ABOUT ME
Dr. Matthew Hood’s private practice is located in the Golden Triangle Region of Mississippi, providing sport and performance psychology services to elite athletes, performers, and the tactical population. As a Mental Performance Consultant, Dr. Hood focuses on the mental components of performance and works with athletes, coaches and administrations to help strengthen their mental armor.
He educates individuals on the importance of being in the moment in order to enhance performance. Dr. Hood utilizes mindfulness techniques and mindset education to enhance performance both on the field and in one's private experience.
Dr. Hood values motivation and commitment to self and others. Motivation is the reason why we engage in an activity, whereas commitment is directly about the engagement in the activity. He strives to help the individual identify his or her “why”. Understanding your “why" will help individuals better understand what motivates them in order to enhance performance.
Prior to his current role as a mental performance consultant, Dr. Hood served in the United States Marine Corps from 2004 to 2013. He currently serves as a Cognitive Performance Specialist in which he assesses, educates and observes US pilots in order to enhance mental performance. Prior to working with pilots, Dr. Hood worked with US paratroopers in a high performance team enhancing mindset, attention, and awareness. While serving the paratroopers in their mental performance, Dr. Hood also created programs and curriculum that are being modeled throughout the conventional US Army force through the H2F program. Dr. Hood also serves as a member of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee's Sport Psychology Registry. These experience along with his education background has brought him to the field of sport and performance psychology in order to educate athletes on performance enhancement techniques but also give them the resources to excel in the classroom but also in life.
Educational Background
Dr. Hood is a mental performance consultant. He received his Ed.D in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Western States in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Hood completed the Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement Instructor Course from the MSPE Institute. He has also completed a 10-week course in Mindful Self-Compassion through the Center of Mindful Self-Compassion. Dr. Hood also is a HeartMath Certified Practitioner, where he utilizes biofeedback technology to enhance mental performance. He also hold the Brief Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (BBT-I) certification from WINK Sleep Online.
Dr. Hood obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Sport and Health Sciences from American Military University and a Master’s in Recreation and Sport Sciences from Ohio University.