Fellowship Description: This Advanced Social Work Fellowship begins in September, 2026 and finishes in August, 2027. The training experience involves the opportunity to provide clinical services and to receive advanced training opportunities. This fellowship is full time, and takes place on one of our Adolescent Units. On the inpatient unit, the trainee will have the opportunity to be a member of an interdisciplinary team, and to carry a small caseload of patients. Trainees are required to be on site for a total of 40 hours per week.Postgraduate trainees receive a stipend (including health insurance) and four weeks of paid vacation.
Trainee Duties and Clinical Responsibilities: On the inpatient unit, the trainee will be a member of one of the interdisciplinary teams, and will carry a small caseload of patients, aged 13 to 18, with whom they will work from admission through discharge. The trainee will work closely with the other team members, including the team psychiatrist, psychologist, social workers, case manager, and nursing staff. The fellow will offer group psychotherapy on the unit, under the supervision of a staff clinician, and will provide family and systems’ meetings to coordinate the best aftercare plan possible for their patients.
Trainee Supervision: Each social work fellow receives a minimum of two hours of weekly individual clinical supervision, as well as FIRST weekly group supervision. All supervision is provided by independently licensed social workers, as well as senior staff in other disciplines. Additional specialized supervision is arranged as needed.
Orientation: At the start of the training year in September, incoming fellows will be expected to participate in hospital- wide orientation programs, as well as orientation specific to social work, and to inpatient psychiatry. Trainees will also learn to use EPIC, the electronic medical record. In addition, on the inpatient unit, fellows will receive site specific training including a review of required documentation, process of admission, ongoing treatment, and discharge planning. Shadowing opportunities with inpatient social workers will be provided.
Inpatient Team Meeting: This multidisciplinary team meeting occurs daily, and is attended by all team members. The SW fellow would attend this meeting five days per week. In addition to the daily clinical team meetings, the fellow would also attend the SW team meetings which occur the third Friday of every month at 1pm, to discuss administrative updates, resources, process unit dynamics and review case challenges.
Treatment Modalities: The trainee would be given the opportunity to practice using a wide variety of evidence-based treatment options including: FIRST, CBT, DBT, Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Treatment, Short-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Family Systems Treatment, Trauma Focused Treatment, and Group Psychotherapy.
Psychiatry Department Seminars: A wide variety of seminars are offered and encouraged, including: Grand Rounds, an Acute Crime Seminar, a Child Psychotherapy Seminar, a Family Therapy Seminar, a Multicultural Seminar, and an OPD Case Conference.
Professional Development Seminar: SW fellows from our eight fellowship programs meet biweekly and have guest speakers present on multiple aspects of the social work profession.
Application Procedures
Fellowships are available to students who have completed an MSW from an accredited institution. Social work fellows are awarded an annual stipend of approximately $62,000 for a 12-month training year, with a 4-week paid vacation, holiday and sick time included. Fellows will be expected to have received their LCSW by the fall of 2026.
Trainees who are best matched to the fellowship program are mature and experienced students with varied clinical backgrounds and strong recommendations from both academic and clinical settings. Applicants for advanced social work training should submit a cover letter, C.V. and three letters of recommendation by March 27, 2026 to our program coordinator, John MacCumascaigh, at jmaccumascaigh@challiance.org.
Phillip Brown, LICSW
Director of Social Work Training
Chief of Psychiatry Social Work