Brett M Woods, PhD

Brett Woods, PhD, is a licensed psychologist who specializes in providing mental health counseling and performance psychology services to high school, collegiate and professional athletes. He has been a certified mental performance consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) since 2018 and is also listed on the United States Olympic & Paralympic (USOPC) Sport Psychology Registry. He is currently a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Participating in sports provides athletes with many exciting, meaningful and enriching opportunities to better themselves. It can also present challenges along the way, whether it be due to a sport-related injury, performance anxiety, managing pressure and expectations, time management, stress in or outside of the sport, self-doubts or worries about being good enough, concerns around body image or eating habits, or relationship problems with coaches or teammates. As a sport psychologist, Dr. Woods helps athletes and their families navigate these challenges that can interfere with an athlete’s mental well-being.

Dr. Woods' philosophy emphasizes a strengths-based and positive-psychology approach that cultivates mental and emotional well-being. Athletes are people first, and their well-being is important in and outside the sport context. His work focuses on teaching athletes how to effectively manage emotions, enhance cognitive flexibility and creativity, manage arousal levels, improve concentration skills, optimize training through productive goal-setting, use visualization strategies, improve communication skills, navigate social media pressures, enrich interpersonal relationships and foster resiliency. He also offers mental health and performance psychology education, consultation and outreach to coaches and athletic trainers.

Prior to his arrival to The University of Kansas Health System, Dr. Woods was the assistant director of sport psychology at the University of Nebraska. He was a member of the Big Ten Mental Health and Wellness Cabinet.

Dr. Woods completed a doctoral internship at the Florida State University Counseling Center in 2016. From 2013 to 2015, he served as a clinical graduate assistant at the University of Missouri Counseling Center, and from 2011 to 2013 he was a clinical graduate assistant at the University of Missouri Student Health Center.

Dr. Woods earned his PhD in counseling and sport psychology from the University of Missouri in 2016. There, he also earned his master's degree in career and sport psychology in 2011. He attended Baker University, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2008 with a degree in psychology and a minor in English. He was also a member of the football team at Baker University.