Psychology Fellowships and Externships

At Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, we are dedicated to improving the mental health of children today, but also training the next generation of pediatric mental health providers to help children tomorrow. We offer several training opportunities, including fellowships, externships and internships, to help children’s mental health providers advance their skills and prepare for practice.

Pediatric psychology fellowships

Children’s Hospital Colorado offers post-doctoral psychology fellowships in multiple areas. The fellowship program is comprised of time devoted to clinical training (60% to 80% of time) as well as time for scholarly research or program development activities (20% to 40% of time). The training program is committed to recruiting and retaining  culturally and ethnically diverse individuals. Bilingual Spanish speaking applicants, and all other qualified applicants, are encouraged to apply. Our fellowship program also provides supervision in Spanish to help support bilingual trainees’ growth in this area.

Postdoctoral fellowship positions

We offer fellowships in the following areas:

1. Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
2. Cardiology
3. Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders
4. Cystic Fibrosis
5. Developmental Pediatric Psychology
6. Dual Diagnosis Behavioral Psychology
7. Early Childhood
8. Eating Disorders Program and Digestive Health Institute
9. Pediatric Primary Care
10. Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant
11. Transdiagnostic Suicide and Self-Injury Prevention, Treatment and Clinical Research

All fellows receive a minimum of two hours of supervision by licensed clinical psychologist supervisors who are active providers in our hospital. Our supervisors evaluate fellows informally through supervision and formally every six months through written evaluations. Fellows attend weekly didactics and Institute Grand Rounds.

Psychology fellows are Children's Colorado employees and are eligible for benefits including medical, dental, vision and life insurance options. All fellowships are designed as full-time, 12 month positions beginning in late August.

Requirements for admission

Applicants must have completed their training in an American Psychological Association (APA) or Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) accredited PhD or PsyD program in counseling or clinical  or school psychology, and an APA accredited internship. Candidates are expected to have sufficient training and experience in child clinical psychology to be able to maximally benefit from experiences offered.

We accept applications from doctoral candidates who expect to have completed all doctoral degree requirements by their fellowship start date, including completion of internship and successful dissertation defense. Positions are contingent upon official verification of completion of all doctoral degree requirements (e.g., diploma, transcript or a letter from graduate advisor or director of training) through the graduate school, conferring the degree prior to starting the fellowship.

How to apply to our psychology fellowships

Our fellowship program follows all Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) policies and guidelines regarding application and notification procedures.

All applicants must use the online APPIC application portal.

A completed application consists of the following materials:

1. Cover letter stating interest in the specific post-doctoral position(s) of choice; previous clinical, research and professional experience relevant to the postdoctoral program; and expectations of professional and/or personal goals that may result from engaging in the specific post-doctoral position(s) identified.
• If you are applying for more than one postdoctoral fellowship track with Children’s Colorado, please complete a separate APPIC application for each track. You may apply to up to four Children’s Colorado fellowship tracks. Please use the same cover letter across all track applications. You may rank list preferences if you have them.
2. A current Curriculum Vitae
3. Official transcripts of all graduate coursework
4. Three letters of recommendation (Please submit only three letters).
5. All Developmental Pediatric Psychology applications must include a de-identified work sample.

The application deadline for 2025 to 2026 positions is December 1, 2024 11:59 pm EST. Please see the 2025 to 2026 fellowship brochure (.pdf) for more information.

See where our interns and fellows are now

We work hard to improve pediatric mental health care in Colorado and throughout the United States, which is why training the next generation of children’s mental health specialists is so important to us. Our post-doctoral fellows and interns are now working across the country.

Pediatric psychology externships

Children's Colorado and the University of Colorado School of Medicine offer children’s psychology externships in several specialties for students in a doctoral program. Our externships provide valuable experience through clinical care, supervision and didactic training.

What to expect from a pediatric psychology externship

Our externships allow doctoral candidates to gain hands-on clinical experience in pediatric mental health care and learn from leaders in the field of child psychology. We focus on the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents and their families.

Externs work under the supervision of a licensed clinical psychologist and gain a wealth of experience in a clinical area that interests them. Our psychologists will provide individualized and group supervision and feedback throughout the externship. The goal of our externships is to expose doctoral candidates to new patient populations, assessment tools and intervention strategies while also building competence and autonomy.

Each of our externships differ slightly, but they all require a commitment of 8 to 20 hours a week for a year starting in June.

Find the different clinical areas in which we offer externships and more information about them below:

• Child Clinical Psychology Rotation: Anschutz Medical Campus (.pdf)
• Child Clinical Psychology: Colorado Springs (.pdf)
• Child Clinical Psychology: Highlands Ranch Therapy Center Rotation (.pdf) 
• Developmental Pediatric Psychology Rotation (.pdf)
• Integrated Behavioral Health: Colorado Springs (.pdf)
• Neuropsychology Rotation (.pdf)
• Pediatric Psychology: Gastroenterology (.pdf)
• Pediatric Psychology Consultation: Kidney Transplant and Urology (.pdf)
• Pediatric Psychology Consultation: Cystic Fibrosis (.pdf)
• Pediatric Rehabilitation Psychology Rotation (.pdf)
• Young Mothers and Families Clinical Rotation (.pdf)

Requirements for admission

Applicants must:

• Be enrolled in at least the third year of an APA-accredited doctoral program in clinical, counseling, clinical health or school psychology
  • May apply during their second year to start the externship in their third year
• Have completed coursework in child assessment and therapy
• Have experience with child or adolescent assessment and treatment
• Have proof of malpractice coverage, which must be provided by the extern’s training institution or by the extern prior to the start date

How to apply to our psychology externships

Please send your application materials to the contact listed in the link above for the individual externship you are interested in by February 1, 2025 at 5 p.m. Mountain Time. Provide the following:

• Current curriculum vitae
• Letter of interest
• Two letters of recommendation
• Completed externship face sheet (.pdf)
• Completed attestation form (.pdf)