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Site Name: Federal Medical Center, Lexington

Department: Psychology Services Department

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Department : Psychology Services Department

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Member Site Information
APPIC Member Number: 1311
Program Type: Internship
Membership Type: Full Membership
Site: Federal Medical Center, Lexington
Department: Psychology Services Department
Address: 3301 Leestown Road
Lexington, Kentucky 40511-8799
Country: United States
Metro Area: Not Applicable
Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN
Distance from Major City: 80 miles south of Cincinnati, OH
Phone: 859-255-6812x5660
Fax: 859-253-8845
Training Director Email: jknighton@bop.gov
Co-Training Director Email:
Web Address: https://www.bop.gov/jobs/psychology_internship.jsp
Brochure Website's Address: https://www.bop.gov/jobs/docs/lex_internship_brochure.pdf
Primary Agency Type: Prison or Other Correctional Facility
Additional Agency Types:
  • Prison or Other Correctional Facility
Member of APPIC since:
Accreditation
APA Accreditation Accredited
CPA Accreditation Not Accredited
Internship Staff/Faculty Information
Training Director: Joi-Sheree Knighton
Chief Psychologist: James Erikson
Number of Full-Time Licensed Doctoral Psychologists on Staff/Faculty 9
Number of Part-Time Licensed Doctoral Psychologists on Staff/Faculty 0
Position Information
Start Date: 08/10/2026
Funded
Number of Full Time Slots Expected Next Class: 5
Number of Part Time Slots Expected Next Class: 0
Stipend
Full Time Annual Stipend for Next Class: 61111
Part Time Annual Stipend for Next Class: 0
Fringe Benefits: Comp Time , Dissertation Release Time, Health Insurance, Licensing Exam Release Time, Professional Development Time, Sick Leave, Vacation
Other Fringe Benefits (not indicated above): 11 paid federal holidays
Brief description of the typical work day for an intern at this training site Interns provide mental health services to adults in custody including males at the Federal Medical Center and/or females at the adjacent Satellite Camp. These services may include individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, psychodiagnostic assessment, forensic evaluation, substance use treatment, and/or consultation with correctional staff. Interns are fully supported by a licensed psychologist with whom they typically interact with on a daily basis.
Does this site have practicum psychology students on site? Yes
Doctoral Psychology Practicum StudentsYes
Masters Psychology Practicum StudentsNo
Do Psychology Interns/Postdocs Have the Opportunity to Supervise Practicum Students?Yes
Is this program fully affiliated with one or more doctoral programs? No
Is this program partially affiliated with one or more doctoral programs? No
Internship Application Process
Accepting Applicants: Yes
Application Due Date: 11/01/2025 11:59 PM EST
Interviews at this site are: Required
Interview notification date: 11/07/2025
Tentative interview date: 01/07/2026
Interview process description:

After submission and review of the APPIC application, selected individuals will be invited to proceed with USAJOBS application via email. Please allow sufficient time to complete APPIC and USAJOBS applications.

In-person interviews are typically scheduled in January 2026. The first BOP interview will include various pre-employment screenings with Human Resources (HR). This will include passing the Core Values Assessment, a background check, review of financial disclosures, fingerprinting, and panel interview. Applicants will proceed with individual and/or group interviews with Psychology Services following HR screenings. Interviewees typically have the opportunity to meet priivately with current interns. Interviewees should anticipate being onsite several hours on interview day. 

 
How to obtain application info: Visit Website
Preferred method of contacting the program: Email the Program
We have matched with interns from these programs: University of Kentucky, University of Georgia, Florida State University, Sam Houston State University, Tennessee State University, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Ohio State University, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kent State University, Eastern Kentucky University, John Jay College, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Alabama, Indiana State University, University of Memphis, Nova Southeastern University, Chestnut Hill College, Wright State University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and more.
Internship Applicant Requirements
US Citizenship Required: Yes
If NOT a U.S. Citizen, Authorization to Work or to Engage in Practical Training (CPT or OPT) in the US is Required: No
Canadian Citizenship Required: No
If NOT a Canadian Citizen, Authorization to Work in Canada or to Engage in Practical Training (CPT or OPT) in Canada is Required: No
Masters Degree Required: No
Comprehensive Exams Passed: Yes, by start of internship
Dissertation Proposal Approved: Yes, by start of internship
Dissertation Defended: No
Minimum Number of AAPI Intervention Hours (if applicable): 300
Minimum Number of AAPI Assessment Hours (if applicable): 100
Minimum Number of Combined Intervention and Assessment Hours (if applicable):
Does your program require applicants to submit supplemental materials (i.e., an assessment report and/or a case/treatment summary): Yes
Minimum Number of Years of Grad Training Required (if applicable): 3
Accepted / Not-Accepted Program Types
Clinical Psychology Accepted
Counseling Psychology Accepted
School Psychology Not Accepted
APA-Accredited Accepted
CPA-Accredited Not Accepted
PCSAS-Accredited Not Accepted
Non-Accredited Not Accepted
Ph.D Degree Accepted
Psy.D. Degree Accepted
Ed.D. Degree Not Accepted
This institution, department, internship, or postdoctoral program requires trainees to sign a statement about personal behavior and/or religious beliefs as a condition of admission and/or retention in the program: No
How to obtain text of statement:
Other Requirements: Applicants are required to submit one deidentified writing sample with application. The applicant should be a primary author/contributor on this document. Samples may include, for example: an integrated psychodiagnostic or neurological assessment, diagnostic case conceptualization, case or treatment summary with psychosocial history, forensic evaluation, or first authored peer-reviewed article about mental health, correctional psychology, or another pivotal topic. Applicants are strongly encouraged to carefully review the FMC Lexington brochure which outlines additional requirements for those seeking employment with the United States Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP). In sum, national background checks, financial disclosures, urinalysis, medical clearance, and other integrity screenings are required to secure employment with the FBOP. Link to brochure: https://www.bop.gov/jobs/docs/lex_internship_brochure.pdf
Program Description

Due to its rich history as the first U.S. Narcotics Farm and premier location, Lexington was established as a Federal Medical Center (FMC LEX) in 1991.  FMC Lexington hosts a 1,100-bed administrative facility for males of all security levels and an adjacent 300-bed satellite camp for females. One of FMC Lexingtons' focal missions is to provide intensive chronic medical, surgical, and/or psychological care to male adults in custody (AIC).  

Interns are an integral part of our very active Psychology Services Department.  Consistent with our generalist approach, all interns will experience the General Population rotation where they provide a wide variety of mental health intervention and assessment services to male and female AICs in general population, inpatient areas, and/or special housing unit.  The General Population rotation additionally allows interns intermittent exposure to specialized services associated with the elective rotations before committing to one. Elective training experiences are collaboratively decided based on intern experiences and availability of supervision. Elective options include:  Substance Abuse Programs: (a) Dual Diagnoses Residential Drug Abuse Program (DD-RDAP) (e.g. residential therapeutic community providing intensive substance use treatment to individuals with serious mental illness); (b) Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) ( e.g. routine psychological care, treatment planning, and process groups with individuals in inpatient substance use treatment); (c) Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) (i.e. collaborative outpatient treatment with health services involving diagnostic clarification, group therapy, and psychosocial assessment for individuals  with opioid and/or alcohol use disorders); or (d) group based Nonresidential Drug Abuse Programming (NRDAP) for individuals with polysubstance use; SMI/Chronic Mental Health Treatment (i.e. males with persistent severe mental illness requiring at least weekly psychological and pharmacological interventions; crisis interventions; individual therapy; and/or group services); Resolve (a specialized program aimed to treat females with significant trauma histories via individual and group therapy); or Forensics (e.g. co-facilitate competency and criminal responsibility evaluations for pre-trial federal defendants; and/or administer specialized forensic measures).

All interns are encouraged to sample our various training experiences. The Resolve rotation historically has allotted opportunities to supervise doctoral-level practicum students from local universities. The DD-RDAP rotation has the capacity to offer an unparalleled experience being FMC LEXs program is one of a few of its kind for males in the FBOP. Regardless of your interest-each rotation offers the opportunity to engage in individual therapy, group therapy, crisis intervention, de-escalation techniques, and diagnostic assessment and conceptualization. Collectively, we believe our training program will offer unparalleled experience in preparing interns to become ethical and generalist psychologists. We utilize the fundamentals of scientific knowledge, evidence-based practices, and an array of varied professional experiences, to promote each intern’s unique growth.

Internship Training Opportunities

Populations
Infants:
Toddlers:
Children:
Adolescents:
Adults: Yes
Family:
Older Adults: Yes
Inpatients: Yes
Outpatients: Yes
LGBTQ+: Yes
Ethnic minorities: Yes
Spanish-speaking: Yes
French-speaking:
Deaf/Hearing-impaired:
Students:
International Students:
Rural: Yes
Urban: Yes
Low income: Yes
People without housing: Yes
Other:

(training opportunities continued)

Treatment Modalities
Assessment: Experience (21% to 30%)
Individual Therapy: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Couples Therapy:
Family Therapy:
Group Therapy: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Community Intervention: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Consultation/Liaison: Experience (21% to 30%)
Crisis Intervention: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Brief Psychotherapy: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Long-term Psychotherapy: Emphasis (31% to 49%)
Cognitive Rehabilitation: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Primary Care: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Evidenced Based Practice: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Evidence Based Research: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Supervision of Practicum students : Exposure (1% to 20%)
Other:

(training opportunities continued)

Experience
Health Psychology: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Women's Health: Experience (21% to 30%)
HIV/AIDS: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Eating Disorders: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Sexual Disorders: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Sports Psychology:
Rehabilitation Psychology: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Physical Disabilities: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Learning Disabilities: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Developmental Disabilities: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Assessment: Experience (21% to 30%)
Neuropsychology-Adult:
Neuropsychology-Child:
Serious Mental Illness: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Anxiety Disorders: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Trauma/PTSD: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Sexual Abuse: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Substance Use Disorders: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Forensics/Corrections: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Sexual Offenders: Experience (21% to 30%)
Geropsychology: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Pediatrics:
School:
Counseling: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Vocational/Career Development: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Multicultural Therapy: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Feminist Therapy: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Religion/Spirituality: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Empirically-Supported Treatments: Major Area of Study (50% or Greater)
Public Policy/Advocacy: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Program Development/Evaluation: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Supervision: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Research: Exposure (1% to 20%)
Administration: Experience (21% to 30%)
Integrated health care - primary:
Integrated health care - specialty:
Other:

Additional information about training opportunities: Not all rotations or training experiences may be available as described in the APPIC Directory. Please consult the program's application materials or their website at: https://www.bop.gov/jobs/positions/index.jsp?p=psychology_internships  for a complete description of the training opportunities available at this training site. IF the site has not updated their information by August 1, feel free to contact the Training Director for additional information.

Additional information about training opportunities: Not all rotations or training experiences may be available as described in the APPIC Directory. Please consult the program's application materials or their website at: https://www.bop.gov/jobs/psychology_internship.jsp  for a complete description of the training opportunities available at this training site. IF the site has not updated their information by August 1, feel free to contact the Training Director for additional information.

Summary of the Characteristics of the Specified Internship Class
2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025 2025-2026
Number of Completed Applications: 102 91 100 92 107 70 66 72 134
Number of applicants invited for interviews: 30 30 30 30 40 30 35 31 54
Total number of interns: 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4
Total number of interns from APA/CPA accredited programs: 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4
Total number of interns from Ph.D. programs: 2 2 1 2 2 3 0 1 1
Total number of interns from Psy.D. programs: 3 3 4 3 3 2 5 3 3
Total number of interns from Ed.D. programs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Number of interns that come from a Clinical Psychology program 3 3 5 4 4 3 2 3 4
Number of interns that come from a Counseling Psychology program 2 2 1 1 2 0 1 0
Number of interns that come from a School Psychology program 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Range of integrated assessment reports: lowest number of reports written 9 4 7 6 7 6 1 5 0
Range of integrated assessment reports: highest number of reports written 25 35 30 32 33 30 23 32 53
Summary of Post Internship Employment Settings of Each Internship Class (1st Placement)
2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025
Academic teaching:
Community mental health center: 0 0 0
Consortium: 0 0 0
University Counseling Center: 0 0 0
Hospital/Medical Center: 0 2 2
Veterans Affairs Health Care System: 0 0 0
Psychiatric facility: 0 0 0
Correctional facility: 5 3 3
Health Maintenance Organization: 0 0 0
School district/system: 0 0 0
Independent practice setting: 0 0 0
Other (Academic Psychology Department): 0 0 0
Link to Program's Trainee Admissions, Support, and Outcome Data: https://www.bop.gov/jobs/docs/lex_internship_brochure.pdf
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