NSU Alumna Combines Passions for Psychology and Sports in Work

Andrea Corn, Psy.D., did not follow a traditional route into graduate school, but the path she forged allowed her to combine her passions for sports and helping people.

Corn was drawn to psychology after experiencing the benefits of therapy firsthand.

“I went into therapy to heal my own unresolved emotional wounds,” she said. “I did not ever intend to become a psychologist; this was not a career path.”

Originally from St. Louis, Corn said her parents pressed her to marry at an early age. After having two children, she divorced her husband and went into therapy. It was in therapy that Corn said she finally felt heard, her feelings were validated and understood by someone.

“My parents meant well; they loved me and cared about me, but they never knew how to really listen as feeling were often dismissed or ignored” she said.

According to Corn, her experiences in therapy were transformational and placed her on the path to psychology. She returned to school and earned a bachelor’s in psychology from Florida Atlantic University before beginning graduate school at Nova Southeastern University. Corn credits her faculty advisor, Bernard Eingold, with encouraging her to pursue a doctorate in Clinical Psychology instead of the master’s program. In working through the doctoral program, multiple faculty members were helpful and supportive – notably Robert C. Lane, as they collaborated on four scholarly journal articles. Other professors who were influential included Jan Faust (Child Assessment and Testing), Alan Katell (Interviewing) Eugene Shapiro (Mentoring), and Jim Taylor (Sports).

During this time, she balanced the demands of graduate school with raising two young children on her own. Corn worked with children and adolescents for her clinical practicums and matched at Miami Children’s Hospital for her full year, full-time doctoral internship. Working at the in-patient unit, Corn carried out psychological testing and specialized in emotional/behavioral disorders, eating disorders and PTSD. Corn worked with children from different socioeconomic backgrounds and integrated sports psychology into her practice.

“I’ve played a lot of sports since childhood,” she said. “Sports has always been a part of my practice because I look at it as all the life lessons that children can learn.”

In 1995, she brought sports and children together again with a teen sports network radio show on an AM radio station. Working with 40 high schoolers for six months, Corn produced and hosted the show, which included segments on athletes as role models, plus a mailbag answering questions from teen athletes about their anxieties and problems.

Since her time at NSU, Corn has worked in both group and solo practices across South Florida. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at St. Thomas University, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in sports psychology in the business school. Outside of clinical practice and teaching, Corn has given many talks locally (i.e., schools, libraries, bookstores) as well presentations at state and national conferences. And, for years she wrote columns on mental health and parenting topics tor the Miami Herald, Sporting Kid (of the National Alliance of Youth Sports), Lighthouse Point, and South Florida Parenting magazine.

Corn wanted to reach a wider audience for her sports-based work, which led to her teaming up with sports columnist Ethan J. Skolnick to co-write the 2012 book “Raising Your Game: Over 100 Accomplished Athletes Help You Guide Your Girls and Boys Through Sports.” The book featured interviews with over 100 athletes from different fields like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Dan Marino. In each interview, athletes discussed their childhoods, including family structure, socioeconomic background, and culture. Collectively, the book shows parents and children the benefits of participating in sports.

“Sports teaches us so much about ourselves in how you handle victory, defeat, and adversity,” Corn said. “It teaches universal life lessons.”

Corn is grateful for the education she received at NSU and the lasting relationships she built with faculty members. After finding success in the field for many years, and devoting time to her family as an actively involved grandmother has added renewed purpose, Corn feels reinvigorated to shift her focus on giving back to students, the community, and sharing her life experiences of psychology’s invaluable role.