Building a Mastery Mindset: Integrating Sports Psychology and Clinical Practice
About this episode
Jeff Greenwald discusses the integration of sports psychology and clinical practice, focusing on anxiety and performance in athletes.
In this episode, Jeff Greenwald—world champion tennis player, licensed therapist, and sports psychology consultant—offers a rare glimpse into the intersection of clinical therapy and high-performance coaching. Jeff highlights how anxiety has become the predominant struggle both inside and outside of sport, often crippling athletes and families alike. Drawing on nearly three decades of experience, he explains how his dual training allows him to work not only on performance enhancement but also on the deeper roots of anxiety, perfectionism, and family dynamics that shape an athlete’s experience. He shares how he integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing, and Somatic Psychotherapy, tailoring each to the unique needs of athletes. Jeff clarifies how sports psychology typically focuses on attention control, motivation, and performance skills, while clinical practice digs into family systems, emotional regulation, and underlying anxiety. Listeners will also hear about Jeff’s practical frameworks, including the four dimensions of focus (narrow/broad, internal/external) and his “remote control” metaphor from The…
People in this episode
Host: W Keith Sutton PsyD
Guest: Jeff Greenwald
Topics covered
- sports psychology
- clinical therapy
- anxiety management
- performance enhancement
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- family dynamics
Keywords
- sports psychology
- clinical therapy
- anxiety
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- performance enhancement
- family dynamics
- Motivational Interviewing
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Mental Edge for Young Athletes
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