Fellows at Light On Anxiety participate in a structured, immersive training experience focused on the evidence-based treatment of anxiety, OCD, and related disorders across the lifespan. Training is grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP), with an emphasis on helping fellows develop both clinical depth and flexibility when working with complex, real-world presentations.
The fellowship is designed to provide a balanced and intentional training experience, with approximately 50% of time devoted to psychotherapy, 25% to psychological and diagnostic assessment, and 25% to supervision, didactics, and professional development. Fellows work with children, adolescents, adults, parents, and families presenting with a wide range of anxiety and OCD-related concerns, including generalized anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, phobias, separation anxiety, school refusal, illness anxiety, perfectionism, intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors, body-focused repetitive behaviors, and related emotion regulation challenges. Fellows also gain experience working with clients who present with comorbid conditions such as ADHD, depression, trauma-related symptoms, autism spectrum-related needs, executive functioning challenges, and stress-related concerns.
As a Chicago-based practice that offers both insurance-based and private pay services, with opportunities for reduced-fee/sliding scale care, fellows work with clients from a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds and levels of access to care. While Light On Anxiety does not formally collect or track detailed demographic statistics, fellows are consistently exposed to a clinically and culturally diverse patient population across racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, gender identity, and family structure backgrounds. Fellows also gain experience working with underserved and historically marginalized individuals and families seeking specialized evidence-based care for anxiety and OCD-related concerns.
Across both outpatient therapy and comprehensive psychological and diagnostic assessment, fellows are exposed to a clinically diverse population that reflects the complexity of real-world community practice. This includes clients across developmental stages, family systems, and levels of treatment readiness, allowing fellows to strengthen their ability to tailor evidence-based care to each individual’s needs, goals, strengths, and cultural context.
Training occurs within a highly collaborative team environment and includes weekly individual supervision, group supervision, case conference, and didactic seminars (“Learning Lab”), as well as structured and self-paced training through the Light On Anxiety Clinical Training Institute. Across these experiences, fellows are supported in developing strong case conceptualization skills, delivering high-quality evidence-based care, and growing into confident, independent clinicians.
The goals and objectives of the postdoctoral fellowship are designed to support the development of advanced, practical competency in evidence-based, exposure-focused treatment of anxiety, OCD, and related disorders.
Postdoctoral fellows will demonstrate advanced competencies in the evidence-based assessment and treatment of anxiety, OCD, and related disorders, consistent with specialty practice in cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure-based intervention.
Activities provided to support fellows in meeting the program’s objectives and developing advanced competencies include:
Light On Anxiety’s postdoctoral fellowship provides a structured, immersive training experience in evidence-based treatment and assessment for anxiety, OCD, and related disorders across the lifespan. The fellowship is designed to support fellows in developing advanced clinical competence, strong case conceptualization skills, and increasing independence as psychologists.
The fellowship includes the following core training experiences:
Direct clinical service
Fellows provide outpatient psychotherapy to children, adolescents, adults, parents, and families. Treatment is grounded in CBT, ERP, ACT-informed interventions, mindfulness-based strategies, and other evidence-based approaches. Fellows gain experience treating anxiety disorders, OCD, panic disorder, social anxiety, phobias, school refusal, perfectionism, intrusive thoughts, body-focused repetitive behaviors, and related comorbid presentations.
Assessment training
Approximately 25% of the fellowship is devoted to psychological and diagnostic assessment. Fellows participate in intake evaluations, diagnostic clarification, symptom-specific assessment, and comprehensive psychological testing, depending on referral needs and fellow training goals. Fellows are trained to integrate clinical interview data, standardized measures, behavioral observations, and collateral information into clear, useful, and treatment-informed recommendations.
Supervision
Fellows receive 2 hours of weekly individual supervision from licensed psychologists, as well as group supervision and case consultation. Supervision focuses on case conceptualization, treatment planning, exposure design, risk assessment, ethics, cultural humility, assessment interpretation, and professional identity development. Fellows are supported in moving from close supervision toward more independent clinical decision-making over the course of the training year.
Didactics and seminars
Fellows participate in regular didactic seminars through Light On Anxiety’s “Learning Lab” and the Light On Anxiety Clinical Training Institute. Didactic topics include CBT and ERP for anxiety and OCD, assessment and diagnosis, risk assessment and management, culturally responsive care, family-based interventions, treatment of comorbid presentations, ethics, documentation, consultation, and professional development.
Rotations and specialty experiences
The fellowship does not use a traditional hospital-based rotation model. Instead, fellows receive broad outpatient training through several integrated clinical experiences, including psychotherapy, psychological assessment, intake/diagnostic evaluation, parent/family work, and specialty anxiety/OCD treatment. Fellows may also have opportunities to develop focused experience with areas such as pediatric anxiety, OCD and intrusive thoughts, school refusal, panic disorder, perfectionism, health anxiety, or assessment, depending on client needs and fellow interests.
Professional development
Fellows receive training in professional communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, consultation, documentation, ethical decision-making, and preparation for independent practice. The program emphasizes both technical competence in evidence-based care and the flexibility needed to apply these interventions effectively with diverse, complex, real-world clients.
Fellows are evaluated through ongoing supervision, direct observation, review of clinical documentation, case consultation, and formal written evaluations. Evaluation is designed to support fellow development, ensure competency growth, and provide clear feedback regarding progress toward successful completion of the postdoctoral training program.
Formal written evaluations are completed twice during each training year.
Additional informal feedback is provided regularly during weekly supervision and training meetings. If concerns arise between formal evaluation periods, the Training Director and/or primary supervisor will meet with the fellow to review the concern, clarify expectations, identify needed supports, and create a written remediation plan if appropriate.
Evaluation forms include ratings and narrative feedback in the following areas:
Evaluation Rating Scale
Fellows are evaluated using the following rating scale:
1 = Needs Improvement
2 = Meets Expectations
3 = Exceeds Expectations
A rating of 1 indicates performance below the expected level for the fellow’s stage of training and may result in additional supervision, a remediation plan, or initiation of the program’s due process procedures.
Training and services are provided across Light On Anxiety’s eight outpatient locations in the Chicagoland area, as well as through secure telehealth when clinically appropriate. Fellows may have opportunities to provide services at one or more Light On Anxiety locations based on their geographic interests, commuting preferences, clinical training goals, supervisor availability, and the needs of the practice.
Across all sites, fellows provide outpatient psychotherapy, diagnostic intake evaluations, psychological assessment services, parent/family consultation, and evidence-based treatment for anxiety, OCD, and related conditions. The clinical services, supervision model, documentation expectations, and training requirements are consistent across locations.
Supervision is coordinated centrally through the fellowship program and may occur in person or via secure video conferencing, depending on site assignment and supervisor availability. The Director of Training oversees the fellowship experience across all locations, including fellow placement, training plan development, supervision assignments, didactics, evaluation, and overall quality of training. The Director of Training remains actively involved regardless of the fellow’s primary clinical site.
Light On Anxiety provides fellows with a strong infrastructure to support clinical training, supervision, assessment, and professional development.
Training and supervisory staff
Fellows are supervised by licensed clinical psychologists and other experienced senior clinicians with expertise in CBT, ERP, psychological assessment, anxiety disorders, OCD, and related conditions. Fellows receive individual supervision, group supervision, case consultation, and access to a collaborative multidisciplinary clinical team. Supervisors support fellows in developing advanced clinical skills, ethical decision-making, culturally responsive care, assessment competence, and professional identity as emerging psychologists.
Physical facilities
Training takes place within Light On Anxiety’s outpatient practice locations in the Chicagoland area, as well as through secure telehealth platforms when clinically appropriate. Offices are designed to support outpatient psychotherapy, assessment, parent/family sessions, supervision, and team collaboration. Fellows have access to private clinical space, administrative support, electronic health record systems, and materials needed for clinical documentation and service delivery.
Training support
Fellows participate in structured training through weekly supervision, group consultation, didactics, case conference, and Light On Anxiety’s Clinical Training Institute. Training resources include access to clinical protocols, assessment tools, documentation templates, psychoeducational materials, exposure planning resources, and self-paced training modules. Fellows also receive support with scheduling, billing/insurance processes, client communication systems, and administrative workflows so they can focus on developing clinical competence within a well-supported private practice training environment.
Applicants must have completed all doctoral degree requirements prior to the start of the fellowship.
Applicants must hold a doctoral degree in clinical, counseling, or school psychology from an APA- or CPA-accredited doctoral program, or from an institutionally accredited doctoral program. Applicants with a doctoral degree in another specialty area must provide documentation of equivalency through an APA-accredited retraining program.
Applicants must have completed an APA- or CPA-accredited doctoral internship, or an internship that meets APPIC standards.
Applicants must provide documentation confirming degree completion, internship completion, and readiness to begin postdoctoral training prior to the fellowship start date.
Light On Anxiety’s postdoctoral fellowship is designed to meet the supervised postdoctoral experience requirements for licensure as a clinical psychologist in the State of Illinois. Fellows receive supervised clinical training consistent with requirements established by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR), including supervised direct service hours, individual supervision by licensed psychologists, group supervision, assessment experience, and professional development training.
The fellowship is structured to support fellows in obtaining the supervised postdoctoral clinical experience hours required for Illinois psychologist licensure. Documentation of supervised hours and supervisory experience is maintained and provided to fellows as needed for the licensure application process.
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