Sport Psychologist
Favourite Sporting Moment: When Australia won the America’s Cup using the infamous winged keel in 1983. It really cemented the view that money, history, and home ground advantage can be overcome by a hard-working team on a mission.
Location: Michelle is based in Melbourne, Australia. She sees Victorian clients from her home office in Mentone and everyone else via webcam.
Psychologist Registration Number with the Psychology Board of Australia: PSY0001119210. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to watch a short 30-second video of a search of her listing as a psychologist.
More About Michelle …
Dr. Michelle Pain completed all her degrees at Monash University (BSc 1981-83; DepEdPsych 1984; MEd 1985 – 1987; and a part-time PhD 1988-1994). She played netball and competed in track and field, becoming a team manager and official (and she was made a Life Member at Doncaster Athletic Club in 1991).
Michelle’s interest in sport psychology was piqued by a fellow 400m hurdler. She noted that she would train and perform brilliantly in National competitions but would be affected by nerves in international competitions.
Having nearly completed an undergraduate psychology degree, Michelle enquired of her Head of Department how one became a sport psychologist in Australia. Upon hearing that it was only possible in the USA, resolved to work toward establishing Australia’s first sport psychology coursework Masters degree. Which she did at Monash University in 1992). She has taught (or continues to teach) sport psychology units at Monash and Deakin universities since 1988.
More Than Thirty Years of Experience
Michelle has had 30+ years of experience as a practising sport psychologist. She has worked with athletes and coaches at every level. She helped establish sport psychology as a specialist title within psychology in Australia. Furthermore Michelle introduced psychological testing at the AFL Draft Camp and has worked with multiple AFL clubs to help them select recruits. She later developed resources for athletes around the world to assist their development of sport psychology skills.
Michelle has two adult sons. Her eldest son is now retired, but competed at the elite level of gymnastics for the last 10 years. A few years ago she helped him recover from a spinal injury which ultimately saw him successfully return to sport after 2 years on the sidelines. Michelle’s youngest son is a part-owner of an eSports organisation. This has resulted in Michelle becoming very familiar with the psychology of esports. Since 2019, Michelle has worked with professional teams and players in multiple regions (EU, NA and SEA, as well as OCE/ANZ) in Valorant, Rocket League, CS:GO, Rainbow 6, League of Legends, and PUBG. One of her Valorant teams competed at the Berlin Major (Sept 2021) and another moved from OCE to NA to chase their dreams of success. In addition, she has worked with the number 1 PUBG team in the world (currently chasing a second World title in Korea in 2022). She is a well-respected member of esports communities across the world.
Although Dr. Pain has worked across almost every sport now she has particularly impressive experience in swimming, tennis. cricket, equestrian, AFL, gymnastics, golf and esports.
If you’d like to find out more about how you could work with Dr. Michelle Pain simply mention her name when completing the form on our Contact Us page.