As part of our Lecture Series, we were honored to sponsor a virtual Zoom event featuring a presentation by Tom Smalley, a National OCD Advocate, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Tom discussed the topic of OCD in sports.
Tom is the founder of Struggle into Strength Performance, LLC. He is a certified mental performance consultant (CMPC) through the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. Tom received his Master of Science in exercise and sports science from Merrimack College and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Siena College.
Tom was diagnosed with OCD in 2014 at the age of 16 and, shortly after, became passionate about spreading awareness about what real OCD is. Tom was the recipient of the 2019 IOCDF Hero Award. He speaks at the annual International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) OCD conferences and schools around the Northeast. He has also appeared on a variety of blogs and podcasts.
In January 2021, Smalley became a Lead Advocate for the IOCDF and co-founded the Anxiety in Athletes initiative—a task force and online resource center with the help of the IOCDF in an effort to break the stigma around mental health in athletics.
Smalley has a strong passion for weightlifting and began competing in 2021, eight years after his mental health forced him to halt his athletic career. He is a USAW adaptive division 2x gold medalist.
This event has been recorded. Links to the recordings are below:
For more information about Tom, you can visit his website at struggleintostrength.com.