Completed Event: Field Hockey at American on September 7, 2025 , Win , 4, to, 1
FH
Final
James Madison
4
at American
1
James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Mission
Â
To foster JMU student-athletes' pursuit of performance and personal excellence by serving as a resource for student-athlete mental performance and mental health.
Â
ServicesÂ
Mental performance refers to student-athletes' development and use of mental, life, or self-regulatory skills to optimize their competitive performance, involvement, enjoyment, and/or personal development in sport. Sport psychology services are available to JMU student-athletes to improve their mental performance by helping them to enhance their:
Â
- mental toughness, motivation, confidence, determination, resilience, and emotional control
- goal-setting, thought control, energy management, visualization, and focus abilities
- on-field chemistry, off-field unity, communication, and leadership within their teams
- athletic identity achievement, coping with athletic injury, and personal growth in sport.Â
Mental health refers to student-athletes' psychological, emotional, and social well-being and includes both positive aspects (e.g., realizing their potential) and the degree to which they experience more negative aspects (e.g., anxiety, depression). Clinical/counseling psychology services are available to JMU student-athletes to improve their mental health, well-being, and resilience by helping them to:
Â
- Better understand their emotions
- Increase their self-awareness in relation to teammates, coaches, friends, and family
- Explore their self-identity and enhance self-esteem
- Develop effective coping strategies and establish self-care practices
- Address interpersonal issues, resolve conflicts, and build healthy relationships
- Cope with feelings of sadness, loneliness, and depression
- Manage stress and feelings of anxiety
- Work through issues involving body image concerns and unhealthy eating behaviors
- Receive support related to sexual violence and trauma
StaffÂ
   Â
 
Dr. Robert Harmison serves as the Director of Sport psychology and is charged with developing a program of sport psychology services for JMU athletes, teams and coaches, while coordinating and overseeing services being provided to them. He is also the Kibler Professor of Sport Psychology in the Department of Graduate Psychology at JMU.
Prior to his JMU tenure, Dr. Harmison was a Chair and Associate Professor in the Sport-Exercise Psychology program at Argosy University in Phoenix, Az. He held that position for six years, becoming the Director for the Center for Excellence in Sport in 2006 at Argosy.
Dr. Harmison graduated with cum laude honors from the University of Arizona in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. In 1994, he earned a Master of Science in exercise and sport sciences from Arizona, and in 2000 he received a Doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of North Texas.Â
Currently residing in Harrisonburg, Dr. Harmison is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry, and a licensed clinical psychologist in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Melinda Fox, M.A., Ed.S., LPC
Melinda is a staff member in the JMU Counseling Center and serves as the Liaison to Athletics. In this role, she provides consultation and counseling support to JMU student-athletes as a member of the Integrated Health and Sports Performance unit, including the JMU Sports Medicine Care and Recovery Enhancement (C.A.R.E.) team.
Melinda joined the Counseling Center staff as a full-time clinician in 2012 and has been working directly with JMU student-athletes since 2013. She also is the Coordinator of Veteran Services and am a member of the Veterans Task Force. In addition to these roles, she provides supervision to the Counseling Center's clinicians-in-training and residents, oversees the athlete mental health training track for doctoral interns, and is the co-coordinator of the wilderness therapy program.
Melinda is a licensed professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
To Contact or Schedule an Appointment
Dr. Bob Harmison - harmisrj@jmu.edu, 540-568-7347
Melinda Fox - fox3mm@jmu.edu, 540-568-6552
JMU Sport & Clinical Psychology in the News
Head Games: Sport Psychology Integral to Student-Athlete Experience
Sport psychologist provides assistance to student athletes
The Doctor is In - JMU’s Sports Psychologist Dr. Robert Harmison Has Provided Support for Olympic Snowboarders
JMU Sport Psychology Center in McMillin’s Name
Dr. Robert J. Harmison: JMU Sport Psychology.
