Sport Psychology in a Collegiate Athletic Department Setting

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald B. Chamberlain
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Collegiate Athletics ◽  
Psychological Services ◽  
Athletic Department ◽  
Brigham Young University ◽  
Sport Psychologist ◽  
Professional Psychologists ◽  
Collegiate Environment

The author shares his experiences as a sport psychologist working for the Athletic Department at Brigham Young University. He describes both his educational background and the training experiences that prepared him for a career as a psychologist in a collegiate athletics department. The development and evolution of the sport psychologist role at Brigham Young University is also described, and a model for conceptualizing sport psychology with student-athletes is provided. The methods for delivering psychological services to student-athletes are detailed, and a typical daily, weekly, and semester schedule for a sport psychologist is presented. The author concludes by sharing what he finds challenging about working as a sport psychologist in a collegiate environment and what he has found most enjoyable about this career alternative for professional psychologists.

Psychologist-Sport Psychologist Liaison Between Counseling and Psychological Services and Intercollegiate Athletics

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross Flowers
Keyword(s):  
Intercollegiate Athletics ◽  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Performance Enhancement ◽  
Psychological Services ◽  
Athletic Departments ◽  
University Counseling ◽  
Athletic Coaching ◽  
Sport Psychologist ◽  
Intercollegiate Athletic Departments

Acting as a liaison between a university’s counseling and psychological services and intercollegiate athletics department is an emerging alternative career path in professional psychology. This article details how a psychologist-sport psychologist liaison role can provide both psychological counseling and sport psychology consulting in a university setting. In addition, the author outlines the mission and goals of such a position, the departments within which this work is carried out, how psychology and applied sport psychology services are conceptualized and integrated, and the responsibilities and service duties of a counseling psychologist and sport psychologist to university student-athletes, coaches, and staff. It is hoped that illustrating this relationship between university counseling and psychological services and athletic departments will demonstrate how campus resources can be employed to assist student-athletes with performance enhancement, personal enrichment, and life skills development. In addition, the author offers examples of ways that athletic coaching, administration, and program development can be enhanced through cultivation of positive relationships between university counseling and psychological services, and intercollegiate athletic departments.

A Psychologist in the World of Intercollegiate Sports: Professional Development Issues

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-303
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Psychological Services ◽  
Psychological Care ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Intercollegiate Sports ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Professional Journey

This paper describes one psychologist’s professional journey providing clinical sport psychological services to student athletes, from training to first position, and on to current roles and responsibilities. Obstacles in providing psychological care to student-athletes in the intercollegiate setting are highlighted and an approach to overcoming these obstacles is articulated. Most importantly, this paper highlights the consequences of both interdisciplinary conflict within sport psychology and poorly trained professionals. The importance of ongoing professional development for both the individual practitioner and the field of sport psychology as a whole is thoroughly presented and discussed.

The Role of a Clinical Psychologist in a Division I Athletics Program

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Division I ◽  
Clinical Psychologist ◽  
Student Athlete ◽  
Sport Psychologist ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The University ◽  
University Setting

In recent years, Division I athletics programs have hired counseling or clinical psychologists as a resource for student-athletes who need assistance with clinical issues, personal difficulties, and performance issues. This article documents the evolution of this type of position at Virginia Tech and includes a discussion of the goals of the clinical sport psychologist position, an overview of the daily activities the position entails, and a discussion of the issues that comprise the assessment, conceptualization, and treatment of student-athlete concerns. Models for conceptualizing and delivering sport psychology interventions are also discussed. Evidence indicates that having access to a mental health professional familiar with the issues facing college athletes can be instrumental in helping many of these student-athletes achieve success in the university setting.

How Does Sport Psychology Actually Improve Athletic Performance? A Framework to Facilitate Athletes’ and Coaches’ Understanding

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 386-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris J. Gee
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Mental Skills ◽  
Mental Skills Training ◽  
Athletic Competition ◽  
The Past ◽  
Physiology And Biochemistry ◽  
Sport Psychologist

The popularity of sport psychology, both as an academic discipline and an applied practice, has grown substantially over the past two decades. Few within the realm of competitive athletics would argue with the importance of being mentally prepared prior to an athletic competition as well as the need to maintain that particular mindset during a competitive contest. Nevertheless, recent research has shown that many athletes, coaches, and sporting administrators are still quite reluctant to seek out the services of a qualified sport psychologist, even if they believe it could help. One of the primary reasons for this hesitation appears to be a lack of understanding about the process and the mechanisms by which these mental skills affect performance. Unlike the “harder sciences” of sport physiology and biochemistry where athletes can see the tangible results in themselves or other athletes (e.g., he or she lifted weights, developed larger muscles, and is now stronger/faster as a result), the unfamiliar and often esoteric nature of sport psychology appears to be impeding a large number of athletes from soliciting these important services. As such, the purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a simple framework depicting how mental skills training translates into improved within-competition performance. This framework is intended to help bridge the general “understanding gap” that is currently being reported by a large number of athletes and coaches, while also helping sport psychology practitioners sell their valuable services to individual athletes and teams.

scholarly journals Athlete–Coach Conflict and a Sport Psychologist Caught in the Middle: A Case Study of Consultancy During Athlete Preparation and Performance in Olympic Games Athletics

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-42
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Males ◽  
John H. Kerr ◽  
Joanne Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Elite Athlete ◽  
Olympic Games ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Demand Model ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Basic Performance ◽  
Sport Psychologist ◽  
And Performance

This case study examines the personal experiences of an elite athlete, coach, and sport psychology consultant (SPC) during the athlete’s preparation and performance in a recent Olympic Games. The qualitative research details how the consultancy process was affected by the athlete’s late admission of the deteriorating relationship with his coach. The concepts of closeness, commitment, complementarity, and co-orientation provided a theoretical perspective to the SPC’s interpretation of athlete performance and the interpersonal conflict that developed between athlete and coach. The basic performance demand model provided an applied perspective. The SPC’s commentary adopts a reflexive discursive style that also focuses on the SPC’s role in the consultancy process and the effectiveness of the performance demand model materials. Five important recommendations arise from the case study, and these might inform other SPCs’ future athlete–coach consultancies and interventions.

scholarly journals Not Going Pro: On Seeking Lasting Returns from College Sports

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Horner ◽  
Neal Ternes ◽  
Christopher McLeod
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ncaa Division I ◽  
Capital Investment ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Sport Participation ◽  
National Collegiate Athletic Association ◽  
Collegiate Athletics ◽  
Division I ◽  
Personal Investment

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) clearly states there are many favorable qualities derived from participation that benefit those “who go pro in something other than sports.” However, the ability of collegiate athletics to deliver on the promise of attributable long-term vocational value is rarely questioned. Instead, student-athletes are encouraged to think of their participation as a personal investment with enduring rewards for the investor. In this study involving former NCAA Division I student-athletes, the authors examined whether participation can be regarded as an investment and how student-athletes perceive the returns thus derived. Extending Becker’s (1962) theory of human capital investment to sport participation, the authors probed participants’ experiences for evidence of investment thinking and lasting benefits in corporeal, economic, social, and cultural varieties. The findings support the notion that participation in collegiate athletics can be broadly defined as an investment, but not in accordance with the long-term utility maximizing rationale described by neoclassical economists. Furthermore, the high cost of participation, inherent uncertainty, and unreliable information confound the athlete’s decision-making and blur the distinction between consumption in the present and investing for the future.

Delivering Sport Psychology Services to a Professional Sport Organization

1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 378-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Neff
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Psychological Services ◽  
Professional Sport ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Employee Assistance Program ◽  
Employee Assistance ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Assistance Programs ◽  
Sport Organization

This paper discusses a model of providing a specialized employee assistance program, with psychological services that are far-reaching and beyond what traditional employee assistance programs offer. Three main areas in which services are deemed especially critical include working with the athletes to improve their sports performance using various mental skills techniques, providing personal counseling, and impacting the organization at an organizational level. Also discussed is the author’s current role with the team and management, both during the preseason and the official season. Further, the author evaluates his effectiveness as a sport psychology consultant and the problems encountered as well as the importance of developing and maintaining proper boundaries within the organization. In conclusion, issues related to the goodness of fit between the professional sport organization and the sport psychology consultant are addressed.

Special Concerns and Considerations for Sport Psychology Consulting with Black Student Athletes

1991 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtland C. Lee ◽  
Robert J. Rotella
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Black Student ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Background Prior

This article examines important concepts for effective sport psychology consulting with black student athletes. First, sport psychology consultants are urged to examine their own cultural background prior to working with black student athletes. Second, a discussion of black expressiveness is presented to provide sport psychology consultants with a knowledge base from which to operate in interactions with black student athletes. Third, relevant skills are presented for effective sport psychology consulting with black student athletes. These skills are derived from consulting with and doing research on black student athletes.

scholarly journals What Intercollegiate Athletics Coaches Wish Faculty Knew: Implications for Curriculum and Instruction

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Thomas A Raunig ◽  
Porter E Coggins
Keyword(s):  
Intercollegiate Athletics ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Likert Scale ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Collegiate Athletics ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Student Athlete ◽  
Discussion Section ◽  
Practice Schedules

Collegiate athletics coaches play a vital role in the lives of student-athletes and regularly interact with the membersof their teams more than faculty given the nature of athletics practice schedules compared to academic classschedules. Although the primary purpose of university attendance at all universities is pursuit of academic degrees,student-athletes receive broad non-academic, life-skills oriented education from athletics coaches. Typically, teachingfaculty at American colleges and universities hold terminal degrees in their fields, but unlike internationaluniversities, faculty in the U.S. are not required to have any particular training in pedagogy. Due to the enormousamount of time athletics coaches spend with student-athletes, coaches, by nature must be effective communicators,effective motivators, effective teachers, and effective ethical models for their student-athletes to a degree notnecessary for faculty members. The purpose of this paper was to gather recommendations from coaches for facultymembers regarding needs of student-athletes, and a comparison of the perception of student-athlete needs betweencoaches and faculty members. We employed a mixed methods convergent parallel design. We administered aquestionnaire that included both an open-ended response section to what the respondent wished faculty knew withrespect to student-athlete success, and three Likert scale questions related to confidence in what faculty knew or didwith respect to student-athlete academic needs. Based on the thematic coding of the responses by coaches, andquantitative analysis of the Likert scale questions, recommendations for faculty regarding curriculum and instructionare given in the discussion section.

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