work in
consulting & counseling
New
Release
The
developmental
dilemma
Dr. Jay Harrison
Founder, Work In Consulting & Counseling
“My time and experience as an elite athlete helps me connect, understand and communicate with clients in a way tHat honors their current experience while inspiring greater confidence, leadership, and commitment to achieve their fullest potential.”
In 2018, Dr. Harrison founded Work in Consulting & Counseling, a consulting company that provides services to sports organizations, high performance corporations, as well as military and paramilitary organizations aiding in mental health optimization and performance wellness.
Dr. Harrison's unique approach allows him to connect, understand, and communicate with clients in a way that honors their current experience while inspiring greater confidence, leadership, and commitment to achieving their fullest potential.
His experience as an elite athlete and his current work with high performing professionals in sport and industry allows Dr. Harrison to contribute a distinctive perspective on mental health, well-being, and performance.
"To be honest, I didn’t enjoy most of my career. I dealt with anxiety, insecurity, self-doubt, frustration, and anger in dealing with failure, injury, and competition. But through the struggles, I found success. Playing at the highest level, representing my home country, and playing with the most talented athletes in the world was a gift I will forever cherish.After hockey, it was only natural for me to continue my athlete journey in a different way: supporting the health, wellness, and performance of athletes in all aspects of their life. " The Mission:
to help athletes live their best lives through sport rather than sacrifice their best lives to be athletes.
A dual career athlete
“The road to the NHL was not easy. I realized early on in my career that I needed to be more than just an athlete. education would become my catalyst for so many great things yet to come.”
“I was often perceived by teammates and coaches that my pursuit of education was a distraction, something to pull me away from my focus on being a hockey player. This made me very insecure and self-conscious that I was being perceived as focusing on a "Plan B" and not fully invested in my career. But very quickly I came to realize that my studies were having the exact opposite effect on my performance - my interest and investment outside of the game actually made me a better player and a more resilient person. I was better able to manage the ups and downs I was experiencing on a day-to-day basis being a professional athlete. I felt more engaged and happier. Whether things were really great or really down I had something positive that I was working towards outside the scope of my performance as an athlete. The result: a higher level of performance wellness on and off the ice.”
Always valuing his development off the ice, Dr. Harrison completed his BA in Psychology, and MS in Clinical Psychology while playing professionally. Rather than seeing education as a distraction to performance, Dr. Harrison ascribes his commitment to education while playing at an elite level as a performance-enhancing investment and as a source of resilience. Upon transitioning from sport, Dr. Harrison completed his clinical residency in counseling, specializing in the treatment of PTSD and doctoral studies in Performance Psychology.
The
developmental dilemma
The Developmental Dilemma sorts through the realities of early sport specialization
and confronts the misguided beliefs of youth sport, while providing parents with
a mindset and framework to focus on what is truly important in their child’s sports journey: Raising healthy and resilient people—on and off the field.
The work in handbook
This journey never ends. This Journey is constantly evolving. This is the Story of You.
Your athlete journey
For athletes, there is a tendency to push forward and never look back. Your Athlete Journey is an opportunity to reflect and describe the entirety of your athletic experience. The outcome -will be a greater appreciation for the role sport played in shaping you into the person you are.
Want to work with Dr. Harrison? He’d love to hear from you!
"I am not a sports psychologist. I am a counselor who works in sporting and other high-performance environments. At first glance, you may not appreciate the difference but trust me, it’s different." - JRH