Overview

Application Qualifications

Demonstrate the following minimum qualifications:

• Completion of an APA/CPA-approved pre-doctoral internship program prior to the Fellowship start date
• Conferral of a doctorate degree in clinical, counseling, or school psychology (or a combination program) from an APA/CPA-approved doctoral program prior to the Fellowship start date
• Eligibility to work in the United States

Preferred qualifications:

• Forensic psychology specialization or experience during graduate training
• Experience conducting psychological and forensic evaluations
• Knowledge of forensic issues in psychology
• Experience working with individuals with serious mental illness (SMI)
• Experience working with correctional or forensic populations
• Experience working with individuals with substance abuse issues
• Experience with psychological testing
• Educational and teaching experience with a variety of trainees

Our fellowship team is committed to increasing diversity among healthcare professionals and leaders in New Mexico.

How to Apply

Email the following materials to Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo, JD, PhD, at JFairfaxColumbo@salud.unm.edu

Deadline: January 14, 2021

• Curriculum vitae
• Cover letter addressing minimum and preferred qualifications, as well as a candidate’s background, career trajectory, and career interests
• Three letters of recommendation from academic/professional references, submitted directly to Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo, JD, PhD, including names and contact information (email and phone number) for these references
• A sanitized evaluation report, preferably forensic in nature and preferably regarding competency to stand trial

Interview offers will be made before the end of January.

They will be scheduled soon thereafter via Zoom.

Contact Us

As a fellow, your core rotations provide the opportunity to learn in a variety of settings, often with an interdisciplinary team. You’ll receive advanced training in both forensic mental health assessments (FMHA) and mental health policy. You’ll have two six-month rotations: (1) the Second Judicial District Court and (2) the New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division.

Second Judicial District Court

Under the leadership and supervision of New Mexico Court officials and licensed forensic psychologists, you will conduct court-ordered competency to stand trial evaluations for pre-trial defendants in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court. You’ll learn from different psychologists in order to experience both a breadth of style and diversity of forensic practice. You’ll also get to perform an array of tasks, including: selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting psychological tests; authoring forensic evaluation reports; proving expert consultation to the Court; providing testimony and/or recommendations in court cases and hearings; and supervising Masters-level Court Clinicians and/or practicum students.

Notably, all competency evaluations that you conduct will be court-ordered, and thus are not private referrals by either defense attorneys or prosecuting attorneys. This setup allows you to practice conducting and completing competency evaluations in an objective and impartial fashion, without concern about the influence of adversarial allegiance. It is particularly advantageous during training because you can focus fully on honing and mastering evaluative skill under conditions ideally suited to emulate best practices in FMHA. All of your evaluation reports shall comply and be in accordance with the State of New Mexico’s Interagency Behavioral Health Service Requirements and Utilization Guidelines, New Mexico state statutes, national professional standards, and applicable court rules and law.

New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division

You will assist New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD) efforts on various policy-related issues. Typical activities include facilitating the competency evaluators learning community, reviewing behavioral health bills for proposed legislation, and drafting white papers on mental health-related topics. Acting in this capacity, you’ll have a unique opportunity to learn about and be involved in policy and the intersection of the criminal justice system and the mental health system at the systemic or organizational level. You will also consult and build relationships with state and court employees and will develop and hone skills in communication, leadership, and administration.

Additional educational experiences

Community

You will complete a variety of criminal and civil forensic evaluations under the leadership and supervision of UNM faculty and licensed forensic psychologists in the community. Common referral questions include mitigation for sentencing, criminal responsibility, future dangerousness, psychological damages/personal injury, etc. You’ll see for yourself how psychologists approach their work in order to experience a breadth of style and diversity of forensic practice. You’ll also gain experience conducting forensic evaluations in multiple settings in both urban and rural areas, including correctional, psychiatric hospital, and private practice settings. Training will include in vivo supervision by your forensic supervisor, as well as a weekly supervision session.

Albuquerque Police Department

You will have the optional opportunity to work with the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and its Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). In this role, you’ll gain experience working with Crisis Intervention Unit detectives and clinicians, engaging in such activities as going on home visits, doing wellness checks, and going out on crisis calls. You’ll also work with a forensic psychologist doing pre-employment evaluations for APD recruits.

Two post-doctoral fellows will be hired for the 2021-2022 training year. The Fellowship represents a 12-month commitment, commencing September 2021 and terminating August 2022. Commencement and termination date are somewhat flexible, based on individual circumstances. Salary for the fellowship year is determined according to NIH guidelines. For FY2020 it is approximately $52,000.00 plus benefits (PTO, sick time, medical insurance, etc.), depending on experience. Funding to attend a professional conference may also be available, pending approval.

Post Doctoral Fellowship Policy—Read First 

Benefits

In addition to hands-on training, 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 psychology and psychiatry; UNM psychology and psychiatry faculty; UNM law faculty; and private practice forensic psychologists. 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 final month of your fellowship, you will participate 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.

Faculty

Deborah Altschul, PhD
Associate Professor, Vice Chair, Community Behavioral Health Research
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Caroline Bonham, MD
Associate Professor, Vice Chair, Community Behavioral Health Policy
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Jaymes Fairfax-Columbo, JD, PhD
Assistant Professor, Fellowship Director
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Brian Isakson, PhD
Associate Professor, Supervisor, Forensic Psychology Postdoctoral Fellows
UNM Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Jim Ellis, JD
Distinguished Professor Emeritus
UNM School of Law

Community Faculty

Julie M. Brovko, PhD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Clinical Associate, Department of Psychology

William E. Foote, PhD, ABPP (Forensic)
Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice
Clinical Associate Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Psychology

David J. Ley, PhD
Executive Director, New Mexico Solutions
Clinical 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

Jeffrey 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

Other Instructors

Ann Delpha, JD
Staff Attorney, UNM School of Law
Leaffer Border Justice Initiative

Lisa Schatz-Vance, JD
Deputy General Counsel
NM Second Judicial District Court

Tiffany Wynn, MA, LPCC
Deputy Director of Treatment and Programs
Behavioral Health Services Division, NM Human Services Department

Brochure 

Get more details about the program, living and working in Albuquerque, and the expert, multidisciplinary faculty you’ll be working with. To be updated soon.