CBT SoCal's Dr. Jason von Stietz recently appeared on the De La Fit podcast discussing many topics related to mental health and sport psychology. Dr. von Stietz discussed his history as a track and field athlete at Citrus College as well as his experience competing in the sport of weightlifting at Chikara Weightlifting. Dr. von Stietz was ... Continue Reading
The Los Angeles Lakers still make time for mindfulness
It is becoming more and more commonplace for athletes and performers to tout the benefits of mindfulness meditation. Legendary coach, Phil Jackson, likely played a key role in popularizing mindfulness as a method of performance enhancement when he hired George Mumford to teach mindfulness to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and later Kobe ... Continue Reading
“Letting everything become your teacher” – A discussion on Mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Photo credit: UW Health. In October 2010, a colleague and I went to hear Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn speak at UCLA. Kabat-Zinn developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and is a leading figure, researcher, and theoretician in adapting mindfulness for practice in psychotherapy, mental and medical healthcare. He carried a presence that was both ... Continue Reading
CBT SoCal’s Dr. Jason von Stietz attends seminar on mindfulness for performance led by George Mumford
CBT SoCal’s Dr. Jason von Stietz recently attended a mindfulness seminar led by George Mumford. The seminar, held at Insight LA in Santa Monica, focused on the use of mindfulness in improving not only one’s performance (e.g. sport, career, art) but also life. Mumford gained acclaim as the meditation teacher who taught mindfulness to Phil Jackson, ... Continue Reading
Mental Toughness Tips #3: Internal Traffic Signals
What keeps ballplayers, or athletes of any sport, from playing at their best? At times, they get stuck thinking of past mistakes. Other times, they are worried about what will happen after the next pitch is thrown. In other words, they are not focused on the task at hand. In this blog series, we are discussing the concept of “playing one pitch ... Continue Reading
Mental Toughness Tips #2: Playing One Pitch at a Time
When I was a sport psychology intern at the Major League Baseball Youth Academy (MLBYA) in Compton, I had the amazing opportunity to work with high school and college baseball players from all across the country. Some of the athletes were high performers, who went on to be drafted to the big leagues, while others might have struggled to see playing ... Continue Reading