This interview with Dr. Jamie Shapiro, an Associate Professor and the Assistant Director of the Master’s in Sport and Performance Psychology program in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver was originally posted in PSYCH LEARNING CURVE – Where Psychology and Education Connect, a blog by the APA Education Directorate by Isabelle Orozco, August 2017.

With a surge of awareness from many mainstream media outlets and a newfound push to teach the importance of mental health, psychology has never been more popular and readily accessible to the public. Although there has been an increase in awareness, there are still many fields and subjects of psychology that are not as commonly popular or are simply unknown. 

After having graduated university, I felt a sense of confusion with the ever-present question of “what will I now do with my life?” My entire life until now had been structurally planned and now my training wheels have been removed and I am now on my own to veer and steer. As many psychology undergrad graduates, there is an eventual plan of continuing school, but exactly which subject in the wide spectrum of psychology? And exactly how many fields of psychology are there, apart from the commonly known?

Hence, the introduction of this interview. This blog post highlights a particular field: Sport and Performance Psychology. Apart from its research and publications, the APA also encompasses the many fields of psychology through various divisions. Each division or interest group is regulated and organized by a wide range of members, specialists, and psychologists nationwide. One such popular group, is Division 47- Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology and due to its high viewing volume, I decided to interview a specialist in the field to answer questions you may have as a student interested in the field of Sport and Performance Psychology.

Read the interview here.