In their forthcoming book, Mentality Wins: The Athlete’s Playbook for Thriving in Sport and Life (January 2026), sport psychologist Dr. Jonathan Jenkins and sport clinician and researcher Dr. Kimberly O’Brien join forces to bring attention to the importance of mental health in young athletes and to give them the tools to cope.

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In the book, Jenkins and O’Brien outline how mentality is what sets great athletes apart and that mental health and athletic performance are inextricably linked. While society tends to celebrate strength, speed, and agility, mental skills like focus, grit, and emotion-regulation are just as important. 

Jenkins and O’Brien bring decades of expertise to the topic. Jenkins teaches at Harvard Medical School and serves as clinical and sport psychologist for the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox. O’Brien has published extensively on adolescent mental health and is the founder and director of two athlete mental health programs, as well as a former Harvard National Champion athlete.

Jenkins and O’Brien decided to collaborate on the new book because it is a critical time for young athletes. In September 2025, the World Health Organization reported* one in seven adolescents experience a mental health disorder, with many of them refraining from seeking professional support. 

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For athletes specifically, a 2023 study** found 91 percent of high school athletes experience some level of stress due to sports, with 27 percent experiencing moderate to extreme stress. A 2024 Baylor study*** found collegiate and elite athletes at a higher risk of developing anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders because of unique pressures they face.

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“We wrote this book because of what we’re seeing in the young athletes we speak to every day as well as what we’ve heard from coaches,” O’Brien said. “Our society puts so much pressure on student athletes and elite athletes right now, and we continue to hear from coaches that they need more resources to help athletes handle the mental side, whether it’s in their sport or personal life.”

Mentality Wins has received early acclaim from leaders in sport, including former Harvard women’s basketball coach and Hall of Famer Kathy Delaney-Smith, an 11-time Ivy League champion and the winningest Ivy League basketball coach of all-time, men’s or women’s.  “After 51 years of coaching, I know the mental game is what separates good from great, and this book captures that truth better than anything I have ever seen,” Delaney-Smith said. “Mentality Wins offers clear strategies for navigating the toughest moments in sports, on teams, and in life. If I’d had this book years ago, I would have handed it to every athlete and to every coach I knew.”

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In Mentality Wins, Jenkins and O’Brien outline four core skills athletes must develop when it comes to mentality:
The ability to focus, 
The ability to get into a flow state, 
The ability to finish strong no matter what, and 
The self confidence to flourish in their sport and life outside of the game.

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To help other athletes improve these skills, Jenkins and O’Brien use examples from their own lives as lifelong athletes as well as stories from athletes they’ve worked with and superstars like Michael Phelps and Steph Curry to show the importance of the mental game. Each chapter includes easy, actionable routines and exercises readers can use to conquer similar challenges.

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Jenkins said while some might think it’s easy to dismiss sport-related stress, sports represent more than just a hobby or activity, and sport psychology exercises can be used for a variety of scenarios, whether it’s on a field, in a classroom, or at a boardroom.

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“Sports for young athletes is the first truly long term relationship of their lives, outside of the household,” Jenkins said. “It provides tremendous emotional energy every time they participate and it gives something for the family to get excited about, which can add additional pressures. Regardless of age or skill level, the top performers–whether it’s sports or any situation–are the ones who know how to cope with mental and emotional distractions while under pressure. Our goal with the book is to provide much-needed tools athletes can easily implement, whether it’s for sports or any challenges life throws at them.”

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Mentality Wins: The Athlete’s Playbook for Thriving in Sport and Life is available for pre-order now on Amazon as an e-book. The paperback format will be available Jan. 26, 2026. To learn more and join the mailing list for updates, visit MentalityWins.com.

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ENDS

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Sources
*World Health Organization 

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health

**Health Psychology Research

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9946800/

***Baylor University

https://news.web.baylor.edu/news/story/2024/addressing-mental-health-challenges-olympic-and-elite-athletes

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Media contact:
Haley Raymond
Haley Raymond PR & Communications
haley@haleyraymond.com
207-227-7850

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About Jonathan Jenkins
Dr. Jonathan Haywood Jenkins, Psy.D, CMPC, is the founder of Mental Fitness & Psychotherapy, LLC, and has spent more than a decade at Massachusetts General Brigham Hospital supporting athletes' mental health and performance. A member of the Harvard Medical School teaching community, he serves as Team Clinical and Performance Psychologist for the New England Patriots, Behavioral Sport Psychologist for the Boston Red Sox, and Sport Psychology Consultant for the Para Rowing Foundation. He is also the author of Wednesday Afternoons with Dr. J., a children's book he wrote to encourage youth to be brave in therapy. Jonathan attended Guilford College (B.S., Psychology) where he was a four-year member and co-captain of the lacrosse team, and he later obtained his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology.

 

About Kim O’Brien
Dr. Kimberly H. McManama O’Brien, PhD, LICSW, is the founder and director of Unlimited Resilience, LLC, a therapy and sport psychology practice for athletes by athletes, and the co-founder and co-director of Athletes Better Together, LLC, an athlete peer mentoring program. O’Brien has co-authored more than 75 articles and book chapters related to adolescent suicide, substance use, and mental health, and was awarded the Young Investigator Research Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2019. She is also the co-author of Emotionally Naked: A Teacher’s Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk. Kim received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where she was a four-year member and co-captain of the hockey team, winning a National Championship in 1999. She obtained her MSW and PhD from Boston College and completed her postdoctoral studies at Brown University.