Sport and Performance Psychology Projects

 

The Psychological Preparation and Mental Skills Training curriculum is the translation of learning from the Sport and Performance Psychology Masters program. The goal of this cumulative project was in demonstrating the development of a professional consulting philosophy integrating the disciplines of psychology, sport science, and counseling. This fifty-two page content heavy curriculum is constructed to be read in entirety as the content of each chapter layers onto the next; however, one can skip ahead to any of the chapters of interest that include Athletic Identity, Sport Ethic, and The Pursuit of Excellence; Performance Routines; Self-talk; Goal Setting; Metal Toughness; Attention, Focus, and Concentration; Imagery; Performance States; Handling Performance Setbacks and Errors; and Technology. This individualized curriculum overview outlines the applied methods, concepts, and theories relevant to performance situations and demonstrates implementation of appropriate skills while supplying the reader with insights, worksheets, and additional resources. 

If I had to choose a favorite project, this Sport in Society Documentary Film Analysis would be the one. The objective was in choosing a film that centered around the physical culture of sport and to conduct a sociological analysis of the film while applying theory and concepts to the analysis. This project was challenging on many levels and the inspiration to choose this documentary, Athlete A, came from my life as a gymnast where I was close to the abusive culture that seemingly continues to surround women’s gymnastics. I wondered, how can this type of abuse keep occurring and how do organizations continue to fail athletes? Through personal experience and reflection, I dove deep into the culture of USAG where the shiny medals the athletes won failed to reflect the emotional and physical cost the gymnasts endured. After reading this project I invite you to ask yourself if you believe in the great sport myth that all sports are good and true? 

A course objective in Applied Motor Learning was in teaching a motor skill as there are many factors at play occurring throughout the processes in the human body that require integration when learning a new skill. When clear identification of a skill is established, a teaching design can be optimized through identifying the processing stages of the movement while developing a motor program for the spinal cord and muscles to produce movement. Proprioception also plays an important role in skill acquisition as it is the ability to sense the movements of our joints and tension in our muscles while additional benefits can include maintaining our balance through detecting loss of stability and postural regulation to decrease undue stress on our body.

This Personality and Counseling Theories Theoretical Orientation Paper demonstrates the development of a professional philosophy integrating the disciplines of psychology, sport science, and counseling. To discover one’s own personal model of counseling empirical evidence can serve as one factor in choosing models but one must also account for personal beliefs, personality, and cognitive style. Acceptance and commitment therapy is one example of a model that I am drawn to as it is action-oriented by promoting psychological flexibility through enhancing awareness, creating open-mindedness to experiences, and through behavior change. When integrating into sports performance, behavior models can also be used alongside exercise related injury programs to improve adoption and adherence for exercise programs. This integration of skills and knowledge from multiple disciples may provide a holistic view of performance to improve physical and psychological health. 

The goal in this Ethics and Professional Identity ethical case analysis was to distinguish between various ethical codes within the mental health counseling and performance consulting professions, and communicate reasoning for inconsistencies among them. Ethical principles can serve to act as a moral compass to guide practitioner decisions as complex ethical cases can arise when working as a mental health professional. The Association for Applied Sports Psychology additionally provides consultants with ethical codes that function as a set of guidelines along with encouraging peer group discussion and reflection over issues. This project involved six ethical dilemmas that were identified, and suggested resolutions were presented by following an ethical decision-making model. 

In Multicultural Counseling and Advocacy, a clinical application paper is focused on the development of culturally responsive consulting strategies that are based upon the current trends, interpersonal relationships, and issues within a multicultural society. This project is based on a fictitious case study that evaluates a complex and diverse family that is facing a variety of stressors with the goal of applying theory and models to provide multiculturally competent care to the client. Constructs that are discussed are in multicultural counseling competencies; cultural values and acculturation; power and privilege; help-seeking behaviors; spiritual beliefs; and countertransference.

This Biomechanics discussion forum brought me back to my Athletic Training roots in exploring mechanisms of back injuries and choosing corrective exercises for each issue. A frequently occurring complaint in our modern world, back pain, can originate from sitting for long periods of time where holding these static postures places pressure on discs, fatigues muscles, and inflames connective tissue. Within this higher education program, an online learning format enables students from around the world to participate in rich discussions facilitated by the instructor while allowing for meaningful connections between the content and larger concepts of the course objectives. This artifact is presented in discussion forum format without any peer responses included.  

This Applied Sport Psychology final project involved several case studies to showcase how I would, as a mental health consultant, evaluate the presenting issues by applying leading theories and emerging trends within the discipline of Sport and Performance Psychology.  These four case studies highlight common performance issues such as helping an athlete experience flow, using imagery effectively as a performance enhancing strategy, optimizing intrinsic motivation in youth sport participation, and addressing energy management problems during competitions. This artifact is presented in final exam format with the case study prompt preceding the corresponding questions explained through evidence-based research to support rationale. 

The goal of this performance enhancement project was in integrating Applied Sport Psychology into professional practice through evidence-based approaches to resolve issues by understanding human behavior in sport and identifying factors that influence performance. For this project I used a fictitious CrossFit athlete and incorporated mental training skills into the athlete's mock warm-up routine. The performance plan also included mental training skills such as attentional control techniques; a distraction control plan; facilitative self-talk; arousal control based on the athlete’s Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning; imagery skills; relaxation and energization techniques; and finalized with a performance evaluation to assess if modifications would be needed. 

I chose ‘choking’ as a topic for this Sport Psychology course comparison and contrast research paper as it is a common performance issue that can be experienced in high stakes situations. The first article focused on irrational beliefs to be the precursors to choking under pressure while the second article focused on prevention efforts for choking suspectable athletes by implementing a sports specific mindfulness intervention.  After summarizing each article, the methods, and results, a discussion comparing both articles concludes the paper.