About

I'm Adam Wright. Director of Mental Performance for the Washington Nationals and Co-Founder of The Antifragile Academy.

I work with elite performers in sport, business, medicine, law, and tactical professions—people whose decisions and composure define outcomes.

How I Got Here

I started in philosophy—studying meaning, consciousness, human flourishing. Then spent time in corporate America before shifting to applied physiology. I wanted to bridge physical training with psychological insight.

That intersection—mind, body, and meaning—has shaped everything since.

Early on, I realized physical readiness alone wasn't enough. Many high achievers looked the part but struggled with burnout, identity conflict, and internal pressure that had nothing to do with their training plan.

That led me to doctoral work in sport and exercise psychology at Temple, and later, clinical training through a master's in mental health counseling at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.

The clinical work taught me to look deeper. Not just what drives behavior, but why. Unconscious patterns. Identity dynamics. The psychological structures that shape how people perform under pressure.

That background shapes how I see the work. The work itself stays performance-focused—not clinical treatment, but performance consulting and coaching informed by clinical depth.

Who I've Worked With

I've spent two decades in demanding environments where outcomes matter and pressure is constant.

In elite sport: MLB, NFL, and MLS athletes. Olympic hopefuls. European PGA golfers. International rugby and lacrosse players. Collegiate teams. All-Americans. Elite athletes navigating competition, transition, and identity development at the highest levels of their sport.

In business and law: Executives at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citadel, McKinsey, and Google. Leaders in venture capital, private equity, and tech. Senior law firm partners and managing teams working on decision-making, communication, and leadership in volatile, high-stakes roles.

In creative, medical, and tactical fields: Award-winning actors, comedians, musicians, conductors, writers, startup founders, trauma surgeons, and law enforcement and first responders. People operating under intense scrutiny, uncertainty, or isolation, where clarity and composure are essential.

With my team at the Antifragile Academy, we've presented at the United Nations, Sony Music, and leading law firms on performance, resilience, and leadership under pressure.

I've also taught psychology and exercise science at the university level and continue to mentor graduate students, interns, and early-career professionals in mental performance, counseling, and high-stakes leadership.

My Philosophy

Performance isn't a mindset. It's a system.

It's not about feeling motivated. It's about having something solid when motivation fades.

I help clients build that system—mentally, emotionally, and physically. Through structure, repetition, and depth, we train the architecture beneath performance so it holds when conditions break down.

The goal isn't just surviving pressure. It's growth through it. Clarity in chaos. Something that lasts.

For People Who Don't Usually Seek Support

Most of the people I work with never planned to ask for help. They're high-functioning, self-reliant, skeptical of anything that feels soft or surface-level.

Whether the goal is peak performance, a complete reset, or working through something buried under years of achievement, the process is the same: build the internal capacity to meet life directly and grow from it.

Not motivation. Not mindset tricks. The real work, based on trust, depth, and mutual respect.

Credentials

Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), Association for Applied Sport Psychology

Professional Certified Coach (PCC), International Coaching Federation

Certified Exercise Physiologist (EP-C), American College of Sports Medicine

Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), National Strength and Conditioning Association

Licensed Associate Counselor (LAC), State of New Jersey (#37AC00846600) - practicing under supervision of Dr. Patricia Bratt

Registered Provider, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (Mental Health and Performance)

Education

Ph.D., Kinesiology: Psychology of Movement, Applied Sport & Exercise Psychology, Temple University

M.Ed., Kinesiology: Psychology of Movement, Applied Sport & Exercise Psychology, Temple University

M.A., Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis

B.A., Philosophy/Psychology, La Salle University (Maxima Cum Laude, Psi Chi, Pi Kappa Phi)

Graduate Certificate, Organizational Behavior & Executive Coaching, University of Texas at Dallas