Pro Sports Teams Continue To Hire Psychologists

The Washington Football Team hired a psychologist this year to head up wellness and clinical services. Barbara Roberts, a Georgetown professor, will be among the first wave of full-time clinicians hired by an NFL team. Other pro sports leagues have done similar things - the Red Sox of major league baseball hired mental health counselors more than 8 years ago. And the NHL’s Washington Capitols hired Aimee Kimball to help the hockey team with mental health. Kimball specializes in sports psychology. Michelle Joshua, a sports psychologist for NC State, was hired by U.S. Soccer's High Performance department to work with the Women's National Team back in 2019. Sports psychology is now a master’s level degree and one of the 10 surging majors according to a survey of colleges. “It’s interesting to me that about 4 out of 5 who end up majoring in sports psychology or go on to pursue a master’s degree in it have played sports on some level, and many say they have had negative experiences related to sports,"“ says academic advisor Mary Collins from Connecticut. “I can see how they would have both more interest and probably more success.” Click here to read more.