.jpg)
Spencer Kilpatrick is the founder and director of Confluence Mind and Motion, an innovative mental health practice specializing in virtual sport psychology services for dedicated athletes and providing clinical psychotherapy for a wide range of patients.
For Spencer, Confluence is a calling that integrates two essential pillars of his life — clinical psychology and competitive athletics. This unique intersection allows him to help athletes move from surviving to thriving in their sport, including enhancing their performance consistently.
Psychology Expertise and Clinical Rigor
As a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), Spencer uses emotionally focused therapy, grounded in attachment theory and developmental psychology, to help clients develop a strong sense of identity and build secure, resilient relationships. Based on his clinical expertise and his years as an athlete and coach, Spencer believes that athletic-related problems — such as apprehension due to an injury, loss of confidence after being cut, or nagging fear of failure — are caused by an identity crisis, when athletes feel they just don’t know who they are anymore. By identifying and treating their problems as identity crises, Spencer teaches insight skills that help athletes rebuild a solid, confident sense of self and return to elite and enhanced performance.
Spencer earned his B.S. in Applied Developmental Psychology and a Master of Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. Following graduation, he served as a psychotherapist at the Cognitive Behavior Institute, where he established a program integrating sport, movement and mental ability. He founded Confluence Mind and Motion in 2023 to offer a more specialized, clinically-grounded approach for athletes.
Empathy as a Lifelong Athlete
Spencer combines clinical rigor with deep empathy as a lifelong athlete and coach. He understands the importance of relationships in competition because he has lived it. After trying different sports as a youth athlete, Spencer played tennis on his high school team and for Mercyhurst College, a Division II program. Today, he remains an active competitor in adult tennis and an avid cyclist, managing the same athletic longevity goals as his adult clients.
A certified member of the Professional Tennis Registry, Spencer has coached players from kindergartners to senior citizens. He helps each player find joy and focus, even as the stakes of competition grow higher.
Spencer lives in the Pittsburgh area with his wife and son, and strives for the same balance of performance and presence that he teaches his clients.