Staff Directory
- Title:
- Clinical Psychologist
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Dr. Kent Crick, PhD currently serves as a Clinical Sport Psychologist for UCLA Athletics. In this position, he provides mental health and performance enhancement services to UCLA’s student athlete population. Specifically, Kent provides individual counseling, psychological assessment, crisis management, and develops preventative health and wellness programming for the Athletics Department. He also provides individual mental skills training, team-based performance enhancement, as well as consultation with coaches, athletic trainers, performance staff, nutrition, and other athletics staff to maximize the well-being and performance of student athletes while supporting UCLA Athletics as a whole.
Kent comes to UCLA from Stanford University’s Athletics Department where he also specialized in sport psychology, providing individual and group mental health and performance enhancement services to Stanford’s student athletes. He served as an imbedded sport psychologist for 13 of Stanford’s varsity teams, offering team-based interventions, coach consultations, and psychoeducational content aimed at promoting student athlete wellness and mental performance. He also served as a consultant to the Eating Disorder Treatment Team and Sport Psychiatry Team within Stanford Athletics.
Before Stanford, Kent completed his pre-doctoral internship at Northwestern University specializing in Sport Psychology and student athletes' mental health care. While at Northwestern, Kent spent time imbedded in the NU athletics department providing individual counseling, consultation, and team-based interventions to NU’s student athletes, coaches, and staff.
He completed his doctoral degree at Iowa State University where he served as a liaison to athletics and provided counseling, consultation, biofeedback, and team-based performance interventions to ISU student athletes, coaches, and Sports Medicine staff. He also completed his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Indianapolis where he specialized in addictions counseling and substance use concerns. Kent earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Centre College where he competed on the football team.
Having provided sport psychology services in the Big 12, Big 10, and Pac-12, Kent is familiar with navigating the systems present within large athletic departments that impact student athletes. While maintaining client confidentiality to the highest degree, he has experience consulting with coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, and nutritionists to foster environments that promote wellness for student athletes.
Clinically, Kent uses an empirically supported, integrative treatment approach founded on creating a warm and collaborative relationship in the room. Through this relationship, he aims to assist student athletes in identifying and developing patterns/strategies that are aligned with their values and most conducive to pursuing their needs and goals. Kent regularly utilizes cognitive-behavioral, emotion-focused, and ACT-based strategies to engage in this process with clients. In team settings, Kent incorporates experiential activities to foster cohesion, insight, trust, and self-care conducive to optimal team performance and environmental wellness.
A native of Evansville, Indiana, Kent enjoys playing pick-up basketball, softball, and maintaining a consistent exercise regimen. He also enjoys watching sports, playing ping pong, and anything outdoors.
