Dr. Asken has consulted with and/or provided training for the National Tactical Officers’ Association, Eastern States Vice Investigators Association, the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, the New England Crisis Negotiator’s Association, the FBI, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Agents, the Naval ROTC Battalion at Villanova University, Naval Special Warfare Group, The United States Postal Inspectors and the U.S. Army War College.

Mike holds a B.A. degree in Social & Behavioral Sciences from the Johns Hopkins University. He completed his doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Medical Psychology at West Virginia University and served his internship at the East Orange (New Jersey) Veterans’ Administration Hospital. He is a Fellow of the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Mike earned credentials as a Fellow and Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Psychotherapists and Diplomate of the American Board of Disability Analysts.

In relation to human performance, Mike is a Fellow of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He taught the sport psychology course at Lebanon Valley College where he was awarded the Nevelyn Knisely Award for Inspired Teaching. He has been involved in training physicians, intensive care nurses, neonatal intensive care nurses and nurse anesthetists for twenty-five years. He trained volunteer and professional firefighters in psychological techniques for performance enhancement and was the Fire Psychology columnist for FireHouse Magazine.

Mike has worked on maximizing performance with athletes at the youth, high school, collegiate and professional levels. He was the sport psychologist for two professional soccer teams, as well as a semi-pro football team. He is a co-editor of the book: Sport Psychology: The Psychological Health of the Athlete and wrote Dying to Win: Preventing Drug Abuse in Sport.

Publications:

Asken, M. (2005). Using your head out there: Psychological skills training for optimal police response. Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, 106(4) 27-28.

Asken, M. (2005). Maintaining a physical presence: Helping police officers stay with a physical conditioning exercise program. Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, 107(6), 20-21.

Asken, M., Bowman, C., Krawczel, A., & Murphy, E. (2005). Can police negotiators be effectively trained in active listening skills? Some preliminary evidence. Crisis Negotiator Journal, 5(4), 6-7.

Asken, M. (2005). MindSighting: Mental Toughness Skills for Police Officers in High Stress Situations, Camp Hill, PA., www.mindsighting.com.

Asken, M. (2006). Stealth stress: Cumulative stress and burnout. Crisis Negotiator Journal, 6(4), 14.

Asken, M. (2006) Tactical performance imagery: What you see is what you get. The Tactical Edge, 24(1), 45-48.

Asken, M. (2006). Mindsighting: Training psychological skills for maximal shooting performance. The FireArms Instructor, 40, 53-55.

Asken, M. (2006). Emotional Intel: Mental Toughness Skills for Optimal Response in High Stress Crisis Negotiations. Camp Hill, PA., www.mindsighting.com.

Asken, M. (2007). Training the complete warrior. PoliceOne.com. 03-02-07.

Asken, M. (2007). Further aspects of the survival mindset. PoliceOne.com. 08-01-07.

Asken, M. (2007). The adrenaline dump and tactical arousal control: It’s more than just breathing. PoliceOne.com. 08-13-07.

Asken, M. & Hunter, S. (2008). Suicide by Cop: Is it time to stop using this imprecise, inaccurate and injurious term?  PoliceOne.com.

Asken, M., & Paris, C. (2008). Keep Them Sharp: 10 Countermeasures to Combat Complacency. Law Officer Magazine, 4, (2) 42-43.

Asken, M., Murphy, E., Banis, G., & Colon, E.  Does scenario training for police negotiators create the stress and realism of reality? The Crisis Negotiator, In Press 2008.

Asken, M. Three Things Tactical Team members Need to Know about Crisis Negotiations. SWAT Digest, April, 2008, www.swatdigest.com.

Asken, M., Grossman, D., & Christensen, L. (2008). Warrior MindSet: Mental Toughness Skills for a Nation’s Defenders- Applying Performance Psychology to Combat. Warrior Science Group, Millstadt, Il., In Press.