Private Practice Development - How Do You Get Into Sport Psychology? Information & Strategies For New Professionals
About the Author
Ben Foodman is a licensed psychotherapist & performance specialist. He owns his private practice located in Charlotte North Carolina where he specializes in working with athletes to help them overcome mental blocks (the yips), PTSD, ADD / ADHD and achieve flow states through the techniques of Brainspotting & Neurofeedback. If you are interested in services, use the link here! Enjoy the article below!
New professionals and the field of sport psychology
I am oftentimes contacted by individuals who are interested in learning how they can enter into the field of sport psychology. By the time they have come to speak with me, they have heard so many conflicting strategies that they are unsure of what to do or who to listen to. For instance, they have been told that they absolutely need a PhD to enter the field even though this is completely false. For this issue of the Private Practice Development, I want to provide the honest, unbiased facts about what it takes to get a job in sport psychology. Let’s first begin by exploring goals and different career paths.
Goal setting for a career in sport psychology
When individuals are trying to figure out how to enter into this field, they oftentimes want to work for professional sports teams. There is nothing wrong with this goal, and if that is what someone truly wants to do then they should pursue that goal no matter what others tell them. That being said, working in professional sports is not the only way to get into this field. Some examples outside of professional sports include working for the military, high schools, college athletic departments or going into private practice. What you decide to do, will dictate the training and experience you will need.
Required Education & Training For the Field of Sport Psychology
The truth is that if you want to work for the Olympic training center, or a professional sports team and be in charge of their sport psychology program, you most likely will either need a PhD in clinical psychology or you will need to know the right people. It’s not that having a PhD in clinical psychology objectively means you are most qualified, but rather it’s the false impression that professional sports teams have in terms of ‘ranking’ mental health licensure. There have no doubt been individuals who only have masters degrees and have been in charge of mental performance training for professional teams, but those are rare cases.
Most college athletic departments require that individuals have some form of mental health licensure and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) certification. This means you will need a graduate degree in some type of mental health graduate program (e.g. social work, counseling, etc.) that leads to licensure and you will need to take the prerequisite courses required by AASP for the CMPC. You do NOT need to be a licensed clinical psychologist. However if you want to go into business for yourself, depending on what you want to do, you may not even need a degree in counseling or even sport psychology.
Sport Psychology Careers Outside Of College Or Professional Sports Teams
If you go into business for yourself, there are several options you can take: private clinical mental health practice (with a focus on working with athletes), becoming a social media influencer that is focused on creating SEO optimized online content, or becoming a type of coach that is more focused on the ‘mental side’ of sports. Depending on what you choose to do, this could range from needing a graduate degree in counseling or just needing to be a high school graduate.
However, with the way the work environment is changing it will most likely be in the best interest of any future practitioner to have the AASP CMPC certification. This is becoming a more recognized certification and most jobs in this field require this as a prerequisite for employment. Just know that while there are challenges to entering the field, if this is what you want to do, don’t let anyone tell you no! Set your goals, keep working hard and do not ever give up!
Note To Reader:
If you are an athlete reading this segment of the TRAINING REPORT, hopefully this content was helpful! I put the Training Report together because I felt like many of the discussions on issues such as the Yips/mental blocks, strength training & other subject matter on athlete performance concepts were really missing the mark on these ideas (e.g. how trauma is the direct cause of the Yips). If you are interested in learning more, make sure to subscribe below for when I put out new content on issues related to sport psychology & athlete performance! Also, if you are looking to work with a mental performance specialist, you are in the right place! USE THIS LINK to reach out to me to see if my services are the right fit for your goals!
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