Dr. Angel Brutus, LPCC, ACS, BC-TMH, CMPC® is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Synergistic Solutions, a B2B clinical, sport and performance consulting firm designed to curate professional development experiences for high performance professionals across multiple performance domains. She is a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s psychological services team within the sports medicine department, joining the organization in 2021 after serving as the inaugural Assistant Athletic Director of Counseling and Sport Psychology for Mississippi State University department of athletics. There, she provided direct clinical and performance enhancement services, administrated and developed programming to address MSU’s sports culture and served as an appointed member of the Southeastern Conference’s Council on Racial Equity and Social Justice. In this role, Dr. Brutus collaborated with a multidisciplinary team of SEC stakeholders as she provided subject matter expertise as a co-author for the Conference’s initiatives concerning the hiring practices of diverse, competent practitioners supporting the mental health and wellbeing of SEC athletes.

Dr. Brutus is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC®) and AASP Fellow (AASP-F). She is also a certified workshop facilitator with Positive Coaching Alliance® (PCA), HeartMath® practitioner and a training facilitator in Mental Health First Aid® for adults.

PRESIDENT - CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

DR. ANGEL BRUTUS, LPCC, ACS, BC-TMH, CMPC

She serves as an executive board member and professional standards division head for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) supporting the ethics, continuing education and webinars/virtual conference committees and liaison between AASP and the Certification Council. She is former co-coordinator of AASP’s Race & Ethnicity in Sport Special Interest Group (SIG). She is also a member of additional SIGs (High Risk and Extreme Sports, Women in Sport, Anger and Violence in Sport, Eating Disorders in Sport, Adaptive Sport & Physical Activity) and has been a member of multiple committees within AASP in which she has co-chaired nominations, leadership, and development while previously assisting with professional ethics and serving as an IGNITE mentor.

Dr. Brutus serves as treasurer for the American Psychological Association’s Division 47 Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology, Charter Advisory member for the Center for Credentialing Education (CCE) tasked with co-authoring the inaugural ethics code for BC-TMH credential holders and as an advisory board member for Alston for Athletes supporting legislative efforts addressing the mental health and wellbeing initiatives of student-athletes in the United States.

Dr. Brutus has developed a reputation for serving as a subject matter expert regarding the intersection of culturally-responsive, ethical and legal practices necessary for successfully engaging in the field of counseling and sport performance psychology. Her penchant for ethically inclusive practices has served as the bedrock for her involvement and development of organizational best practices, guidelines, policies, and procedures in various organizational systems.

She is known for her interpersonal leadership style that curates meaningful identity-affirming experiences necessary for navigating various high stress, high performance environments. Many of Dr. Brutus' mentees and supervisees have successfully assisted organizations with developing and maintaining sustainable counseling and sport performance psychology programs within athletic departments across the United States and Canada. Her work has since transcended the world of sports, into other performance domains to include, but not limited to: corporations, performing arts and entertainment, medicine, and civic organizations.

EDUCATION

Dr. Brutus earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology and her Master of Science in Counseling (Rehabilitation Counseling) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Throughout her undergraduate and graduate training, Dr. Brutus served in multiple roles within the university system, to include the Registrar and Assistant Registrar's office, increasing knowledge and understanding of academic requirements necessary for successful degree completion. In addition to the many years of Registrar services, Dr. Brutus was also a member of the University of Tennessee's athletics culture, supporting Olympic sports and Football under the direction of multiple championship-winning athletics directors, coaches, and stakeholders.

After successfully managing a private practice, Dr. Brutus subsequently returned to learning and earned her Doctorate of Psychology (PsyD) in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of the Rockies (now known as the University of Arizona Global Campus). Her experience as a hybrid (in-person and online) doctoral student fortified her approach to supporting and mentoring emerging professionals in the field of counseling and sport-performance psychology who may desire a sense of community, engagement, and identity-affirming approaches to this highly competitive profession.

RECENT KEYNOTES
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PRESENTATIONS

ORGANIZATIONAL
LEADERSHIP + CERTIFICATIONS

American Psychological Association - Division 47 Secretary/Treasurer (Executive Committee)
California Association for Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors - Board Member
Association for Applied Sport Psychology - Professional Standards Division Head (Executive Board)
Board Certified TeleMental Health Credential - Ethics Advisory Council
University of Western States - Assistant Professor/Core Faculty Member Clinical Mental Health Counseling

“Mental Health and Sports”
“How to Prioritize Mental Health as an Elite Athlete”
USA Track and Field Elite Athlete Wellness and Performance Optimization
“Emerging Professionals in Sport Performance Psychology: Values, Brand, Goal Attainment”
“Olympian and Paralympian Mental Health and Wellbeing”
“Prisoners of War – Athletes Affected by International Conflict”
“Pro Athlete Mental Health: A conversation with mental health and performance pros”
“Mental Health Gatekeeper Training for Mental Performance Consultants”
“Systemic Mental Health Literacy: Using Mental Health First Aid® in Sport”
“Black and Blossomed: Liberation and Mindfulness-Based Psychological Services for Black Womxn Athletes”

ARTICLES + PUBLICATIONS

O'Hara, D. (2020, August 27). Athletes protesting social injustice get support from sport psychologists. American Psychological Association.
Brutus, A. & Yousuf, S. (2019). Meeting student-athletes where they are: counseling and psychological services for student-athletes of diverse backgrounds. In M. Loughran (Ed.) Counseling and Psychological Services for Student Athletes. Fitness Information Technology, Inc.
Taylor, J., Brutus, A. (2019). Part 1: Mental Training - Goal Setting. In J. Taylor (Ed.) Comprehensive applied sport psychology. Routledge.
Taylor, J., Simpson, D. & Brutus, A. (2017). Interviewing: Asking the right questions. In J. Taylor (Ed.) Assessment in Sport Psychology Consulting. Human Kinetics, Inc.
Tibbetts, E., Longshore, K., Cooper, R., Lipsky, S., Brutus, A. (2017). Athlete activism: Supporting the athlete in society. SportPsych Works, 5(3), 1-2.