Dr. Amanda Leibovitz earned a PhD in educational psychology with a concentration in the psychosocial aspects of sport and exercise from the University of North Texas and completed an MA in counseling with a specialization in sport and health psychology from Adler University. In addition to her academic degrees, Dr. Leibovitz is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Washington, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Illinois and an EMDR Certified Therapist. As a dually trained practitioner, Dr. Leibovitz is also a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) and approved CMPC mentor through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.
Dr. Leibovitz has been working in private practice since 2015, where she offers both clinical mental health services and nonclinical mental performance consulting to a diverse population of clients. Her clinical work specializes in supporting individuals who are seeking to heal from attachment and developmental trauma, and she also offers a mindfulness-based approach to performance enhancement for elite youth, Division I, and Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Prior to joining the faculty at UWS, Dr. Leibovitz gained extensive experience supporting tactical populations and military veterans through her work with the U.S. Army’s Holistic Health & Fitness (H2F) program and the Semper Fi & America’s Fund.
As a researcher-practitioner, Dr. Leibovitz’s applied experiences working with athletes with disabilities and wounded, ill and injured veterans sparked her passion for increasing the visibility of adaptive sport communities in peer-reviewed research. Her research interests include exploring the psychosocial needs of athletes with physical disabilities, improving the efficacy of sport and physical activity programming for veterans, and identifying best practices for sport professionals working with trauma-impacted athletes.
