NEW HAVEN, P.E.I. — Jackson Slauenwhite can trace his professional roots in sport psychology back to when he was 13 years old.
“I choked at my first national competition in skiing,” the New Haven native said. “I nearly quit the sport but decided to figure out what went wrong so that I could never have that happen to me again.
“I did some research and eventually found sport psychology, which turned my athletic career around. I started studying sport psych on my own then and have been going strong with it ever since.”
Slauenwhite graduated from UPEI in 2015 with a psychology degree and earned a master’s degree in sport psychology and coaching from Western University in London, Ont., in 2017.
The 25-year-old recently attained the highest possible professional certification for a mental performance consultant in the country. This winter he was approved as a mental performance consultant and professional member of the Canadian Sport Psychology Association (CSPA).
Becoming a professional member requires more than 200 hours of supervised practise, a master’s degree or PhD in sport psychology or a related field with focus on the disciplines of kinesiology, psychology and counselling, as well as favourable supervisor and client evaluations.
“I am excited to help Island and Canadian athletes better their athletic careers and lives through mental performance development,” Slauenwhite said. “It made a huge difference in the quality of my own sport experiences and I know it can for others as well.”
Slauenwhite has worked with several Island sports programs, including the Charlottetown Islanders, UPEI men’s soccer team and Special Olympics P.E.I. He has worked with Hockey Canada and supported the London Badgers under-18 baseball team to Canadian national championship in 2017.
“He is a very thoughtful and educated young person, who has been doing a great job supporting athletes in taking a positive and mindful approach to some of the pressures an athlete can experience in competitive sport,” said Tara Costello, a long-standing professional member of the CSPA, who has supervised Slauenwhite.
Mental performance consulting involves assessing mental skills and educating people on how to apply mental techniques to boost their performance.
Costello said many athletes she has worked with through her career have told her they still use the concepts they learned as an athlete.
“So, while we are focused on helping athletes perform at their best, many take lessons and skills to other aspects of life as well,” she said.
