Newberry Native Makes Olympic-Level Moves
2021 has brought the topic of mental health to the forefront of our conversations about athletics. In May, tennis player Naomi Osaka announced her decision not to do media interviews during the French Open to prioritize her mental health; she was subsequently fined $15,000 and threatened with suspension. Rather than backing down, she withdrew from the tournament and made a statement discussing her depression, anxiety, and difficulty speaking with the media. At the Tokyo Olympics, ‘GOAT’ (greatest of all time) gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from both the team final and the individual all-around, citing her mental health as the reason. While some were critical of her choice, there was also an outpouring of support, especially after the news broke that Biles’ aunt had passed away during the competition.
Coaches teach athletes how to use technique and strategy to succeed in their sports. But who teaches high-level athletes how to handle the pressures and demands of training, competition, and day to day life? Dr. Kristin Keim of Keim Performance Consulting does! As a sport psychology consultant, Dr. Keim of Newberry, S.C. has provided support and mental training to athletes of all levels, from local racers to those competing at the London, Rio, and Tokyo Olympics; she has worked with cyclists and professional MMA fighters. Her goal is to help each client reach optimal physical and mental performance by focusing on the wellness of the whole person, which sparked the mantra, “Happy Racers Go Faster.”
Mental performance consulting isn’t just for athletes though; it could be useful to anyone who wants to hone their mental and physical performance. Perhaps a surgeon needs help handling the high-pressure stakes of their everyday job, or an actor wants to prepare for a big audition. Currently, the U.S. military is the country’s largest employer of performance consultants. Sooner or later, everyone needs the mental ability to perform well, so Dr. Keim’s services could help people in any number of fields.
During her training and career, Dr. Keim focused her research on mild traumatic brain injuries, depression in athletes, and the transition out of sport (retirement). These research emphases have helped inform her therapeutic areas of focus, like the identity of the athlete and how to prepare for life after a sports career. For Keim, a balanced life is about more than just being an athlete. “Sport is fun, but at the end of the day, even the clients I work with are not finding meaning and purpose trying to win a bike race or breaking a record,” she said. “You can only do it for so long, and only having that one identity is unhealthy.”
She would know. Though she was born in Orangeburg, S.C., Dr. Keim grew up in Newberry and began her athletic life dancing in the Newberry Ballet Guild. As a young adult, she played tennis, helped build the soccer program at Newberry High School, and attended the University of Georgia on a dance scholarship. She began coaching Spin and Pilates when their popularity was growing and fell in love with the cycling aspect. One thing (a 3rd place finish in a just-for-fun first race with friends) led to another (training more seriously) and suddenly, she was a professional athlete, training with Olympic Gold Medalist Kristin Armstrong and looking at European racing prospects.
But even for the best athletes, not everything can be controlled. “You could have your best fitness level, and then have a flat tire,” Keim told me. At a race in Mexico she crashed and shattered her pelvis. Recovering from the injury gave her time to consider if her racing career was truly fulfilling. She knew she loved athletics and being part of a team, but felt her skill set and interests could better serve elsewhere. She decided to pursue sport psychology, and completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a focus in Health Psychology, Neuropsychology, and Clinical Sport/Performance Psychology, as well as her Masters in Sport Psychology at John F. Kennedy University. She is a Certified Consultant in the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and Member of the US Olympic Committee Sport Psychology and Mental Training Registry. After graduating and deciding to start her own business, she began seeing clients.
Keim Performance Consulting, LLC, uses methods that include mindfulness and meditation, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy (strategies like acceptance and emotional regulation), narrative therapy, family systems interventions, stress management, pain management, and journaling. These approaches help clients deal with issues like self-doubt, lack of motivation, and difficulty with concentration or focus, all issues that can stem from negative feelings, thoughts, or behaviors. With such a broad range of expertise, it’s easy to see why performance consulting is becoming so important within sport and becoming more commonplace outside of it.
Dr. Keim currently consults through telephone, Facetime, and Skype video calls. She had reduced her in-person consulting, even before COVID-19, because of medical issues that have limited her health, energy, and mobility. She speaks with frankness about the difficulty of her illnesses but refers to her life experience as therapeutic education.
“I’m meant to go through hard things,” Keim tells herself, “because this is going to make me a better therapist.”
Whether the challenge is a professional athletic career, a serious injury, or her current health, Keim’s success is a testament to the soundness of her methods and understanding of how to bring out peak performance, whether it’s in an operating room, on a race track, or on the Olympic stage.
Keim Performance Consulting, LLC
KeimPerformanceConsulting.com | Twitter: @thek2 | IG: @thek2
