LICENSED ART PSYCHOTHERAPIST + MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACH
KAT SAYEGH, MS, MPS, LCAT, CLAT, ATR-BC
Former college athlete.
Licensed Art Psychotherapist in New York and Connecticut.
Certified Mental Performance Consultant candidate.
WESTCHESTER, NY. VIRTUAL ACROSS NY + CT
Education:
Commonwealth University Lock Haven
Master of Science
Sport and Performance Psychology
Pratt Institute:
Master of Professional Studies
Art Therapy and Creativity Development
Credentials:
Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT), New York
Clinical Licensed Art Therapist (CLAT), Connecticut
Nationally Registered and Board Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC)
Certified Mental Performance Consultant candidate
MY STORY
As an athlete, I learned pretty early on how to push through difficult things.
LEARNING HOW TO PUSH THROUGH
Work harder. Shake it off. Get back out there. Don’t let anyone see when something is getting to you.
And for a while, I was really good at that.
UNTIL I WASN’T.
WHEN A CAREER-ENDING INJURY CHANGED EVERYTHING
I got hurt. Then I got hurt again, and again. And eventually, one of those injuries ended my career.
The physical side made sense to me. Surgery. PT. Ice. Get stronger. Work your way back. There was always a next step. Something I could do that felt like I had control of.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the mental and emotional part that came with it, and having absolutely no idea what to do with any of it.
There was a plan for getting my body back.
There wasn’t really a plan for what was happening to me underneath all of that.
THE EMOTIONAL SIDE OF INJURY NO ONE PREPARED ME FOR
The frustration of not being able to compete. The grief of remembering what my body used to be capable of and realizing I couldn’t do those things anymore. I missed playing. I missed competing. I missed feeling like myself. And when so much of who I was had been built around being an athlete, I didn’t really know who I was without it. I knew injuries hurt physically. I wasn’t prepared for how much they could hurt emotionally, too.
At the time, I didn’t think of any of that as mental health. I thought I was supposed to be tough and just bottle it up.
There’s an old school, unspoken rule in sports: push through. Don’t complain. Don’t dwell. And definitely don’t let anyone think you can’t handle it.
So when the injuries started affecting me emotionally, talking about it wasn’t something I knew how to do.
HOW ART THERAPY BECAME MY WAY THROUGH
ART WAS MY NATURAL RESPONSE AND WAY OF COPING WITH ALL THE EMOTIONAL STUFF.
I started painting during my injuries without really knowing why. I didn’t have to sit down and say, “I’m struggling.” I didn’t have to name exactly what I was feeling or find the right words for it.
I could just create something.
What I couldn’t say still had a way to get out.
Art gave me a way to express what I was going through without feeling like I was breaking the unspoken rules of being an athlete.
MY FIRST REAL EXPERIENCE WITH ATHLETE MENTAL HEALTH
Looking back, those injuries weren’t just physical. They were my first real experience with my own mental health. And art was my way through.
It gave me a way to understand emotions I didn’t yet know how to talk about. It helped me make sense of what I was carrying and, eventually, begin figuring out who I was outside of what I could do on the basketball court.
WHERE MY PURPOSE AS A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL BEGAN
That’s where the purpose started. Not all at once. Not because I suddenly knew exactly what I was supposed to do with my life.
It grew from understanding firsthand that what an athlete is carrying mentally and emotionally can be just as significant as what they’re experiencing physically — even when no one else can see it.
I wanted to understand that more — how we process what happens to us, how we express the things we don’t have words for, and how identity, self-worth, pressure, loss, and performance can become so deeply connected.
BRINGING ART THERAPY AND SPORT PSYCHOLOGY TOGETHER
Today, I’m a licensed and board-certified art psychotherapist with an additional master’s degree in sport and performance psychology, and a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) candidate. Resilient Athlete Mental Health brings those two worlds together — mental health and sport — because I believe athletes deserve support that understands both.
You can be driven and still struggle.
You can be resilient and still need support.
You can love your sport without letting it define your worth.
And you don’t have to have the words to start.
MY PURPOSE AT RESILIENT ATHLETE MENTAL HEALTH
My purpose is to create a space where athletes can show up as their whole selves — not just as performers. A place where what’s happening underneath matters, where struggling doesn’t take away from your strength, and where there’s room to work through the things that can be difficult to put into words.
