杜校友发挥重要作用，为纽约巨人健康和临床服务的第一任主任

In just a few weeks, 在印第安纳波利斯联盟的球探联合会上，你可以在场边找到临床心理学家拉尼·劳伦斯(12届心理学博士)和NFL教练和工作人员.

As the New York Giants’ first director of wellness and clinical services, 她将会见和面试潜在的前景和潜在的选秀权——这只是她多方面角色的一部分.

Whether it’s creating programming for the newest rookie class, 支持可能处于合同最后一年的三年级和四年级球员, 或者集中精力在管理压力源的同时提高常规赛表现, every day is a little different.

The Giants, like other NFL teams, have used sport psychologists in consultant roles but not as full-time employees. 但劳伦斯正在改变巨人队和其他人对精神表现与身体表现相结合的重要性的看法.

Back in 2022, 在赛后的一次采访中，巨人队的主教练布莱恩·达波尔对她的能力大加赞赏，称赞她教会球员在比赛中如何在继续比赛的同时处理失败, according to a New York Post article.

Lawrence’s path to the NFL was not always clear; however, the faculty, 她在正规赌博十大平台排行(University of Denver)完成临床心理学博士学位时遇到的同事和同学 Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP) opened many doors to help get her there.

“[The program is] a really rich experience where the faculty, 编程和实习经历让你在获得实习或工作后处于非常有竞争力的地位,” she says. “杜顿大学为我提供了成功所需的所有机会，这是我认为其他大学无法提供的.”

劳伦斯是第一批将临床心理学博士学位与运动和表演心理学训练相结合的学生之一.

“Since there wasn’t an existing model for this, Lani had to figure a lot of it out on her own, 从那以后，许多走上这条道路的学生都从她的技能中受益, persistence and willingness to share and mentor,” says Mark Aoyagi, GSPP’s co-director of sport and performance psychology. 

劳伦斯和她的同伴以及青木有过一次难忘的经历，那就是有机会在摩洛哥的一个国际会议上发言，她选择了一个主题——“体育中的性别认同和性取向”.”

“(这个项目的教员)真的鼓励我们追求自己的激情，对我们重要的事情直言不讳,” she adds.

因为劳伦斯也被鼓励参加专业委员会和协会, 从杜克大学毕业后，她只用了几年时间就成为了应用运动心理学协会的执行委员会成员.

More than a decade since she graduated, 劳伦斯仍然依赖并感谢她在正规赌博十大平台排行的“配角”的支持.

“我受益于有伟大的导师指导我，也有同学鼓励我. Those relationships continued well past Denver,” Lawrence says.

“Graduate school can be competitive; however, the more you view your classmates as allies instead of competitors, 一旦你进入你的早期职业生涯，你就会得到更多的支持和合作. People remember how you treated them,” she adds.

她还经常抓住机会，尽其所能地支持当前的GSPP学生——就在上周, Aoyagi says.

“These types of situations happen often in our program, 校友自愿奉献时间回馈社会，并与在校学生建立联系, and these connections lead to further connections, job leads and, not uncommonly, jobs,” he says.

Before joining the Giants, 劳伦斯是南加州大学的临床和运动心理学家, and an adjunct professor.

她在波士顿大学获得咨询心理学和运动心理学硕士学位，在东北大学获得心理学学士学位, where she also played Division I basketball.

在东北大学，她第一次接触到心理学在体育运动中的作用. The university’s new head coach, brought in during Lawrence’s senior season, hired a sport psychologist to attend practices and games.

While many of the younger players leaned on the sport psychologist heavily, she also found herself utilizing the support.

“I struggled with anxiety for a bit, 他教我深呼吸如何帮助我放松，以及如何在比赛前创造一个咒语来帮助我集中注意力和心态,” Lawrence says.

Now, as she begins her fourth year with the Giants, 劳伦斯认为，职业体育中与心理健康相关的对话和行动正朝着正确的方向发展——这在很大程度上是由于COVID-19大流行.

During that time, many student athletes experienced isolation, frustration and depression due to their seasons being canceled. As a result, 全国各地的大学都将运动心理学家纳入各自的体育系.

Now that trend, along with the many players who have been exposed to those resources, is reaching the NFL and other professional leagues.

“现在我们在NFL看到的是，我们有一群新秀，他们非常精通心理健康如何影响他们的表现, impacts their livelihood. 他们非常开放，谈论他们的挣扎，希望得到支持，并将其视为一种力量,” Lawrence says.

她认为这“肯定是在朝着增长的方向发展”，并期待在联盟中看到更多像她这样的全职职业球员, 以及在研究生培训项目中更多地关注心理健康和表现.