The College of Management Academic Studies is offering a unique Master’s level program in the field of sport psychology. This two-year program features Israel’s first MA in psychology of sports, effort and physical training. The program is coordinated together with the head psychologist at the Ministry of Health to establish a psychology of sports program – a formal specialization of the Israeli Psychological Association and includes practical training.

The MA program focuses on the scientific background as well as the applied tools for enhancing performance with mental skills training. Graduates of the program are certified to tend to and assist athletes in various associations and teams in individual and team sports. The program offers opportunities for applied work in accordance to the CMPC certification, with over 400 hours of applied work, including 200 hours of direct client contact. Unlike in the US, graduates of the program are eligible to register as psychologists in Israel. This provides a more coherent career path to future sport psychologists. Graduates will be able to work in schools and youth clubs, the Israel Defense Forces, and with private clients. In those roles, they will provide the amateur and professional athlete with the tools to create the ideal mental climate for enabling their best physical abilities and determination to fulfill their goals and advance the development, health, and well-being of the individual through fitness and sport activities. The knowledge created and the tools and skills learned throughout this degree allow its graduates to work not only with athletes, but also with senior managers and others who work in high-pressure environments in which they have to perform at their best over time while attaining their goals and maintaining their physical and mental health.

The program’s faculty includes some of the region’s experts in the field of sport psychology: Dr. Iris Orbach, Dr. Lael Gershgoren, Prof. Boris Blumenstein, and Dr. Asaf Blatt. Their research interests vary from mental skills training to biofeedback, high-performing teams, and physical activity – well-being relationships.