Student-Athlete Tips for Becoming A Sport Psychologist

My name is Rylie Bjerklie-Olson, and I am an intern at Achieve Performance Psychology. My journey with sport psychology started when I was a sophomore in college. I was playing collegiate volleyball and HATED it. I began to have panic attacks each time I stepped into the gym. I would call my mom after each practice, saying how much I wanted to quit while sobbing uncontrollably, but she kept reminding me that this was the goal and what I had worked so hard for years to accomplish. 

Eventually, my athletic trainer suggested I see the campus counselor, and looking back now, that was the greatest thing anyone could have done for me. While in counseling, I worked on moving away from the perfectionistic, unrealistic standards I had set for myself and began focusing on the process of volleyball. Slowly, I started to fall back in love with learning new things instead of viewing them as a threat. Failing was becoming a way I could learn, not a sign I wasn’t good enough to be in the gym. 

There was a whole season I did not look at stats or leave the gym crying every day. That year my stats were similar to the year before (not great), but I would have never known because it felt like I was playing better and having more fun. My senior year is when I started experiencing the statistical results, and at the same time, I was using the mental skills I had learned; visualization, instructional self-talk, and process goals helped me genuinely enjoy walking into the gym every day. 

Once I realized I wanted to be the person to help athletes like me grow mentally, I planned to go to graduate school for “Sport and Performance Psychology”. Sport Psychology was a new field to me and the majority of the people around me, so I was essentially following a path I found by doing a few Google searches. That was until my advisor, who was also my professor, met with me to discuss grad school plans. He always pushed me in his classes, failing me on a few assignments, not because I did it wrong but because he knew I hadn't submitted my best work. We had a helpful yet difficult conversation regarding my future and the plan I had set in place. I walked out of his office with no idea which direction I wanted to go in anymore. 

After reflection and continued information gathering, I decided to attend the University of St. Thomas for graduate school to earn my Masters degree in Clinical Counseling, with plans to become a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) either during or after school. After that conversation with my professor, I felt like this route aligned more with what I wanted to get out of schooling and the way I wanted to support athletes like myself, which was:

1. Helping athletes experiencing mental health struggles

2. Teaching them how to build and use mental skills

If this is a route you feel like aligns with your goals, here are a few tips I have learned along the way:

• - Athletes are people first; the majority of what you will learn will be applicable to them

• - Stay involved with sports! Become a youth coach or a referee. Great ways to make a little extra money while seeing the game from a different perspective

• - Reach out to people in the field. It can be scary, but odds are they have been where you are and are happy to take a few minutes to chat about their career!

Please reach out to us at Achieve to learn more about our internship and a career in sport and performance psychology.