John P. Sullivan, Psy.D. (’93) is a University Psychologist at the University of Rhode Island Counseling Center. He is the Coordinator of athletic counseling/sport psychology outreach services to the NCAA Division I student-athletes at the University of Rhode Island, he graduated from Niagara in 1993 with a double major in psychology and mass communications. Following his undergraduate work he earned a M.S. in Counseling Psychology with a Specialization in Athletic Counseling/Sport Psychology from Springfield College. His doctoral work was completed at the University of Hartford where he earned a M.A. and Psy.D. (Doctorate in Psychology) in Clinical Psychology. The early academic and clinical journey was focused on developing an initial/proper specialization on Sport/Performance Psychology while in his later graduate work continuing to build on traditional areas of the science. His other interests and areas of expertise are focused in the neuroscience of psychotherapy, treatment/diagnosis of personality disorders, Short-term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, clinical training issues, and teaching/mentoring in the science of psychology. He completed his APA approved pre-doctoral internship at Broughton Hospital in Morganton North Carolina. Broughton Hospital is one of four North Carolina state hospitals serving three-quarters of the states mental health population. While completing his pre-doctoral internship he also engaged in an outpatient rotation two days’ weekly working children and families in Asheville, North Carolina. Dr. Sullivan has worked as a mental health professional for eleven years and provided professional services to a variety of populations including geriatrics, adults, adolescents, and children. He has provided clinical care to diverse populations in a variety of settings (inpatient, partial hospital, community mental health, college counseling centers, and private practice). He has served extensively as a consultant, practitioner, lecturer (undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate), and researcher in the areas of Clinical, Counseling, Organizational, Sport, Performance, and Experimental Psychology.
In the late summer of 2001 he started a position at the University of Rhode Island’s Counseling Center as generalist to work with the student body and also as a specialist to start a Sport Psychology/Athletic Counseling program for NCAA Division I athletes. His program is one of only twenty comprehensive programs in the nation that attends to the psychological, developmental, and performance issues of student-athletes. He works collaboratively with student-athletes, faculty, staff, athletic administrators, sport medicine personnel, and coaches to provide these services. In only its fourth year the program has grown with increasing utilization and prominence in the state and New England region. Within the first year of the programs existence Dr. Sullivan received an inquiry for services from beyond the University and landed a contract with a major professional sports organization.
Since that time he has become the co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Clinical & Sports Consulting Services (www.performancedocs.com) a consulting practice focusing on providing advisement, direct sport/performance/clinical services, and assessment/research to Professional, Olympic, Collegiate, High School, and youth athletes. Additionally, he has worked with other life performers including those in medicine, business, higher education, and the performing arts. Not only has he worked with individuals but he also works with organizations and systems on issues related to performance and mental health issues (e.g.: universities, community colleges, professional sports organizations, youth sports organizations, manufacturing companies, financial firms, and the technology industry). Since 2002, the consulting practice’s home has been at the International Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame (www.internationalsport.com). Dr. Sullivan has worked with an assortment of sports since 1993 including archery, basketball, baseball, biathlon, board sailing, bowling, cycling, equestrian, football, golf, lacrosse, marital arts, rowing, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, triathlon and volleyball (indoor & beach). He is currently working on a series of books related to performance enhancement and educational videos on drug use in sport. The videos are a collaborative effort with HRM video (http://www.hrmvideo.com) and his consulting firm taking a motivational interviewing/prevention approach to issues of alcohol use among high school and college athletes. He will actively take part in production, being an on-screen expert, and writing the education curriculum. Dr. Sullivan has also involved himself in research/prevention/treatment models focusing on occupational burnout for sport professionals (coaches, sports medicine personnel, etc). He remains active in presenting at professional conferences and recently was invited to speak at the combined Rhode Island and Massachusetts Athletic Trainers Conference, where he presented on two topics: Psychological Factors of Athletic Injury and Sport Psychology Solutions to Occupational Burnout: Athletic Trainers are Performers!
Dr. Sullivan currently resides in Newport, Rhode Island where he remains active in his loves of running, cycling, and taking in the sights and sounds of Newport, historically the nation’s first seaside resort.
Dr. Tim Belavich ('92), is a Senior Psychologist Supervisor for the California Department of Corrections, working at the California State Prison at S an Quentin. Dr. Belavich graduated from Niagara University summa cum laude with a double major in psychology and French in 1992. He attended Bowling Green State University's Clinical Psychology Program from 1992 until 1997. During his time at Bowling Green he completed a Master's thesis and dissertation on the role of religion in coping with life stressors. His clinical interests were in the area of behavioral medicine and geropsychology. In 1997 he accepted an internship in Health Psychology at the Westside VA in Chicago, Illinois. After the completion of his internship in 1998 he accepted a post-doctoral fellowship in Physical Medicine & Geropsychology at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. During his fellowship he also served at a research consultant on a 5 year federally funded NIH grant at Cook County Hospital. Upon completion of his fellowship Dr. Belavich accepted a position with Rehabilitation Associates of the Midwest which provided psychological assessment and services to patients hospitalized in acute and subacute hospital facilities sponsored by the Sisters of the Resurrection, Chicago's largest Catholic Healthcare Network.
In April 2001, Dr. Belavich relocated to San Francisco, California to accept a position as a staff psychologist at California State Prison at San Quentin. San Quentin is California's oldest state prison and currently houses approximately 6000 inmates, including 600 condemned prisoners. His position entailed assessment of inmates newly arrived into the prison as well as brief therapy and crisis intervention. In December 2002 he was appointed to the position of Senior Psychologist Supervisor at San Quentin, a position he holds today. At the time of his appointment he was the youngest Senior Psychologist in the California Department of Corrections. His current responsibilities include supervision of treatment programs for the approximately 900 inmates who are involved in mental health programs. He is also responsible for San Quentin's new computer tracking system which connects the prison to California's other 32 prisons. This system tracks the mental health histories and care of the 150,000 individuals currently under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Corrections.
Cynthia Stappenbeck, M.A. ('00). Cindy spent two years as a lab assistant in Dr. Osberg's clinical psychology lab and a year in Dr. Burt Thompson's cognitive psychology lab before graduating in 2000. She completed her masters degree in psychology at the University at Buffalo in 2002 and then continued her work at the Research Institute Institute on Addictions in Buffalo. During her time at Niagara, UB and the RIA, Cindy accumulated extensive research experience which culminated in numerous convention presentations and several publications. In the fall of 2003, Cindy applied to several Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology across the country. She raised her GRE scores to an impressive level, and coupled with her research experience, became a widely sought candidate. Cindy received 9 offers of interviews and accumulated many frequent flyer miles during the interview process. She was accepted into most of these programs, and faced the difficult decision of choosing between programs such as Rutgers, Syracuse, UB, Virginia Commonwealth, etc, before deciding to accept the offer at the highly ranked University of Texas at Austin.
Cindy shared her post-NU trek into a prestigious clinical psychology program with current psychology students at NU as keynote speaker at the Psi Chi Banquet in April 2004 (see photo). She graciously assembled a very informative handbook detailing the strategies that helped her gain acceptance into highly competitive Ph.D. programs. After a successgul cross-country relocation, Cindy began her first year at UT-Austin in the fall of 2004.
