CMPC Mentorship: Building a Strong Mental Skills Training Curriculum for Your Clients
If you’re a CMPC mentee working toward your certification hours, you’re likely juggling multiple priorities—gaining applied experience, building confidence in your delivery, learning from your mentor, and figuring out how to create a mental skills training curriculum that truly supports your clients.
The good news? You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. With intentional planning, a clear structure, and an evidence-based approach, you can design a curriculum that benefits your clients and strengthens your professional skill set.
In this guide, we’ll explore:
Why curriculum development matters for CMPC Mentees.
The foundational skills every mental skills training program can benefit from.
How to structure your curriculum for different populations.
Practical tips for creating, delivering, and refining your program under CMPC mentorship.
Whether you’re supporting athletes, performers, business professionals, or military personnel, the principles here can help you confidently move from “Where do I start?” to “I have a plan my mentor would be proud of.”
Why Curriculum Development Matters for CMPC Mentees
As a CMPC mentee, your mentorship period isn’t just about logging hours—it’s about learning how to design, implement, and evaluate programs that make an impact.
A strong mental skills training curriculum:
Builds Client Trust – When your clients see a clear, progressive plan, they know you’ve put thought into their development.
Aligns with CMPC Standards – The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) emphasizes evidence-based practice. A curriculum ensures your work is grounded in research and theory.
Supports Consistency – Instead of scrambling for a new activity every session, a curriculum helps you stay focused and intentional.
Documents Your Growth – Your mentor can review and provide feedback on your curriculum, which supports your professional development and competency.
Think of your curriculum as your game plan—it keeps you and your client moving in the right direction.
Core Mental Skills to Include in Your Curriculum
While every client’s needs are different, most evidence-based mental skills programs cover a combination of the following foundational areas.
1. Goal Setting
Why It Matters: Goals direct attention, increase motivation, and provide a benchmark for progress.
How to Teach It: Introduce SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) or SMARTER (adds Evaluate and Re-adjust) frameworks. Encourage both outcome and process goals. Utilize a performance profile to draw awareness to what skills can lead to success in their performance domain, where they are now, and where they’d like to be. Check out other frameworks and find what works best for you and your clients.
Practical Activity: Have clients create a goal map linking daily actions to long-term performance outcomes.
2. Self-Talk
Why It Matters: Internal dialogue affects focus, confidence, and emotional regulation.
How to Teach It: Identify current self-talk patterns, then introduce cue words and reframing strategies. Write positive affirmations and practice utilizing these.
Practical Activity: Self-talk log sheets to track situations, thoughts, and replacement statements.
3. Imagery / Visualization
Why It Matters: Mental rehearsal can enhance confidence, lessen anxiety, and help individuals prepare for competition scenarios.
How to Teach It: Cover PETTLEP imagery (Physical, Environment, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion, Perspective).
Practical Activity: Guided imagery scripts for pre-performance routines.
4. Arousal Regulation
Why It Matters: Optimal performance happens within a certain arousal zone—too high or too low can hurt performance.
How to Teach It: Introduce techniques like diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, or energizing cues. Discuss the IZOF and draw awareness to what their arousal regulation has been when performing at their best/worst and recreate patterns to help them get to this point.
Practical Activity: Pre-performance arousal check-in with tailored regulation strategy.
5. Concentration & Focus
Why It Matters: The ability to shift and sustain attention is key in dynamic performance environments.
How to Teach It: Use drills that simulate distraction and require attentional shifts.
Practical Activity: “Focus grids” or concentration games to strengthen attentional control. Develop refocus routines.
6. Resilience & Coping Strategies
Why It Matters: Athletes and performers will face setbacks—resilience keeps them engaged and adaptable.
How to Teach It: Discuss growth mindset, adaptive self-talk, and recovery plans.
Practical Activity: Setback reflection worksheet followed by solution-focused brainstorming.
7. Mindfulness & Present-Moment Awareness
Why It Matters: Being present can reduce performance anxiety and improve consistency.
How to Teach It: Start with short mindfulness exercises and progress to integrating them into practice or competition.
Practical Activity: “Five senses” grounding exercise before practice or meetings.
Structuring Your Curriculum for Different Clients
One of the challenges as a CMPC mentee is figuring out how to adapt your curriculum for different types of clients. Here’s a basic framework you can adjust based on context:
Phase 1: Assessment & Orientation (Sessions 1–2)
Build rapport.
Conduct a needs assessment (questionnaires, interviews, observation).
Share the purpose of mental skills training and what to expect.
Set initial goals with the client.
Phase 2: Skill Introduction & Practice (Sessions 3–8)
Introduce one new skill per session.
Review previous skills at the start of each session.
Provide both education and experiential practice.
Assign real-world application tasks.
Phase 3: Integration & Application (Sessions 9–12)
Combine multiple skills in complex performance scenarios.
Use simulations, role-plays, or competition preparation drills.
Reflect on challenges and refine techniques.
Phase 4: Evaluation & Transition
Review client progress toward goals.
Discuss how to maintain skills independently.
Provide a takeaway plan or “mental skills toolkit.”
Tips for Developing Your Curriculum Under CMPC Mentorship
Creating your curriculum as a CMPC mentee is both a learning process and a confidence-building exercise. Here’s how to make the most of your mentorship while developing it.
1. Identify Your Target Population
Are you wanting to develop a general curriculum that can be helpful to a wide variety of ages and performance domains or do you want to tailor this to a specific group–youth athletes, collegiate performers, corporate professionals, etc. If creating a general curriculum, use a variety of examples; if getting specific, make your examples, language, and activities more relevant.
2. Build from Evidence-Based Frameworks
Don’t guess—draw from established sport and performance psychology research. Your mentor can help point you toward resources such as Weinberg & Gould’s Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Williams & Krane’s Applied Sport Psychology, or the AASP resources library.
3. Share Drafts with Your Mentor
Don’t wait until your curriculum is “perfect” to share it. Your mentor can give early feedback and help identify any missing elements.
4. Practice Delivering with Low-Stakes Clients
If possible, start with volunteer groups or lower-pressure clients. This lets you refine your delivery and adjust before applying it in higher-stakes environments.
5. Create Adaptable Materials
Develop handouts, worksheets, or slide decks that can be tweaked for different clients. This saves you time in the long run and helps you maintain a professional presentation.
6. Track Client Progress
Build in ways to measure skill acquisition—self-report surveys, performance checklists, or qualitative reflections. This not only improves your program, but also provides value to your mentorship log.
7. Be Ready to Adjust
No matter how well you plan, some clients will need you to pivot. Your curriculum should be a guide, not a rigid script.
Sample 6-Session Mental Skills Curriculum for CMPC Mentees
To give you a starting point, here’s a sample progression you could adapt for your clients:
Session 1
Focus: Orientation & Goal Setting
Key Activity: Needs assessment, intro to mental skills, SMART goals
Client Homework: create 1 outcome goal and two process goals.
Session 2
Focus: Self-Talk Awareness & Restructuring
Key Activity: Thought monitoring, cue words
Client Homework: Self-talk log
Session 3
Focus: Imagery for Performance
Key Activity: PETTLEP framework, guided imagery
Client Homework: Practice imagery before next performance
Session 4
Focus: Arousal Regulation
Key Activity: Breathing & PMR exercises
Client Homework: Use arousal check-in before practice
Session 5
Focus: Concentration Skills
Key Activity: Focus grids, shifting attention drills
Client Homework: Apply focus cues during practice
Session 6
Focus: Integration & Maintenance
Key Activity: Combine skills in simulated performance
Client Homework: Write a personal mental skills plan
This is just a foundation—your mentor can help you adjust based on client needs, time frame, and performance context.
Common Curriculum Development Mistakes to Avoid
Even experienced practitioners make these missteps—so as a CMPC mentee, you can avoid them early.
Overloading Early Sessions – Introduce one skill at a time so clients can actually practice and retain it.
Skipping Needs Assessment – Jumping straight into skill teaching without understanding the client’s context leads to misalignment.
Neglecting Homework/Real-World Practice – Skills stick when applied outside of sessions.
Forgetting Evaluation – Build in regular check-ins to ensure the program is working.
The Role of CMPC Mentorship in Curriculum Development
Your mentor isn’t just there to sign off on your hours—they can help you:
Identify Gaps – Spot missing skills or research support.
Provide Resources – Share worksheets, exercises, or case examples.
Offer Delivery Feedback – Watch recordings or observe sessions to refine your presentation.
Support Ethical Practice – Ensure your curriculum meets professional standards.
A great mentor will help you balance structure with flexibility, so you can confidently deliver sessions while staying client-centered.
Final Thoughts
Designing a mental skills training curriculum under CMPC mentorship is one of the best ways to grow your professional confidence, gain applied experience, and ensure your work aligns with evidence-based practices.
By focusing on foundational skills like goal setting, self-talk, imagery, arousal regulation, concentration, resilience, and mindfulness—and structuring them in a progressive, client-centered way—you’ll set yourself up for success as a future Certified Mental Performance Consultant.
Remember: Your curriculum isn’t set in stone. As you work with different clients and receive mentor feedback, you’ll refine your approach, expand your toolkit, and develop your own unique style of delivery. That’s the beauty of the mentorship process—it’s not just about logging hours, it’s about becoming the kind of practitioner who can design and deliver programs that truly help people perform at their best.
