Jon Metzler, PhD, CMPC

Senior Director of Human Performance, Magellan Federal

Dr. Metzler provides strategic thought leadership on systems, resources, and processes that help organizations optimize performance, enhance resilience, and sustain readiness in their leaders and teams. He focuses primarily on coaching innovations and people development.

He served 10 years in direct sport psychology support via the Army Center for Enhanced Performance, Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness, and Army Resilience Directorate contracts. He introduced self-determination theory principles that have been implemented via a “cognitive performance coaches” through 2.7 million training and coaching engagements across the Army in just the past 5 years.

He is a Past President and Fellow of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and currently serves as Chair of the Council for Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC). He has served on APA’s Advocacy Coordinating Committee, Coalition for the Psychology of High Performance, and Committee for the Advancement of General Applied Psychology. He is also Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Joint Commission on Sports Medicine and Science. Dr. Metzler’s breadth of expertise and experience across military, sport, and corporate domains afforded him the unique opportunity to provide feedback on the Surgeon General’s Workplace Mental Health & Wellbeing framework prior to its launch in October 2022.

Applying psychology: What a coach can teach
a psychologist

Saturday, August 10

3:00-3:50 p.m. PDT

Seattle Convention Center, Arch Building,

Ballroom 6BC

Whether the goal is to enhance one’s performance, wellbeing, physical fitness, dietary habits, sleep, leader abilities, spending behaviors, sense of connection with others or sense of connection to one’s purpose in life, people are increasingly seeking coaching for help. Due to this increasing demand, the coaching industry has experienced significant growth in recent years and is estimated to be a multi-billion dollar global industry. What role does psychology play in coaching? The roots of psychology applied to coaching in the United States can be traced back about 100 years within the specific subdiscipline of sport psychology. This session will explore coaching, highlighting how coaching has evolved in multiple subdisciplines of both psychology and kinesiology. Coaching psychology may be an exemplar for demonstrating the potential value of applied psychology practice. Applied psychologists can coach coaches, regardless of their specialty, to embed psychological principles known to enhance human thriving.