Psychologist PhD, Health Psychology Service (1.0 FTE, 1-year contract)
City : Toronto
Category : Full Time
Industry : Healthcare
Employer : The Hospital for Sick Children
About Sickkids
Dedicated exclusively to children and their families, The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is one of the largest and most respected paediatric healthcare centres in the world. As innovators in child health, we lead and partner to improve the health of children through the integration of healthcare, leading-edge research and education. Our reputation would not have been built - nor could it be maintained - without the skills, knowledge and experience of the extraordinary people who come to work here every day. SickKids is committed to ongoing learning and development, and features a caring and supportive work environment that combines exceptionally high standards of practice.
When you join SickKids, you become part of our community. We share a commitment and determination to fulfill our vision of Healthier Children. A Better World.
Don't miss out on the opportunity to work alongside the world's best in paediatric healthcare.
Posting Description
The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is a leading specialty pediatric hospital and research centre providing innovative, complex care and treatment to children youth and families. Serving diverse patients and families, SickKids' psychologists are members of the Brain and Mental Health Program and are deployed across specialty divisions of the hospital to provide a broad range of clinical consultation, assessment, diagnostic and treatment activities, with the goal of ensuring caregivers, families and patients receive holistic, evidence-informed services. SickKids' psychologists are committed to enhancing health equity, respectful service and inclusion of all populations served by the hospital.
The SickKids Psychology department has recently initiated a general Health Psychology Service (HPS). HPS Health Psychologists assess, diagnose, and treat behavioural and socio-emotional problems in children seen medically across the hospital on an outpatient basis. The role includes a focus on psychological treatments and caregiver coaching that supports adjustment to and coping with new or chronic health conditions and treatment protocols, promote healthy behaviour and treatment compliance, procedural anxiety, and reduce psychological distress related to their medical condition. HPS psychologists work in collaboration with medical and psychosocial teams across the hospital to enhance patient health and well-being and reduce the burden of care on medical teams in the process.
Here's What You'll Get To Do:
- Conduct psychological consultations and screenings, as well as comprehensive diagnostic assessments to evaluate a child's psychological and social-emotional functioning in the context of their chronic health challenges.
- Provide assessment feedback and recommendations to patients, families, and interdisciplinary medical providers to support diagnosis, treatment planning, and ongoing care.
- Deliver evidence-based psychological intervention to patients and families, in both individual and group formats, and collaborate with medical teams through consultation on treatment progress and care planning.
- Provide ongoing correspondence updating intervention progress and relevant recommendations to medical teams.
- Collaborate with team members in the Health Psychology Service, as well as other colleagues with relevant expertise, to ensure care is delivered at the cutting edge of pediatric psychology practice.
- Consult and collaborate with medical and other professional staff in medical clinics to enhance the health and well-being of our patients and their families.
- Provide consultation to school teams and other health, community and educational professionals, promoting collaboration and comprehensive support for the child.
- Enhance the medical team's ability to address the psychosocial needs of the child and their family by complementing and expanding existing services.
- Work independently and collaboratively as a valued member of multiple interdisciplinary teams.
- Participate in clinical research, identify questions and gaps in knowledge for health psychology interventions, contribute to clinic development initiatives, and engage in quality improvement projects.
- Provide supervision and mentorships to trainees.
Here's What You'll Need:
- Completion of a CPA/APA recognized Ph.D. degree program in Clinical or Health Psychology with a pediatric/developmental focus.
- Minimum two (2) years related experience in a paediatric health psychology setting. Experience working in a hospital environment and, in particular, a general Health Psychology Service - is a strong asset.
- Registered, or eligible for registration, with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario for autonomous practice.
- A declared and approved health psychology competency as part of registration with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (or initiated retraining plan).
- Experience delivering CBT and ACT, with additional training and experience in Motivational Interviewing, crisis intervention and other therapeutic modalities (e.g. DBT, EFFT).
- Excellent interpersonal, problem-solving, organizational and time management skills.
- Comfort working in a dynamic environment focused on providing patient and family centered care and services, innovation, and quality improvement.
- Strong written and oral communication skills.
- Ability to work effectively as a member of a multidisciplinary team.
- Demonstrated commitment and actions in advancing equity, diversity and inclusion objectives.
- Experience in providing clinical supervision for psychology trainees is a strong asset.
Employment Type:
- 1.0 FTE, 1 year contract (applicants in supervised practice will be considered)
- Start date September 2026
International applicants with the listed educational and clinical experience are encouraged to apply. Please direct questions to psychology.department@sickkids.ca
Our Commitment to Diversity
SickKids is committed to championing equity, diversity and inclusion in all that we do, fostering an intentionally inclusive and culturally safe environment that reflects the diversity of the patients, families and communities we serve. Learn more about workplace inclusion.
Accessibility & Accommodation
If you require accommodation during the application process, please reach out to our aSKHR team. SickKids can provide access and inclusion supports to eligible candidates to support their full engagement during the interview and selection process as well as to ensure candidates are able to perform their duties once successfully hired. If you are invited for an interview and require accommodation, please let us know at the time of your invitation to interview. Information received related to access, inclusion or accommodation will be addressed confidentially.
How to Apply
Technical difficulties? Email ask.hr@sickkids.ca with a short description of the issues you are experiencing. We will not accept resumes sent to this inbox but we are happy to respond to requests for technical assistance.
Tip: Combine your cover letter and resume into ONE document of 20 pages or less as you cannot upload multiple documents as part of your application.
Every application is reviewed by a human recruiter and all hiring decisions are made by people. In some cases, AI-assisted tools are used to help review applications based on job-related qualifications.
All positions posted on the SickKids Hospital's Careers Site represent current vacancies, unless otherwise posted in the job description.