My Approach
My consulting is scientific-based and grounded in Positive Psychology, a Cognitive-Behavioral Approach, and a Person-Centered Approach.
Positive Psychology
Positive psychology is a scientific approach to studying human thoughts, feelings, and behavior, with a focus on strengths instead of weaknesses.
Positive psychology dedicates significant attention to exploring concepts such as character strengths, optimism, life satisfaction, happiness, wellbeing, gratitude, and self-esteem, self-confidence.
Mastering these psychological skills is crucial for achieving peak performance, while also serving as a safeguard against burnout among athletes, exercisers, and performers.
I use positive psychology to assist clients in recognizing and nurturing their strengths and special abilities, fostering their sense of happiness and wellbeing, and making a positive difference in their lives (beyond sport as well!).
Cognitive-Behavioral Approach
A cognitive-behavioral approach highlights the importance of examining our thoughts, discovering how these beliefs make us feel, and how they affect our actions. Our self-talk can give us information on what these beliefs are and if they are faulty or skewed.
In my consulting work, I lean toward a positive approach. While I still strive to grasp clients' underlying thoughts and feelings, my emphasis lies in identifying what thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are functioning positively, rather than dwelling on the negatives.
Every athlete can tell you a laundry list of negative thoughts they are experiencing during competition, but how many athletes have an extensive list of positive thoughts? That’s the crucial question.
Person-Centered Approach
I believe a person-centered approach is one of the most important areas of focus for mental performance consultants. A person-centered approach is making sure the client is performing in all areas of their life (e.g., physical, mental, social, emotional).
Understanding the client fully and considering external factors are essential for achieving peak performance. For instance, if an athlete has trouble concentrating during competitions, it might be because of stress related to school work. In such a scenario, I would assist the athlete with organization and time management skills.
Not everything is related to sport performance and that is okay!
Human first, athlete second.