Featured CE Workshops
Unless otherwise noted, each program below has been approved for 3.0 CEUs to partially meet the continuing education recertification requirement for Certified Mental Performance Consultants® (CMPC).
Register for the workshops at the time of conference registration. These workshops are availble only to in-person conference attendees. Fees are as follows, per 3-hour workshop:
| Student Member: | $60 | |
| Professional Member: | $80 | |
| Non-Member: | $100 |
Wednesday, October 15
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
A Peek Behind the Curtain at Cirque du Soleil’s International Training Center
Saro Keresteciyan – Performance Medicine Clinical Lead, Cirque du Soleil; Heidi Malo, CMPC – INS Québec - Institut national du sport du Québec
3.0 general CEUs, pending Continuing Education Committee Review
Special Off-Site Session at Cirque du Soleil's International Training Center / Creation Studio
Limited to the first 50 people who register
Transportation included. Bus will depart at 8:30 am and return approximately 12:30 pm.
Montreal is home to Cirque du Soleil’s International Headquarters/Training Center, featuring state of the art facilities that allow their team of dreamers to create stunning shows worldwide that push the limits of the imagination. Sign up for this special “experiential” session where you’ll learn how Cirque operates and has integrated mental performance training into their overall culture.
The session will feature the following:
• Panel discussion highlighting how mental skills training is being implemented in practice and performances – featuring CMPCs, Cirque coaches and characters
• An overview of how Cirque identifies and trains their performers and the psychology associated with skill acquisition
• The realities of being a performer in this unique environment - including maintaining confidence, motivation and cohesion to execute mind-blowing and high-flying stunts
• Interaction with Cirque performers in their practice facility and demonstration of exercises for individual and group performance routines
Come experience where the training actually happens!
Supporting Neurodivergent Athletes: Assessment, Intervention, and Inclusive Practices for Sport Psychology Professionals
Richard Fowler, EdD – Truett McConnell University; Holly Haynes, EdD – Pillar Research Insititute, The Jacob's Ladder Group; Stacy Hall, PhD – Truett McConnell University
3.0 CEUs in the area of Diversity
This workshop addresses the critical need for sport psychology professionals to develop competency in working with neurodivergent athletes. Participants will learn to identify and understand various forms of neurodivergence (including ADHD, autism spectrum, dyslexia, and others) in athletic contexts, develop tailored assessment and intervention strategies, and create inclusive training environments. Through case studies, role-playing exercises, and collaborative problem-solving, attendees will gain practical tools to effectively support neurodivergent athletes' unique needs while leveraging their strengths. This workshop is designed for CMPCs, sport psychology consultants, coaches, and allied professionals seeking to expand their practice to better serve this growing population of athletes across competitive levels and sports.
The Polyvagal-Informed Certified Mental Performance Consultant: Expanding Consulting Practices through Autonomic Nervous System Integration
Laura Farres, PhD, RCC-ACS, CMPC, – Mind in Motion Consulting & Shelbi Snodgrass, MC, RCC, CMPC, CCC – Duff Performance Consulting and Counselling Inc.
3.0 General CEUs
This workshop introduces polyvagal theory (PVT; Porges, 1994) and its application to mental performance consulting. Participants will gain insight into the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its underlying role in performance. Through a combination of didactic instruction, experiential activities, and collaborative group discussions, participants will learn to identify physiological states and to reframe common reactions such as fight, flight, freeze as adaptive ANS responses rather than weakness. Additionally, through an ethical and trauma informed lens, participants will explore polyvagal-informed techniques and interventions tailored to diverse experiences and examine consultant effectiveness via awareness and utilization of their own ANS states. This workshop will benefit participants by introducing a neuroscience framework not yet widely applied in mental performance consulting and by examining ethical considerations of a polyvagal informed lens, including working within professional scopes of practice (i.e., CMPCs versus dually trained practitioners), mentorship, and when addressing diversity and contextual factors. Finally, the workshop is an opportunity for consultants to consider their physiological “presence” in interactions with others and to develop a personalized polyvagal informed self-management plan for professional practice.
Thursday, October 16
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Breaking Down Barriers: Mental Performance Lessons From Military Co-Facilitation
Cassandra M. Seguin, PhD, CMPC – Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services & Patrick Twomey – Canadian Armed Forces
3.0 General CEUs
Close collaboration and integration into organizations with their own distinct cultures and norms are essential for mental performance consultants (MPCs) to be effective in assisting organizations in achieving their missions (Halbe, 2011; Sánchez, 2020). In high-stakes environments (e.g, sport, military, mission-critical teams), impactful consulting requires more than just a knowledge of mental skills; it demands the ability to navigate organizational hierarchies by communicating effectively with key decision-makers and embedding mental performance (MP) strategies into existing frameworks (Mattie et al., 2024) This workshop introduces MPCs to the Operational Planning Process (OPP; CACSC, 2018) and co-facilitation strategies, offering a structured problem-solving approach to integrating mental skills into high-performance environments. Drawing on first-hand experience in collaborative military training, we will explore how the OPP can be applied to enhance MP intervention planning, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement. Participants will learn how to apply OPP principles to consulting, develop advocacy strategies, conduct collaborative inquiries and cofacilitation, and navigate organizational structures and cultures. By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped with tools to bridge the gap between theory and application. Whether working with athletes, military personnel, or corporate professionals, attendees will leave with a military-inspired blueprint for embedding MP into complex high-performance systems.
Leader Identity Development: Integrating Ubuntu and Liberation Psychology for Sport Performance Psychology Professionals
Angel Brutus, Psy.D., LPCC, ACS, BC-TMH, CMPC – President and CEO | Lead Provider, United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Stephanie Baugh, EdD – Synergistic Solutions, Natalie Leger, PsyD – Synergistic Solutions/The Collective Edge, Miana Graves, PsyD – Synergistic Solutions
3.0 CEUs in the area of Ethics
Understanding that there is a latent leader identity within all of us, this workshop is designed to facilitate and strengthen that possible self that is a leader. Participants will be equipped with an understanding of who they are when uncertainties arise. They recognize inherent skills necessary for ethically and culturally informed leadership. Cultural shifts and staff turnover present both challenges and opportunities for leaders to chart a new path toward performance excellence. Furthermore, using liberation psychology and the Afrocentric philosophy of Ubuntu as guiding frameworks, the workshop will challenge participants to ensure their leadership empowers others and fosters an environment ripe for transformative change when necessary. Workshop facilitators will employ a combination of lectures, group discussions, interactive exercises, and case study analyses to explore the application of this integrated leadership model. Participants will engage in reflective practice, peer feedback, and collaborative activities to identify and nurture their leader identity and develop strategies for empowering others and fostering community interconnectedness. All content, group discussions, interactive exercises, and case study analyses are framed around real-world experiences that sport and performance psychology providers encounter across numerous performance settings. Facilitating group discussions around ethical dilemmas, asking participants to reflect on how Ubuntu’s communal approach and liberation psychology’s systemic lens would guide ethical decision-making, attendees will co-create solutions to real-world challenges in their practice, reinforcing the idea that collective wisdom strengthens individual competencies.
Process-Based Therapy (PBT) in Sport Psychology: A Cutting-Edge Approach to Enhancing Mental Performance
Eddie O'Connor, PhD CMPC – Atrium Health
3.0 General CEUs
With a process-based approach, consultants can use techniques from different approaches (e.g., ACT, CBT, sport psychology) within a coherent framework allowing for more adaptable approaches. Process-Based Therapy (PBT; Hofmann, Hayes & Lorscheid, 2021) focuses on targeting underlying psychological processes rather than specific diagnoses or symptoms. It is defined as the contextually specific use of evidence-based processes linked to evidence-based procedures to help clients improve in directions most meaningful to them. PBT tailors interventions to meet a person's specific needs at a given point in time, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach enabling consultants to address the diversity of their clients. This workshop will introduce attendees to the PBT approach including the foundational science of the extended evolutionary meta-model and both training in and practice with the network model for case conceptualization. No clinical training of attendees is required or assumed. How Process-Based Therapy can be used to guide one’s personal sport psychology practice will be emphasized. Attendees will leave with practical skills they can begin using immediately with their clients.
