The Mental Athlete Discussed at Scranton

        Kay Porter, Ph.D., is a name most psychology students would recognize from a class textbook, "The Mental Athlete: Inner Training for Peak Performance."

        Dr. Porter's words will come to life for the greater Scranton community when she visits The University of Scranton on Nov. 18, and delivers a talk about her best-selling book, "The Mental Athlete," at 7 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center. The University of Scranton's Psychology, Athletics and Exercise Science and Sports departments, in collaboration with the Bochicchio Sport Character Initiative, will sponsor Dr. Porter's talk, which is offered free of charge.

        In the book, Dr. Porter challenges readers to question how they think about sports. Not just for athletes, it encourages constructive, positive habits of good thinking. She will discuss these aspects and will take questions from the audience about how to use mental training skills and sport psychology techniques in specifics sports, performance art and life.

        Dr. Porter owns Porter Performance Systems, a sports organizational counseling firm in Oregon, where she teaches mental training techniques to athletes, teams, businesses and school districts. She holds a Ph.D. in human developmental psychology from the University of Oregon and taught gerontology there for eight years. She has worked as a sport psychology consultant to the school's athletic department.

        A member of the United States Olympic Committee Sports Psychology Registry since 1986, Dr. Porter has been a certified sport psychology consultant for the Association of Applied Sports Psychology for more than 15 years. She was a competitive tennis player in high school and college, and was a competitive masters runner who completed 11 marathons. She achieved her personal record of 3:29 at age 41. She currently coaches a marathon-walking group in Oregon called the Spirited Walkers.

        Dr. Porter encourages those attending the talk to bring their questions, and their copies of "The Mental Athlete" for signing after the presentation.

        For more information, contact Erin Maguire at The University of Scranton Athletic Department at (570) 941-7440.