Pastoral Counseling Internship (PACO 699) | Theological Seminary

Application Deadline

Upcoming internship application deadlines:

Summer 2025: Monday, March 17, 2025
Fall 2025: Monday, June 23, 2025
Spring 2026: Monday, November 24, 2025

The Pastoral Counseling Internship (PACO 699) is an internship course that caps the M.A. Pastoral Counseling degree. It offers students supervised pastoral counseling experience in an approved setting. Work is monitored by a university faculty member through small assignments. The three-credit-hour course is offered each A-Term, meaning it is a semester-long course.

Students work at least 150 internship hours, including 25 hours of face-to-face counseling experience. Face-to-face hours may include working with a supervisor and/or an assigned staff member in the following areas: spiritual direction, discipleship, lay counseling, life-coaching, mentoring, individual, couple, and family counseling, group counseling, and conducting intakes. Face-to-face hours may also include teaching a curriculum-based class through a church. Related activities (for non-face-to-face hours) may include additional collaboration in the above activities and/or observation/participation in staff meetings, counseling/discipleship-related administrative work, writing progress notes, filing counseling-related files/documents, and telephone calls. Other activities may also qualify, depending on the type of activity, the approval of the internship site/supervisor, and the permission of the internship team.

Internship Qualifications

To qualify for the internship course:

You must have completed all core courses in the Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling degree. Approval to carry one core course concurrent with the internship will be granted on a case-by-case basis.
- To request approval, please contact PACOInternship@liberty.edu.
You must have a cumulative 2.5 GPA or above and be in good standing with the University in order to be approved. You must hold a 2.5 GPA by the application deadline in order for paperwork to be reviewed. Staff will not review paperwork past this point. Students who raise their GPA after the approval deadline will need to submit for the following semester.

Application Process Walkthrough

You cannot directly register to take the Pastoral Counseling Internship (PACO 699). Instead, you must apply for approval within the semester before you wish to intern. The application requires significant preparation. The Pastoral Counseling Internship team recommends allowing 3 months to complete the application process.

Select an Internship Site: Your first step in the internship application process will be to identify a potential internship site. Potential sites may include local churches, ministry- or agency-based organizations, group homes, hospitals, corporate chaplaincy offices, and nursing homes. Other settings will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
1. During the application process, the student or internship team may find that a site does not meet the overall internship requirements or that a site is unable to comply with stipulations on the application paperwork. Though these situations are uncommon, the Internship Office encourages ALL students to have a second site available.
2. You may choose more than one site as long as your selected supervisor is qualified and able to oversee your work at each site.
Select a Supervisor: The ideal supervisory candidate will hold a counseling license, counseling degree, or ministry-related degree. Your supervisor will have direct supervisory responsibility for your activities, so be sure to get his/her consent before committing them.
1. If you choose more than one internship site, you will still have only one supervisor.
Prepare the required paperwork: Blank copies and instructions for each document are listed in the section below titled “Application Paperwork.” Please take your time completing each document and read each page thoroughly. All blanks must be filled out and all ink signatures included on the appropriate lines.
Apply: Once all paperwork has been completed, submit your completed documents through the Internship Application Portal located at the top of this page. Please be aware of the unique application deadlines for each semester. All necessary documents can be uploaded in the application portal. There is no need to mail hard copies.
Approval: Allow two weeks for the administrative team to review your application. If your application is insufficient, you will receive an email from the team stating the corrections needed for approval.
1. If you are approved, your enrollment request will be sent to the Registrar’s office, and you will be notified when you are enrolled.
2. If you are not approved, you may be able to apply again for a future semester when you are fully qualified to apply.

Application Paperwork

The following documents must be completed and secured as part of your application packet. Scan completed documents into separate PDF files for easy uploading.

Background check report from American DataBank Group (please read through carefully):
- ***Non-U.S. Residents: All Non-U.S. residents should contact the PACO Internship team regarding the background check requirement.
- The background check/fingerprint package should be purchased from the Liberty bookstore website (please choose one package from the Pastoral Counseling options). Both a background check and an FBI fingerprint check are required for all students.
- Once you have purchased your background check from the bookstore, they will email you a passcode. This passcode will then be used on the American DataBank Group website, where you will input your information to run the check.
- The FBI fingerprint check requires you to provide physically rolled fingerprints. Follow the process as instructed by American DataBank Group. The fingerprinting process may take 6+ weeks before results are returned so please plan accordingly.
  - Fingerprint results must be returned and uploaded to American DataBank Group before a decision may be rendered on your internship application.
- Any background check orders from more than one year before the start date of your PACO 699 Internship semester are not acceptable (please refer to the academic calendar for semester start dates).
Fieldwork Agreement (pdf): Download and complete this form detailing information about your site, your site’s director, your supervisor, and expected workload. It also describes the agreement between you and your supervisor concerning roles and duties. This document must be signed in ink by you, your site director, and your supervisor.
- Site Director: The individual at your internship site who is permitted to sign legal documents on the site’s behalf.
- Supervisor: The individual who will be meeting with you face-to-face for the 1-hour per week Individual Supervision hours, and who will be completing your mid-term and final evaluations.
  - Depending on the internship site, the site director and supervisor may be the same person.
  - If these are the same person, the individual must sign on BOTH the site director and supervisor lines.
Affiliation Agreement (pdf): This agreement explains the roles and responsibilities of the four involved parties—namely, you, your site, your supervisor, and Liberty University. This document must be signed in ink by your site director.
- Please upload the entire Affiliation Agreement, being sure to include all necessary information.
Student Addendum (pdf): This is the agreement between the student and Liberty University, and explains your roles and responsibilities. This document must be signed in ink by you, the student.
- Please upload this document to the “Student Addendum” section of the Internship Application.
Professional liability Insurance Face Sheet: You are responsible for obtaining insurance in your name that protects you with at least $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate. Coverage must start on or before the start of the internship and remain in effect for the duration of class enrollment. Upload the face sheet of your policy into your application; it should include the amount of coverage, the effective dates of the policy, and the minimum amounts acceptable.
- International Internships: Please note that students who conduct their PACO internship OUTSIDE of the U.S. are NOT required to purchase professional liability insurance. If your site requires proof of insurance and you are unable to obtain a policy in your country, please contact the internship team at PACOinternship@liberty.edu for assistance.
  - International internship students should upload a statement to the “Liability Insurance” section of the application that reads: “I understand that the PACO Internship team strongly recommends obtaining professional liability insurance. I understand that the purchase of any such policy is at my own discretion.”
- Some organizations students typically contact about insurance include:
  - Healthcare Providers Service Organization (HPSO): 1 (800) 982-9491 or hpso.com
  - American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC): 1 (800) 526-8673
  - American Counseling Association (ACA) can also be helpful for Canadian students: 1 (800) 545-2223
  - American Professional Agency, Inc.: 1 (800) 421-6694

CPE Students: Students who want to complete their internship at a CPE site should email PACOinternship@liberty.edu for more information.

For further assistance, please contact Academic Advising (residential or online) or email the PACO Internship team at PACOinternship@liberty.edu.

Email Statement

Liberty student e-mail accounts are the official means of communication for the Liberty University community, and students are expected to check their e-mail account on a daily basis. The university is not responsible for information that students do not receive as a result of not checking their e-mail account regularly. Students are also expected to visit the Liberty University MyLU dashboard regularly for official announcements and information.