Sport Psychology
SLU Sport Psychology Services provides athletic performance optimization for individual athletes and teams in Saint Louis University's Department of Athletics and to athletes and teams across the St. Louis region.
A successful sports program is reflected by athletes, coaches and teams performing at their highest potential. The SLU Sport Psychology team provides evidence-based sport psychological services to individual athletes and teams to achieve optimal performance in their sport. Our team comprises doctoral students in clinical psychology with an emphasis on sport psychology who serve as sport psychology consultants (SPCs) and are provided to athletes and teams from all sports within the greater St. Louis region. The primary focus of the SPCs is to understand and improve the mental aspects of an athlete's and a team’s performance by enhancing mental toughness, optimizing arousal and emotional regulation, improving concentration and attention, sustaining motivation, assisting with injury rehabilitation, and managing sports-related stressors. Professor of Psychology Michael J. Ross, Ph.D., serves as the director of SLU Sport Psychology Services and supervises all sport psychology consultants.
Services are provided to athletes aged 16 and up.
Individual Services
Individual services involve one-on-one meetings between an athlete and a sport psychology consultant (SPC). The length of time in sport psychological training varies and largely depends on the athlete’s goals. The mindfulness-acceptance-commitment (MAC) protocol consists of about seven sessions of broad mental-skills training and is typically used for most athletes seeking to improve their mental performance in sport. However, athletes may choose to schedule one to two sessions that focus on specific skill development (e.g., confidence, relaxation, developing a mental warm-up). Student-athletes seek these services with a variety of goals and/or areas of development in mind. Some simply want to increase their mental toughness during sport, decrease the effect of negative self-talk, and improve their ability to reach a flow state (“Get into the zone”). Other athletes may be experiencing barriers to performance such as anxiety, difficulties adjusting to a new team, a lack of confidence, concerns regarding motivation, or difficulties related to injury. These services are available to all SLU student-athletes.
Biofeedback Training
Biofeedback is a technique incorporated into the individual training. During biofeedback, athletes learn how to maintain control over physiological processes that enhance the likelihood of achieving a flow state. SPCs will introduce and train a variety of mental skills that help regulate these processes.
Team Services
SPCs are often requested to work with teams in a variety of capacities. Options for this training include one-day workshops, multisession team trainings, and team assessments. Team workshops typically focus on one or two skills or topics, while multisession team trainings include the introduction and application of a variety of mental skills. Team assessments are often requested by the coaching staff and include the evaluation of a variety of mental aspects using questionnaires and biofeedback techniques. Following a team assessment, coaches receive team and individual data and recommendations. Recommendations strive to enhance the mental aspects of the team during practice and games to enhance athletic performance. Additionally, individual athletes receive their own data and recommendations for mental performance skills training.
Specialty Groups
The Sport Psychology team also provides specialty services to student-athletes experiencing unique stressors or transitions. Examples include injured athletes (e.g., increasing coping and rehabilitation adherence), freshman athletes (e.g., supporting the transition to a new team, coach, and/or role), and senior athletes (e.g., helping with the transition out of sport). These services often occur in a workshop format and are requested on an as-needed basis by the athletic department staff and/or student-athletes.
Diversity and Anti-Racist Statement
SLU Sport Psychology is committed to embracing the unique identities and characteristics of all ethnicities, faiths, orientations, abilities and life experiences. Athletes can expect that our consultants will work with them in a safe and nonjudgmental fashion by creating an environment of support and acceptance.
SLU Sport Psych recognizes the destructive impact that stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination have on one’s ability to function optimally in sport, in the classroom, and in daily life. Therefore, we strive to confront, dismantle, and eradicate the inequities caused by racism, xenophobia, transphobia and other harmful oppressive conditions and systems.
SLU Sport Psych also understands that Black, Indigenous and People of Color are often subjected to maltreatment, marginalization, Sand silencing, especially within sport and mental health systems of care. Our team responds by making a commitment to ongoing training and education, amplifying the voices of the BIPOC community, engaging in advocacy at individual and institutional levels, and unconditionally rejecting all forms of racism both in and outside of sport to promote radical healing of the SLU and St. Louis community at large
Meet the Team
Michael J. Ross, Ph.D.
Director
Michael J. Ross, Ph.D., has been a professor of psychology at Saint Louis University for over three decades. Ross, along with his former graduate student, Joanne Perry, Ph.D., founded the Saint Louis University Sport Psychological Sciences and Consultation Lab in 2015. He is a board-certified clinical psychologist, fellow of the Academy of Clinical Psychology, and member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. He has served as the university’s NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative since 1990 and provides consultant and oversight of academic integrity, NCAA rules compliance, and student-athlete welfare for SLU Billiken Athletics. Ross’ areas of research and scholarship include flow state, biofeedback and heart rate variability, adjustment to athletic injury, coping, athletic values, motivation, and mental health. His scholarly works include over 50 peer reviewed publications and over one hundred professional conference presentations. Ross enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and students, and enjoys all of SLU’s Billiken sport teams, coaches, and student-athletes.
Savannah "Savvy" Jefferis-Henriques
Assistant director
Savvy is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology program at Saint Louis University, specializing in sport psychology. She is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, and earned her master’s degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and bachelor’s degrees in biology and clinical/behavioral neuroscience from Drury University, where she played on the women’s soccer team.
Her research and clinical interests include the psychological effects of hormonal contraception and menstruation on athletic performance and motivation, sport injury and rehabilitation, gender and sport, disordered eating and overall athlete well-being.
In her free time, Savvy enjoys playing and watching sports, attending concerts with friends, reading and trying new restaurants.
Emily Chua
Co-assistant director
Emily Chua is a third-year student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at SLU. She is originally from Tucson, Arizona, and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego. Her research interests include self-compassion, the intersection of sport and physical disabilities, and the psychological implications of injury and rehabilitation. In her free time, she enjoys watching her favorite sports teams, cooking, live music, and playing with her dog, Goose.
Keegan Sawin
Keegan is a third-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Saint Louis University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Butler University in 2021, with minors in neuroscience and chemistry.
Her current research interests include the relationship between neuropsychological functioning and addictive behaviors. In the context of sports, she focuses on neuropsychological recovery following concussions.
In her free time, she enjoys running in Forest Park or chasing after her dog, Timmy.
Lauren Papianou
Lauren is a third-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Saint Louis University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience from Emmanuel College in 2018 and a Master of Science in psychology from Southern New Hampshire University in 2022.
Her research focuses on the relationship between chronic pain and psychosocial outcomes. Her interest in sport psychology stems from her background in chronic pain, with a focus on injury, fear of injury and athletic performance.
In her free time, she enjoys weight training and walking in Forest Park.
Kellen Blum
Kellen is a fourth-year student in the clinical psychology doctoral program at Saint Louis University. A native of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Illinois College, where he played on the baseball team.
His research interests include addiction, substance use and sport psychology.
In his free time, he enjoys watching the St. Louis Cardinals, distance running and playing guitar.
Zoe Schultz
Zoe is a second-year doctoral student in the clinical psychology program at Saint Louis University. She is originally from Blue Island, Illinois, and earned bachelor's degrees in psychology and criminal justice, with a minor in Spanish, from Grand Valley State University.
Her research focuses on LGBTQ+ lived experiences and the long-term effects of early childhood trauma. In the context of sport, she is interested in how team cohesion and a sense of belonging influence athlete performance and overall well-being.
Outside of academics, she enjoys playing and watching sports, hiking and spending time with friends.
Contact
To learn more or to request an appointment with one of SLU’s Sport Psych Consultants, please contact sportpsych@health.slu.edu. The Sport Psychology Services offices are in the O’Loughlin Family Champions Center and in the Department of Psychology's Morrissey Hall room 2805. Please note that those interested in our services should expect a 2–4-week waitlist before being matched with a sport psychology consultant.