Hi Reader,
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Happy May! Competitive season is in full swing, and we've got some genuinely exciting updates to share from the Skadi HQ. (Spoiler: graduations, transitions, a new intern, and one research-backed insight that might just save your team chemistry this season.)
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Let's dive in. 👇🏻

🎉 Exciting Team Updates

🎓Huge congratulations to Laurie!
​Laurie graduates with her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling this week and will be joining our team full-time beginning May 25th. Her books are now open for ages 9-25 for mental health therapy in Minnesota and performance coaching anywhere outside of MN at $175/session. If you’re interested in working with Laurie, schedule your free consult here.​
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💚Staci’s onto her next adventure!
​Staci is wrapping up her year at Skadi, but she’s not disappearing completely. She’ll be staying on for what we’re calling “tiny time” to continue supporting Sisters in Sport (SIS) athletes for another year of adventure together. She’ll be transitioning this summer, and we’re wishing her all the best as she heads to St. Thomas next year for her final year of PhD training. Her books will be closing soon to prep for this transition.
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​📚Hannah is almost Dr. Silva-Breen!
​Hannah is in the final stretch of her PhD program! She defended her dissertation on April 30th, and graduates this August from West Virginia University with a PhD in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. Big congrats to her as she crosses this massive finish line.
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​👋🏻Welcome, Caitlin!
​We’re excited to welcome Caitlin Coffee (she/her) to the team as our summer intern. Like many over-achievers, she decided to start earlier than planned, and joined us part-time a few weeks ago. Caitlin is a multi-sport athlete and 3rd year student at St. Olaf College. She is studying psychology and kinesiology with the goal of becoming a sport psychologist. We’re thrilled to have her on board, as she supports Skadi with content creation and administrative projects behind the scenes!
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​👀And the rest of us?
​Erin, Katie, Sam, Lexi (and Billy!) are still going strong and are not going anywhere anytime soon. In a world with a lot of employee turnover, there’s something really special about having so much stability and cohesion amongst our team.
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Finally, you may have noticed Mochi, our newest furry Skadi teammate and Erin’s cat, occasionally crashing the virtual party. She’s officially part of the crew now.

🧠 Now, Let’s Talk About Your Team

With all this growth happening at Skadi, I’ve been reflecting on team dynamics a lot lately.
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Specifically, the silent ways teams start to fracture mid-season—not because of a lack of talent or effort, but because of misunderstanding. Here’s what keeps happening:
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One athlete gets visibly frustrated after a mistake….pacing, vocal, expressive. Another goes quiet….jaw tight, stepping back, processing internally. And in that moment, the vocal player thinks: Why don’t they care? The quiet player thinks: Why are they angry at me?
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​After decades of research on stress response and team dynamics, sport psychology has highlighted what many of us experience but few understand: Everyone on your team likely cares quite deeply. They just show it differently. Research with over 600 athletes shows we respond to adversity on a spectrum from external to internal processing.
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​📢 External responders cope through action and expression. They vocalize frustration, process out loud, move through emotion physically. Their visible emotion isn’t anger at anyone—it’s their way of working through challenge.
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​🤫 Internal responders cope through reflection and regulation. They need quiet, space, time to think. Their contained emotion isn’t indifference, it’s focused processing under pressure.
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Both can be highly effective. The problem isn’t the difference. It’s the misunderstanding. When external responders see silence, they assume apathy. When internal responders see expression, they assume anger directed at them.
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So when your teammate goes quiet after a tough moment, resist the urge to assume they’ve checked out. Internal responders need space to process and refocus. Give them that space, then check in with a simple question: “What do you need right now?”

And when your other teammate gets vocal and visibly frustrated, resist the urge to take it personally. External responders are expressing investment in the outcome, not anger at you. Recognize the passion, then help them channel it: “I hear you. What’s one thing we can control right now?”
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Most importantly, your team needs both response styles operating in tandem. When chaos hits, you need the calm presence of internal responders to keep the team grounded and the rallying energy of external responders to mobilize action. In the latest blog post, we explore more on this topic👇🏻

🎙️ This Week on the Feisty Women’s Performance Podcast…
​Join us for a compelling discussion with Rebecca McConville as we dive into the critical topic of LEA & REDs. Discover how to recognize the signs of underfueling and empower yourself with strategies to optimize both physical and mental health for peak performance.
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🎧Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

✉️I’m curious, do you identify more as an external or internal responder when adversity hits?
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​Hit reply and let me know. I read every response, and I’d love to hear your experience.
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Til next time,
Dr. A

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