Paul Ashbrook PsyD, Elite Performance Coach

<p>JB: Talk to me about your journey and what got you here?</p><p>PA:</p><p>Always wanted to be a professional athlete, went for college golf. Had some injuries and wasn’t playing well enough. Friend at UC Riverside (undergrad), coached him to pursue Grad school even though it wasn’t on his radar.  Had a background in psychology...what pairs sports and Psych?</p><p>Went to SDSU - nice enough to let him in even though maybe wasn’t deserved.  He worked and has made them proud!  Thought he would be an applied practitioner to work with olympians and pro athletes….building private practice was challenging...found some opportunities to TEACH...a way to help others….the main reason he got into in the first place. </p><p>Back to school got a Doctorate in Sports & performance Psych - Balance of Research, evidence based practitioner, based in Science & Research. Which then allows him to work with elite athletes, military, business leaders. </p><p>Got lucky a few times and capitalized on it every time</p><p>JB: How is this field evolving? What are you most excited about?</p><p>PA:</p><p>Has been in the industry for 10+ years, still feels like a nobody but has knowledge and experience.  </p><p>You hear the same thing all the time, bickering about title usage, constructs, etc. </p><p>The exciting part is that Performance Psychology is far more normalized. <br />Psychology had so much Stigma and people viewed that as a weakness, still undertones there, military/athletics/medicine. </p><p>It’s not about fixing something that’s broken but unleash something that’s already inherent in you. </p><p>People may reach out when things are off, but that doesn't preclude them from doing this work when things are going well.  Which is becoming more normalized and accepted.</p><p>People are becoming more accepting and realize that they are part of a team and aren’t afraid to talk about it.  </p><p>JB: We see coaching starting to become more popular, widely recognized.  Clients will share praise with me when really it’s just helping them unl