The story of Binny Brahmbhatt-Sharma and her journey of fixing local athletes’ mindsets
The licensed psychologist describes herself as a mental health consultant who has had previously been in the TedX Talks as a guest Speaker
Binny Brahmbhatt-Sharma is an experienced Mental Strength Coach based in Kenya with a passion for the athlete’s well-being and through her various programs, she is ensuring the mind as a strong tool is not left asunder.
To this end, she has worked with various teams within the country i.e. CECAFA Championship winners U-15 Team Football Federation Kenya, KCB Rugby Men’s Athletes 2021 – 2022, Kenya National Women’s Rugby Team (Lionesses) 2022 – 2023.
In her website, the licensed psychologist describes herself as a mental health consultant who has had previously been in the TedX Talks as a guest Speaker.
Through her organisation Binny Empowers, she says; “True impact lies in making mental health support a possibility for everyone. We offer spaces for connection, support, and growth.”
She has a Mental Strength Coaching Certificate from National Strength Conditioning Association (NSCA – USA). She has also been a Mental Strength Coach to Diamond Football Club Athletes and Coaches since 2019-2023 December.
“I have also conducted capsule workshops for the Sports Authority of India’s hockey team in December 2021. I am a licensed and registered Counseling Psychologist (C&P/P/2685/1283) in Kenya, under the brand Binny Empowers, having almost a decade of experience working with adolescents, youth, professional athletes, coaches, and parents through individual and group sessions on their mental health, strength, and well-being,” said Binny.
She is currently the appointed Mental Strength Coach to Kenya Lionesses and Kenya Shujaa. In the week before the Lionesses departure to Cape Town, Binny and the team conducted two sessions. On March 10, she conducted her first workshop with the Shujaa team.
“I hope to continue imparting mental strength skills amongst these incredible athletes and witness their growth as athletes combining Mental Strength Skills alongside their robust technical, physical skills.
The University of South Wales alumnus is also a certified motivational speaker having done lots of events across the world. Binny is also the founder of Empower Teens Program, a weekly group program specifically designed for adolescents which is currently in its fifth year. She also is a certified yoga trainer with focus on the mind development.
With mental strength forming a large chunk of an Athlete’s performance matrix, Binny emphasizes the need for stamina in that department.
“Recently, in sports, mental strength skills have been gaining recognition and importance in both athlete health and game performance. A majority of competitive professional sports teams employ a sports psychologist and mental strength coach for their athletes.”
“ There has been enough evidence stating that aspects such as clarity, grit, humility, grounded confidence, focus, self-belief, self-awareness, and motivation are crucial to athletic performance and can take an athlete to the next level if the physical ability is already there. The difference between a great athlete and a legend is determined by these qualities. The latter always carries grit and humility,” she says
