Dealing with Sport-Related Injuries Can Be Hard!
It's often said that there are 2 types of athletes: Those who have experienced and injury and those who haven't...yet.
Injuries are one of the most challenging parts of elite sport, especially when it comes to the mental side. Unfortunately, there are few easily accessible, comprehensive programs where you can learn skills to deal with the mental side of injury.
That's why we developed Ready, Set, Return. We believe athletes and professionals should have access to evidence-informed programs that they can easily use! This program is powered by Haugen Performance Consulting and supported by funding from the NATA Research & Education Foundation and Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).
Our Mission is to give collegiate student-athletes mental skills to use during the injury rehabilitation process and beyond!
We do this by providing actionable tools to improve your coping skills, increasing your adaptability and psychological flexibility, and helping you center your values throughout the injury rehabilitation period and return to sport. NO MATTER what challenges come your way. These evidence-based strategies can also be used for performance when you return to sport.
Reviewed by Experts
During Phase 1 of our project, 15 experts provided feedback about our program. Experts were within one of three groups:
- Sports medicine professionals (athletic trainers, etc.)
- Licensed mental health professionals (some who also had their CMPC)
- Retired collegiate student-athletes with lived experience of orthopedic injury.
Feedback from the experts was overwhelmingly positive!
They found the program to be well-organized, easy to follow, and helpful for collegiate student-athletes experiencing orthopedic injury.
We presented our findings at the 2025 annual meetings of the Mid-America Athletic Trainers' Association (MAATA D5) and the Clinical/Counseling Sport Psychology Association (CCSPA).
Feedback about RSR from Retired Student-Athletes
"When I was coming back from an injury, you focus on some things and forget other things you should be focusing on. This [RSR] brings it forward and is really valuable."
"[As a student-athlete] I was often asked to compete through it [injury]. I wish I would have had a resource like this."
"The mental side is so important, almost more important than the physical side. [RSR] only takes a few minutes in your day."
Program Developers
Erin Haugen, PhD, LP, CMPC
Dr. Haugen is a licensed psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC) specializing in clinical and sport psychology. She is the Founder and CEO of Haugen Performance Consulting, the Director of Mental Health and Performance Psychology at a Division I institution, and consultant at other collegiate institutions. For the past 15+ years, she has worked with elite athletes (collegiate, Olympic, professional) and specializes in working with athletic departments, teams, and individuals within collegiate sport ecosystems. In 2023, she was awarded the Jack Weakley Award of Distinction from NATA for her lifetime contribution to athletics, athletic training, and sports medicine, and in 2026 she was awarded the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Distinguished Public Communication, Awareness, and Outreach Award for her work within sports medicine.
In her spare time, Dr. Haugen is a cyclist (gravel and road) and transitioning into retirement from triathlon. She and her husband are proud dog parents to herding mix rescue dogs, Bella, Wilson, and Oliver.
Steven Westereng, PhD, LAT, ATC, CSCS
Dr. Westereng is Associate Professor and Chair of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Department of Sports Medicine. The UND Department of Sports Medicine has educational programming including a CAATE accredited Master’s in Athletic Training program and has clinical service components including providing services to the 350+ student-athletes at UND. He has overseen the Department of Sports Medicine for the past 21 years and has been involved in local, North Dakota, MAATA, and NATA volunteer activities including but not limited to serving on the NDATA Executive Board (3 different positions), the MAATA Hall of Fame Committee, and the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainers Award Committee.
In his spare time, Dr. Westereng likes to play hockey and fish, and he is quick to say that this does not mean he is good at either.
Programs for everyone!
We have programs focused on the mental/psychological side of injury for sports medicine professionals, mental performance consultants, mental health professionals, and athletes! Each program is informed by the latest research in psychological science and sport injury as well as decades of clinical experience working with athletes experiencing sport injury and the professionals who serve them.
Our Psychology of Sport Injury: Science and Practice course is geared toward sports medicine, mental performance, and licensed mental health professionals. Additional CE courses for professionals coming soon!