Postdoctoral Fellowship in Couples & Family Psychology

Lorenz Clinic has chosen excellence in psychological services and training rather than growth at all costs like larger clinics. Our duty to the public is our North Star, leading us to select the most reflective, well-prepared, professional staff because that’s what drives psychotherapeutic change and the best training. Lorenz Clinic has led on the basis of excellence since its inception, distinguished by its clinically-relevant core values. The clinic was founded on the ideals of interprofessionalism and engages in Reflective Practice, which ensures our workplace is conducive to the work itself.

Lorenz Clinic has adopted an evidence-based clinician wellness roadmap aimed at ensuring autonomy, choice, a reasonable workload, social connectivity, fairness, and actualization of our core values.

The Training

Lorenz offers two, distinct doctoral fellowship placements, one in Couples and Family Psychology (CFP) and one in Psychiatry (post- Doctor of Nursing Practice), each with distinct learning paths and activities germane to those fields. A prospectus of training-related activities is available in contacting Dr. BJ Suarez, Training Director. For psychology fellows, this position is one of only a few in the nation to offer Couples and Family Psychology as a Major Area of Study for psychologists, and weekly, individual supervision with a Board-Certified Couples and Family Psychologist is provided. The Post-DNP experience is distinctive in that fellows receive weekly supervision from both a psychologist and either an advanced practice nurse or psychiatrist, which allows for an interdisciplinary blend of learning and services. The fellowship is APPIC-listed for psychology. Founded in a scientist-practitioner model, we have a diverse, passionate group of supervisory faculty who enjoy training and working with postdoctoral fellows.

The Departments

The fellowship features work on an interdisciplinary team that includes family therapists, social workers, psychiatry providers, professional counselors, and psychologists. Fellows are integrated into and function primarily in a service- and function-specific outpatient team but support in-home and intensive outpatient teams. Fellows are assigned a caseload according to their clinical and training interests in addition to their supervisors' competence and program need. Lorenz’s training department is an affiliate of a number of area graduate programs and enjoys a strong, national presence for both post-master's and postdoctoral training. As such, the clinic is able to accommodate requests from postdocs wishing to begin or continue the provision of clinical supervision under supervision.  

The Role

Fellows function in an applied, clinical role providing services to clients in an outpatient setting. The postdoctoral fellowship is a 1-year, full-time, salaried clinical position that prepares doctorally-prepared trainees for independent clinical work post-licensure. The fellowship represents the final year of intensive, formal training before independent practice. The fellowship is truly the culmination of many years of preparation and hard work, and is meant to help prepare you for your first position as a psychologist or PMHNP.  

Core Clinical Activities

• Carry a psychotherapy caseload that includes couples and families along with individual therapy clients. Fellows discuss prior to the Fellowship the expected goals for the Fellowship, which may include ages and populations for psychotherapy and psychological assessment cases (if assessment is a stated goal).

Core Training Activities

• Monthly seminars led by psychologist faculty: Couples Therapy, Assessment, Supervision of Supervision, Postdoctoral Seminar (addresses professional development issues)
• Monthly Case Consultation and Site Meetings
• Monthly 2-hour Grand Rounds seminar
• Monthly Lunch and Learn
• Annual conference with internationally recognized presenters

Supervision

• For Psychology - 2 individual hours a week with Licensed Psychologists with competencies in the types of psychotherapy cases.
• For Post-DNP Fellows - one hour per week with a PMHNP or MD plus one hour per week with a licensed psychologist 

Teaching

• Supervise one practicum student on their psychotherapy cases (if supervision is a stated goal)
• Provide at least one lunch and learn seminar

Key Responsibilities

• Carrying an assessment or service provision caseload as assigned (see placement-specific prospectus for details) 
• Ability to work a 5-day workweek, in person, and offer appointment times that work for clients or that are assigned by program
• Ability to provide clinical services to a wide variety of populations (i.e., ages, populations, diagnoses, etc.) under clinical supervision
• Ability to conduct supervised practice with children of all ages and their families
• The provision of clinical services including conducting assessments, treatment planning, psychotherapy, and discharge planning for patients of the clinic
• Attending and participating in individual supervision, case consultation, Grand Rounds, training seminars, business meetings, and other meetings as required by the program
• Providing intermittent didactics within clinic’s training or outreach programs
• Compliance with clinic documentation standards
• Compliance with licensing board rules, relevant codes of ethics, statutes, and DHS/payer regulations and guidelines
• Maintain professionalism in all interactions with staff, patients, and business associates of clinic
• Keeping abreast of billing issues and discussing same with patients when necessary
• Assisting in intermittent peer-reviews of patient files
• Adherence to directives by applicable direct clinical and administrative supervisors
• Other duties as assigned

Eligibility

Generic Job Requirements

• A doctoral degree (PhD, PsyD, DNP) from an accredited academic program 
• Reasonable progress towards licensure attainment within one year of start date

Specialty-Specific Requirements 

• Psychology applicants must have a doctoral degree in clinical or counseling psychology from an APA-accredited graduate program prior to their start date as well as a declared licensure track in Minnesota with active pursuit of licensure attainment (full licensure not required for psychology). Candidates with an expressed interest in exposure (20-80% of time) to either couple or family work are preferred. 
• Psychiatry DNP applicants must have a valid, unrestricted PMHNP licensed in the state of Minnesota by their start date as well as DEA certification 
• Candidates with training and experience working with systems such as couples and families are especially encouraged to apply.

Other Requirements

• Ability and willingness to service patients primarily on an outpatient basis
• Flexibility to meet when patients are available to meet (for psychotherapy, usually requires some evenings)
• Evidence of a high level of professionalism within the field
• Strong clinical acumen
• An expressed interest in working with children and families
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary treatment team
• Excellent interpersonal and written/verbal communication skills
• Ability and willingness to provide services to children, adolescents, and families
• Ability to respect diversity and integrate issues of culture into case conceptualizations
• Ability to engage with patients who may be ambivalent about treatment
• Ability to adapt interventions to patients’ strengths, skills, and developmental levels
• Commitment to empowering patients to solve their own problems when necessary
• Ability to intervene decisively, when necessary, to protect patient safety
• Ability to set appropriate boundaries and limits for best practice
• Ability to comply with clinic documentation standards
• Ability to maintain a full caseload as defined by clinic

This is a salaried, benefits-eligible, W2 position.

Benefits

Full-time, independently licensed clinicians enjoy a robust benefits package that includes paid burnout time, twelve weeks of paid parenting leave regardless of gender, and an annual CEU allowance. Employer-sponsored medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, and short- and long-term disability insurance are also available. A 401k with employer match is available. Paid time off, paid holidays, paid service/volunteer time, paid continuing education hours, and a continuing education allowance round out the offering. Did we mention paid burnout time? 

As an active training clinic, most clinicians at Lorenz earn about 100 hours per year of board-approved continuing education just from showing up to work. The clinic hosts an annual conference, monthly grand rounds, and four hours per month of case consultation with a specialist. Above all, adding Lorenz Clinic to your resume is a distinctive badge of professionalism and quality recognized the field over. For the past decade and a half, Lorenz has been known as the psychotherapist’s clinic– one of the few practices many clinicians would entrust with their career or in many cases, their own family.   

Compensation

The fellowship stipends for the 2025-26 academic year are as follow: 

• Psychology: $65,000 - $85,000 (post-degree, pre-licensure), dependent on chosen caseload
• Post-DNP: $120,000 (post-degree, post-licensure), based on 25.6 hours of patient care per week

Individual & Cultural Diversity

Lorenz Clinic is proudly committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce. We are an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.  

Offers of employment are conditional and contingent upon successful clearance of all background checks. For an unabridged job description, please contact human resources.   While this position is listed under Minneapolis for posting visibility, Lorenz Clinic does not operate a physical location in Minneapolis proper. The primary in-person worksite is either our Wayzata or Minnetonka location, with the possibility of hybrid flexibility depending on program needs and clinic discretion.