Texas Center for Sport Psychology

08/15/2026

Motivation and discipline are difficult, but at that the end of the day the child or athlete has to want it for themselves.

08/13/2026

It’s so hard being a parent and there are nature/nurture components to motivation and discipline. Passion is the key to fuel. At the end of the day it has to come from within.

08/13/2026

Does your athlete have the passion burning desire to be good? What are the variables that influence it and as a parent when to let go and not to let go? Hard balance.

08/12/2026

You can train all you want, but if you don’t believe in that hard work, you’re wasting your time!

08/11/2026

Everyone feels nervous even the best of the best. It’s what you do when you’re nervous that separates the champions!

08/07/2026

Hi all! Dr. J is so excited for just filming her new podcast about performance anxiety in athletes. The podcast covers so many relevant issues being an athlete and the stressors in today’s world. Gettin’ Gritty with Dr. J’s new episode will be out on all platforms next week. Here are the links for apple and Amazon.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gettin-gritty-with-dr-j/id1622887540

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/c7daeb08-101e-436f-8c16-4f63d09b1d78/gettin'-gritty-with-dr-j?ref=dm_sh_bmOlQX8wQzD3p9ovRIobI6RgE

Mental Health Podcast · Updated Weekly · Gettin' Gritty with Dr. J is a podcast about building mental toughness on and off the field. Dr. Julie Wiernik is a licensed sports psychologist with over 20 years of experience in improving athlete p…

08/04/2026

These videos will help any athlete at any level and will help immediately!

07/11/2026

Love this!! Playing competitive sports builds so many mental skills required for success and leadership roles!

07/11/2026

The true reality is that most people really don’t know who they are. The real work comes from really putting yourself under a microscope of self-awareness. The day you’re born you are absorbing thoughts, feelings, images from our parents, coaches, teachers, and society/culture.  True grit means dealing with your emotional pain and grief which  is underlining most mental health issues.  Depression typically manifests from the losses likely unknown in the conscious reality. Most of who we are is buried in the iceberg underneath.  The only way to really know these feelings is to talk through our feelings and all our relationships and experiences.  Physically working out requires consistency over time about three times per week over time and where you feel physical pain and heart rate increase in the process.  This is the same reality for building mental toughness,mental strength, and lifting depression/anxiety organically. You have to have emotional pain and feel it in order to grow and become mentally stronger. Mental strength comes from the consistently of therapy, reading, listen to podcast/books and other mental training. Your mental health will not improve without doing the work. Do the work. Yes it should be tough. Dr. J

www.gettingritty.com

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gettin-gritty-with-dr-j/id1622887540

Mental Health Podcast · Updated Weekly · Gettin' Gritty with Dr. J is a podcast about building mental toughness on and off the field. Dr. Julie Wiernik is a licensed sports psychologist with over 20 years of experience in improving athlete p…

07/08/2026

DrJ’s thought for today. It is easier to work on the physical part of the game. Society values physical and technical strength. Society, culture, gender stereotypes, religion, and family upbringing all influence how we deal with emotions and emotional expression. We are behind in mental health understanding and expression. Research shows from psychologist Paul Ekman and cross-cultural research. His findings show several basic emotions are recognized and expressed in similar ways across cultures, even among people with little exposure to the outside world.
These universal emotions we all experience are sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust. These emotions are our truth. Yet we are typically taught to repress and deny what we are feeling. The hardest work is really understanding ourselves. Belief and self confidence are skills just like taking ground balls and hitting tennis forehands. We need to do the work. All of that physical and technical work will be wasted without the belief and confidence and handling pressure in the moment. Do the work or you will never be successful.