Dr. Dana A. Sinclair (BPE ’85) is a performance psychologist at Human Performance International (HPI), where she consults with clients from the medical, corporate and entertainment worlds as well as professional athletes in the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLS, IndyCar, PGA, Tennis Canada and the Olympics. She enjoys working with highly skilled and motivated individuals; and is currently writing a book on performing under pressure, using client experiences as examples.
As a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family Practice at UBC, Dr. Sinclair also recently received a long-term service award from the Faculty of Medicine! In her words, “this simple acknowledgment reminded me of how professional and inspiring UBC is and has always been for me.”
Dana reflects fondly on her memories at UBC. “I actually started off as an Aggie getting water bombed in class by engineers before I happily found my way to KIN.” While playing on the national field hockey team, she also played varsity with her sister, Robyn Sinclair, and recalls that it was “great fun when our 1982 team was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame.”
Her degree in Kinesiology set her up to attend Miami University, Ohio, for a Masters degree, followed by a Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa, both in Sport Psychology. After this, she pursued further training that would allow her to become a registered psychologist. She completed a second Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge in England and returned to Vancouver to work in Reproductive Psychiatry at St. Paul’s and BC Women’s hospitals until she became a founding partner of Human Performance International (HPI) with her husband James Sleeth, who also studied Kinesiology.
Dr. Dana Sinclair is thankful to her father, esteemed UBC KIN alumnus and professor-emeritus Dr. Gary Sinclair, for the encouragement to simply ‘always be yourself’.
Dana’s tip to any new alumni: “It takes courage to try to be good at something, especially when the outcome is meaningful to you. Whatever you do, or want to do better, coach yourself to calm down and pay attention to the task in front of you, on what you need to do. As one of my more spirited and colourful clients likes to say, ‘You gotta get the most out of what ya got! Right Dana?’ Absolutely.”
