Persistence Psych Co-Founder: Arianna Ciccarelli Shimits, MA, CMPC completed her Master’s degree in Sport and Performance psychology at the University of Denver and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.

While working towards her BA she danced professionally at the Washington Ballet, Ballet Arizona, and the Colorado Ballet. She performed soloist and corps de ballet roles in ballets choreographed by Petipa, Balanchine, Tudor, Tharp, Webre, Deane, Liang, York, and Stevenson. After retiring from ballet Arianna pursued an MA in Sport and Performance Psychology (SPP), believing that the performing arts could benefit from the skills and training offered by SPP.

Additionally, Arianna is a doctoral student at Springfield College studying Counseling Psychology. Throughout her graduate school education she has worked with dancers, musicians, runners, basketball players, soccer players, cyclists, surgeons, first responders, and adults with eating disorders.

She is passionate about helping people perform at their best and believes that complementing rigorous physical training with SPP will help performers of all ages achieve exactly that.