What is your background in sport psychology and what led you to BU?
My applied work in sport psychology has consisted of working as a mental performance consultant with a variety of populations in individual and group settings. More specifically, this has involved supporting individuals and teams within athletic departments, academic institutions, and sporting organizations. Prior to BU, I received my BSc in sport psychology in 2016 from the University of Roehampton in London, where my research interests centered around the development of collective efficacy in team-sport athletes. I moved to the United States in 2016 to complete my MA in sport and performance psychology from the University of Denver in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology. At Denver, my research team explored the antecedents to stress-related growth following athletic injury. My current research focuses on the holistic development of academy soccer players in the United Kingdom.
What are some of your goals for the sport psychology department in your new role?
Put simply, my main goal it is to build on the great work that has already been done by those before me, particularly Marla Zucker (Director of the Sport Psychology Team) and Riley Fitzgerald (Former Sport Psychology Service Coordinator). Thanks to their incredible work, our team is more visible and accessible to BU student-athletes than ever before, and I hope to continue developing the relationship we have with BU Athletics. I want us to be more integrated than ever, meaning that more coaches, support staff and players are aware of how we can best support them in their goals. It would be amazing for us as members of the BU sport psych team to be seen as an integral part of the support staff and not a separate entity, so that ultimately sport psychology is perceived as something that is as important to performance preparation as strength & conditioning, athletic training, etc. I would also love to have multiple consultants embedded within teams providing consistent support to athletes and coaches, both in individual and group contexts, over the whole year. Finally, I really want to start building some group programming within the athletic department, By this, I mean developing groups that are led by members of the sport psych team that serve as a space for student-athletes to share their experiences and support each other in relation to various challenges (e.g., performance anxiety, athletic injury, senior transition, etc.) as well as learn ways to move through these challenges.
What are some of the ways you'll be helping/have already helped our athletes during your time at BU?
I have been working one-on-one with athletes from various sports for the past three years. I also started a senior support group last year for student-athletes approaching the end of their time at BU. Finally, I have delivered workshops to the Bloom Family Leadership Initiative around building self-esteem and building social connections.
How important is sport psychology for student-athletes?
I think sport psychology is hugely important for many reasons. First, being a student-athlete comes with unique psychological and emotional challenges that sport psychology can assist with. Challenges with performance anxiety, motivation, the emotional/psychological consequences of injury, athletic identity, school-life-sport balance, setting goals, coach/teammate relationships, transitioning from college sports, etc., are all in the wheelhouse of sport psychology. In addition, sport psychology can help to facilitate more consistent optimal performance. I would argue that student-athletes are adequately and equally prepared physically, tactically and technically. Therefore, I think the mind represents the pivotal factor that allows these attributes to be expressed in competition more consistently.
Does your experience as an athlete help shape how you approach your work in sport psychology?
Absolutely! I was an academy soccer player in England for 10 years and often felt like the support staff only saw me as a soccer player, rather than a human being with multiple interests and commitments outside of my sport. Thus, I strive to take a person-centered approach to my work, always seeing the individual as a person first that has multiple identities outside their experience as an athlete that are equally as important. I also felt that my opinion as an athlete was never truly valued or taken seriously, and instead, support staff felt the need to teach me, rather than recognize the knowledge and skills I already have and collaborate with me. Therefore, I also strive to create a non-hierarchical relationship with those I work with, appreciating and leveraging the many strengths they already have, as well as positioning them as experts on their own lives and thus able to identify what they need for growth and change. Put simply, I am a caring conduit for them, not an instructor.
Did your approach to sport psychology changed during the pandemic, and will it change again now that we're returning to normal?
I wouldn't say that my approach changed, but the pandemic certainly reinforced the idea that student-athletes are people first and that is where we should begin. A lot of the challenges experienced by those I was working with this past year could be considered more personal than performance; however, they were impeding their ability to perform. I hope to hold onto that perspective as we return to 'normal'. I think this past year has also reinforced the idea that an overdeveloped athletic identity, and neglect of other important areas of one's life, can be very problematic. I think this is particularly true in situations when one is unable to engage in activities connected to that identity (e.g., training, competition, etc.). The pandemic has been one such situation, and has shown that developing a multifaceted, plural sense of self and other sources of self-worth is imperative for the psychological and emotional wellbeing of athletes.
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