A real credential-and-career map from campus to Olympic center to the NBA
A Chicago Bulls sport psychologist will address Southwestern Oklahoma State University students this week, turning a news item into a concrete career case study. Dr. Wendy Borlabi, a 1994 psychology graduate, speaks by videoconference at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28; the Department of Psychology hosts the viewing in Room 202 of the Quanah Parker Center, KECO FM reports.1
Her pathway from psychology bachelor's to kinesiology master's, a sports psychology doctoral program with clinical specialization, and roles at James Madison University, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and the NBA illustrates that applied sport psychology is built step by step. Pro team hires rarely start at the top.
NBA front offices now treat mental performance as a standing role rather than an occasional consultant visit , an embedded sport psychologist shift , and Dr. Wendy Borlabi's path shows how that shift translates into real career steps.
Her foundation was a bachelor's degree in psychology from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, completed in 1994. From there she earned a master's degree in kinesiology at Georgia Southern University, which added movement science to the psychology base. She then completed a doctorate in clinical psychology at Argosy University in Phoenix, with specialized study in sport psychology , a clinical sport psychologist path. The sequence matters because sports psychologist education requirements build from broad to narrow: clinical training created licensure options, while sport-specific coursework built the language of performance.1
The work history shows the same stepwise pattern. Early in her career, she established sport psychology services for student-athletes, coaches, and the athletic department at James Madison University. That campus-level experience led to six years with the United States Olympic Committee at its training center in San Diego, where she worked with athletes at a higher performance level. She later founded Borlabi Consulting, a performance psychology firm, and has served as an independent consultant with the National Basketball Association. Those roles positioned her for the Chicago Bulls, where she has been described as a sport psychologist.1
Public profiles show a Director of Performance and Mental Health role listed from July 2020 to July 2024, while a separate performance-coach entry appears to continue through 2026. Her own bio still describes her as working with the Bulls and as an independent NBA consultant. That pattern suggests a changed role inside or alongside the organization rather than a clean departure, but there is no official Bulls announcement confirming an exact title after mid-2024. Students should treat the precise title as less important than the pattern: each setting added credibility for the next.
In an NBA front office, the sports psychologist role is part of the team's player-care and performance staff, working alongside coaches, athletic trainers, medical staff, and player development personnel. The job typically splits into two related tracks: licensed mental health care and mental performance work. The exact mix depends on the professional's credentials and the team's staffing model.
A day in the life of a sports psychologist often includes private one-on-one sessions with players, team-level workshops on communication or pressure, consultation with coaches about how to support individual athletes, and help during stressful transitions such as trades, injuries, contract uncertainty, or personal crises. Licensed mental health providers may handle diagnosable concerns like depression, anxiety, ADHD, or substance use, and coordinate with medical staff during injury rehabilitation and return-to-play planning. Mental performance consultants generally teach mental skills such as focus, confidence, emotional regulation, imagery, self-talk, and pre-game routines without diagnosing or treating clinical disorders. A clinical sport psychologist can combine both tracks when licensed and trained in applied sport psychology.
NBA Mind Health materials draw a clear boundary: licensed professionals diagnose and treat mental health conditions, provide psychotherapy, and manage crises. Mental performance consultants use applied sport psychology and sport science to build mental skills, team cohesion, communication, leadership, and resilience, and they refer players to licensed clinicians when clinical care is needed.1 Psychiatrists, specifically, handle medication prescribing.
Since 2019, NBA teams have been expected to make behavioral health clinicians regularly available.2 More recent league and players association guidance points toward all 30 teams retaining a licensed mental health clinician, such as a psychologist or clinical social worker, plus a designated psychiatrist, with many teams also employing mental performance consultants.3 Reports differ on exact wording, but the direction is consistent: mental health and performance staff are becoming formal parts of the front office.
Dr. Wendy Borlabi's Chicago Bulls role is reported as sport psychologist, but the campus event materials do not specify her daily duties. The structures above describe how NBA team sport psychology roles commonly operate, without assuming the private details of her schedule.
The titles overlap, but the credentials point to different scopes. A CMPC is built for mental performance training, while state licensure lets a sport psychologist also treat clinical mental health conditions. Dr. Wendy Borlabi's doctorate in clinical psychology with sport specialization fits the licensure pathway.
| CMPC Certification | State Psychology Licensure |
|---|---|
| Education requirement | Master's or doctoral degree, often in sport psychology or a related field |
| Supervised experience | AASP CMPC requirements typically include 400 hours of mentored experience |
| Required exam | CMPC certification exam through AASP |
| Scope of practice | Mental performance areas such as goal setting, confidence, focus, and team dynamics |
| Confidential counseling | Does not authorize clinical diagnosis or treatment of mental health disorders on its own |
| Pro sports role | Mental performance coaching, team workshops, and consultation alongside clinical staff |
BLS data can help students size up related psychology and coaching occupations, but it does not report NBA or pro-team sport psychologist pay as a separate category. The table below shows national 2025 wage and employment estimates for adjacent occupations, not outcomes for sport psychology graduates specifically. BLS projects psychologists overall to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, faster than average, from 209,400 to 221,100 jobs. Full-time embedded pro-team roles are scarce; one 2026 estimate counts fewer than 200 across all major U.S. professional leagues combined, and consulting arrangements far outnumber salaried positions. Students interested in Chicago should compare these national figures with BLS state and metro data for Illinois, which the bureau publishes separately.
| Occupation | Total employment | Mean annual wage | 25th percentile wage | Median annual wage | 75th percentile wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical and Counseling Psychologists | 75,990 | $112,750 | $73,210 | $100,580 | $135,200 |
| Psychologists, All Other | 18,820 | $111,210 | $68,850 | $110,840 | $147,240 |
| Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary | 41,530 | $93,860 | $63,400 | $80,340 | $105,920 |
| Coaches and Scouts | 248,950 | $60,160 | $35,330 | $47,320 | $64,710 |
| Psychologists | 159,540 | $107,410 | $75,390 | $99,110 | $131,530 |
Some students imagine sending a resume straight to an NBA front office. The more typical pathway, as Wendy Borlabi's career shows, runs through university athletic departments and an Olympic training center first. Her progression from James Madison University to the United States Olympic Committee and then to NBA consulting and the Chicago Bulls is a useful reality check.
Pro teams rarely hire entry-level sport psychology staff; how to get a job in sport psychology usually starts outside the league. Borlabi built applied experience in a college athletic department, then spent six years at a U.S. Olympic training center before professional basketball work. Each stop earns the credibility that makes the next one possible.
Borlabi founded her own performance psychology firm and serves as an independent consultant with the NBA. That arrangement is common in pro sports: a team or league may contract a practitioner for specific services without putting them on the full-time payroll.
Game-day motivation is a small and often invisible part of the role. Most of the work is confidential, relationship-based support off the court: individual check-ins, performance planning, and helping athletes manage pressure, focus, and transitions, a core part of what sports psychologists do.
The title and scope of practice depend on licensure or certification. Students often ask how to become a sports psychologist and whether a sport psychology degree is enough; it usually is not. The credential that matters is licensure as a psychologist or a certification such as CMPC, because it defines what you can call yourself and what services you can provide.
A campus conversation turns a vague job title into a clear pathway when students can ask the person doing the work how she got there. On Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m., Dr. Wendy Borlabi will speak by videoconference in Room 202 of the Quanah Parker Center. She is a Chicago Bulls sport psychologist and a 1994 SWOSU psychology graduate, so the session connects the department's own curriculum to professional basketball. The fact that she began at the same campus makes the trajectory feel attainable. Hearing a working practitioner describe what a sports psychologist does daily makes the career feel less like a distant goal and more like a sequence of decisions students can begin now.
Instead of listening passively, arrive with one or two planned questions. Ask what an early sports psychology practicum or graduate placement actually looked like, which skill she uses most, or what surprised her about league demands. After the event, request a short informational interview through the psychology department, and ask about early-career roles in the settings where sports psychologists work: university athletic departments, Olympic training centers, or consulting practices. SWOSU's psychology bachelor's degree and five undergraduate minors, including sports psychology, keep the entry point accessible while leaving room to specialize later. That follow-up turns one campus event into a usable career map.
Four full-time doctoral internship positions are listed at the University of Denver for 2026-2027, one focused on sport and performance psychology.1 That single posting shows how competitive early training can be, so plan deliberately.
Start with a psychology major and sport science electives. If your school offers a sports psychology minor, add it. Decide early whether to aim for psychologist licensure or CMPC certification, because coursework, practicum hours, and supervision differ.
Seek practicum or volunteer hours through campus athletic departments, sport psychology labs, and faculty research. Shadowing a licensed sport psychologist or CMPC can clarify daily work before committing to a doctoral program. Short experiential options exist: St. John's University offered a four-day in-person internship in 20262, the American Board of Sport Psychology lists internships and visiting fellowships in New York City and remote/hybrid formats3, and Dr. Rob Bell's Indianapolis internship accepts one to two unpaid interns.4
Graduate training typically spans several years, and full-time Sports Psychologist Jobs are scarce. Early positions vary widely: the Cincinnati Mental Performance Intern pays $14.50-$19.25 per hour with optional CMPC supervision5, while Northwestern's postdoctoral fellowship is reserved for licensure-track psychologists, not undergraduates6. USOPC affiliated postings require applying to the external organization listing each role.7
Join sport psychology associations, attend talks like the Chicago Bulls sport psychologist event, and send concise follow-up messages. Mention a specific insight from the speaker's pathway, then ask one focused question. These connections often surface unadvertised practicum, fellowship, or shadowing opportunities. Steady follow-through matters more than a perfect first application. Keep a short list of people you meet and follow up within a week.
