Meet The Team: Karen Howells
"I came to sport psychology later in life after my first career as an RAF Officer. I have always hada passion for swimming and an introduction to psychology via the Open University made me question how I could bring my two passions of sport and psychology together. A love of learning took me on a journey through a second MSc, a PhD, and a professional practice qualification. Fast forward fifteen years and I am now a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Cardiff Met and a Chartered Sport Psychologist working with athletes from individual sports across all levels of sport.
I truly believe that sport psychology is one of those subjects where we can make a real difference not only to athletes’ performance but also to the quality of their lives in respect of mental wellbeing. My philosophy is that for me to achieve this, I need to be an allrounder: research informs both my teaching and my practice and vice versa. I hope that the students and athletes who I work with benefit from that multifaceted approach to the subject, and that the MSc Sport Psychology, in particular prepares students for the next stage of their journey to become sport psychologists, researchers, teachers, or individuals who can adopt a critical view of the world of sport to inform their (and others’) practice."
Karen Howells PhD, CPsychol, SFHEA, Senior Lecturer in Sport Psychology.