Athletics Department Welcomes Activity Psychology Unit Additions

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Shane Lyons and WVU Director of the Carruth Middle for Psychological and Psychiatric Companies T. Anne Hawkins announce the return of Mountaineer alumni Dr. Adrian Ferrera as the director of clinical and sport psychology, and Dr. Sofía España Pérez, as the medical and sporting activities behavioral well being therapist for the athletics office.
 
“We are dedicated to our scholar-athletes here at WVU, particularly in the regions of health, the two physical and psychological,” Lyons claimed. “We are pleased to welcome Dr. Adrian Ferrera, and Dr. Sofía España Pérez back again to WVU. They convey great qualifications, decades of practical experience and are excellent additions to our staff members. We appear ahead to looking at the impression they will have with our university student-athletes.”
 
The clinical and activity psychology device at WVU presents counseling and efficiency enhancement expert services for student-athletes. It supplies medical companies, such as quick-phrase particular person counseling, team counseling disaster intervention providers, psychoeducation workshops, chance assessment and reduction intervention for college student-athletes. The device also serves as an instructional and academic part for the university student-athletes to endorse the places of pupil-athlete wellbeing, resilience and wellness.
 
In addition to the aforementioned positions, WVU Athletics also will have a graduate assistant used in just the clinical and sport psychology device.
 
“University student mental wellness and specific welfare are significant priorities for the Carruth Centre at WVU, and we have invested a considerable sum of electricity and resources to make certain that it is given the correct awareness it desires and warrants,” Hawkins mentioned. “We are thrilled to function in conjunction with the athletics department to bring back again Adrian and Sofía to perform with student-athletes to help them and give them the instruments to reach results, not only on the industry but in their working day-to-working day lives off the field.”
 
Ferrera returns to West Virginia right after serving as the director of counseling and sport psychology at Auburn University considering the fact that 2018. In his position there, he provided personal and team treatment, psychological well being crisis intervention, consultation and outreach on clinical concerns pertinent to student-athletes including athletic identification, transition out of university, interpersonal associations, cultural identification and material abuse. He designed plans and guidelines for identification and remedy of emotional, social and behavioral concerns affecting transitions into faculty daily life. He also created personalised counseling and sport psychology products and services to boost the personalized, social, emotional, academic and athletic accomplishment. He supervised members of the counseling and sport psychology staff members and was a member of the sexual violence and avoidance committee, the Auburn Avoidance Coalition, Athletics Lifestyle Committee, A Sound Brain Committee and the inclusion and race process force.
 
Above the training course of his job, he put in time as the associate director of counseling and sport psychology at the College of Washington, was a cognitive performance coach for the United States Military Particular Operations troopers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, put in a a few-yr stint as a profession solutions counselor and also as a sport psychology specialist for 3 decades. He commenced his profession at Northeastern University as a university student-athlete mentor.
 
Ferrera is a licensed expert counselor and is a accredited mental overall performance advisor via the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. He has lectured at universities in the United States and internationally, has revealed skilled journal posts and produced various experienced presentations.
 
A native of Southern California, Ferrera attained his bachelor’s diploma from College of La Verne in La Verne, California, in 2006, a master’s diploma in counseling with a activity psychology specialization from Boston University in 2007, a 2nd master’s diploma in counseling from WVU in 2014 and his doctorate in sport and training psychology from WVU in 2014.
 
España Pérez served the earlier two decades as a practicum trainee for the WVU Carruth Center, whilst she was finishing her necessities for her master’s and doctoral levels. She provided person in-particular person and telehealth counseling sessions to students at WVU. She assessed fast considerations, furnished diagnoses, developed cure strategies and carried out interventions to support the pupils reside healthful, thriving and significant life. España Pérez also delivered counseling periods in the places of liquor and substance abuse and served advertise a feeling of community with the college student overall body and addressed university student concerns this kind of as nervousness, anxiety management and self-care.
 
España Pérez also served as a sport psychology specialist for the WVU tennis program for 4 years, was a functionality psychology advisor for students in the WVU college of law and was a practicum trainee at Complete Brain Remedies in Morgantown.
 
Even though operating on her master’s diploma at Minnesota Point out, she was a activity psychology advisor for collegiate and large faculty athletes in Mankato, Minnesota.
 
España Pérez has served as an instructor in sport, workout and efficiency psychology, coaching and training experiments (tennis) and diversity and activity. She also has coached tennis for a number of several years at quite a few tennis golf equipment and as an assistant coach and head coach at Minnesota State. She has experienced several content articles published, accomplished comprehensive investigation and grant composing and attended and presented at conferences in the United States and internationally.
 
A indigenous of Mexico City, Mexico, España Pérez graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from East Tennessee State in 2014. She received a master’s diploma in activity and work out psychology from Minnesota Point out in 2017 and a master’s diploma in community psychological wellbeing counseling from WVU in 2021 and her doctorate in sport, training and functionality psychology in 2021, also from WVU.
 
She concluded her countrywide counselor assessment (2020) and is a nationally licensed counselor (2021) and will be a qualified psychological overall performance expert via the Association for Applied Activity Psychology.