Earn your 1,750+ postdoctoral hours—
plus learn to build your own private practice

Postdoctoral Associate Program

A supervised path to licensure—and support in building your private practice.
 

A Different Approach to Postdoc Work

Many postdoctoral positions pay poorly—often $40,000 a year or less—and offer little in the way of mentorship, autonomy, or long-term sustainability.  In some, you can't even keep your clients. Some are exploitative, with high demands and little flexibility. This program is different.
 

I don’t offer a guaranteed salary or office space, but I do offer something that, for the right person, may be more valuable: the opportunity to build your own private practice, with real clinical independence and business mentorship.  I also provide constructive, collaborative supervision, and I've supervised at both NYU and Yale.
 

If you’re ready to work under your own name, see your own clients, and start shaping your professional identity, this is a space to do that—with structured supervision and business support along the way. 

I will help you get your Limited Permit (to work under my license) by submitting Form 5CS to NY State.  After 1-2 years, when you meet the New York requirements, I will submit paperwork (Form 4) attesting that you have completed 1,750 hours and you will receive your independent licensure as a psychologist.
 

What I Offer

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• Weekly clinical supervision

• Referrals to help start your caseload, though you’re also expected to build your own network

• Support in setting up your practice, including:

  • Strategies to build a practice from zero clients to 15-30 clients per week.

  • Help with setting up your website

  • Creating frictionless, automated online booking

  • Setting up clinical documentation systems

  • Setting up informed consent and intake forms for new clients

  • Malpractice insurance

  • S-Corp or LLC formation

  • Tax strategy, including use of HSA and solo 401(k)

• Guidance on fee setting, client policies, and ethical business practices

• A structure that helps you move from supervised clinician to fully independent licensed psychologist
   

You can work remotely via telehealth or see clients in person.  I can help you find part-time office space for rent if you want to work in-person, which is often a great way to begin with one or two days per week, before committing to a full-time rental.  There may be an option to sublet my office in a lovely group of therapy offices in Gramercy Park, Manhattan at 205 East 16th Street, Suite M1B, New York, NY.

You keep your clients. You determine your fees. This is your practice—we just build it together.

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The Financial Agreement

To be transparent: my own full fee is $350 per session, though my practice has a robust sliding scale and many folks pay a reduced fee. I expect most postdocs in this program would charge between $175 and $350 per session, depending on experience, niche, and population served. You earn your own fees and then pay me a monthly payment.

This is a revenue-share model — an agreement between us. You retain 70% of what you earn. I receive 30% of the fees you collect while you work under my license in the postdoctoral period and for the first year after you are fully licensed.  During this period I continue to provide supervision and support.  You can also seek out a different clinical supervisor during your first year of licensure if you prefer.

This revenue split is more generous than many other postdoc options, but it does extend into your first year after licensure.  I have decided to structure it that way as most trainees prefer to keep more income in-pocket in the early lean years, and many find this arrangement preferable.  The benefit to me is that I have confidence you will make sufficient income to support yourself. While my financial compensation may be light in the first year, we both benefit if your practice is successful, so it aligns our financial incentive motivations. 

The choice to agree to this arrangement is yours, and I am also open to coming to a mutually agreeable solution with you.  To be candid, this program is not about financial remuneration for me, but is a meaningful way I can help to mentor psychologists become independent and help their clients in the world by co-creating a less hierarchical model where you own your practice, make your own decisions, and have more empowered independence.

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There’s no base salary. That means no cap either. If you build your practice steadily, you may earn more than many salaried postdocs—while also creating something that’s yours to take with you.

Who This Is For

This is not a one-size-fits-all model. It may be a good fit if:

• You’re committed to private practice and want to build something sustainable

• You value autonomy, transparency, and practical mentorship

• You’re motivated to manage your own caseload and want control over your income and clinical focus

• You’re comfortable with the uncertainty of building a practice, but want support doing it

• You value a respectful, collaborative clinical supervision style
   

Understanding Tax Deductions for Psychologists

When you build your own practice, you’re not just a clinician—you’re a small business. 

I find that most psychologists struggle with money and tax deductions, and I want to help.  Before becoming a psychologist, I worked my way through school as a licensed stock and bond broker and as a Vice President of Knowledge Management at Cantor Fitzgerald. Later, I served as the Chief Clinical Officer of Cybin, where I supervised multi-million dollar budgets and teams. 

I left this world in part because I love being a psychologist, but I know a lot about how taxes and businesses work, and I'd like to share that knowledge. 
 

Let’s say you earn $100,000 in gross income in your first year of practice, a reasonable, even conservative estimate. Most psychologists are paying too much in taxes because they don't set up a Health Savings Account (HSA) and a solo 401(k) and maximize business deductions.  How much could you save on the tax bill?  An HSA can save you $1,280 each year, and a solo 401(k), if you max it out, can save you an additional $12,649 that year.

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That’s nearly $14,000 kept in your pocket—not handed over to the IRS each year. If you were to earn $200,000 in a year, (a reasonable income for a NY-based psychologist) and max out your solo 401(k) and HSA, you would keep $26,088 in-pocket for that year, rather than paying taxes.  

Additionally, tax savings allow you to see more people under a sliding scale, who pay a reduced fee, which can be helpful to give you more freedom to work with people with diverse social locations.

You’ll learn how to use these tools as part of the program, so that you're not only earning income but retaining more of it.

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Next Steps

If you’re interested, reach out with a short email  about your background and what you're looking for, along with your CV: alex [dot] belser [at] yale [dot] edu.

Additionally, if you're on internship or within 3 years of internship, you can also right now book a Zoom meeting with me using my Calendly: https://calendly.com/alex-belser

This is a 1- to 2-year commitment, depending on whether you pursue this full-time or part-time. You’ll work hard, but most of the work will be with people you choose to work with, on your terms.  You’ll be building your own foundation.
 

This is more than just a Postdoctoral Associate Program — it’s the beginning of your own private practice.