sport psychology as a profession
Book review: Navigating Applied Sport & Exercise Psychology
When I heard about this book I was a little sceptical – who wants to learn from emerging practitioners when there are so many established ones to learn from? But my cynicism was misplaced because there are some really great things to learn from this book and the...
They don’t tell you this stuff – it is such a reality check
Each Monday I start my week in the loveliest way - I have two pro bono slots to chat to those who are looking to have a career in Sport or Exercise Psychology about how it works (in my experience) and offer advice on how they can get started. There are three questions...
The future of sport psychology
Each week I spend time with two sport psychology students or trainees to try to help them navigate the journey into sport psychology (you can book one of these free sessions here). This week someone asked: What do you see as the future for sport psychology? They were...
ACT case study: Injured male footballer
A psychological approach called ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) is becoming increasingly popular in sport psychology. It is the approach I use – it can be a little hard to understand what the process is – so I saw this new paper from Laura Swettenham and Amy...
Who might a sport psychologist work with?
Obviously athletes. But only athletes? There are far more sport psychology students graduating from MSc courses than are needed to work with athletes – but the skills we can teach and the approaches we use work with a huge group of people - so here are 11 other groups...
10 tips when starting out as a Sport Psychologist
Each Tuesday I chat to two trainee or student Sport Psychs to offer advice on getting started (you can book your own session here ) and reflected afterwards there a number of things I wish I’d figured out earlier when starting out as a sports psychologist. Here are...
Why would I need a sport psychologist?
Psychology is the study of human behaviour. Sport psychology then helps us use our knowledge of behaviour in a sporting environment to reduce unhelpful behaviours, build positive ones and maximise success. That success might be focused on enjoyment, getting healthier,...
Safety as a female sport psychologist
I just came off a phone call where having told someone I didn’t think I would be the best sport psychologist for their client I was blasted with a torrent of abuse. It left me really shaken and questioning everything. One random aggressive man can ruin your whole day....
Training companies for Sport and Exercise Psychologists
We are never fully trained as psychologists. We are always learning. Most often from our own clients but ideally also from experts in the approaches we use. This means Continual Professional Development (CPD) is vital as both a trainee and as a qualified Sport and...
Free advice sessions for Sport Psychology students & trainees
It can be really hard to make a career in sport or performance psychology. It is expensive to train (I estimate it cost me at least £25,000) and difficult to know if there will be a job to go to or if you want to build your own business. I get dozens of emails asking...
12 lessons for Sport Psychologists from a former FBI hostage negotiator
I needed to get a handle on a corporate contract recently and felt I was doing an awful job of it – as a psychologist my ‘wanting to help people and improve their wellbeing’ side overtook my ‘I won’t be much support to anyone if I can’t pay the mortgage’ side. A...
Podcasts for Sport Psych geeks
I love listening to podcasts to hear the stories of other sport psychs, to learn new techniques and skills, to build knowledge of new research and just for opening up my world. Here are a selection for those interested in sport psychology. If you have any other...
Should Trainee Sport Psychologists work for nothing?
An advert went out last week from British Gymnastics and the English Institute of Sport (EIS) offering a year 2 trainee Sport Psychologist an amazing opportunity. Working with elite athletes offering both individual sessions and workshops. A great way to build your...
Becoming a sport psychologist
I get at least a couple of emails each month asking how to get into sports psychology and whether I can offer work experience. I also give quite a few talks to sports science students in schools on what sport psychology involves. While I love chatting directly (and am...
What is a Sports psychologist?
Most athletes who take their sport seriously will consider using a coach to help get them in physical fitness, a physio to help fix or prevent injury or a nutritionist to advise on fuelling effectively. An area which is still fairly new, and often forgotten is finding...