Yale Gender Program

This placement provides fellows with the opportunity to receive comprehensive clinical training within two multidisciplinary services. Fellows are provided the opportunity to serve in the Yale Gender Program (YGP) for the bulk of their time, where clinical care utilizes an affirmative approach to supporting patients and their families as they navigate their individual gender journey. This setting offers fellows training in provision of consultation services for individuals who are exploring their gender identity, as well as family and social support. Fellows work with each patient to better understand the individual’s gender journey, supports, health concerns, wellbeing, and goals for the future. In addition, fellows carry a caseload of individual patients and facilitate biweekly caregiver and patient groups. Fellows within this placement have the opportunity to engage in a range of clinical activities that are similar to those of a staff psychologist within the same setting. Opportunities are also available to supervise an advanced psychology graduate student.

Twice per month fellows also participate in the Variations of Sexual Development clinic. Fellows are able to participate in a consultative role to individuals and families who attend the clinic, in conjunction with providers in Gynecology, Urology, Endocrinology, and Genetics. Fellows are also able to engage in multi-site research and training opportunities on this rotation.

Above and beyond these core training activities, fellows have the option to receive individual psychodynamically informed psychotherapy training, on an elective basis, through the hospital's Long-Term Care Clinic.

Primary Placement:

This track consists of a year-long, full-time placement at the Yale New Haven Hospital’s Gender Program for a total of 50 hours per week.

Secondary Placement:

None

One doctoral fellow will be selected for the Gender Program Track for the 2026-2027 academic year.

The Yale Gender Program (YGP) is an interdisciplinary team that provides services for gender expansive individuals and their families. The program includes a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to help individuals and families explore and receive expert care around affirmation, identity, and congruence. Through a multidisciplinary team approach, we are committed to providing care in compassionate and respectful ways.

The Gender Program serves economically and ethnically diverse groups of families who are interested in learning more about the social and medical options associated with diverse gender identities. Services available through YPGP include:

1. consultation
2. intake assessments
3. individual psychotherapy
4. group therapy
5. parental support/consultation
6. family therapy, and
7. clinical consultation with professionals in other service delivery systems.

Providers in the program also work to maintain close contact with community providers to facilitate ongoing provision of mental health and medication management services, for patients receiving care through the clinic.

Fellows will participate in clinical rounds twice per month. During this meeting, clinical teams discuss each individual presenting to clinic, their health needs, interventions and plans for the future. Fellows will share updates on individual and/or family treatment as well as consultations from outside providers. In addition, fellows will have the opportunity to provide feedback on symptomatology of all patients, as measures of health are completed at each clinic appointment.

Yale Gender Program: Fellows will provide ongoing consultation to the YGP interdisciplinary team, complete comprehensive biopsychosocial intake evaluations with individuals and families and provide individual and family therapy to patients served in the program. The fellow will also have the opportunity to participate in monthly Journal Club meetings with other fellows, residents and medical faculty, and will co-lead bi-weekly treatment groups for gender expansive individuals and their caregivers. YGP also provides regular training to medical residents, staff and community providers, which the fellow will be able to assist with.

The clinical work done within YGP is supervised by an interdisciplinary treatment team comprised of faculty representing the disciplines of psychiatry, psychology, pediatrics, and nursing. Interdisciplinary huddles within the program to address immediate concerns in the treatment of patients are common.

Scholarly opportunities are also available within the YGP, including access to existing data and collaboration with ongoing projects. YGP currently has a HIC-approved registry which allows the program to track a multitude of health outcomes for patients throughout their treatment within our program. Additional projects examining cardiovascular functioning, eating behaviors, physical activity, bone health and educational initiatives centering transgender health are also available.

Variations of Sexual Development Clinic: Fellows will be embedded in the multidisciplinary Variations of Sexual Development Clinic twice per month. In this setting, fellows will provide consultation and brief interventions to patients and families presenting to clinic on an as-needed basis.

Long Term Care Clinic: All Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) doctoral fellows have the option of receiving weekly supervised individual psychotherapy training within the Long-Term Care Clinic (LTCC). This is an outpatient psychotherapy training clinic operated by the Department of Psychiatry and YNHH. Individual patients are referred to this clinic by Yale Health, and as such, are typically members of the University community who are seeking insight-oriented psychotherapy for a variety of issues, most commonly related to developmental, relationship, mood, and/or anxiety concerns.

The psychological assessment experience for Yale Gender Program fellows involves conducting comprehensive biopsychosocial intake assessments. In addition to a clinical interview and record review, the psychology fellow typically will use standardized instruments to assess level of symptomatology and changes in symptoms over time. Feedback sessions with individuals and their families will be conducted after the assessment is completed to discuss additional supports that may be useful.

Four hours per week of protected time is provided to allow fellows the opportunity to design and conduct a scholarly project of their choice. Individual project objectives are coordinated with the primary advisor, or another faculty mentor involved in a program of active research. Fellows may design a project with faculty within their primary training placement, or request to be matched with other faculty in Yale School of Medicine (Yale University, School of Nursing, School of Public Health, etc.) based on their shared interests and faculty availability. The fellow’s scholarly activity can take many forms. In consultation with the faculty advisor, the fellow may choose to engage in an ongoing research project, evaluate a clinical service or program, or help design and implement a new project that will benefit the individuals receiving services within the YNHH system.

• Christy L. Olezeski, Ph.D., Primary Advisor
• Nicolas Meade, Psy.D., Clinical Supervisor
• Amber Childs, Ph.D., Voluntary Faculty Clinical Supervisor
• Whitney Randall, Psy.D., Voluntary Faculty Clinical Supervisor
• Rebecca Kamody, Ph.D., Voluntary Faculty Clinical Supervisor

The fellow has weekly individual supervision with a primary advisor and additional clinical supervisors. They also participate weekly in clinical consultation team meetings or rounds and receive assessment supervision as needed. Fellows may receive additional individual supervision for optional clinical activities such as with the Long-Term Care Clinic. Formal evaluations are completed and serve as opportunities to review progress on training goals and address progress toward achieving the required core competencies.

Strong applicants for this placement generally have prior experience working with gender diverse individuals and their families including patients who struggle with high-risk impulsive behaviors. In addition, strong applicants will have experience conducting evidence-based therapies and have an interest in program development. Fellows who match with this placement typically have strong interests in treatment and/or scholarship related to gender expansive individuals and show promise for developing a leadership role in the field.

Applicants selected for this placement must successfully pass background checks conducted by Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital.