From the Pitch to the Therapy Office: How Benjamin Pelz is Shaping the Future of Psychology
In an era defined by relentless achievement, constant comparison, and performance-driven identity, the work of Benjamin Pelz arrives as both a necessary intervention and a quiet revolution. This feature is not merely the story of a clinical psychologist or a former athlete turned researcher it is an exploration of what happens when success is no longer enough, and when the human nervous system is pushed beyond its capacity to cope through striving alone.
On Cover
Benjamin Pelz
Clinical Psychologist & Performance Psychology Researcher
There are moments in life that reveal uncomfortable truths about ourselves. For Benjamin Pelz, that moment arrived not in defeat, but in what should have been triumph. Standing among his peers at high school graduation, surrounded by joy and celebration, he felt nothing. While others reveled in their accomplishment, Benjamin found himself consumed by what came next: the journey to America, the soccer scholarship, the next mountain to climb.
Dr. Sola Togun-Butler
Founder, CEO, Psychotherapist, & Coach
In a medical practice in Nigeria, where two doctors opened their doors to everyone regardless of their ability to pay, a young girl watched her parents rewrite the rules of healthcare. Her father, a psychiatrist, spoke openly about mental health in a society where such conversations were taboo. Her mother, a general practitioner, treated patients with dignity even when payment never came. These were not occasional acts of charity but the daily rhythm of a household where service was as natural as breathing.
Dr. Jennifer Johnston
Founder & CEO of Elle, MD Biotechnologies
In her clinical practice as a family physician, Dr. Jennifer Johnston observed a recurring theme: women expressing a desire for more contraceptive options that better suited their individual needs and lifestyles. This clinical insight, combined with her perspective as a mother of four children—three daughters—sparked the idea that would eventually become Elle, MD Biotechnologies.
