Dr. Doug Hankes, a licensed psychologist with over 25 years of national leadership in sport and exercise psychology, serves as Auburn Athletics' Executive Director of Counseling and Sport Psychology.
Including Hankes, Dr. Jack Howard, Dr. Chelsi Battle, and Dr. Isabella Fiorenzo, Auburn's Counseling and Sport Psychology team gives Auburn one of the most comprehensive support services in intercollegiate athletics for student-athlete mental health and sport psychology.
"Taking on the leadership of Auburn Athletics' Counseling and Sport Psychology team is an opportunity that is both exciting and humbling," Hankes said. "My and my team's goal is to put student-athlete mental health at the forefront of their Auburn experience. Student-athletes experience extraordinary levels of stress that can affect their mental health and their sport performance. Our multi-disciplinary team will work with all aspects of Auburn student-athletes' lives and utilize University and community resources to give them the best possibility to succeed in life and their sport. This is one more example of how the Auburn Family takes care of one another."
Hankes will collaborate with the Chief Medical Officer for Athletics as well as other student-athlete support services to provide the highest level of mental health care and sport performance support.
"Dr. Hankes is internationally recognized," Auburn Athletics Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Goodlett said. "As an expert in both sport psychology and counseling, he is an essential part of our plan to continue to provide world-class care for our student-athletes in a comprehensive fashion. Dr. Hankes will be an outstanding resource and a key component of the student-athlete experience."
Hankes and his team will provide assessment, treatment planning, psychological counseling, and applied sport psychology services to student-athletes while educating and guiding coaches and staff.
Licensed in Alabama and Tennessee, Hankes completed his doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of North Texas in 1996. After working at the University of Tennessee for four years, Hankes returned to Auburn University. He has directed Auburn University's Student Counseling & Psychological Services (SCPS) for the past 18 years. Under his leadership, SCPS has gained International Accreditation of Counseling Services accreditation and created a fully accredited American Psychological Association Doctoral Internship Program.
An AASP Fellow and Certified Mental Performance Consultant Emeriti, Hankes is listed on the United States Olympic & Paralympic Sport Psychology and Mental Health Registry. He has worked with Auburn Athletics in a variety of sport psychology-related areas since his return to Auburn in 1998.
Hankes has served on the Executive Boards of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 47 Society for Sport, Exercise, & Performance Psychology (including a three-term as Division 47 President), the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), and the Clinical/Counseling Sport Psychology Association. He was recently elected to a three-year term as Division 47 Council Representative.