Number of Available Internship Positions: 4
Internship Start Date: Friday, August 1st, 2025
Location: Statesboro Campus
Status: Accredited through March 2024 (and currently going through re-accreditation process)
Application & Selection Process
The Counseling Center is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) and adheres to APPIC policies for intern selection. The site agrees to abide by the APPIC policy that no person at this training facility will solicit, accept, or use any ranking-related information from any intern applicant. For the 2026-2027 internship year, the application process will be completed via the APPIC MATCH. Please visit the APPIC Website for more information on the Match process.
Applicants should have obtained at least 400 direct hours (can include both intervention and assessment). Applicants must submit their entire application to the AAPI online. The AAPI Online includes a cover letter, the summary of personal and educational information, the summary of your doctoral experience, four essays, a CV, letters of recommendation and graduate transcripts. We request your letters of recommendation include at least two persons familiar with your clinical performance and that your cover letter include your long-term professional goals and how you envision our internship site meeting your training goals and interests.
Candidates will be notified via email regarding their interview status by the interview notification date. For those candidates who are extended an offer to interview, the email will include times and dates for a Zoom interview. Zoom interviews will be held the first two weeks of January 2026. The Zoom interview is approximately 2 hours in length comprised of an interview with 4-5 members of the staff including at least 1 current intern.
Mission
The mission of the Internship Program is to offer high quality training in the practice of health service psychology. Psychologists who work in a variety of health care settings, including university counseling centers, are recognized as Health Service Providers “…if they are duly trained and experienced in the delivery of preventative, assessment, diagnostic and therapeutic intervention services relative to the psychological and physical health of consumers based on the following: 1) having completed scientific and professional training resulting in a doctoral degree in psychology; 2) having completed an internship and supervised experience in health care settings; and 3) having been licensed as psychologists at the independent practice level” (APA, 1996; HSPEC, 2013, August 5). The Counseling Center adheres to the principals of the Health Service Psychology Education Collaborative (HSPEC, 2013, August 5). For more information please visit: Health Service Psychology: Preparing Competent Practitioners.
Please feel free to check out this year’s current internship manual:
Philosophy
The internship training program at the Georgia Southern University Counseling Center is designed to offer high quality training in the practice of professional psychology, based on an integrated working knowledge of the application of clinical theory, research, and ethical, legal, and professional standards. In addition, the Training Committee believes that every competent practitioner in the field should be guided by sensitivity to individual differences within a diverse society, and by an openness to lifelong learning.
These ideals are incorporated into our training programs via a practitioner-apprenticeship training model in which didactic and experiential learning are combined. Trainees are treated as professionals and, as such, are expected to understand, demonstrate, and apply appropriate levels of clinical skills, acquired from their academic training program, as well as to participate fully in the mission of the Georgia Southern University Counseling Center. The Counseling Center functions under the Division of Student Affairs. The staff collaborate regularly with colleagues in the Dean of Students Office, Health Services, University Residence Life, Student Wellness and Health Promotions, and Office of Career and Professional Development, along with the broader campus community.
Contact
For further information or questions about the internship program, contact the training director at:
Mark D. Taracuk, PhD
Georgia Southern University Counseling Center
P.O. Box 8011
Statesboro, GA 30460-8011
912-478-5541 or mtaracuk@georgiasouthern.edu
Dear Intern Applicant,
The Georgia Southern University Statesboro Campus Counseling Center offers four internship positions each year through our APA-Accredited Internship in Health Service Psychology on the Statesboro campus. As training is a treasured and highly valued aspect of our center, we work to cater our internship to the individual goals of each intern. We do this through various opportunities which include: optional rotations, a wide variety of topics for weekly training seminars, provision of supervision to practicum students, and meeting with different individual and rotation supervisors throughout the internship year.
We seek applicants with an interest in working with emerging adults and college student populations, interest in individual and group therapy, and interest in crisis intervention and outreach activities. We seek applicants with emotional and social maturity who have experience in working with diverse client populations, have interest in developing multicultural competencies, and can effectively and collaboratively participate as a team member at the Georgia Southern University Counseling Center.
I hope this information helps you in finding an internship site that will fit your goals and needs. If there is anything I can do to assist with in learning more about our site, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Associate Director for Training/Training Director
Georgia Southern University Counseling Center
More Information
Click each section below to explore detailed information about our doctoral internship in health service psychology, including admissions data, past interns, accreditation status, and our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Date Program Tables are updated: July 2025
Internship Program Admissions
Briefly describe in narrative form important information to assist potential applicants in assessing their likely fit with your program. This description must be consistent with the program’s policies on intern selection and practicum and academic preparation requirements:
Our 2000-hour APA-Accredited internship program includes opportunities for individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, consultation, outreach, couples counseling, research, and participation in campus-wide committees. The following optional rotations are available and allow interns to tailor their experiences to meet their future career goals/interests: Group Therapy, Diverse and Inclusive Genders and Sexualities, Athlete Mental Health, Outreach and Consultation, Research, Sexual Assault Prevention, Assessment, and Supervision. Interns are also required to supervise Practicum students and provide six outreach presentations throughout the year.
Currently in our eighth year, we are an APPIC-member internship program. The Counseling Center is accredited by the International Association of Counseling Services and has membership with APPIC and the Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies (ACCTA). Our training staff adhere to the ethical principles of the American Psychological Association and are committed to meeting the needs of all individuals regardless of culture, race, gender, ability, or sexual orientation.
No single theoretical orientation characterizes the program, with staff utilizing a variety of theoretical approaches. We strive to model integrative eclecticism and the application of the practitioner-scholar model to a practice setting. The program has training seminars based on the interests of the interns and expertise of staff, and have included information on clinical and professional issues, multiculturalism, varying theoretical orientations, and populations of interest, and more!
Minimum Hours Required at Time of Application:
- Total Direct Contact Intervention Hours: Yes – 400
- Total Direct Contact Assessment Hours: No – N/A
Other Minimum Criteria:
- Graduate program must be APA-Accredited
- Comprehensive exams must be successfully completed by application deadline
- Dissertation proposal must be approved by start of internship
- Minimum of 3 years of graduate training required
- Must be a US Citizen or eligible to use F1 Visa with CPT
Financial & Other Benefit Support for Upcoming Training Year
- Annual Stipend/Salary for Full-time Interns: $40,000.00
- Annual Stipend/Salary for Half-time Interns: N/A
Medical Insurance for Interns: Yes
- Trainee contributes to cost: No
- Coverage for family members: No
- Coverage for legally married partner: No
- Coverage for domestic partner: No
Leave:
- Annual Paid Personal Time Off: 80 hours
- Annual Sick Leave: 40 hours
- Unpaid leave beyond above allowances for medical/family needs: Yes
Other Benefits:
- Option to receive health insurance
- University privileges (library access, student recreation center passes, discounted tickets, group business access, etc.)
- Professional Development days for conferences, workshops, job interviews, or dissertation work
- Counseling Center observes national holidays (~8 days/year) and closes for part of winter holiday
Initial Post-Internship Positions
(Aggregated tally for preceding 3 cohorts – 2022–2025)
- Total interns in 3 cohorts: 12
- Returned to doctoral program/completing degree: 0
Employment Settings (PD = Post-doctoral residency position; EP = Employed Position):
- Community mental health center: PD 0 | EP 0
- Federally qualified health center: PD 0 | EP 0
- Independent primary care facility/clinic: PD 0 | EP 0
- University counseling center: PD 1 | EP 2
- Veterans Affairs medical center: PD 1 | EP 0
- Military health center: PD 0 | EP 0
- Academic health center: PD 0 | EP 1
- Other medical center/hospital: PD 0 | EP 0
- Psychiatric hospital: PD 0 | EP 0
- Academic university/department: PD 0 | EP 1
- Community college/other teaching: PD 0 | EP 0
- Independent research institution: PD 0 | EP 0
- Correctional facility: PD 0 | EP 0
- School district/system: PD 0 | EP 0
- Independent practice setting: PD 2 | EP 4
- Not currently employed: PD 0 | EP 0
- Changed to another field: PD 0 | EP 0
- Other: PD 0 | EP 0
- Unknown: PD 0 | EP 0
- 2024-2025
- Jaden Johnson, Psy.D. (Wright State University)
- Jenna Lehmann, Ph.D. (Tennessee State University)
- Jessica Berger, Ph.D. (Fielding Graduate University)
- Courtney Shields, Ph.D. (University of Northern Colorado)
- 2023-2024
- Lindsay Craig, Ph.D. (Nova Southeastern University)
Victoria Forlini, Psy.D. (University of Hartford)
Stephane Guzmán García, Psy.D. (Ponce Health Science University)
Alvin Nicholas, Ph.D. (University of Detroit-Mercy)
- Lindsay Craig, Ph.D. (Nova Southeastern University)
- 2022-2023
- Edward Ballester, Ph.D. (Auburn University)
Hunter Gatewood, Psy.D. (Spalding University)
Jennifer McGinness, Psy.D. (Georgia Southern University)
Orlandria Smith, Psy.D. (Point Park University)
- Edward Ballester, Ph.D. (Auburn University)
- 2021-2022
- Elizabeth Fynn, Psy.D. (Chicago School of Professional Psychology)
Whitney Marks, Ph.D. (University of Georgia)
Andres Medina, Psy.D. (National Louis University)
Andrew Moe, Psy.D. (University of St. Thomas)
- Elizabeth Fynn, Psy.D. (Chicago School of Professional Psychology)
- 2020-2021
- Keith Gunnerson, Ph.D. (University of Utah)
Jamal Hailey, Ph.D. (Howard University)
Neva Murray, Ph.D. (Fuller Theological Seminary)
Paige Ziegler, Psy.D. (Wright State University)
- Keith Gunnerson, Ph.D. (University of Utah)
- 2019-2020
- Alyssa Alonso, Ph.D. (Texas Woman’s University)
Dustin Risser, Ph.D. (Fuller Theological Seminary)
Mark Taracuk, Ph.D. (Oklahoma State University)
- Alyssa Alonso, Ph.D. (Texas Woman’s University)
For previous interns before 2020, view our archived intern page.
Multiculturalism and diversity, in all forms, are highly valued by the Georgia Southern University Counseling Center internship program and comprise a core part of our training and mission. Our internship program emphasizes acquisition of knowledge and skills related to multiculturalism, and we believe these facets of clinical practice are essential in order to provide ethical and competent services to the diverse University community. Interns are frequently asked to reflect on their own diversity, to expand their self-awareness regarding cultural diversity and multiculturalism, and to incorporate this into their clinical work and professional identity. Training seminars and supervision meetings will incorporate various aspects of diversity in hopes of improving cultural competency and promote the understanding that becoming a multiculturally sensitive psychologist is a lifelong process. Staff will model the lifelong process of increasing cultural competence through their participation in discussions and trainings on diversity issues.
In addition, individual clinical supervision will provide a safe, non-judgmental environment for interns to reflect on their awareness, knowledge, and skills related to diversity as well as to process their reactions to multicultural trainings and discussions that occur within the Center. In the spirit of continual programmatic improvement related to diversity training, interns will be asked to evaluate both their supervisors and the training program in general in terms of how well these diversity training goals are met.
The Counseling Center staff and trainees adhere to the Counsel of Counseling Psychology Training Programs’ (CCPTP) Counseling Psychology Model Training Values Statement Addressing Diversity
It continues to be the policy of Georgia Southern University to implement equal opportunity to all employees, students, applicants for employment or admission, and participants in any of the University’s programs without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, political affiliation, or disability. Georgia Southern University is committed to the fulfillment of this policy, which prohibits any employee, student, or patron from unlawfully harassing, threatening, or physically or verbally abusing another individual with the effect of unreasonably interfering with that person’s work or academic performance or of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or academic environment.
As an equal opportunity institution, Georgia Southern University is committed to nondiscriminatory practices consistent with federal and state requirements and objectives, including Executive Order 11246, as amended, Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1974, Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Act of 1974, as amended, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and their implementing regulations.
Responsibility for ensuring continued implementation of this policy has been assigned to the Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX. Any questions regarding the University’s policy of equal opportunity should be addressed to the Director of Equal Opportunity & Title IX at (912) 478-5136 or TDD (912) 478-0273.
In compliance with the regulations listed above, Georgia Southern University does not discriminate against any employee, student, applicant for employment, or applicant for admission in regard to any position for which the individual is qualified.
Georgia Southern University will provide reasonable accommodation to all employees, applicants for employment, students, and patrons who have physical and/or mental disabilities. Georgia Southern University will take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment persons who are qualified disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam Era, or other covered veterans.
All University employees are expected to comply with the Institution’s equal opportunity policy and practices and to demonstrate commitment to the University’s equal opportunity objectives. All members of the staff, faculty, and student body are expected to embrace this policy and ensure that the Institution’s commitment to nondiscrimination is followed and upheld. A copy of the University’s Affirmative Action Program is available for inspection in the Office of Equal Opportunity & Title IX (Room 1066 of the Rosenwald Building).
The Doctoral Internship program is accredited by the American Psychological Association through March 2024. The self-study for re-accreditation was submitted in April 2024. Questions related to the program’s accredited status should be directed to:
Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
Phone: (202) 336-5979
TDD/TTY: (202) 336-6123
Fax: (202) 336-5978
Email: apaaccred@apa.org
Website: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/