Everyone Has a Story...

Here's mine.

I found my way to sport, performance, and positive psychology through my childhood experiences as a competitive figure skater. As a young athlete, I was afforded every resource available to help me develop my physical capabilities: The best technical coaches, choreographers, and off-ice trainers, dance classes, and endless amounts of training time. What I didn't have, however, was the opportunity to develop skills to help me stay confident and composed, cope gracefully with the inevitable wins and losses, manage the crushing stress and pressure of competing, and understand how my inner world impacted my ability to put my best foot forward every day. When my athletic career ended suddenly at the age of 17 to injury and burnout, I had to find a new purpose. Perform Positive is that purpose and we are so happy you found us.

Mission

Our passion is enabling others to live happy and fulfilled lives while striving towards the goals that matter most. We aim to bring the best of current and emerging science in sport and performance, positive, and organizational psychology to help individuals and organizations thrive. We do this through individual 1:1 coaching engagements, curated group experiences, as well as consulting for systemic change. Most importantly, we strive to re-humanize Human Performance Optimization by honoring the idea that we are Human Beings - not Human Doings - and approaching performance through an integrated and holistic perspective.

Vision

Our vision is to help individuals and organizations maximize their potential and impact through the intentional cultivation of mental skills. These skills strengthen the roots and provide a foundation of all aspects of thriving and achievement. We want to make these services customized, accessible, and practical for your needs and contexts, and will work closely with you and your organization to ensure that our visions are aligned as we pursue work together.

About Me

First a foremost, I am a mom to the best kid named Noah, and a proud Army spouse to my husband who retired from the military in 2018. As one of only a handful of people who have formal education in both sport/performance and positive psychology, I provide a unique perspective on enhancing both performance and well-being. I am also a Certified Mental Performance Coach (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).

Currently, I am the Director of Performance Psychology with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, in support of the Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP) at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. In this role, I serve as a subject matter expert in performance psychology and mental fitness, and oversee all research, education, leadership, and operational support efforts under the psychological, social, and spiritual fitness domains. Here are a few examples of our active projects:

Identifying individual and team-based characteristics that contribute to human performance practitioner effectiveness as well as the provision of interdisciplinary and holistic support.
Clarifying the intersections and overlaps between psychological, social, and spiritual fitness through research studies employing qualitative and quantitative methods.
Advocating for a full-spectrum, multi-level, and holistic approach to supporting Warfighter health and well-being by working across government agencies to foster dialogue and advance policy and practice.
Examining the psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions of musculoskeletal injury and pain.
Understanding performance demands of specific communities in the military and government agencies and provide resources to mitigate health risks and support optimal performance.
Improving the quality of social and spiritual fitness programs through the application of intervention science and program evaluation with various branches of service across the military.
Translating research in the domains of Human Performance Optimization (HPO) for service members and their families across all military branches for the Human Performance Resources at CHAMP (HPRC) website.

Since 2006, I've served as part of the instructional team for the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania. I am also a senior trainer with the Penn Resiliency Project and PERMA Workshop team, working under the direction of Dr. Karen Reivich.

Prior to this role:

I was the Research Director for Wharton People Analytics at the University of Pennsylvania, where I was responsible for shaping and executing the research agenda in conjunction with faculty co-directors Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth, Cade Massey, and Matthew Bidwell and the WPA research team.
I provided resilience and performance enhancement training for soldiers, DA civilians, and family members for 7 years, first with the University of Pennsylvania, and most recently with the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2) program.
I was a member of the faculty for the Positive Coaching Master's Degree Program at the University of Missouri.

Education

Temple University

Doctor of Philosophy
Kinesiology; Psychology of Human Movement

University of Pennsylvania

Master's Degree
Applied Positive Psychology

Villanova University

Bachelor of Arts
Psychology and Philosophy

Selected Publications

Park, G.H. & Barczak-Scarboro, N.E. (2023). Total Force Fitness: Bridging Performance Optimization and Health Approaches for Warfighter Readiness and Psychological Health. International Review of the Armed Forces Medical Services (IRAFMS)

Messina, L.A. & Park, G.H. (2023). Total Force Fitness Education: A Critical Enabler of Human Performance Optimization. Military Medicine, 188(Suppl 5), 12–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usad205

Carter, L., Park, G.H., Razon, S., & Sachs, M.L. (2022). What is sport and performance psychology? In Directory of Graduate Programs in Applied Sport Psychology, 13th Edition (Eds. D. Christensen, A. Chu, S. Brueckner). Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

Park, G.H., Knust, S.K., Haselhuhn, S., Whalen, S.J., Deuster, P.D., Greene, C.H., Dretsch, M.N., Bonvie, J.L., Lippy, R.D., Lunasco, T.K., Myatt, C.A. (2021). Advancing the practice of contemporary military performance psychology. Journal of Special Operations Medicine, 22(1), 115-120.

Park, G.H., Lunasco, T., Chamberlin, R.A., & Deuster, P.A. (2020). Optimizing teamwork for human performance teams: Strategies for enhancing effectiveness. Journal of Special Operations Medicine, 20(4), 115-120.

Park, G.H. (2019). Chapter 7: Athlete health and wellness; Well-being. In Comprehensive applied sport psychology: From attitude to athletic success and everything in between and beyond (Ed. Jim Taylor). Taylor and Francis Books.

Park, G.H., Messina, L.A., & Deuster, P.A. (2017). A shift from resilience to human performance optimization in special operations training: Advancements in theory and practice. Journal of Special Operations Medicine.17(3), 109-113.

Park, G.H.. & Corn, A.A. (2017). Positive psychology. In S. Razon & M.L. Sachs (Eds.) Applied exercise psychology: The challenging journey from motivation to adherence. New York, New York: Routledge.

Park-Perin, G. (2011). Positive psychology and applied sport and exercise psychology. In M.B. Andersen & S.J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Handbook of applied sport psychology. Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.

PERFORM POSITIVE