Postdoctoral Resident

Position Title Postdoctoral Resident About the University

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive.

In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

The Counseling and Wellness Center supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.

• The Mission of the Counseling and Wellness Center is to facilitate student success and psychological well-being through culturally sensitive clinical services, outreach, and consultation. In keeping with the educational mission of the university, we also contribute to the mental health professions by serving as a training site for graduate students in psychology and counseling. We support the professional development of our staff and strive to embody the wellness we promote within the campus community.

The Postdoctoral Resident is a member of the Counseling and Wellness Center's clinical team, serving as a full-time therapist under supervision. This position provides psychological assessment and psychotherapy and supports the mental health and well-being of university students. The Counseling & Wellness Center is committed to upholding equity in mental health.

This is a one-year project position anticipated to begin September 1, 2026 and ending August 31, 2027.

50% - Provide direct clinical service

• Provide culturally informed, time-limited clinical services to university students in the form of individual, group, and couples counseling for a diverse student population across the spectrum of developmental and mental health issues.
• Provide screenings and assessments for concerns related to neurodiversity.
• Provide triage to students.
• Apply skills and techniques of evaluation, assessment of risk of harm to self or others, psychometry, and psychotherapy.
• Diagnose according to the current DSM.
• Intervene in student mental health crises.
• Facilitate therapy groups and workshops in response to student needs, with special attention to the mental health and wellness needs of neurodiverse students.

20% - Complete required support activities

• Maintain accurate and timely case documentation.
• Assessment scoring and interpretation as well as report writing for psychological assessments conducted.
• Provide case management as needed for clients seen for assessment and clients in caseload.
• Coordinate treatment and services with both on-campus and off-campus professionals.
• Communicate with students' families, when appropriate, in response to crises and to facilitate off-campus care.
• Network with community professionals and relay current information to Counseling & Wellness Center staff.

10% - Participate in consultation and outreach efforts

• Provide consultation and outreach to faculty, staff, parents, student organizations, and other campus offices to facilitate student development, increase awareness and understanding of general counseling issues, and identify appropriate responses to student mental health needs within the University setting.
• Develop and provide…