We have an experienced team of clinicians and performance coaches, who have worked with Olympic and professional athletes. Our team is made up of former collegiate athletes, professional athletes, and coaches.

Our Program

In addition to mental preparation, our program also includes team dynamics and performance optimization strategies. We work with teams to promote communication, build trust, and create a positive team culture. Our coaches also provide feedback on technique, develop personalized training plans, and help athletes to set and achieve their performance goals.

Our services include, but are not limited to:

Initial Assessments: An assessment can also provide information on an athlete’s mental skills, including their level of focus, confidence, and resilience. This information can help coaches to design mental training programs that are tailored to the athlete’s specific needs and goals.

Team Workshops: Topics of the workshops are designed to help athletes develop the mental skills necessary to perform at their best and work effectively as a team. Some examples of these topics include: goal setting, visualization, mental toughness, team building, and coping strategies. We will tailor the team workshops specifically to what is found in the initial assessment.

Individual Coaching: Individual performance coaching can help athletes set goals, develop specific skills, build mental toughness, and provide accountability. It can also aid in injury prevention and recovery. By providing tailored guidance, athletes can reach their full potential and achieve their goals.

Mental Health Counseling: Mental health counseling is important for athletes as the pressure and scrutiny of competition can lead to mental health issues that negatively impact physical performance. Research suggests that athletes are at a higher risk for mental health issues than the general population, highlighting the need for counseling as a resource to develop coping strategies and maintain overall well-being. Our team is trained in determining what type of services may be most beneficial for the athlete.

In today’s competitive sports landscape, having a strong team of sports psychologists and performance coaches can give a team a significant advantage. By helping athletes to develop the mental and physical skills necessary to perform at their best, these professionals can help a team to achieve their goals and realize their full potential. If you’re interested in learning more about our program or would like to schedule a consultation, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

What is Sport Psychology?

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines sport psychology as “a proficiency that uses psychological knowledge and skills to address optimal performance and well-being of athletes, developmental and social aspects of sports participation, and systemic issues associated with sports settings and organizations.” There are three widely accepted orientations to sport psychology: psychophysiological, social-psychological, and cognitive-behavioral orientation.

A psychophysiological orientation focuses on the behavior during sports by examining the physiological processes of the brain and their influences on physical activity. For example, heart rate, brain wave activity, and muscle action potentials are assessed to determine relationships between these physiological measures and sport behaviors. A second orientation, social-psychological orientation, assumes that behavior is determined by a complex interaction between the environment and the personal makeup of the athlete. The last orientation is cognitive-behavioral. This approach suggests that an athlete’s cognitions or thoughts are central in determining behavior (Weinberg & Gould, 2019).

Psychological Skills Training

Positive psychology focuses on the development of positive attributes (e.g., hope, happiness, optimism, etc.), rather than focusing on “what is wrong” with someone (e.g., depression, anxiety, etc.). The goal of a sport psychology program is to help athletes improve their psychological skills to better manage stress and anxiety, increase motivation, and improve confidence levels in the context of sports, as well as highlight their strengths to optimize performance. Teams or individual athletes can be expected to be assessed and educated in the following domains:

Arousal Regulation
Imagery
Self-Confidence
Goal Setting
Concentration

What Sport Psychology is not:

It is important to note that there are instances where athletes will also face mental health struggles or actual mental illness. In instances where sports performance may also be impacted by mental illness, but the sport performance is not the primary goal of the professional relationship, principles of performance psychology may be leveraged, but the treatment of mental illness will be the primary concern, not sport performance. Additionally, while there may be instances where a mental illness may be affecting sports performance, sport psychology consulting can be utilized if and when treatment is being provided or mental health conditions are stable.

These caveats are important and will be discussed on an individual basis to ensure the most appropriate services are provided to the athletes.

Resources

This bibliography encompasses books written for children and adolescents on psychological skills for sport, exercise, and performance. Where available, information is provided on area of focus and age group as indicated by the publisher. Many of the books are published by Magination Press, a division of APA (the American Psychological Association) which publishes other books for children and adolescents on a wide variety of topics in psychology that may be of interest.

Sport Consultants

Dr. Urska Doberek

Mr. Brody Kutch