TAP FELLOWSHIPS 2025

We are excited to offer two fellowship positions for the 2025 fellowship cycle!

 All tracks are listed in the Universal Psychology Postdoctoral Directory (UPPD).

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About us: The TAP Clinic is an outpatient private practice designed on the principles of science-practitioner, comprehensive, specialty therapeutic care. We place a strong emphasis on evidence based practices; all of our clinicians have advanced training in DBT, CBT, ACT, prolonged exposure (PE), cognitive processing therapy (CPT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), and/or behavioral parent training (BPT). We pride ourselves in our commitment to continuing education, supervision, and obtaining certification or higher-level training in our various levels of expertise. We have 6 DBT certified clinicians (and are a certified DBT program), two international trainers (Dr. Robbins in UP and Dr. Ritschel in DBT & DBT-PE), and each clinician with a commitment to learning and training in their respective areas of expertise. We see clients in a variety of therapy modalities, including individual, couples, families, and groups. In addition, our clinicians are using the evidence-based models to adapt (BPT) or create (EMERGE, Emotional Resiliency) new treatment programs to target difficult to reach populations and researching the effects of these interventions. 

 

We are committed to providing outstanding training to graduate practicum students, post-doctoral fellows, and other learners in the mental health field. We offer a competitive salary, access to health insurance with dental and vision coverage for all fellows. We are also lucky enough to be located in the affordable and vibrant city of Durham (A Top 10 Place to Live in the US!) in the Research Triangle of North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill).

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The Fellowship Program: 
We have two post-doctoral fellowship positions, distinguished by the age of population with which you would like to work. We call these tracks. Fellows are welcome to see clients from other tracks when this is clinically appropriate and available; however, your primary track will account for the largest component of your clinical training and caseload.

Adult Track: The Adult track is most appropriate for fellows whose training, experience, and interest is primarily in working with Adults (18+). Your experience at TAP will be oriented around the individual and group empirically supported treatment(s) of the Adult populations within your concentrations.

Adolescent Track: The Adolescent track is most appropriate for fellows whose training, experience, and interest is primarily in working with Adolescents (13-17). Your experience at TAP will be oriented around the individual and group empirically supported treatment(s) of the Adolescent populations within your concentrations. By necessity, this track will also involve working in some capacity with parents and/or families.

Concentrations:
Within each track, we ask that fellows specialize in a concentration. The concentration refers to the area of empirically supported treatment with which you have the most experience and are most interested in continuing your specialized training. There are three concentrations which are available to each track. We ask that all prospective fellows identify 1-2 concentrations in which they are most interested and state these clearly in application materials. For some fellows, we may be able to offer experience in two tracks across the fellowship.


Emotion Dysregulation: This track specializes in the empirically supported approaches to emotion dysregulation, mood shifts, and resulting impulsive behaviors. Specifically, this concentration involves in-depth training in both Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and the Unified Protocol (UP). For those interested, this concentration can also include training in Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) for high-risk youth.

Exposure-Based Treatments: This track specializes in three areas of exposure-based treatments- Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the Unified Protocol (UP), and Prolonged Exposure (PE). This track is largely focused on the exposure-based treatment of anxiety disorders, trauma, and OCD, but can be applied to other concerns (e.g., the UP for depression). For those interested, this concentration can include the treatment of misophonia with the use of exposure or other empirically supported interventions.

Resilience, Well-being, and Identity: This track specializes in empirically-supported or adapted approaches to client well-being or flourishing and is anchored in cognitive behavioral and exposure-based approaches. While it does involve intervention for a specific concern (e.g., anxiety, depression), it is also focused on the adaptation of treatments to better promote and support well-being and identity. This track is the most individualized concentration and is developed with post-doc goals in mind. Given our supervisor areas of expertise, we are most able to offer specialized trainings in the below domains within this concentration:

• Neurodivergence (working with Dr. Ritschel)

• Emotion Resilience & self-compassion (working with Dr. Byars)

• Couples and/or family interventions (working with Drs. Sheppard & Ritschel)

Both fellowships are in-person training experiences. Though there is some flexibility to attend remotely when needed, this is the exception. We find that having fellows in office allows us to best integrate our fellows into the TAP community, provide access to supervisors, and offer services to a population that may struggle remotely (e.g., adolescents, neurodivergent clients). Fellows are expected to dedicate 45 hours per week to their TAP duties. While we prioritize work-life balance and strive for fellows to have a 40-45 hour workweek, there are times that this may be heavier due to client crises, heavier didactic or supervision expectations that week, or while learning new modalities or skillsets where there is a steeper learning curve.

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Training Director: The current training director is Dr. Kathryn Byars. Dr. Byars is a founding member and co-owner of the TAP Clinic, as well as a primary supervisor for the Adult track Emotion Dysregulation & Resilience & Well-being concentrations. She has extensive experience in a variety of evidence-based practices and a true passion for the training program. She leads the professional development didactic across all fellowship tracks and co-leads the empirically supported treatments didactic. To learn more about the fellowship program or be sent the full brochures, please contact Dr. Byars (byars@tapclinicnc.com). 

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