Should I Study Athletic Counseling or Sport and Exercise Psychology?
Athletic Counseling and Sport and Exercise Psychology may seem like similar programs, but they have defined differences that will impact a student’s course of study, how they work in the field, and how they interact with athletes from all levels and backgrounds. The primary focus of the Sport and Exercise Psychology program is performance enhancement, which involves identifying and applying psychological principles that facilitate peak sport performance and enhancing people’s participation in physical activities. The Athletic Counseling concentration in the Clinical Mental Health program takes a holistic and clinical approach to the field, training graduate students to provide services that address the personal, performance, academic, social, and career challenges that athletes face. Athletic Counseling focuses on the whole person, which includes but is not limited to sport performance. A comparison of each program’s curriculum can be found below.
What is athletic counseling?
Grounded in the counseling profession, Athletic Counseling at Springfield College integrates clinical mental health counseling, mental performance, and specialized preparation for working with athletes and other performers. Athletic counselors take a holistic approach, recognizing that performance cannot be separated from the personal, social, developmental, and mental health experiences that shape athletes’ lives.
Students develop counseling and communication skills alongside specialized knowledge of sport and performance. Through coursework, supervised fieldwork, and direct experiences with athletes and teams, students learn to support performance and well-being, develop mental skills, foster resilience, and recognize when athletes may benefit from clinical mental health assessment and treatment. This integrated approach distinguishes Athletic Counseling from traditional sport and exercise psychology programs by emphasizing counseling relationships, whole-person development, and preparation for professional counseling roles.
Springfield College graduates work with athletes and performers across a wide range of settings, including youth sport, high schools, colleges and universities, professional sport, military and performance environments, counseling centers, community agencies, private practice, and other organizations supporting athlete performance and well-being. Graduates may also pursue doctoral study and careers in coaching, player development, athlete well-being, mental performance, and clinical mental health counseling.
Students may pursue Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Athletic Counseling, a pathway designed to prepare graduates for licensure as Clinical Mental Health Counselors (CMHC) while also providing coursework and supervised applied experiences relevant to eligibility for the Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC) credential through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. This integrated preparation allows students to develop competencies in both clinical mental health counseling and mental performance, preparing them to work with the full range of concerns athletes and performers may experience.
Students interested primarily in Athletic Counseling and mental performance may also pursue an Athletic Counseling-only pathway designed to support preparation for CMPC eligibility. Across pathways, Springfield College’s Athletic Counseling program combines counseling skills, mental performance training, supervised fieldwork, and extensive hands-on experiences with athletes and teams.
What is sport and exercise psychology?
Those with a degree in sport and exercise psychology work with athletes and physically active individuals to enhance performance using the sport sciences. With increased pressure to operate at peak performance, the field of sport and exercise psychology has become an integral part of implementing theory and research into improving performance and ability. Graduates are well versed in the areas of motor learning and control, exercise physiology, sport sociology, and philosophy of sport. Those in the sport and performance psychology field work with athletes at the professional, collegiate, club, and high school levels, as well as serve as coaches in performance enhancement facilities.
At Springfield College, students can earn a Master's degree or a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in sport and exercise psychology. Students in both programs can choose to complete the academic requirements and supervised applied (fieldwork) requirements to become Certified Mental Performance Consultants (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.
Program faculty members include Jasmin Hutchinson, Kathleen Mellano, and Jarad Lewellen.
Comparison of Curricular Requirements for Athletic Counseling and Sport and Exercise Psychology programs
| Athletic Counseling (MEd or MS)* Catalog | Sport and Exercise Psychology (MEd or MS)* Catalog |
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