Maddie Barron, Psy.D, HSPP

Dr. Maddie Barron is a licensed clinical/sport psychologist specializing in treating the continuum of mental health and performance needs of elite athletes. As Director of the Mental Health & Performance Psychology practice at the Women’s Health, Sports & Performance Institute (WHSP), she integrates clinical expertise, evidence-based care, and firsthand athletic experience to help athletes perform and thrive.

Prior to joining WHSP, Dr. Barron served as a Clinical/Sport Psychologist at Northwestern University and the University of Connecticut, where she provided mental health and mental performance services to Division I student-athletes across a wide range of sports. Most recently at Northwestern, Dr. Barron was a core member of the sport psychology team and various high performance and multidisciplinary teams. In this role she supported individual athletes, along with multidisciplinary and coaching staff to elevate the health, well-being and performance of student-athletes and teams while striving to enhance the various systems student-athletes are a part of.

Dr. Barron has dedicated her career and clinical expertise to working with elite performers and advancing the education, prevention, identification and clinical practice for the continuum of disordered eating in sport and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDS). Her passion for this work was kickstarted by her doctoral dissertation which replicated a 2002 study published by the NCAA and leaders in the field of eating disorders in sport. The study’s reach yielded responses from over 1,000 Division I coaches examining their knowledge, attitudes and interventions with female athletes with disordered eating and the Female Athlete Triad later informing her work with prevention and education initiatives in collegiate athletics.

A former Division I volleyball student-athlete at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Barron understands the unique pressures and demands of high-level sport. Her background as an athlete continues to shape her collaborative, athlete-centered approach to care, helping performers live a life with meaning and develop mental skills, resilience, and confidence both in and out of sport.