Alan’s journey into the world of mental performance began with a fascination for the mental aspect of sports when he was a five-sport high school athlete in Hong Kong. At one point, Alan lost his motivation for his main sport – table tennis – but his coach and teammates supported him to not only play through college but also become the captain and help the team win the college championship. That experience allowed Alan to recognize the crucial role of motivation and mental performance and propelled his pursuit of graduate studies and a career in the United States.
More than a decade into the high-performance consulting industry, Dr. Alan Chu is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant and a member of the USOPC Sport Psychology and Mental Training Registry, working with athletes and performers across ages and levels to achieve optimal performance and well-being since 2012. Alan is also a professor and an expert in the areas of motivation, mindfulness, and positive psychology.
Alan is passionate about applying science to practice while considering the cultural background and identity important to his clients. His coaching philosophy is grounded in humanistic and positive psychology, with the belief that every human has unique strengths and the inner drive to perform at their best with proper guidance and support. When determining productive actions to take, Alan works with clients to dissect their personal and performance environments as well as explore their strengths and values to to gain clarity and embrace authenticity.
To practice what he preaches, he is still actively involved in sports as a competitive table tennis (not the basement “ping pong”!) player and an internationally certified coach.