Live what you preach…
If I am honest, putting myself out there is a little much. I am confident as a professor and a mental health clinician…but creating my own website, starting my own business is uncomfortable to me. And yet, if I practice what I preach, you learn the most when you are uncomfortable. You learn the most when you are a little unsure. And so, to start my first blog, of my first website, of my first company, I am going to put myself out there. Ready or not.
I have been a mental health therapist since 2006. There has never been a question about loving the work that I do. I loved my job. I still love my job. It has been a privilege to walk beside others in their most difficult days, enduring some of the most difficult pain and see them find hope, joy, and peace. Yet, a choice we made for our family has now forever changed my career path. Our family loves sports, my husband and I both played sports through college…our kids currently play a zillion sports. So naturally, when the Fargo Force Hockey team was established in 2008, we had season tickets. One year later, we decided fairly quickly to become billet parents. The term “billet” is a French term and began during the 18th century as a place for soldiers to lodge temporarily. It has since become a word that is a fixture in junior hockey, as athletes as young as 16 leave their families and move to a new city and live with a strange family (okay…well a family that is a stranger to them). We spent the next 8 years raising our own three children and having the absolute privilege of “raising” our billet sons. It was during this time that I was doing 8 hours a day of clinical work and so often at night, would see our billet sons endure all the ups and downs that sports offer. Pressure, exhaustion, fitting in, decision after decision on their future…all of these things surprised me and taught me so much about what elite athletes hold on their plate. They are my inspiration into going into a Sports Psychology program and they have taught me so much about perseverance, patience, hard work and truly loving the game. Fast forward a few years, a few grey hairs, a professor position and many years of graduate school (again) and here I am.
I am passionate about mental health. I am passionate about sports. I am passionate about the importance of combining two of my favorite things. I have spent years learning about performance, confidence, arousal and mindset. I have spent hours upon hours studying what it takes to be an elite athlete. And now…with a lot of encouragement and support, I am ready to share what I have learned, what I know and why it is important to support athletes more than ever. I hope you join me in this journey…who knows what we will both discover along the way.
Kelli