Sherm Blaser    

EXS 311 Exercise Psychology

Final Paper

Starting out in completion of this paper, I wanted to look at something that I felt was relevant to my current situation professionally. As I researched my selected topic of Team Cohesion, I struggled to find articles that I felt were helpful because I wanted to use this assignment to improve my understanding of the topic. Since then, I have found that I enjoy the overall topic of Exercise/Sport Psychology and have done a little research and thinking about pursuing a PhD in the subject.

I started out by wanting to identify the field of Exercise Psychology and some of it characteristics. Here is what I found. Sport and Exercise Psychology is defined as “the study of the psychological and mental factors that affect and are affected by participation and performance in sport, exercise, and physical activity (Wikipedia). One of the methods of exercise psychology is called the Holistic approach. This means, “Improving an athlete’s capabilities in the sporting context begins, and is facilitated by, the growth and improvement of the athletes as a human being” (Friesen and Orlick 227). Holistic as a term refers to the development of an individual as a whole, the mind and the body must be conditioned.  Why is the holistic approach important? Friesen and Orlick performed a study on 18 Olympic athletes that have experienced competitive success in which the athlete’s stated, “That athlete’s appreciated consultants who addressed issues outside of sports psychology, as well as issues outside of sport” (228) Given the importance of the holistic approach, Friesen and Orlick continue their research by addressing the practices of holistic exercise psychology consultants that help to answer their research questions. The participating consultants were asked to complete an interview over six sections that included: “Beliefs and Values, Theoretical Paradigm, Model of Practice, Intervention Goals, Intervention Stategies, and Additional Practice Philosophies “(230). The results were analyzed and it was found that three central perspectives emerged, Friesen and Orlick found Environmental Effects such as the temperature or the location of the activity; Developing the Core Individual with how we develop our selves; and The Whole Being as the develop our selves; as the perspectives. The remainder of their study and article outlines all the rest sections.

One of the major benefits to exercise psychology is the help of injured athletes. Lots of research has been conducted on the effect of psychological work on injured athletes and their ability to heal faster and with less anxiety and stress during the recovery process. However, Clement and Shannon looked at the backside of the needs when they studied the behaviors of athletic training students’ in reference to the sport psychology realm. This is stated as “ATCs should no longer focus solely on the use of physical techniques to promote injured athletes’ return to the field of play. Instead, ATCs should use a much more holistic approach and incorporate psychological components within their rehabilitation programs” (505). Clement and Shannon’s research found that most ATCs do not find themselves capable of performing the psychological exercises needed to help injured athletes with the rehabilitation process. However, they did also find that “87% indicating they would like to have more training in the area” (505). Clement and Shannon recruited 160 students currently enrolled in an Athletic Training preparation program. Participants were given the Sport Psychology Behaviors Instrument before and after participating in a workshop covering injury related sports psychology. The SPB (Sport Psychology Behaviors) contains three separate sections, each covering a different aspect of sport psychology. The sections were: Access to Sport Psychology, Intentions to use Sport Psychology, and Use of Sport Psychology. At the end of the study, Clements and Shannon found at the six week follow up that, “Members of the experimental group reported a significant increase in their reported use of total sport psychology behaviors” (513).  Leading me to believe that the training of athletic trainers should include prepation in sport psychology in order to better rehabilitate injured athletes through common use of goal setting and motivation.

How can we adapt this knowledge to accommodate all levels of athletes? One study, Doing Sport Psychology: A Youth Sport Consulting Model for Practitioners, written by Visek, Harris, and Blom addresses how you could use this for youth sports. Although this was written for youth, I feel that the principles and methods are also applicable to higher levels of sport. Visek, Harris, and Blom state, “The professional practice field of sport psychology currently lacks a consultation model that can serve as a framework for supporting and guiding the implementation of sport psychology services specifically for young athletes and their sport organizations” (274). Because of this theory about sports psychology, Visek, Harris, and Blom developed this article to address that and provide “an educational consultation model specifically designed for the provision of sport psychology services for a youth athlete population” (274).

The Youth Sport Consulting Model developed by Visek, Harris, and Blom consists of 6 phases (please see pg 275-276) to assist in planning, implementing and evaluating the needs of a youth sports team. They continue to outline their program including items such as confidentiality, making contact with a team or program, assessments, observations, selecting skills, implementing skills, and processing skills. Again, this is a program develop for youth teams/athletes but I think that it is applicable to all athletes and the processes of developing and athlete psychologically.

We understand that the use of a sports psychologist to consult and work closely with your team is a positive addition. However, is the profession looked up favorably or thought of as a bunch of hocus pocus? Wilson, Gilbert, Gilbert and Sailor explored this question in their article titled, College Athletic Directors’ Perceptions of Sport Psychology Consulting, found in The Sport Psychologist in 2009. Wilson, Gilbert, Gilbert, and Sailor sent an online survey request to all 376 Division 1 collegiate AD’s, not all responded but all were asked. The survey consisted of 50 questions covering the “AD’s  attitudes toward sport psychology consulting, AD’s previous experience with sport psychology consulting and the AD’s previous exposure to the field of sport psychology consulting” (408). It was found after anylizing the data collected that the AD’s attitudes toward consulting “fell within the neutral range giving no real indication of either positive or negative attitudes” (411). Results for the previous experience indicated that AD’s had had a small amount of exposure based on the number of SPCs employed by the athletic departments. While the exposure to the field varied widely. Wilson, Gilbert, Gilbert, and Sailor also mentioned the lack of employment opportunities for consulting. This lead to the exploration of the career paths of a sport psychologist.

I found helpful information from, Career pathways in sport and exercise psychology: Three perspectives, written by Ben Jackson, Ian Taylor and Mark Schuls. Though a short article, the authors provide some useful information about their experiences with the various pathways within the field of sport psychology. The options are (as stated in the article): teaching (such as at the university level), research, and applied work. Teaching is the obvious pathway as sports psychology is generally available through advanced post graduate work. Research is a pathway to advance the study of the field and provide new and better methods of helping cliental or the teaching methods of those that fall into that category. Applied work refers to those that are consultants.

Because I have gained an interest in the subject of sport and exercise psychology, I have given much thought to what to do with that interest. Jackson, Taylor, and Schuls article helped a lot in that endeavor. Taylor talks about his role as a professor within the field and the benefits of his career. I was very intrigued by his memoir and have decided that this pathway is of some interest to me. I am not sure yet that I will pursue it as I am currently a high school teacher/coach and love it. However, the current economic state of our country and particularly the school district that I work for have made me consider other career options that would allow me to do what I enjoy for work.

Overall, the field of sport and exercise psychology is growing. More interest is being placed on it by athletes, coaches, and academic institutions. As we can see, there are many pathways to the field along with many research opportunities because of the youth of the field. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this.

Clement, Damien; Shannon, Vanessa. The Impact of a Workshop on Athletic Training Students’ Sport Psychology Behaviors. Sport Psychologist, 2009, 23, p504-522.

Friesen, Andrew; Orlick, Terry. A Qualitative Analysis of Holistic Sport Psychology Consultants’ Professional Philosophis. Sport Psychologist. June 2010, Vol. 24, Issue 2, p227-244.

Wilson, Kelly A.; Gilbert, Jenelle N.; Gilbert, Wade D.; Sailor, Scott R. College Athletic Directors’ Perceptions of Sport Psychology Consutling. Sport Psychologist. 2009, 23, p405-424.

Jackson, Ben; Taylor, Ian; Schuls, Mark. Career pathways in sport and exercise psychology: Three perspectives. Sport and Exercise Psychology Review. Vol. 6, No. 1, 2010, p.48-53.

Visek, Amanda J.; Harris, Brandonn S.; Blom, Lindsey C. Doing Sport Psychology: A Youth Sport Consulting Model for Practitioners. The Sport Psychologist, 2009,23, p.271-291.