Today we’d like to introduce you to Alison Soelter
Hi Alison, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
The culmination of where I am today, the venture of performance psychology, began when I was 8 years old. I wanted a t-shirt that one of my best friends had and the only way to get it was to join the summer swim team. After conversations with my parents I signed up for the team. This would be the catalyst that changed my life.
I fell in love with the sport of swimming and quickly set my sights on the Olympics. I knew in my heart, that I had what it took to reach that level. I just had one obstacle….there was no year round team in my small hometown in Kansas. My parents began by investing in lessons with a coach an hour away, Johnanna Borden, who had a profound impact on me. To this day I am eternally grateful for the skills, love, and time she invested in me. For the next six years I had to practice on my own or drive to a town an hour away to be with a team. We traveled the state to attend swim meets and I attended camps to soak up any information I could to get better.
Eventually, I went to a camp with former Olympic coaches. They pulled my parents aside and said I had great potential but that I needed to train full time. They originally suggested that I come live and train in Florida, but I come from a close family, and being together is important. So my parents did the best they could and sacrificed greatly for me. Freshman year of high school my mom and I moved 3.5 hours away to the nearest city to train with a club team full time. My dad stayed home to run their business and would travel to see us. This move opened many doors for me and my body quickly adapted as I began to drop time and reach my goals. By junior year of high school, I had made my first Olympic Trial Cut and was heading to the meet that summer.
By senior year, I had signed to swim in college and the trajectory was heading in the way of my dream. However, the summer before freshman year of college, I injured my shoulder. This modified my training for the next two and half years of my career. I was still dropping time and representing the University of Texas, but I wasn’t able to fully adapt to meet my ultimate goal. That is, until junior year of college. That year, I was able to fully train with a stabilized shoulder, and begin the pursuit towards my ultimate goal again. I made my first NCAA Automatic cut, and had significant time drops at the US Open the summer before senior year. Then in November of 2009 I destroyed my shoulder in the weight room and ended up having to redshirt and have surgery. While I came back from that injury and decided to turn pro to work towards the next Olympic cycle, I eventually tore the other shoulder prior to the 2012 Olympic Trials. An injury that led to my choice of retirement from the sport.
My journey as an athlete had many accomplishments but it was also filled with many challenges. I didn’t know it then but all that I went through, both the achievements and the hardships I faced, was truly to help the next generation of athletes. My heart and passion is to help our youth find the joy in their abilities, embrace their journey towards excellence, and believe in what they can do. To help them separate from the anxieties of performance, and the world around them, and thrive in their abilities. That joy brings life to themselves and the world around them. I have integrated my performance psychology into my coaching and career as an educator, and I have had many kids say that they love what they do again. Their fears and anxieties are gone, and they enjoy competing again. I have been able to guide individuals to break through the fear of the outcome, burnout, perfectionism, unbelief, and find peace, joy, and their excellence. I would like to help not only athletes, but students as well that have test and presentation anxiety. Business professionals that struggle with pitches, and confidence in acquisition. Performance Psychology goes beyond the domains of sport, and can truly help so many individuals.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would not be who I am, and where I am, if the road had been smooth. I have had my fair share of challenges and obstacles as an athlete, individual, and in the process towards performance psychology. However, challenges allow us to learn, grow, and move towards excellence. We can try to be perfect, but perfection means we can’t fail. If we don’t fail, we don’t learn. If we don’t learn, we can’t grow towards our excellence.
As an athlete, I faced injuries, burnout, anxiety, slow periods of growth, and many other “bumps in the road”. Here are a couple of examples. First, during my sophomore year of college, I was so fearful of the outcome, letting my team down, and the pain of pushing my body hard, that I developed a strong performance anxiety. This anxiety and thought process sent me into tears before and after races. I would cry even if I went a best time! Thankfully, a couple of teammates helped me navigate this, and I was able to return to the confidence of racing. Secondly, I also faced burnout as we trained for a half marathon on top of the traditional 3 weight session, and 9 water session schedule. Running became my escape from swimming, as it felt like a full time job at that point. Thankfully, I was able to shed the weight of expectation, return to my “why” in the sport, and finish my career with joy and passion.
In my journey towards a CMPC, I also had to face many bumps, most of which delayed the timeline originally planned. I had to take additional graduate coursework, fulfill 400 hours of observed client time, apply to the organization, and complete their testing requirements. Meanwhile, I was single parenting, teaching, and coaching full time. While I was excited to complete the process, and be able to help others, I learned to be patient and realistic with myself in the process. I adjusted my goal timeline to keep it realistic, and the long journey to this point was well worth it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Believe Mental Performance Training, LLC.?
“Believe” is performance psychology coaching, and I am the owner/consultant of the organization. I am a CMPC through the industry’s gold standard organization of Association for Applied Sport Psychology. I also have my Bachelor of Science and Master of Science, with a focus in Exercise Science.
The question of “what is performance psychology” is often asked. One of my favorite analogies to use is that of building a home.
Scenario 1: In building a home, would you just go to Home Depot, pick up the building materials, and start building a house? If you were to do that and the finished produce appeared structurally sound, what do you think would happen in a major storm? Do you think the intricacies of a home would be efficiently developed? Often the answer is no.
Scenario 2: This time we hire architects and engineers to build you home. We allow these professionals to design, test loads, and create a well planned blue print for builders to follow. Do you think that house would be more structurally sound than the first example? Do you think the layout of the home and the details that go into a home would be functional to daily living? Do you think this home would stand in the challenges of nature? More than likely the answer is yes.
Right now in the performance domain, many individuals are working in the first scenario. They are putting in the physical work, sometimes the nutritional work, but then they face fear, burnout, anxiety, self-doubt, and pain when they are put to the test. Even if they seem structurally sound on the outside, the internal storm is impacting their journey. We have seen this with some of our greatest athletes. Mental performance training moves individuals to the second scenario. The consultant is the architectural engineer that designs and allows individuals to have a blueprint for their mind to follow. Individuals will move back towards intrinsic motivation and find the joy in what they are gifted in. They will find a strong foundation to stand on as obstacles come their way and they keep moving toward their excellence.
There are many wonderful CMPC professionals in the industry and I believe we need each and every one of them as the pressure to specialize early continues to grow. I believe that my combination of experience as an athlete, coach, and background as an educator allows me to provide a holistic and empathic approach to help create blueprints. I see a strong sense of identity in performance, and my heart is to help individuals release that identity, and enjoy what they do again. I also provide faith-based coaching to those that wish to integrate that into their holistic approach.
With the emergence of NIL, social media, constant connection and comparison, the pull towards extrinsic factors is greater than ever. We are seeing kids struggle with anxiety, fear, burnout, depression, and so much more as they are faced with these challenges and perspective. After spending 14 years in coaching, my heart is to help our youth have a sound foundation in their mental toolbox so that they can BELIEVE in themselves, go perform with joy, and withstand the storms of today’s challenges. It is the inspiration behind the name of my company, as I want to restore the intrinsic perspective and the positive belief in oneself.
If anyone would like to learn more, or specifics of what I offer, please feel free to reach out to me at believempc@gmail.com or visit my website at www.believempc.com.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in a small town, and really just enjoyed being with friends and family. It was a simple way of growing up, and I am eternally thankful for the grounding it provided. I loved to dance, as was evident in my younger years as a swimmer dancing behind the blocks. I enjoyed music, loved playing the piano, and I loved art. I enjoyed, and still do, camping with my family every summer and all things hiking.
Personality wise, I would say growing up I was very empathetic, confident, an encourager, achiever, and somewhat shy. I know I had a strong sense of belief in myself at an early age, and I can attribute that to a wonderful family and great parents that supported that foundation. When it came to swimming, they allowed the sport to come from within me. They picked me up when I was sad and celebrated success with me.
Pricing:
- Please see website for pricing options at https://www.believempc.com/book-online.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.believempc.com
Image Credits
1) kieferpix
2) UT Athletics (swim photo)
