People
Lab Director
Katherine Tamminen PhD, MEd, RP, CMPC
Katherine is a Full Professor and the Associate Dean, Graduate Education in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education at the University of Toronto. Her research program in sport psychology draws on qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches and focuses on athlete mental health; stress, coping, and emotion regulation; and youth athletes’ experiences in sport and the influence of parents and coaches in youth sport.
She is currently an Editor-in-Chief of the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise, she is the Past President of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS), and a Member at Large with the International Society of Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise. In addition to her research and teaching, Katherine is also a Registered Psychotherapist and provides clinical psychotherapy services for athletes, coaches, and individuals working in various high-performance environments including sport, music, and performing arts.
University of Toronto profile: https://discover.research.utoronto.ca/20991-katherine-tamminen
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?hl=en&user=aG49qU0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Current Lab Members
Abimbola Eke
Postdoctoral Researcher
Abimbola Eke is a SSHRC-funded postdoctoral fellow passionate about the enhancing the sport experiences of racialized young girls and women in sport. She is interested in racialized women athletes’ unique sport experiences related to stress and coping within the Canadian sport context. Her current project focuses on studying the issues related to help-seeking for mental health concerns among elite youth athletes and families.
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ioOCe1sAAAAJ&hl=en
J’mi Worthen
PhD Candidate
J’mi Worthen is a 2nd year PhD candidate studying perfectionism in sport and the experiences of equity-deserving athletes. Her research seeks to explore how BIPOC athletes experience perfectionism and examine critical perspectives of race in sports psychology. J’mi is a passionate baseball fan and uses her applied sport psychology knowledge in her work with the University of Toronto’s baseball team.
Rowena Cai
MSc Student
Rowena Cai is a 2nd year MSc student studying stress and coping in competitive athletes. Her research explores the stressors athletes experience in practice and competition, the coping strategies they use in different contexts, and their coping effectiveness.
Kirsten Hutt MSc
PhD Student
Kirsten Hutt is a PhD student studying alexithymia among competitive athletes. Her Master’s thesis research explored how female athletes experienced social support from sport medicine staff (i.e. physiotherapists and athletic therapists) during injury rehabilitation, and how these interactions may have impacted this process. Kirsten is a passionate rugby player and has played for 10 years with the Stoney Creek RFC. Kirsten also works as a Mental Performance Consultant with the Hamilton Hurricanes.
