Collaboration
Erica Force is a licensed psychologist specializing in sport psychology. She runs Force Sports psychology and counseling. Over a phone call, she shared her story with me and answered some of my questions.
"My mission is to help you live your best life by breaking through barriers holding you back from reaching your goals or the next level of success"(Force)
Erica Force Ph.D. & CMPC
Background/story
At age 9 Erica started competitive horseback riding, she struggled with performance anxiety and confidence at competitions. Erica felt like she couldn't prefom as well as she could ride. As she got older she started coaching she relized that many of her students had the same issue, their mindset and confidence level had a large impact on preformance. "I realized talent and ability...were not the only factor for success (as an athleate) ."
Driven by her love for helping others Erica earned her doctoral degree in counseling psychology at the University of North Texas, she then did her clinical internship in the U.S. Air Force and four years as an active duty military psychologist & officer in the U.S. Air Force.
After the time she spent serving she did a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. She finished her education with four years of orthopedic sports medicine training and focuced on adolescent athletes and sport-related injury.
Q&A
Who is your role model, and why?
Force's mentor in the field of sport psychology is Dr. Judy Van Raalte. She said, "(it is) remarkable to have a female role model in a field that has always been dominated by men... (Raalte) is an inspiring scholar, mentor, supervisor, and leader in the field, and I continue to look up to her today."
Why is it so important to study sport psychology?
Force says it is so important to study performance psychology since it can be applied to many performance domains, including sport, performing arts, business, exercise, and high-risk occupations. Force spoke about how her knowledge in psychology helped her and her friends while they served. She believes that military psychologists should be provided to men and women who are serving.
Favorite books and why?
Force had a hard time choosing between many books that she loves "I have found so many amazing life lessons in the book The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch." She also said that she loves the Harry Potter books as a way to escape.
How do you mentally prepare for an important event?
Force's happy place is the beach, when she has an important presentation or is feeling nervous she takes deep breaths and thinks about her happy place. Sometimes she will listen to ocean sounds. "I have found that I respond to auditory triggers, the sounds of the ocean calm me down just the same as the sound of a crying child makes me unsettled."