Dr Tracy Donachie

• Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology Psychology
• Email: tracy.donachie@newcastle.ac.uk
• Role: Event Organiser/Treasurer

Tracy is a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology in the School of Psychology. Tracy is a Chartered membership with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Tracy has over 20 years’ experience of working in applied sport environments as a semi-professional footballer, a coach, and a deliverer of performance psychology to athletes, teams, and coaches. Tracy is Head of Psychosocial Development at York City Regional Talent Club and Technical Director of Berwick Rangers Football Club. She has previously provided performance psychology support to Scotland National Women's Football teams, Scottish Gymnastics, Hearts Football Academy, South Lanarkshire Leisure, Edinburgh University Football Club, Hamilton Academical Football Club, Mental Health Foundation, NHS Yorkshire, TransSoccer and many more. Tracy has also delivered strategies to manage exam stress to over 1200 students in schools, colleges, and universities across Yorkshire for Higher York, the National Collaborative Program, and York University.  

Tracy completed her PhD at University of Leeds/York St John University in 2018. Her doctoral research examined perfectionism, overthinking, and emotions in youth football players.  She specifically examined the role of perfectionistic cognitions in pre-competition emotions (e.g., anxiety, anger, and dejection). Furthermore, in her recent publication, she examined the effectiveness of a psychoeducational book on reducing perfectionism which found that self-help interventions may be effective in reducing socially prescribed perfectionism, perfectionistic cognitions, anxiety, anger, and dejection. This study was the first in sport to examine the effectiveness of an intervention specifically for perfectionism.  Tracy’s continues her research in personality and is currently examining the role of perfectionism in mental health of professional footballers. Furthermore, she is also examining the role of the Dark Triad in experience of youth athletes.