OUR STORY.
OUR TEAM.
Our Story: Because athletes deserve physical and mental excellence
OUR STORY
The beginning
Austin Sports Behavioral Health started out as an idea over a shared dinner in early spring of 2019. Believing that each of us brought something unique to the mental health field that could benefit sports and athletes, we began planning a practice whose mission would be to solve sports challenges holistically.
Athletics is about both mind and body
The drive to play sports goes back to antiquity with the Greeks competing for the gods at Olympia. Using our physical bodies to excel athletically can create meaning and value in our lives, something even our ancient ancestors knew quite well. Understanding the connection between mind and body and the role played by attitude, emotions, and perspective in achieving excellence is just as important as physical training. Developing a healthy relationship to self, to your sport, and to those in your sphere also is vital to success. We wanted to bring our clinical experiences and expertise in different areas of mental health to the mental game so we can help you reach for the gold. Unfortunately, after many months of developing our ideas, the original launch date of June 2020 was scrapped with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Disappointed but not defeated, we remained focused on the ultimate goal and persevered through adversity and setbacks. It is that same attitude we bring to our consulting and counseling relationships. We believe disappointment is just part of the game, that failing forward eventually leads to success, and that, like the mythical Phoenix, rising above what is, can help you achieve what can be.
We address your issues holistically
We know that mental fitness is part of success regardless of the game or level of competition and that relationships can be a source of strength as you face your challenges. The consulting clinicians with Austin Sports Behavioral Health are dedicated to helping you identify and address the unique issues that are impacting you as an athlete. Our trained and experienced clinicians provide consulting and counseling from a systemic perspective by exploring how the presenting problem affects you and your relationship to both your sport and those important to your success, including your coach, teammates, family, and partner. Our approach is collaborative. We work with you during the entire process, from assessing the problem to accessing and activating your unique strengths to helping you achieve your goals.
MEET OUR TEAM: EXPLORE OUR EXPERIENCE & CREDENTIALS
Meet Jennie Barr, PHD
Eugenia (Jennie) Barr, Ph.D. is a licensed marriage and family therapist and supervisor in Texas and California, practicing for over 35 years as a consultant, clinician, educator, advocate, and public speaker specializing in victims of trauma-based issues and their impact on the family system and on those who assist them.
Currently, Dr. Barr is focusing on mental wellness in sports and the mind-body-spirit interplay of successful competition, performance and transition for athletes. Dr.Barr has worked with a range of athletes from football and baseball players to golfers, divers, swimmers, gymnasts and more. She has provided training and support to Division 1 athletic programs and their entire staff. She realizes that so many issues can impact an athlete’s ability to reach their potential, such as performance readiness, anxiety, personal belief in one own’s ability and the pressure to be “enough,” body image, competition with teammates and others, family and trauma history, effect of COVID-19 and more. Using cognitive-behavioral, systemic and psycho-sensory trauma interventions enables athletes to enhance self-care and harness the power of mental preparation for athletic involvement. The result: ability to reduce and manage stress and anxiety while being ready to return, re-engage in their sports and love what they’re doing.
Dr. Barr worked at the Texas Office of the Attorney General, Crime Victim Services Division for 13 years as director of Sexual Assault Prevention and Crisis Services, served on the Statewide Crisis Consortium, assisted the Criminal Investigations Division on Internet Crimes Against Children and served as mental health support for the division and agency. Prior to that, she was assistant director for the Disaster Assistance Program for federally declared natural, accidental and man-made disasters. She has expertise in traumatic, non-normative or chronic stress issues including domestic violence, sexual assault, chronic illness and stress, and natural or criminal disasters.
Dr. Barr is a clinical fellow of the Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and certified in basic and advanced Critical Incident Stress Management and Critical Response Training. Dr. Barr also has a long tenure teaching, conducting clinical supervision and training of marriage and family therapy students at the university level in Texas and California.
Dr. Jennie Barr
MEET Brad Kennington, LMFT-S, LPC-S
Brad Kennington, LMFT-S, LPC-S has been practicing therapy for nearly twenty-five years, specializing in disordered eating and body image issues, and is nationally recognized for his focus on males with eating disorders. Exercise and athletic involvement can be gateways into disordered eating, and it was through treating eating disorders that Brad first began working with athletes two decades ago. Beyond his expertise in eating disorders and body image issues, Brad works with athletes to address various other problems that impact their sport performance and mental health. These include anxiety and stress, the emotional impact of sport injury and recovery, transitioning from one’s sport and embracing a post-athlete identity, relationship dynamics with coaches, teammates and family members, as well as other concerns. He has consulted with professional and elite athletes, including those who have competed on an international level. His experience also extends to collegiate and high school athletes and those involved in club and recreational sports, with much of his work focusing on NCAA Division 1 athletes.
Prior to opening a private practice, Brad was the executive director of two different eating disorder treatment centers in the Austin area. He also served on the board of the National Association for Males with Eating Disorders before it merged with the National Eating Disorders Association. Brad has presented on eating disorders in males at international and national conferences and for numerous professional organizations and graduate training programs. He is a contributing author to a chapter in Current Findings on Males with Eating Disorders. Because of his work with this unique population, Brad has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, HuffPost and in Harvard Medical School’s Almost Anorexic. He has also been interviewed by Newsweek for an article on steroid abuse in adolescent male athletes. Brad currently writes on wellness issues for Austin Fit Magazine.
Brad understands that athletes have a unique relationship with their sport. Like any other relationship, challenges with self-doubt, fear of failure, comparing oneself to others, traumas, a drive to be perfect can all create emotional vertigo for athletes, knocking them off balance and out of their flow. Brad assists athletes in regaining their balance by helping them recognize that adversity and disappointment are a natural part of one’s sport story, they do not have to be the story. They are opportunities to persist, grow, and strengthen an athlete’s mental game so that they can show up, compete, and excel at what they have trained to do, and to once again enjoy the sport they have known for so long.
Brad also helps athletes and coaches develop the leadership skills needed to guide their team to success. His experience as a leader both in corporate healthcare and in politics has given him insight into what qualities and characteristics make a leader effective within a fast-paced, highly competitive environment.
Brad is a co-founder of Austin Sports Behavioral Health. He has been a contract therapist with the University of Texas at Austin Athletics for nearly ten years. Brad is also the eating disorder consulting therapist with Driftwood Recovery. He is a Texas board approved supervisor for both LMFT and LPC Associates and is an adjunct clinical affiliate for the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing. He is a member of the Academic & Wellness Roundtable with Athlete Foundry and is a past chair of Governmental Affairs for the Texas Division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
In addition, Brad has consulted with law firms and other professional organizations impacted by mental health crises and other issues. He has presented on mental health and wellness to attorneys, law students, and judges through the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program.
Brad is a native Texan. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with the intent of going to law school. Brad then worked for six years as the chief of staff and legislative director for a state representative. He decided the ‘contact sport’ of politics was not a good fit for his sense of humor and direct style of relating. Instead, he chose to pursue his graduate work in counseling and psychotherapy at Texas State University. Brad enjoys writing and is currently working on a book on pet grief. He likes staying active and being outdoors, especially if it involves water. And after a decades-long break from tennis due to injured knees, Brad is finally enjoying being back on the court again.
Brad Kennington
Brad assists athletes in regaining their balance by helping them recognize that adversity and disappointment are a natural part of one’s sport story, they do not have to be the story.
Let’s Connect
Complete the short form here to connect with us. If you like, feel free to share any details of your situation.
Let’s Connect
Complete the short form here to connect with us. If you like, feel free to share any details of your situation.