limited to) participation in international collaboratives such as the Cardiac Neurodevelopmental Outcome Collaborative (CNOC) and participation in our transplant camps through Camp Twin Lakes (e.g., staff training, mental health-related pull-out sessions at camp). 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 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 on the Behavioral and Mental Health Track. The Behavioral and Mental Health Track at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta seeks to ensure patients receive access to behavioral and mental health services that will improve their quality of life and ability to thrive. Psychology residents spend time in the Behavioral and Mental Health Outpatient Clinic at the Zalik Behavioral and Mental Health Center as well as the Integrated Primary Care Clinic at Hughes Spalding. 

The Behavioral and Mental Health Outpatient Clinic serves a general child clinical and adolescent population referred from internal Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta specialty medical clinics and aims to increase the continuity of care available to these patients to include behavioral and mental health care. The outpatient clinic serves children with a broad range of presenting concerns including anxiety, mood disorders, persistent post-traumatic stress symptoms, somatic symptoms, developmental disabilities and behavioral problems. Many patients have comorbid medical conditions and are referred from specialties such as endocrinology, oncology, neurology, transplant, chronic pain, adolescent medicine and orthopedics. A multi-disciplinary team of psychologists, mental health therapists, social workers, nurse practitioners and physicians provide both assessment and treatment services for children. Treatment modalities include individual therapy, group therapy, family 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. Psychology residents will participate in monthly multidisciplinary case consultations and staff meetings. The following is a menu of options of available rotations within the BMH Outpatient Clinic: (1) General Outpatient Therapy – Provide interventions to patients who tend to be adolescents with internalizing disorders; (2) Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Clinic - Learn PCIT and carry a caseload of approximately 4 PCIT cases; (3) Trauma Clinic - Learn Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and carry a caseload of approximately four TF-CBT cases; (4) Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Clinic – Provide interventions with patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, functional movement disorders, unexplained cognitive or vision changes, etc., (5) Early Psychosis Clinic - Provide interventions with patients displaying signs of early psychosis or with psychotic disorders; and (6) Evaluation Clinic - Complete intake evaluations with families on the waitlist to determine service needs.

Children's  Integrated Care Team provides consultative and brief intervention services in the pediatric primary care clinic at Hughes-Spalding. The clinic serves a high proportion of children insured by Medicaid and is comprised of a team of pediatricians, medical residents and interns, 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).  Psychology residents can expect to provide brief behavioral and mental health consultations during patients’ medical appointments. Common presenting concerns seen in consultations include disruptive behavior, post-traumatic stress, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, anxiety and depression. Psychology 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, psychology residents may participate in conducting expedited autism assessments for young children.

Due to the large and ever-growing number of Spanish-speaking families with behavioral health needs in our clinics, there are a variety of opportunities for bilingual (Spanish/English) training and supervision within the Behavioral Mental Health Track. Bilingual applicants are strongly encouraged to apply. There are bilingual supervisors as part of the BMH Outpatient Clinic and on the Integrated Care Team.

The Children’s Behavioral and Mental Health Outpatient Clinic and Integrated Care Clinic are relatively new, opening in 2021. This allows a unique opportunity for psychology residents to gain experience in program development from both clinical and operational standpoints. 

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 research-focused postdoctoral residency position emphasizes clinical-research related to the behaviors targeted for reduction (e.g., aggression, self-injury, elopement) exhibited by children with ASD and related disorders. The exact divide between clinical and research work and the specific opportunities vary based on grand funding, but guidelines are below.

• 20-40% clinical time in one of our outpatient caregiver-mediated treatment models, with clients seen 1-2 times a week. Other clinical opportunities may include intakes, hospital consultation and counseling services, based on the trainees interest.
• 60-80% research time. Tasks include executing and writing research grants (current projects are focused on treatment of elopement and toileting concerns), preparing manuscripts and conference presentations; and working on independent projects the trainee is interested in. The trainee will also help to supervise other research trainees and gain experience overseeing a lab. We only require a one-year commitment but encourage applying for a second year. For applicants staying for two years, we are dedicated to supporting submission of an early career or training grant if the trainee is interested.

The Skill Acquisition Program at Marcus Autism Center serves children on the autism spectrum between the ages of 2 and 12 years who have profound autism, meaning they exhibit significant difficulties with language and social communication. 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 five hours per day, five days per week. All services are provided in a 1:1 format that utilizes a behavioral 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 this unique population under the supervision of faculty who are licensed clinical psychologists and doctoral-level behavior analysts. The resident will gain clinical experience through overseeing case management responsibilities, supervising a clinical team, conducting caregiver training and other programmatic responsibilities as needed. All residents will receive mentored experiences conducting and publishing clinical research. The optimal candidate will have interest in and experience with the following clinical and research areas: profound autism, 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 2026-2028, beginning September 1, 2026. 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 13 neuropsychologists, six 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 webpage 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; fMRI, cortical mapping procedures; inpatient neuropsychological consultation; concussion evaluation and education; congenital heart disease outcome; 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, cognitive and family functioning in children with neuromuscular disorders, fMRI / DTI / Morphometry in children with frontal and temporal epilepsy, the effectiveness of cognitive remediation with children with neurological disorders, outcomes in neuroimmunological disorders and biological and sociocultural predictors of outcomes in traumatic brain injury. 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 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.