Erin Prior

Erin graduated with a BSc in Psychology from Coventry University in 2016, followed by an MSc in Sport and  Exercise Psychology from Loughborough University in 2017. Erin went on to set up her own sport psychology consultancy practice and gained Chartered and HCPC registered status in 2020. In 2020, Erin returned to the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University as a Post-Graduate University Teacher to undertake a part-time PhD alongside teaching in psychology and sport and exercise psychology. Erin’s PhD explored how staff within elite sport conceptualise mental health and mental illness, staff experiences of managing athlete mental health support, and an Olympic athlete’s experience of living with bipolar disorder.

In 2025, following her PhD, Erin took up the role as Lecturer in Psychology within the School and continues to practice as an applied sport and exercise psychologist.

Erin’s research focuses on athlete mental health and illness in elite sport settings, with particular emphasis on how mental health and illness are conceptualised and experienced by sporting staff and athletes with mental illness diagnoses. Erin also undertakes research focused on applied sport psychology practice.

Erin is a chartered, HCPC registered sport and exercise psychologist and runs her own consultancy practice working with a range of sporting organisations, teams, universities and athletes.

Erin has acted as a reviewer for various journals including:

• Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health
• Psychology of Sport and Exercise
• British Journal of Sports Medicine
• Journal of Applied Sport Psychology

• Prior, E., Papathomas, A., & Rhind, D. (2025). A balancing act: Sport psychologist insights into supporting athlete mental health in elite sport. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 1-21. DOI: 10.1080/10413200.2025.2462551
• Prior, E., Papathomas, A., & Rhind, D. (2024). Navigating athlete mental health: Perspectives from performance directors within elite sport. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 73, 102661. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychsport.2024.102661
• Papathomas, A., Vargas, M. L. P., & Prior, E. (2024). Embracing trauma-informed practices in athlete disordered eating research. In Trauma-informed research in sport, exercise, and health (pp. 106-122). Routledge.
• Prior, E. (2023). What Dreams Are Made of? A Sport Psychologist's Reflection of Their First International Tournament. In Navigating Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology (pp. 181-192). Routledge.
• Prior, E., & Holder, T. (2023). Navigating Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology.
• Papathomas, A., Vargas, M. L. F. P., & Prior, E. (2022). Disordered eating in child and youth sport: The role of the coach. Routledge handbook of coaching children in sport, 156-164.
• Prior, E., Papathomas, A., & Rhind, D. (2022). A systematic scoping review of athlete mental health within competitive sport: interventions, recommendations, and policy. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 1-23. DOI: 10.1080/1750984X.2022.2095659
• Prior, E. E., & Coates, J. K. (2020). Archers’ experiences of target panic: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 12(2), 224-241. DOI: 10.1080/2159676X.2019.1599061