Run Farther and Faster
Lager
Dr. Lager was one of the speakers at the 10-year "Runiversary" of Run Farther and Faster, a running organization in northern Virginia. The event, which was held in February 2020, provided education, resources, and support to distance runners. Dr. Lager spoke on mental strategies for runners to implement to get the most out of their race.
Daniel Zimet, Ph.D.
Columbia, MD
President
Dr Zimet is a licensed Psychologist and CMPC (Sport Psychologist) with a 20-year private practice in Columbia, MD. His clinical work focuses on adolescents to adults as well as couples. He is the founder and President of MAC-SAPP, principal investigator on a research study of retired athletes, and a 31-time National Masters Champion in Handball.
Tim Herzog, Ed.D.
Annapolis, MD
Vice President
Dr. Tim Herzog is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Virginia, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Montana, a Certified Mental Performance Coach (CMPC), a member of the USOPC Sport Psychology Registry, and Board Certified in Biofeedback (BCB). He conducts evidence-based practice, pulling from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Mindfulness based approaches, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, and Interpersonal Process. Tim places emphasis on the power of relationships.
VJ Iannone, Ph.D.
Columbia, MD
Secretary
Dr. VJ Iannone is a Clinical and Sport Psychologist with over 17 years of experience. She is a Professor of Psychology at Stevenson University and has a consulting practice where she works with athletes, parents, and coaches to help them better understand the mental element of sport, improve the quality of the athletic experience, and enhance performance. She holds membership in several professional organizations related to the science and practice of sport psychology and supervises both undergraduate and graduate students who are training to become sport performance consultants. She has a strong background in leadership, serves as a Teaching Fellow, and is part of the APA Leadership Institute for Women in Psychology.
Diane Finley, Ph.D., CMPC
Odenton, MD
Treasurer
Dr. Diane Finley has over 35 years of experience in counseling, teaching and mental skills consulting. She earned her Master’s in Counseling degrees at Louisiana State University. She began doing “mental performance consultation” before the term was in the literature. Following graduation, she became a National Certified Counselor as well as a Certified Professional Counselor (MD). Dr. Finley returned to Maryland and earned her PhD at the University of Maryland College Park in human development (developmental psychology) with a minor in sport psychology.
David R. McDuff, M.D.
Ellicott City, MD
Executive Board
David R. McDuff, M.D. is the long-time sports psychiatrist and mental preparation trainer for the Baltimore Orioles (1996-present) and Baltimore Ravens (1996-2013) and more recently the Performance Medicine Physician for the Indianapolis Colts (2015-2018). He is also the author of the 2012 book “Sports Psychiatry: Strategies for Life Balance & Peak Performance”. He was recently appointed (2018) to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Consensus Panel and Work Group on Mental Health in Elite Athletes. He works with athletes and teams at all competitive levels providing specialized services including player selection, team building, life balance, stress control, performance enhancement, mental preparation, energy recovery, injury rehabilitation, pain management, sleep medicine, substance prevention, and mental disorders treatment.
Michelle Garvin, Ph.D.
College Park, MD
Dr. Michelle Garvin joined the University of Maryland team in June 2017 as the Director of Clinical and Sports Psychology Services. In this role, Dr. Garvin is developing a comprehensive mental health and performance enhancement program for the University of Maryland student-athletes. In this role, she provides individual therapy and performance enhancement sessions, conducts team workshops, and implements outreach and prevention programming. She works as part of a multi-disciplinary team of sports medicine providers, nutritionists, coaches and administrators to provide coordination of care for student-athletes. Additionally, she is the department’s campus and community liaison for mental health and provides training and consultation for athletic department staff.
Keith Kaufman, Ph.D., CMPC
Fairfax, VA
Washington, DC
Keith A. Kaufman, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the mental training of athletes and others who wish to improve their health and performance. He has operated a private practice since 2008, and currently has two office locations in the Washington, DC metro area. He has also served as a Research Associate at Catholic University and is co-developer of the mindful sport performance enhancement (MSPE) mental training program. He co-authored a 2018 book on MSPE, published by the American Psychological Association, and is chief executive officer of the newly established MSPE Institute.
Jennifer Lager, Psy.D.
McLean, VA
Jennifer Lager, Psy.D. is the owner of GAME- Get A Mental Edge, a McLean, VA based business that provides performance enhancement/sport psychology services to athletes, coaches, and corporations. Her interest in the field developed out of her experience competing on a national level as a springboard diver in high school and college. Since then, Dr. Lager has facilitated workshops for coaches, athletes, and businesses in her community on many different aspects of performance. She has worked with individuals and groups at the junior, amateur, professional, and Olympic levels in various sports. She is licensed as a Clinical Psychologist by the Commonweath of Virginia, and is a member of the Virginia Psychological Association and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).
Tim Pineau, Ph.D.
Washington, DC
Tim Pineau is a licensed clinical psychologist in Washington, DC and Virginia. His 10+ years of experience as a competitive rower and crew coach sparked his interest in the psychology of athletes, and he has been researching, writing on, and teaching mindfulness-based approaches for sport performance enhancement since 2008. Specifically, he is a co-creator of an empirically tested intervention for athletes and coaches called Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE), and a co-founder of the MSPE Institute where he continues to provide trainings, conduct research, give presentations, and publish on the applications of mindfulness in sport. In addition to this work with athletes and other performers, Tim also has a private practice in Washington, DC where he provides psychotherapy to individuals, couples, and groups. He also teaches a course on mindfulness and meditation at the Catholic University of America, and he is a member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, the American Psychological Association, and the American Group Psychotherapy Association.
Matthew B.Sughrue, LMFT
McLean, VA
Matt Sughrue combines his clinical experience as a systems-based psychotherapist with his extensive experience as an elite, world-ranked amateur golfer to help athletes feel better about themselves and think better so they can perform their best and enjoy their sports more.
Derek Vigon, Psy.D.
Arlington, VA
Chevy Chase, MD
Dr. Derek Vigon is a licensed clinical and sport psychologist in Maryland and Virginia. In addition to his private practice, he currently serves as the Coordinator of Sport Psychology for George Mason University’s Counseling and Psychological Services and Intercollegiate Athletics Department. In this role, he offers individual clinical sport psychology services to student-athletes, group performance enhancement workshops to Mason’s sports teams, and consultation to coaches, athletic department staff, and administration as a member of the Center for Sports Performance multidisciplinary team. His dissertation intervention tool, Psych Beats™ was performed with Olympic female marathon runners in San Francisco. Before George Mason, Dr. Vigon worked as a psychologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and prior to that, he worked in the athletic department at the University of Arkansas offering clinical sport psychology services to Razorback student-athletes. Dr. Vigon has also worked with student-athletes from Santa Rosa Junior College. Dr. Vigon is also listed as a provider in the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee's (USOPC) Sport Psychology Mental Health registry. More information about Dr. Vigon and Psych Beats™ can be found at www.drderekvigon.com.
Alexander Brian Yu, Ph.D., CMPC
Burke, VA
Dr. Alexander "Brian" Yu (he/him) is a Licensed Psychologist, Sport Psychologist, and a Certified Mental Performance Consultant ® (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). He is listed in the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee Sport Psychology and Mental Training Registry. Dr. Yu is the owner of Prevail Performance Counseling PLLC, based in Northern Virginia, and works with Maryland Sports Performance in Ellicott City, MD. Dr. Yu is dually-trained to provide mental health counseling and performance psychology services for adolescents, adults, athletes, performing artists, and organizations. Dr. Yu has several years of experience working with elite youth sports and NCAA Division I athletics. In his practice, Dr. Yu focuses on services to address mental performance training, anxiety, productivity, and habit formation.
