Meet Our Team

Full Professor, SEWP Lab Director, uOttawa

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Dr. Natalie Durand-Bush is a sport psychology professor, scientist, and practitioner in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. She is the Director of the SEWP LAB (https://www.sewplab.com/). Her areas of specialization include psychological skills training and assessment, mental health, coaching psychology, and smartphones/social media. As a Mental Performance Consultant for the past 25 years, Natalie has helped amateur and professional athletes and coaches of all ages, sports, and levels achieve their performance and well-being goals. A relentless advocate for the field of sport psychology, she has co-founded and chaired the Canadian Sport Psychology Association (CSPA) and has served as the Vice-President of the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP). Natalie is currently the President of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and is an AASP Fellow. In her role as AASP’s immediate past Publications and Information Division Head, she is co-editing AASP’s forthcoming Essential Guide for Mental Performance Consultants.

Throughout the years, Natalie has always been physically active. She enjoyed doing martial arts, playing softball, and curling. She has watched her daughter and son engage in variety of competitive sports and has supported their specialization in hockey and soccer in their teenage years. She was also a big fan of her late husband’s hockey game. She has witnessed firsthand the positive impact of sports on family members and friends who have experienced mental health challenges.

Mental Health Manager, Game Plan

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Dr. Krista Van Slingerland is currently serving as Game Plan’s Mental Health Manager. She completed her doctoral studies within the SEWP Lab in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Her research focused on mental health and mental illness in competitive and high-performance athletes. Krista became interested in this area of study following her own struggles with mental illness as a university athlete, which illuminated harsh realities about the sport system and culture that can deter help-seeking and diminish the importance of mental health. Krista co-founded the Student-Athlete Mental Health Initiative (SAMHI) in 2013, a charity devoted to promoting and protecting the mental health of Canada’s university athletes. A conference All-Star for the uOttawa Gee-Gees, Krista received the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Tracy MacLeod Award for her determination and unwavering spirit. Now retired from competitive sport, Krista is enjoying giving back to the sporting community through coaching, advocacy work, and research. As an integral member of the SEWP Lab, Krista designed, implemented, and evaluated a sport-focused collaborative mental health care model within the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS) to improve mental health services for competitive and high-performance athletes and coaches.

Board Chair | Director, ESG Program, Export Development Canada

Board Vice-chair | Investor & Strategic Advisor, Freelance

Board Treasurer | Digital Transformation Lead, ADGA Group Consultants

CCMHS Board Member | Lawyer, Merchant Law Group

Board Member | Director,
High Performance Sport Programs, Queen’s University