How much does pop culture matter? As a child in the 80’s and 90’s, I grew up watching and loving the popular movies and television shows of the time. I spent countless hours watching and mimicking my favorite characters such as Ellen Ripley and the Colonial Marines, Marty McFly, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, and an orphaned farm boy named Luke Skywalker among many others. I acted out each of these characters triumphs and defeats and, without realizing it, I instilled deep and valuable lessons into my psyche. I draw from these lessons in my work as a psychologist and I help others to draw from the stories that matter to them.

I don’t solicit testimonials or reviews from clinical sport psychology clients. However, I’m always open to feedback and love hearing how I’ve helped my athlete or performers clients. I received some great feedback from a parent of a high school athlete struggling with performance anxiety as well with a variety of life stressors. 

Elite high school athletes experience a great deal of stress. They are constantly juggling their responsibilities related to academics, family, friends, at least one year round sport and possibly multiple side sports. 

Do Starfleet Captains ever need the help of a sport psychologist?

Recently, I blogged about an upcoming text book chapter I am co-authoring with my colleague David Smith, MSc, a university lecturer in sport and exercise psychology. We have the privilege of addressing the importance of emotional regulation in leadership performance through the lens of case studies of Star Trek captains.

When I was a student-athlete at Citrus College, I remember learning that one of my professors had a long list of academic publications. He had written about 20 books on various topics in his field. This left an impression on me as an 18 year old trying to find my way.

About 10 years later, I was a graduate student reading various articles, chapters, and books on clinical and sport psychology. As overwhelming as graduate school, and life in general, can get, I never lost my interest in writing.

This year I celebrated Star Trek Day by submitting a chapter I am co-authoring on sport psychology in Trek to our editors. Earlier this year, I was invited to contribute to a very unique textbook on leadership. This textbook will draw from the expertise of several professionals from various disciplines (e.g., sport psychology, mental health, educational leadership, planetary science, etc.). Each author will share their perspective while mining Star Trek for lessons and or case studies.