At Texas Tech University, the Student Counseling Center and Athletics Department are pleased to announce an addition to the APA-accredited doctoral internship in health service psychology. Beginning with the 2023-2024 academic year, there will be a new, fifth intern position dedicated to sport psychology specialization. The position is a full-time 12-month appointment, 50% with the general track and 50% with athletics,  that integrates didactic learning with clinical experience.  At the completion of the internship, the intern should be successfully prepared for a career in health service psychology focused on working with athletes and high performers.

The sport psychology specialization track will include all of the same internship responsibilities as the four generalist positions, such as strong clinical training and supervision in individual and group therapy; psychological assessment; supervision of trainees; weekly diversity colloquia, video case conference, and didactic seminars; crisis training; and outreach programming.

In addition to the core responsibilities listed above, the sport psychology specialization track will provide the intern with the opportunity to carry a primarily student-athlete clinical caseload, working with both clinical and performance-related presentations in conjunction with the Sport Psychology Department within Athletics. The sport psychology intern will gain experience providing individual psychotherapy, health and behavior interventions, psychological assessment, performance enhancement facilitation and training, outreach programming, and psychoeducational presentations within Athletics. In particular, two significant components for this training position are to develop competency in: working among a multidisciplinary treatment team housed within a multifaceted sport organization; and providing culturally-informed services to an increasingly diverse student-athlete population.

In addition to the application requirements for all intern positions, successful applicants for the sport psychology specialization track must demonstrate an interest in pursuing a professional practice, academic, or research-based career in sport psychology. Further, experience in the following areas are preferred: working within a primary care mental health integration model; knowledge of sport and intercollegiate athletics system; awareness of the responsibilities of student-athletes; ability to work with diverse populations and clinical presentations; knowledge of athlete-specific clinical issues; and past experience with performance enhancement facilitation and training. Strong organizational skills, follow through, excellent professional boundaries, openness to feedback, and ability to work independently in a responsible manner are all essential to this intern position.

During their appointment, the sport psychology intern will work under the supervision of a Texas licensed psychologist within the Student Counseling Center as well as a Texas licensed psychologist within Athletics who has expertise in sport psychology. Texas Tech University is an NCAA Division 1 University and a member of the Big 12 Conference, with 17 sports teams and approximately 420 student-athletes. For more information about Athletics and the Sport Psychology Department, please visit www.texastech.com.

Applicants will follow the same application procedures as the generalist internship applications. Details can be found at the APPIC website (https://membership.appic.org/directory/display/594). Please designate and describe your interest in the sport psychology specialization track in your cover letter and application materials. In addition, please select the appropriate track with corresponding match number for this track when you submit your APPIC application. The due date for applications is 11/03/2022 with interview notifications issued by 12/02/2022.

For questions specific to the sport psychology specialization track, please contact:

Tyler C. Bradstreet, PhD
Associate Athletics Director, Psychological Health & Performance
Texas Tech University Department of Athletics

Phone: (806) 834-2360
E-mail: tyler.bradstreet@ttu.edu

For questions specific to the overall doctoral internship, please contact: 

Marie Moerkbak, PhD
Associate Director of Training
Texas Tech University Student Counseling Center

Phone: (806) 742-3674
E-mail: marie.moerkbak@ttu.edu

 

RELATED LINKS

• Orientation and Goals
• Application and Selection Procedures
• Training Components
• Weekly Intern Activities
• Internship, Admissions, Support, and Outcome Data