Göran Kenttä

Göran Kenttä is a Senior Lecturer at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), affiliated with the Department of Physiology, Nutrition and Biomechanics. His academic specialization is in Sports Psychology, with a PhD in the field. He holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Ottawa since 2016. His research focuses on elite sports, emphasizing mental health, stress-recovery balance, and mindfulness strategies for athletes and coaches. Key projects include understanding severe mental illness in elite sports and developing self-compassion interventions for sustainable coaching.

Education:

• PhD in Sports Psychology

Research Interests: Sustainable performance development in elite athletes and coaches, mental health challenges (e.g., depression, anxiety), mindfulness and self-compassion practices, and stress management in high-performance environments.

Collaborations: Works with the Swedish Sports Confederation, national collaborators like Anders Håkansson (Lund University), and international partners such as Marte Bentzen (Norwegian School of Sport Sciences) and Richard Thelwell (University of Portsmouth).

Awards: 2022 Association for Applied Sport Psychology Distinguished Professional Practice Award.

Labs/Teams: Involved in initiatives like the Safe and Healthy Para sport (SHAPE) project and the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS).