Fellowship Application Deadline: Friday, January 6, 2023. Postdoctoral Selection and Common Hold Date: February 27, 2023
Are you interested in working as a forensic psychologist? Do you want to understand more about the intersection of law and mental health? This postdoctoral fellowship is designed for you!
During your time with us, you’ll develop the skills necessary to conduct high-quality forensic mental health assessments (FMHAs). You’ll work with New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court and strengthen your forensic evaluation skills while simultaneously helping address adjudicative competence concerns in the state. You’ll also work with the Behavioral Health Services Division of the New Mexico Human Services Department, where you’ll contribute first-hand to forensic mental health policy and learn about its impact on people’s lives.
By the end of your training year with us, you will demonstrate professional competency in:
Your mental health policy experience may include:
This fellowship is the result of collaboration between our department’s Division of Community Behavioral Health , the New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD), and the New Mexico Second Judicial District Court.
Want to become a board-certified forensic psychologist? Programs that are approved for the ABFP Experience Waiver are well-positioned to prepare you to navigate the process! Our fellowship is recognized as an ABFP Experience Waiver site (2021 - 2025)
“UNM fellows get to see the impact they can have as forensic psychologists, with people and with policy. It’s a great training opportunity with a great set of people!"
Jeffrey Younggren, PhD, ABPP (Clinical) co-directs the fellowship, lending his more than 25 years of experience to help coordinate the program’s structure, plan its curriculum and didactic training, and provide expert supervision.
This weekly series has gained national acclaim. You'll learn from experts including internationally recognized forensic psychologists, forensic psychiatrists, and legal professionals; UNM faculty; and private practice forensic psychologists. The seminars cover topics such as forensic assessment; the legal system; landmark cases; criminal law; civil law; correctional and community forensic psychology/psychiatry; and child and adolescent forensic psychiatry/psychiatry.
The series currently takes place on Tuesdays from 11am - 12pm Mountain Standard Time. It is intended to provide education for students/trainees, mental health professionals, and legal professionals. However, all are welcome!
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from experts in forensic psychology, psychiatry, law, policy and more!
The fellowship experience exceeded my expectations. The in vivo training allowed me to learn and apply knowledge in real time on fascinating cases and true policy change. However, the clinical and professional supervision I received was the best part. I feel honored to have been a part of this team.
Application Qualifications
Demonstrate the following minimum qualifications:
Preferred qualifications:
Our fellowship team is committed to increasing diversity among healthcare professionals and leaders in New Mexico.
How to Apply
Email the following materials to Anthony Perillo, Ph.D., Fellowship Interim Training Director at APerillo@salud.unm.edu.
Deadline: Friday, January 6, 2023.
Interviews for the 2023-2024 fellowship positions will all be conducted remotely (Zoom). Interview offers will be made before the end of January and scheduled for the first half of February.
As a fellow, you'll expand your expertise in a variety of forensic settings and services during your training. UNM fellows receive focused training in both forensic assessment and forensic policy.
Training in Forensic Assessment
Waitlists for adjudicative competency hearings have been described as a national crisis, and New Mexico has a particularly urgent need for competency evaluations. As professionals helping address this demand, our postdoctoral fellows conduct court-ordered competency evaluations for the New Mexico Second Judicial District Court (SJDC) Competency Clinic as their core clinical training. Your experience will include conducting clinical and competency interviews; administering, scoring, and interpreting psychological tests; authoring forensic evaluation reports; providing testimony and/or recommendations in court cases and hearings; and providing peer consultation/supervision.
Because of the specific statutory fabric of New Mexico, fellows can expect advanced training in malingering testing, forensic assessment instruments, and other forensically relevant instruments. Issues of malingering and neuropsychological functioning are frequently considered and feature prominently in cases and supervision. The unique competency evaluation experiences throughout the postdoctoral year cultivate a strong forensic sophistication transferable to a wide variety of referral questions. By the end of the fellowship, fellows planning to apply for board certification have several options for high-quality forensic reports they can submit for the practice sample portion of their application. The competency training you complete through the fellowship year also contributes both directly and indirectly to forensic mental health policy issues in New Mexico.
Training in Forensic Policy
The UNM fellowship offers a unique opportunity to work closely with New Mexico’s Behavioral Health Services Division of Health and Human Services and contribute specifically to forensic policy advocacy and change. Although the policy experience looks different each year because of its dependence on projects and programs being addressed, as a fellow you may engage in the following activities:
Through your policy training, you can anticipate working with state officials (legislators, senate, lobbyists, and individuals from the governor’s office), judges, attorneys, detention center staff, community program directors, and others who are working together to create a better mental health system in New Mexico.
Supplemental Training Opportunities
The fellowship offers supplemental training experiences (time-permitting) that allow fellows to further tailor their training to their professional interests and desired expertise. Additional clinical training in evaluations addressing police academy suitability, police fitness for duty, mitigation, civil disability, and other psycholegal questions may be available. Collaboration with our forensic research faculty and additional contribution to ongoing forensic policy initiatives with the Behavioral Health Services Division may be arranged. You will also have opportunities to attend other trainings through the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, a UNM mental health law course, monthly Professional Development Seminars with other postdoctoral fellows in the Division of Community Behavioral Health, and policy seminars taught by CBH staff
Two post-doctoral fellows will be hired for the 2023-2024 training year. The Fellowship represents a 12-month commitment, commencing September 2023 and concluding August 2024. Commencement and termination date are somewhat flexible, based on individual circumstances. Salary for the fellowship year is determined according to NIH guidelines. For FY 2022 the base salary is $54,840.00 plus benefits (PTO, sick time, medical insurance, etc.), depending on experience. We will update with the FY 2023 figures as soon as we receive them.” Fellows also receive a professional development fund of up to $2,000 to be used during the fellowship year
Post Doctoral Fellowship Policy—Read First
Additional Information about Postdoctoral Fellowships at UNM
In addition to direct training in forensic services and policy, you will attend the weekly UNM Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division for Community Behavioral Health’s Law and Mental Health didactic series. Presentations include a breadth of topics including forensic assessment; the legal system; landmark cases; criminal law; civil law; correctional and community forensic psychology/psychiatry; and child and adolescent forensic psychiatry. The didactic series is taught by internationally-recognized forensic experts in mental health and law, including legal professionals, forensic psychologists, forensic social workers, and forensic pyschiatrists. The series has a national audience including postdoctoral psychology fellows, psychology graduate students, psychologists, law students, attorneys, social workers, and medical residents.
Mock Trial
In the later stages of your fellowship, you will serve as an expert witness in a mock trial with the aid of volunteer attorneys and a judge. You’ll select an evaluation that you have completed over the year to defend in court. The supervisor that worked with you on this case will work with the attorney playing the role of defense counsel to help prepare you for direct examination, and another forensic psychologist will work with the attorney playing the role of the prosecutor to develop cross examination questions. This experience will help you understand and feel what it’s like to be an expert witness under simulated courtroom conditions.
Administrative Faculty
Anthony Perillo, PhD
Forensic Training Director
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Jeffery N. Younggren, PhD, ABPP (Clinical)
Fellowship Co-Director
Fellow, American, Psychological Association; Distinguished Member, National Academy of Practice
Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Caroline Bonham, MD
Professor, Vice Chair, Community Behavioral Health Policy
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Clinical Faculty
Julie M. Brovko, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Clinical Associate, Department of Psychology
Emma R. Hamilton, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Heath Hodges, PhD, MLS, ABPP (Forensic)
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice
Tatiana Matlasz, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Simone Viljoen, PhD
Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Adjunct
Instructor, Department of Psychology
Other Affiliate Faculty
Bronwyn Neeser, PsyD
Forensic Policy Program Manager, Behavioral Health Sciences Division, State of New Mexico
Nils Rosenbaum, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatrist, Albuquerque Police Department
Our previous Fellows have gone on to do incredible work in the field of forensic psyshology.
Here's where they are now:
2019 - 2021 Alexander Kuhl, PsyD, Kuhl Clinical & Forensic Psychological Services, LLC, Las Vegas, NV
2020 - 2021 Bronwyn Neeser, PsyD, Forensic Policy Program Manager, Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD), State of New Mexico
2021 - 2022 Emma Hamilton, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services, University of New Mexico
2021 - 2022 Tatiana Matlasz, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Services, University of New Mexico
Check out our educational offerings for trainees, providers, and the public including Grand Rounds, Law and Mental Health, webinars with CEUs/CMEs, and more
Visit the state’s wonderful tourism website for stories and videos about living in the Land of Enchantment
Training Director
Anthony Perillo, PhD
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
2400 Tucker Avenue N.E
1 University of New Mexico
MSC09-5030
Albuquerque, NM 87131