Billy Ryan
Background and Consulting Philosophy
I grew up in Greenville, SC and went to Charleston Southern where I played football in college. During that time I realized my interest in the psychological side of sport, which lead me to getting a M.S. in Sport and Exercise psychology. My aim as a performance psychology consultant is to communicate sport and performance psychology concepts in a simple way to individuals and teams so they can create their own authentic approach to improvement. The way I accomplish my aim is by staying rooting in the scientific literature, mainly from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy perspective, and applying the science to people I work with. My goal with my clients is simple, improve psychological flexibility in order to improve performance. Competing at a high level is not easy, and it is not obvious how to train the psychological side of performance. I don't wait for things to go wrong or for things to go well, I focus on proactive ways to improve mentally, and we will work together to get you committed to each part of your sport. I specialize primarily in professional golf (Q school, mini tours, Korn Ferry), collegiate athletics (UGA volleyball, USCB, individual athletes), Olympic preparations (Team Canada Women's Volleyball), military performance, youth athletes, and leadership development.
Cory Cottrell
Background and Consulting Philosophy
As a consultant I work to assist in the development of awareness and perspective to create value driven plans for progression. I believe that an individual can begin to explore avenues for improvement and objective understanding that they might not have seen before. This work is best done through a genuine connection to explore all of the complexities of athletic competition and human uniqueness. I utilize Acceptance Commitment Therapy as my consulting foundation, in addition greatly utilize the principles of existential psychology and reality theory of counseling. These scientific theories provide the tools for an individual to create a meaningful relationship with themselves and their own journey. When an individual or organization becomes conscious of their purpose and values, they then can begin to reshape their world through value driven behaviors. Individually I value: ownership, discipline, competence, and purposefulness and my consulting reflects these. Through these my overarching aim as a consultant is to assist an athlete, coach, or organization create an adaptive relationship with the highs and lows of a passionate pursuit.
Trevor Jones
Background and Consulting Philosophy
Pursuing your golfing dreams can be a perilous journey, and mine was no exception. Having turned professional in 2006, I experienced a major breakthrough in 2008, winning a national championship. The victory opened many doors for me, but rather than flourishing, I floundered. I lacked the psychological skills needed to thrive and continue moving up. That heartbreak led me to an important question, what exactly had I been missing that prevented me from taking that next step? 12 years later I stand here with a pretty good answer. The main guide of my psychological research and practice has been the Psychological Flexibility model (which underpins Acceptance and Commitment Training), to say that this model has taken hold in the sports world in a big way is an understatement. Clients I work with often comment on how liberating the interventions can be, and if you've been stuck for some time, the sense of moving forward towards playing the type of game you know that you're capable of can be quite something. As a mental performance coach I've seen first hand the powerful effects of psychological flexibility not only on clients performances, but also more broadly in their lives. Intuitively, we already know that if we can improve life trajectories, we improve performance trajectories. Psychological flexibility is a set of skills that can give you both. Maybe stepping in a direction of a game worth playing is as far away as the word now.
Emily Leeming
Background and Consulting Philosophy
Learning and problem solving have always fascinated me, likely because one process is required for the other. As a consultant I bring my experience and training in behavioral psychology to the table. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno with an emphasis in organizational performance, learning, and safety. The ability to change behavior in profound and transformative ways has been repeatedly shown with behavior analytic science. As a part of providing comprehensive services my training led me to contextual behavior science, and Acceptance and Commitment Training. ACT allows me to see each individual and provide a way that not only looks at improving their target performance but generalizes to their psychological fitness across multiple areas of life. I have successfully used ACT principles with athletes, business leaders, military service members, students and many more. Simply put, ACT facilitates adaptability, learning, and effective problem solving, which all leads to an increase in performance.