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American Psychological Association


Five School Psychology PhD candidates – Kendall B. Hauck , Pete Ignacio, Maya Mingo, Kala Taylor, and Victoria VanMaaren – were matched with APA-accredited internships.

To become a licensed psychologist, all school psychology doctoral students must have completed an internship. Internships accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) are highly sought out, yet a large number of applicants go unmatched. In 2018, over ten percent of applicants were not matched with an APA-accredited internship.

Read below to see where each of the five will be interning and their experiences of the process.


Kendall B. Hauck
Tennessee Internship Consortium
Sweetwater City Schools

What was the application process like?
The application process was somewhat complex because I had to be really diligent and organized in order to keep up with all of my clinical hours, school-based hours, and specific demographic information of the clients that I saw/with whom I worked. Thankfully, our program set us up to be successful by devoting an entire class to preparing us for the application process. Also, from day one of the program to year four, we were regularly encouraged to diligently track our hours so that we would be ready.

How do you feel about being matched?
I’m happy and thankful, because one of my career goals is to become a licensed psychologist. We were also strongly encouraged to complete our internship year at an APA-accredited internship

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?
I will act as a school psychologist at my internship site. I view this as “on-the-job training,” since I want to eventually work in a school district in Tennessee. I also find it very comforting that I will have a lot of supervision at this site.

How do you feel about staying in Tennessee?
I fell in love with Tennessee after spending so many years in this state. Also, I am planning to settle down in Nashville since that is where my fiancé is working.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I think that this will be a good opportunity for me. I look forward to applying the skills that I have learned so far in a new setting that resembles the kind of work that I want to do once I complete my internship.


Pete Ignacio
Tennessee Internship Consortium
Anderson County School District

What was the application process like?
The application process was stressful and complicated. There were a lot of details to go through, and a ton of deadlines to meet. However, Merilee McCurdy, associate professor, teaches a course where we completed every step of the way together as a cohort. The course was incredibly helpful and I can’t imagine being in a program without that support.

How do you feel about being matched?
It feels great. Being matched with an APA-accredited internship gives us the most amount of options as we start our careers. Completeing a non-APA internship wouldn’t be taking full advantage of the program here at UT.

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?
I’ll be doing assessment and consultation at an elementary school. There’s a big need for behavioral consultation both for specific students and classrooms, as well as school and district wide interventions.

How do you feel about staying in Tennessee?
I feel great about staying in Tennessee. Knoxville has really grown on me and I’m looking forward to staying a little bit longer. Plus, my wife has a job here with UT so staying local so she could keep her job was a big priority.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I’m really excited, a good friend of mine is currently at the site I’ll be at come the fall, so we can have a really well coordinated hand-off. I think it’ll be a great opportunity to continue working on some projects that were started last year, and to go in my own direction as well.


Maya Mingo
Louisiana School Psychology Internship Consortium
Tangipahoa Parish School System

 

 

What was the application process like?
The application process was a real rollercoaster drop! It required a lot of organization and detail, but was also very fun and anxiety inducing! Considering all that was required, I felt that Merilee McCurdy’s, associate professor, timeline and oversight made getting all the required materials in order a lot less stressful. However, traveling to different states and catching multiple flights during the winter months certainly can take a toll on your nerves! Overall, I enjoyed traveling to new places, meeting new people, and learning that our program had truly prepared me to succeed during this process.

How do you feel about being matched?
I am delighted and overjoyed to be matched with an APA-accredited internship site. Not only that, but I was also matched with my top choice! It doesn’t get much better than that! During the application and interview process, it’s so easy to psych yourself out and start fearing that you won’t match anywhere at all. In the end, though, everything worked out perfectly for me, and I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome!

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?
During my internship year in Louisiana, I will in many ways serve in the traditional role of a school psychologist at three different schools. As such, I will serve as a member of a Pupil Appraisal Team. My roles on this team will include administering assessments to determine eligibility for special education services, providing psychological services for students whose IEPs require them, assisting with behavioral interventions, and attending collaboration and consultation meetings with multidisciplinary teams within the schools.

How do you feel about moving to Louisiana?
I’m ecstatic to have been matched to an internship site in Louisiana! Especially because I had already lived there for 12 years before attending grad school at UT. I have so many great friends and so much support already available to me in that area that I can’t imagine a better place to be able to bring closure to this final leg of my doctoral journey.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I’m just looking forward to building upon the great foundation of knowledge that has already been imparted to me by my professors and supervisors at the University of Tennessee. I hope to make them proud and to serve as a positive reflection of our School Psychology program.


Kala Taylor

Kala Taylor
Nebraska Internship Consortium in Professional Psychology
Boys Town Behavioral Health Clinic

 

 

What was the application process like?
It was just like applying to graduate school, lots of paperwork!

How do you feel about being matched?
Very happy, it will also make the licensure process much easier!

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?
My placement is in the Boys Town Residential Track, so most of my time will be spent conducting individual and family therapy with youth with a wide variety of referral concerns. I will also be facilitating group therapy and providing consultation to Boys Town staff.

How do you feel about moving to Nebraska?
Both nervous and excited. Omaha is a neat city; I’m excited about the opportunity to explore a new place and grateful I get to return home to Knoxville after my year there.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I am thankful to have matched with an internship that will allow me to expand my clinical skills. Additionally, I am so grateful for the strong training I received through UT, and the amazing mentors who encouraged me and helped me to achieve my goals.


Victoria Vanmaaren

Victoria VanMaaren
Tennessee Internship Consortium
Lenoir City Schools

 

 

What was the application process like?
Applying and interviewing for internships was definitely stressful when combined with a busy year – despite the stress, though, I felt incredibly supported by our faculty as well as my cohort. I always had someone to talk to about any detail of the process and I can’t say enough about everyone’s support!

How do you feel about being matched?
It feels incredible! Throughout my time at UT, I have always had matching with an APA-accredited internship and becoming a licensed psychologist as a goal, and it feels great to be one step closer.

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?
I will have a traditional school-based placement, which involves completing initial evaluations and re-evaluations for special education services and consulting with teachers and other school staff.

How do you feel about staying in Tennessee?
I have absolutely fallen in love with Knoxville during my time here, and I’m overjoyed to be staying here. I can’t imagine going through this process anywhere else with anyone else!

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I’m excited to get started! Also I’d like to give a shout out to everyone who has supported me through this journey – I couldn’t have done it without any of you! Let the journey begin!

 


Three School Psychology PhD candidates – Carly Chwat, Caroline Jaquett, and Jonah Ruddy – were matched with APA-accredited internships.

To become a licensed psychologist, all school psychology doctoral students must have completed an internship. Internships accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) are highly sought out, yet a large number of applicants go unmatched. In 2017, almost twenty percent of applicants were not matched with an APA-accredited internship.

Read below to see where each of the three will be interning and their experiences of the process.


Carly Chwat

Carly Chwat
Tennessee Internship Consortium
Loudon, TN

 

 

What was the application process like?
We had great support from faculty and within our cohort, so it actually wasn’t too stressful! I enjoyed traveling around for interviews and meeting other psychology students.

How do you feel about being matched?
I’m very excited for the opportunity to participate in an APA internship, and to have the potential to become a licensed psychologist.

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?
I will be in a fully school-based position in Sweetwater City Schools where I will work consulting with teachers and doing evaluations for students for special education. I actually did a practicum at Sweetwater my 1st year in the graduate program, so I’m very excited be be going back there. At that time, I was the student shadowing an intern, and now as an intern I’ll have students come and shadow me.

How do you feel about staying in Tennessee?
I’m thrilled to be staying in Tennessee! I would love to continue to stay connected to the university to do research and also to supervise future practicum students. Also now that I know I’m staying, I can work on getting my parents to retire up in East Tennessee!


Caroline Jaquett

Caroline Jaquett
Tennessee Internship Consortium
Loudon, TN

 

 

What was the application process like?
The application process was stressful, just due to all of the deadlines that co-occurred with an already busy school year. However, we were really supported throughout the entire process and I never felt alone. The professors in the program and my other cohort members were a huge help!

How do you feel about being matched?
I am thrilled! It has always been my goal to become a licensed psychologist, and this is another step accomplished towards that goal!

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?
I will be doing the work of a typical school psychologist in East Tennessee. This involves completing evaluations and re-evaluations for children who need special education, assisting with and leading IEP meetings, consulting with teachers and other staff as needed, and of course directly helping children whenever possible!

Will you be at one specific site?
Yes! I will be with Lenoir City Schools. I will serve students at the elementary, intermediate, and high school levels.

How do you feel about staying in Tennessee?
Over the past four years I have really grown to love Knoxville. I brag about the city to everyone I know – it has great food, scenery, and there is always something going on downtown! I have made great friendships here and I am so glad I don’t have to say goodbye to Tennessee just yet.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?
I am nervous, but excited to get started! It is exciting that after 4 years of graduate school my career is finally about to begin!


Jonah Ruddy

Jonah Ruddy
Tennessee Internship Consortium
Loudon, TN

 

 

What was the application process like?
The application process was long and complicated. There are many excellent internship sites to choose from, and each site has unique qualities to consider. It took a lot of time to research each site and evaluate what they had to offer. The APPIC Internship Match requires detailed records of your academic career, research, and clinical experiences as well as letters of recommendation and essays briefly describing your personal background, theoretical orientation, research interests, and experiences with diversity. There is a lot of red tape, fees, and deadlines to navigate. Luckily, Merilee McCurdy, associate professor, and several alumni helped us navigate the process.

After submitting my applications to the APPIC match website during the fall, one of the hardest parts of the process was waiting to hear back from the programs to learn if you would get an interview. I was asked to interview at 7 of the 12 programs that I applied for. December and January were spent planning and going on trips meeting face-to-face with each site. I traveled through rain, sleet, and snow to Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and, of course, Tennessee. I received a warm welcome at each location and enjoyed meeting the faculty, interns, and other applicants. It was also exciting to see the great work all of the programs were doing to train new professionals, meet the needs of their clients, and support their communities. Even harder than waiting to hear about interviews was waiting for match day and learning my placement. It was definitely a relief when the day came and I learned that I would be interning with the Tennessee Internship Consortium in Psychology (TIC).

How do you feel about being matched?
I am both excited and relieved to be matched with an APA-accredited internship. The accreditation assures me that the internship meets the training standards needed to help me prepare for a career in school psychology, makes me more competitive in the job market, and simplifies the bureaucratic process to become a licensed psychologist.

What type of work will you be doing at your internship?

I will be working with child and adult clients with learning and behavioral concerns. This includes conducting psychoeducational assessments to diagnose learning, developmental, behavioral, or mental health issues; providing direct intervention services; and consulting with parents, teachers, and other professionals.

Will you be at one specific site?
I will be splitting my time between the KLASS Center and Cherokee Health Systems, Inc.

How do you feel about staying in Tennessee?

While I visited and fell in love with several internship sites during this process, it is a relief to be staying in Tennessee. I have a wife and teenage son whom I would have lived away from for a year if I was matched to another placement. I know they are very happy that I am staying home. I also think it is a great opportunity for me to help clients in the community and surrounding area that I have called home for many years.

Carly Chwat, Jonah Ruddy, and Caroline Jaquett

“I want to thank my colleagues, Carly Chwat and Carrie Jaquett, who have shared this journey with me over the last four years. We’ve developed a great friendship, become family, and have been there for each other through all the ups-and-downs that have come our way. Their support has been an essential element in my success and growth. I am grateful that the Three Musketeers will be able to finish our final year together in Tennessee.” – Jonah Ruddy


Four School Psychology PhD Candidates – Elizabeth Hays, Megan Schall, Ellie Trant, and Tiffany Watson – were matched with APA-accredited internships.

SchoolPsychInterns_042415_SClark_026

To become a licensed psychologist, all school psychology doctoral students must have completed an internship. Internships accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) are highly sought out, yet a large number of applicants go unmatched. In 2015, more than fifteen hundred applicants were not matched with an APA-accredited internship.

McCurdy,Merilee_081214_S.Clark_32_1“It is always a program goal for our students to receive APA-accredited internship positions. However, not all internship applicants receive an internship, particularly an APA-accredited one. The program faculty are very excited for these students!”- School Psychology Program Coordinator, Merilee McCurdy

The application process was described as long, complex, and intimidating. To address this, the program offers an internship course to make things more manageable and help students through the process.

SchoolPsychInterns_042415_SClark_091

Elizabeth Hays will be going to the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Texas.

Hays explained how she was thrilled to be matched to an APA-accredited internship because she believes it will give her more flexibility with future career options. Her internship is in a school district, where she will work with students in general and special education. Her primary roles will be behavioral consultation, assessments, and pre-referral intervention for behavioral, social, and academic concerns. However, she will also be providing individual and group counseling to students and have opportunities to practice evidence-based interventions in the Family Counseling Clinic.

SchoolPsychInterns_042415_SClark_080“I am very excited to try something new and learn as much as I can while I am at Cy-Fair ISD. I will have access to a diverse range of training experiences and supervisors through this internship, and I think this diversity in training will be invaluable.”

Megan Schall, Ellie Trant, and Tiffany Watson will be at the Tennessee Internship Consortium (TIC).  TIC is an overarching entity linking interns to many different agencies, such as school systems, assessment centers, and health systems.

Schall will be at Lenoir City Schools four days a week, and receiving supervision and training one day a week. She explained how she would be conducting the same types of work activities school psychologists in school systems typically do.

SchoolPsychInterns_042415_SClark_053“I’m thrilled to be matched with an APA-accredited internship! It was a great relief to get the match email and see the results. And, even though it would be fun to live in a new city, I am also very excited to be staying in Tennessee. After four years living in Knoxville, it feels like home so I am glad to get to stay for another year.”

Trant will be working at Sweetwater City Schools, mainly doing assessments and consultation.

She explained how happy she was to be staying in Tennessee because she fell in love with this part of the country after moving here from Louisiana.  Also, the internship location allows her and her fiancé to live together once they get married in July.

SchoolPsychInterns_042415_SClark_069“I have learned so much about school psychology during my time at UT, and I am looking forward to putting those skills into practice. I am also excited to learn more about the field of school psychology and expand my abilities. UT has given me a great foundation, which I know will be significantly enhanced during my internship year.”

Watson has a split internship. Part of the time she will be working with the Korn Learning, Assessment, and Social Skills (KLASS) Center on campus. There, she will see clients for interventions and evaluations for ADHD and learning disabilities. The other part of her internship will be with Cherokee Health Systems in a school system.

SchoolPsychInterns_042415_SClark_051“I am so blessed and thankful to be matched to an APA site. It opens up more opportunities down the road for licensure. I grew up in East Tennessee and I’m so excited to stay and work in the area. I’m also excited to finally start applying things I’ve been learning for the past four years!”