Master's Degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology

Applied Learning Opportunities

At Ball State, students have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of clients including, but not limited to, NCAA Division I student-athletes, club sport teams, youth athletes, military students, exercisers, injured athletes, e-spots and performing art students. Many Ball State teams regularly choose to have a student in the Sport and Exercise Psychology program work with their team, and students are also encouraged to pursue working with individual clients. Students take the main practicum course in their second semester and have the opportunity each semester to continue working with clients if they choose. Students doing applied work are mentored by Dr. Blom or Dr. Lebeau and can count their applied hours toward the Mental Performance Consultant Certification delivered by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

If you have received services payments can be made online.

Sport and Exercise Labs

The Sport and Exercise Psychology lab is a multipurpose space for students to utilize during the course of their graduate work. The Lab serves as a functional area used for mental skills presentations with athletic teams, student and faculty research, class projects, group meetings, and as a collaborative place of study. The Lab is equipped with a variety of tools for assessing and improving athletes’ and exercisers’ performance, such as biofeedback, mindfulness training tools, and virtual reality equipment. The Lab also consists of many innovative apparatus used in research, such as a recumbent bike, elliptical, iPads, video recording, exergaming, and various research-related software.

Research Opportunities

Our program offers ample research opportunities. Students assist professors, assist each other, do their own work, and complete a thesis/research project. Students can get experience in qualitative and quantitative methodology, as well as lab and applied research.

We also support students to attend professional conferences and help them obtain opportunities to present research and write grant proposals. Recent students have presented at the European Congress of Sport and Exercise Psychology (FEBSAC), Association for Applied Sport Psychology national conference (AASP), American Psychological Association (APA), Midwest Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium (MSEPS), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) meeting, and the U.S. Center for Coaching Excellence summit (USCCE). Recent student work has been published in the Journal of Sport for Development, the Journal of Sport Behavior, The Physical Educator, The Sport Psychologist, International Journal of Exercise Science, and Psychological Reports.

Students completing the Sport and Exercise Psychology graduate program will:

• synthesize literature, formulate a research project, and conduct a research study.
• participate in professional development activities in the field of sport and exercise psychology.
• present research findings.
• demonstrate basic consultation skills, including active listening, rapport building, motivational interviewing, and taking case notes.
• demonstrate the ability to design, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of psycho-social mental skills interventions and techniques.

Students work in a variety of different jobs depending on their career interest.

Many have gone on to:

• work in the military using performance psychology (which is the highest employer of master-level SEP practitioners)
• private practice
• athletic academic advising
• student athlete development
• coaching
• wellness
• athletic training
• physical therapy

Others have also gone into work in nonprofit, fitness, and counseling settings.