HDFS Internship

All HDFS majors complete an intensive internship in a diverse range of human service agencies in and around Knoxville, including the Boys and Girls Club, Children’s Services, Emerald Youth Foundation, Girls on the Run, Sunshine Early Intervention, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. This variety of placements reflects the flexibility and adaptability of our program to different career paths. Through these internships, our students develop practical skills like managing caseloads and working effectively with coworkers, administrators, children, and families. They gain hands-on experience in applying their academic knowledge to real-world situations.

Counseling & Counselor Education Internships

All MS in Counseling and PhD in Counselor Education develop skills for professional practice through engaged learning on campus and in community organizations and schools throughout East Tennessee. Each year, our interns offer over 25,000 hours of high-quality, accessible mental health services in settings relevant to their career goals. Through these internships, our students develop a broad range of counseling skills to be effective in their communities and their schools well beyond graduation.

Counselor Training Clinic 

The Counselor Training Clinic (CTC) provides high-quality individual and group counseling services for undergraduate and graduate students while supporting the learning of graduate students in our Counselor Education programs. Clients collaborate with counselors to create and achieve personal goals to enhance their mental, emotional, relational, spiritual, and physical well-being. To learn more about the CTC, visit us here.

Rural Appalachian Mental Health Partnership

Rural Appalachian Mental Health Partnership (RAMHP) is five-year project made possible by the US Department of Education. RAMHP will conclude on December 31, 2025, following the U.S. Department of Education’s decision not to renew funding. We are deeply grateful for the dedication of the scholars and partner schools who made the program successful. To learn more, contact Dr. Melinda Gibbons.

Study Abroad

Our study abroad programs focus on how broad cultural values impact family, healthcare, and educational policy as well as gender equality and daily family life and the role of culture, food policy, and food systems in physical, social, economic, environmental, and social justice outcomes. Each year, Professor Heidi Stolz offers several options including UTK in Sweden: Culture, Family and Childhood and UTK Rome to Barcelona Food Study.

My program provided the academic preparation and professional skills needed to be a systems thinker whose focus is on multidisciplinary collaborations that address grand challenges. It provided the foundation to be a community-engaged scholar, thought leader, strategist, and advocate.  

Javiette Samuel, BS 1996, MS 1999, PhD 2002

Associate Vice Chancellor and Executive Director, Community Engagement and Outreach 

Community Engagements

Our commitment to promoting optimal development and holistic well-being goes well-beyond the classroom. Our faculty and students work alongside community partners to enhance quality of life in East Tennessee and beyond. For example:

  • Collaborating with the Appalachian Justice Research Center to identify community-drive needs and recommendations to develop an alternative crisis response team in Knoxville
  • Designing training and programs within Contact CareLine, East Tennessee’s 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Center
  • Engaging the Emerald Youth Foundation in a transdisciplinary team dedicated to promoting holistic well-being of adolescents in Knox County
  • Providing child-centered play therapy for students in Morgan County’s Sunbright School
  • Collaborating with the College of Social Work, Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, and The Mary Parrish Center), in a demonstration grant to address the impacts of intimate partner violence on survivor mothers and their children. Learn more here.

Campus Engagements

We believe Vol is a Verb. We strive to enrich development and enhance well-being for students, faculty, and staff on campus. You’ll find our faculty leading and supporting campus initiatives. For example: 

  • Advocates for School Culture, a student-led group that works in the local school system to provide peer mentoring in disadvantaged neighborhoods
  • Relationship & Sexual Violence Prevention Team, a university partnership to prevent sexual misconduct through primary prevention
  • Royal Encounters, a student-run organization bringing magic and memories to kids in need through visits with their favorite princesses and superheroes
  • Upsilon Theta Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota, a student-led chapter of the counseling professional and academic honor society
  • Volunteer Experience Faculty Fellows program, a university-wide initiative to promote student well-being within undergraduate instruction

Disciplinary Engagements

Just as we are committed to our local and campus communities, our faculty share their talents in hopes of enriching our professional and disciplinary communities. For example:

  • Melinda Gibbons, Editor, Career Development Quarterly, the official journal of the National Career Development Association
  • Casey Barrio Minton, Editor, Counselor Education & Supervision, the official journal of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision
  • Spencer Olmstead, Editor, Journal of Marriage and Family, the flagship journal of the National Council on Family Relations
  • Casey Barrio Minton, Member, American Counseling Association Governing Council
  • Jordan B. Westcott, Chair, American Counseling Association Public Policy and Legislative Committee
  • Jamian Coleman, Member, ASERVIC Religious and Spiritual Competencies in Counseling Task Force
  • Hyunee Kim, Chair, Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference Advisory Council
  • Jordan B. Westcott, Trustee for Research and Scholarship, Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE)

Being a part of the Rural Appalachian Mental Health Partnership (RAMHP) grant team has been an impactful part of my program experience! It has allowed me to merge my passion for school counseling and desire to support rural communities through our partnerships. 

LeAnn Wills, M.Ed, LSC(TN)

NCC class of 2025