This week I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Sofia España Pérez. She is the clinical and sports behavioral therapist for WVU. Born and raised in Mexico, she came to the U.S. because she was recruited to play tennis. After she graduated with a psychology degree in undergrad, she started coaching tennis in Houston. She said, “It was funny because one of my clients that I was teaching tennis to said he knew I was studying psychology and I liked sports; why didn’t I study sports psychology?” That’s how she found out what sports psychology was. After that, she looked for programs, finding one at Minnesota State University, where she did her master’s. Sports psychology is great, but it allows you to work just with sports psychology, which is a little limiting. It’s a way to help athletes and performers with confidence, motivation and all the things that affect performance. Anything mental health-related, like anxiety, depression, trauma, etc., she wasn’t trained to help with that, so she had to refer out. After that, she came to WVU to complete a PhD in sports psychology and a master’s in mental health. Now, she is capable and licensed to treat both things and has been here since 2021.
How Sports Shaped Her Approach
I asked Sofia about how her background in sports has shaped her approach to counseling athletes and she said, “everything.” She believes that athletes are wired differently, and sports can teach you a lot of things in life, like teamwork, communication and how to deal with adversity. “There is no athlete that has not experienced failure.” Athletes are very resilient. She can lean on their resilience, which she knows they have when she treats them for anxiety or depression.
Building Trust
I followed that with asking about trust. How does she build trust between athletes, coaches, trainers and anyone on the team? She explained that simply by saying she just needs to be around the team. She heard this phrase that I’m going to include, and it was, “be part of the furniture.” She holds this position where athletes will come to her to talk about their secrets, their fears, the worst things going on in their lives, and even the best things. She explains that she needs to be trusted by them first. To trust someone, you need to develop that relationship, and to develop that relationship, you need to know someone. Being around and having that relationship to say “hi” goes a long way. Sofia explained that if she’s just an email or phone number, then not a lot of people would reach out. The same goes for coaches and athletic trainers. She tries her best to be around as much as possible and build relationships with them so they feel comfortable referring an athlete to her if needed.
Social Media and NIL
Next, we talked about the struggles of athletes and social media. This is a big one now because our lives are more public and it influences us all, especially athletes. Sofia, thanks. There are many wonderful things about social media and AI these days, but there are also consequences. Bullying is a great example; now we are pretty much bullied 24/7 with social media. You kind of can’t escape it. Now, thinking about football and our football team, everybody has access to everyone, and there’s a lot of comparison going on and a lot of threats. Like, maybe one of our football players missed a touchdown; now everyone’s hating on him for missing the touchdown. NIL money is another big thing we talked about. Athletes should be compensated for what they do, but the amount of money that they’re getting from a mental health standpoint can cause issues. She explained that many guys who get this NIL money don’t have as much peace as they would if they didn’t. It puts pressure on them. NIL money also comes with comparison. Maybe someone’s getting paid more than you, and you feel like you deserve more too. It’s hard for anyone to handle this money. Sometimes college athletes get paid more than professional athletes, and it kind of turns into this thing where athletes want to stay in college and make that money. They don’t want to get a job where the salary starts lower than they got paid in college.
Finding Your Path
We then talked about the many pathways that come in psychology, specifically sports psychology. There are professionals that work with athletes, there are professionals that work with musicians or dancers and there are a lot of professionals that work with the military. She explained that it’s important to meet with other people, go to classes and ask your professors to figure out what path is best for you. It’s the best way to get to know more about the career that you want to go into.
Her Advise
Finally, I asked if she had any advice for students wanting to go and pursue this career path. Sofia explains that it’s important to have a clear reason why you’re doing the job. It can be very flashy, like she travels; she’s on the sidelines. She goes on planes, stays in hotels and she has access to all these stars. And it’s true, she gets all these things and all this gear, but people may not be seeing how much time she spends in the building or with athletes. She has two phones. She has to answer her work phone every single time, and it doesn’t matter if it’s “the middle of Christmas at midnight.” Everyone has different emergencies. She emphasizes that you have to be clear as to why you want to do this. Not for the flashy stuff. What’s the payoff that you kind of have to deal with, and are you willing?
My Final Thoughts
My interview with Dr. Sofia España Pérez was very beneficial to me, and I hope to many other people who are interested in sports psychology. I’m grateful for the time she took to speak with me. She has given me resources to further my interest and eventually further my career. The bridge between athletes and mental health is so important; they are people before they are athletes. I hope it continues to receive the same attention it deserves.