Kendra Bullard, MS, CMPC
Visiting Instructor
Performance, Sport and Exercise Psychology Program Manager
Kinesiology and Nutrition
Contact
Building & Room:
Physical Education Building 336
Address:
901 Roosevelt Rd
Email:
Related Sites:
About
Kendra is a Visiting Instructor and Program Manager for the Performance, Sport, and Exercise Psychology (PSEP) master's concentration in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois Chicago. She is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses in kinesiology mainly focused in sport psychology and wellbeing.
Her professional and research interests center on pain, injury, mental performance, mental health, and well-being in sport and performance settings. Her research experience includes mental health in athletics and career-ending injury, and her current collaborative research explores athlete-guide relationships in paratriathlon. As a mental performance consultant, she works extensively with collegiate athletes, athletic trainers, and athletic departments, supporting performance, injury recovery, and overall wellbeing across a variety of populations and settings.
As a former collegiate volleyball player whose athletic career ended following injury, she brings both personal and professional perspectives to her work. She views teaching as an opportunity to learn alongside students and values the ideas, experiences, and perspectives they bring to the classroom. Her goal as an educator is to help students become not only knowledgeable professionals, but more thoughtful and self-aware people. She values creating a space where students can learn from one another, explore their own perspectives and strengths, and carry what they discover about themselves into their future work and lives.
Selected Grants
Association of Applied Sport Psychology, Exploring the Athlete-Guide Relationship in Paratriathlon, Co-Investigator
Notable Honors
2025, Gloria Balague Alumni Award, University of Illinois Chicago
Education
Master of Science in Kinesiology, University of Illinois Chicago, 2024
Concentration: Performance, Sport, & Exercise Psychology
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of St. Francis, 2022
Minor: Criminal and Social Justice
Thesis: “Career Beginning” Chapter in Life
Licensures and Certifications
Certified Mental Performance Consultant® (CMPC), Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP)
Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
Inclusive Scholars Certificate Program (IESCP)
Professional Memberships
Association for Applied Sport Psychology (2022 - Present)
Psi Chi (2021 – Present)
Selected Presentations
- 50,000 Runners, One Psyching Team: Delivering Ethical Sport Psychology at World Marathon Majors — FEPSAC European Congress of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2026
- Athletes’ Emotional Recovery Following Severe Sports Injury — FEPSAC European Congress of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2026
- Beyond Lectures: Innovative Learner-Centered Teaching Strategies in Sport and Performance Psychology Courses — Association for Applied Sport Psychology, 2025
- Working with Injured Athletes: Structures & Processes — Association for Applied Sport Psychology, 2023
- “Career Beginning” Chapter in Life — Midwest Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium, 2022
- From Problem-talk to Performance: Introducing Solution-Focused Brief Training for Mental Performance Consultants — Association for Applied Sport Psychology, 2026 (scheduled)
- “The Stalled Upper Extremity Athlete: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Evaluation and Management,” American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting, 2027 (Scheduled)
Research Currently in Progress
An Examination of Athlete Guide Relationships in Paratriathlon, Co-Investigator, University of Illinois Chicago (April 2025 – Present)