Krystal Vest, a licensed and board-certified mental health clinician joined Virginia Athletics as its Sport Performance and Mental Health Clinician in September of 2025.
Vest specializes in trauma-informed care and provides mental well-being treatment and sport performance enhancement that explores topics related to identity, confidence, grief, adjustment, life skills and psychological wellness. She serves all 27 of the University's athletic programs in addition to consulting with coaches and athletics department staff.
Prior to beginning her tenure at UVA, Vest has worked in private practice for six years. She also served as the Director of Student-Athlete Well-Being for one year at Norfolk State University, where she advanced student-athlete mental health services by streamlining a process that established annual student-athlete mental health screenings and mental health first-aid training for coaches and staff.
Vest also has experience working in community mental health and K-12, providing mental health treatment, behavior management, substance treatment, sport performance services and has coached basketball and track.
Vest earned her master’s in professional counseling from Liberty University and is currently working towards her Certified Mental Performance Consultant certification. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Christopher Newport University, where she also competed on the women’s basketball team. Vest is a member of the American Counseling Association, Clinical/Counseling Sport Psychology Association, and Women Leaders in Sports.