A little more about me
Hi there! Welcome to my little corner of the internet. One of the first questions I am often asked after I tell somebody what I do for a living is how I discovered sport psychology. I thought I would share my journey to becoming a sport psychology consultant with anyone new here or just wants to know a little more about me. I started this business because of my passion for helping others. I have experienced firsthand the impact of our mindset on how we perform.
My background in athletics is rooted in swimming. I competed as a swimmer for 11 years, racing at Nationals 5 years in a row. My events were the 200 fly, 500 free, and 400 IM (shoutout to all the distance swimmers out there!). When I was in high school, I started experiencing panic attacks before some of my races. I was stuck in my head and couldn't fathom a way out. It felt like I had no control of my thoughts, like my brain was a runaway train, and I was desperately trying to catch up and grab control. After more races ruined by my mindset than I would like to admit, my swim coach introduced me to sport psychology. This was the beginning for me. I started reading as many books about sport psychology as I could and even started teaching it to the team's younger swimmers. Looking back, I realize that I was pretty much destined to be in this line of work. I also realize a 16-year-old teaching 12&unders sport psychology is probably not the most ethical. Oops.
I started my college swimming career at the University of Pittsburgh. Still, I quit after only a few short weeks after discovering that I had thoracic outlet syndrome. Translation = my left arm was going numb and turning blue because I had an extra rib near my neck that was pinching on a nerve. I made the heartbreaking decision to quit the sport that I had loved for so long to have my third surgery in three years. I went from being a collegiate athlete to being on bed rest for the spring semester. I was depressed, I was scared, I didn't know who I was anymore without swimming.
For my sophomore year of college, I transferred to UMBC to be close to my doctor at Johns Hopkins. While I can look back and be immensely grateful for the experiences that UMBC gave me, I did not always love college. I struggled so much to figure out who I was without swimming. I initially turned to running but injured my IT back training for my second marathon. Around the same time that I found triathlon, I learned that UMBC had an interdisciplinary studies major where I could create a sport psychology degree for myself. I did my senior thesis on the psychology of recovery from injuries in endurance athletes. My graduation gift was signing up to do my first ironman triathlon.
I finished Ironman Lake Placid in July 2015 and started my graduate program at Temple University in August 2015. While at Temple, I said yes to everything. Yes, to working in academic mentoring, yes to coaching youth running, yes to every athlete, coach, and team who wanted to work with me. I hustled in grad school to have as many professional experiences as I could before I was sent out into the world on my own. That is when this business first started. And it has been evolving ever since. I have taken on more clients, different types of clients, clients at different levels in their sports, and even taken a hiatus while working with the United States Army.
Mulcahy Performance Consulting allows me to be my best self and bring my love of athletics and the mind to all of you. I've been challenged in many ways through this business, but that just means I'm growing alongside it. I have had the honor of working with physicians for the United States Olympic Team, professional athletes, youth athletes trying to find their love for their sport again, NCAA champions, athletes getting over fears related to their sport, and soldiers training for endurance races and so many more.
When I am not pouring my heart and soul into this little business of mine, I'm training for my own races, playing with my dog, and reading a ridiculous amount of books.