Today I’m talking to Dr. Erin Haugen, a sports psychologist.
Erin earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD in psychology from the University of North Dakota. She bookended her PhD with time on opposite coasts, completing a pre-doctoral internship at River Valley Services and Connecticut Vally Hospital and a post-doctoral residency at UC Davis.
From the outside, it looks like Erin always knew that she wanted to end up in sports psychology working with athletes. However, she spent much of her educational journey studying serious and persistent mental illness. It wasn’t until she began working with athletes who needed help with performance psychology that she found her home in sports psych and re-specialized. Even within psychology, Erin’s career took many twists and turns, proving that the straight line career path isn’t always straight.
By exploring all of her different interests within psychology, Erin is able to draw from her well-rounded training to meet athletes where they’re at and address all of their mental health concerns. An athlete herself, Erin knows what it’s like to feel grounded through activity and work through obstacles.
We talk about:
- Twisting and turning career paths
- Moving past introversion and shyness to connect and network
- Using social media for professional connection
- Moving across the country
- Being an athlete and working with athletes
- Therapy dogs
- Growing into leadership roles
- Working with different professions
For more information on Dr. Erin Haugen, you can find her on social: