151. Becoming the Expert You Needed with Sport Psychologist Kara-Aretha Graham

Becoming the Expert You Needed with Sport Psychologist Kara-Aretha Graham

 

 

Introducing Kara-Aretha Graham

Today I’m talking to performance psychologist Dr. Kara-Aretha Graham about becoming the expert you needed.

Her Career Journey

Kara-Aretha earned her BA in psychology and African American studies at the University of Iowa where she ran track. She then continued to compete at Missouri State University for one more season before earning her MS in Health Promotion and Wellness Management, specializing in Sport Psychology. Against her wildest beliefs, she earned her PhD from Texas Tech University where her thesis focused on the experiences and stories of woman student-athletes. She is currently a BPS Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist practicing in London and a lecturer at the University of East London. 

Becoming the Expert You Needed

Kara-Aretha’s time as a DI athlete at Iowa wasn’t easy. At the end of her freshman year, she was diagnosed with cancer. While she bounced back physically after treatment, she struggled mentally for months. Sport psychology helped her get back in the game. Since then, Kara-Aretha has been on a journey to become the expert she needed when she was an NCAA student-athlete.

Inside this episode:

  • While Kara-Aretha would like to say that her plan to compete collegiately in the US was well thought out, she admits that the beauty of being young and stupid pays off. 
  • Looking back, she can see that she was depressed following cancer treatment and struggling with feelings that her body had betrayed her. She uses these experiences when working with athletes who have received sudden diagnoses or freak injuries in her practice.
  • When Kara-Aretha began interviewing NCAA woman student-athletes for her thesis, she thought she knew what she would find. Instead, she was blown away by the complexity of their stories which are rarely shared.
  • Kara-Aretha shares how her husband helped her to see how perfectionism was getting in the way of her even getting started when launching her business.
  • She recognizes that the purpose of performance psychology isn’t to turn every athlete into LeBron James but to help them be the best version of themselves.

Resources

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