Contemporary Sport Psychology

SPORTS AND ATHLETICS PREPARATION, PERFORMANCE, AND PSYCHOLOGY SERIES

CONTEMPORARY SPORT PSYCHOLOGY No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services.

SPORTS AND ATHLETICS PREPARATION, PERFORMANCE, AND PSYCHOLOGY SERIES Is Sports Nutrition for Sale? Ethical Issues and Professional Concerns for Exercise Physiologists William T. Boone 2005. ISBN: 1-59454-422-0 Doping in Sports Christopher N. Burns (Editor) 2006. ISBN: 1-59454-683-5 (Softcover) Literature Reviews in Sport Psychology Sheldon Hanton and Stephen Mellalieu (Editors) 2006. ISBN: 1-59454-904-4 Hot Topics in Sports and Athletics Samuel R. Bakere (Editor) 2008. ISBN: 978-1-60456-077-0 Sports Injuries and Their Effects on Health Robert R. Salerno (Editor) 2009. ISBN 978-1-60741-507-7 (Softcover) A Competitive Anxiety Review: Recent Directions in Sport Psychology Research Stephen D. Mellalieu, Sheldon Hanton and David Fletcher 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60692-248-4 (Softcover)

A Competitive Anxiety Review: Recent Directions in Sport Psychology Research Stephen D. Mellalieu, Sheldon Hanton and David Fletcher 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60876-405-1 (Online book) Advances in Strength and Conditioning Research Michael Duncan and Mark Lyons (Editors) 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60692-909-4 Advances in Strength and Conditioning Research Michael Duncan and Mark Lyons (Editors) 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60876-661-1 (Online Book) Former NFL Players: Disabilities, Benefits, and Related Issues Thomas P. Wasser (Editor) 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60692-346-7 Thoroughbred Horseracing and the Welfare of the Thoroughbred Cameron L. Stratton (Editor) 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60692-724-3 Contemporary Sport Psychology Robert Schinke (Editor) 2009. ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0

SPORTS AND ATHLETICS PREPARATION, PERFORMANCE, AND PSYCHOLOGY SERIES

CONTEMPORARY SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

ROBERT SCHINKE EDITOR

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

Copyright © 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Contemporary sport psychology / editor, Robert Schinke. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-61324-124-0 (eBook) 1. Sports--Psychological aspects. 2. Sports--Social aspects. I. Schinke, Robert, 1966GV706.4.C658 2009 796'.01--dc22 2009028878

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.  New York

This book is dedicated to my wife Erin and new son “Harrison”. I love them both very much. Many thanks also to my family of origin and also the family I married into. I would also like to thank Mr. Frank Columbus for his support of the present compilation from the very beginning. RS

CONTENTS Introduction to the Compilation Chapter 1

The Contextual Side of Professional Boxing Re-Visited Robert J. Schinke

Chapter 2

Preparing Professional Hockey Players for Playoff Performance Wayne Halliwell

Chapter 3

A Case for a New Sport Psychology: Applied Psychophysiology and Fmri Neuroscience Leonard Zaichkowsky

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Chapter 4

The Psychology of Being an Olympic Favorite Peter Haberl

Chapter 5

Psychological Preparation of Athletes for the Olympic Context: Team Culture and Team-Building Ken Hodge and Gary Hermansson

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From one Olympics to the Next: A Four-Year Psychological Preparation Program Ronnie Lidor and Boris Blumenstein

71

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Introduction to Cultural Sport Psychology Revisited Amy T. Blodgett, Hope E. Yungblut, Robert J. Schinke, and Stephanie J. Hanrahan

Chapter 8

Revisiting Diversity and Politics in Sport Psychology Through Cultural Studies: Where are we Five Years Later? Leslee A. Fisher, Emily A. Roperand Ted Butryn

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89

105

Chapter 9

Sport Psychology as Cultural Praxis Tatiana V. Ryba

121

Chapter 10

Theoretical Approaches to Cultural Sport Psychology Peter Catina

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viii Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Contents Through the Funhouse Mirror: Understanding Access and (Un)Expected Selves Through Confessional Tales Kerry R. McGannon and Jennifer L Metz

153

Using Psychological Skills Training from Sport Psychology to Enhance the Life Satisfaction of Adolescent Mexican Orphans Stephanie J. Hanrahan

171

Chapter 13

Sport Psychology Consulting with Latin American Athletes Anthony P. Kontos and Erick Arguello

Chapter 14

A Model for Supervision of Applied Sport Psychology Consultations in Division I College Sports Linda A. Keeler and Sam Zizzi

197

Ethical Decision-Making in Sport Psychology: Issues and Implications for Professional Practice Brandonn S. Harris, Amanda J. Visek and Jack C. Watson

217

Sport Psychology Consulting with Canadian Olympic Athletes and Coaches: Values and Ethical Considerations Penny Werthner and John Coleman

233

A Profession of Violence or a High Contact Sport? Ethical Issues Working in Professional Boxing Andrew M. Lane

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Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Commentary Mary Pritchard and Sandy Kimbrough

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Biographies

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Authors’ Addresses

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Index

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INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPILATION The development of this book began late in 2003. At the time I was co-editing Athletic Insight with my colleague and friend Miguel Humara. Miguel had conceived of Athletic Insight in 1998 and by 1999 the journal was being offered as a free access journal for sport psychology enthusiasts. The readership was comprised of developing academics, applied practitioners, and also coaches and athletes. Five years into the journal’s existence we thought it time to push the journal forward through the creation of an annual special edition. The intent was to make space each year for one entire installment as a devoted special topics release. When I approached the first list of authors in 2004 they were enthusiastic. Each year that followed we made space for a new topic. The intent was to encourage discussion either in relation to applied practice or a conceptual topic that was timelyfor the field (at least in our views). Some of the years were devoted to applied practice such as 2004 when professional sport practice was considered and 2007 when the focus was placed on working with Olympic athletes from different countries in preparation for Beijing. Other installments were intended as catalysts to further discussions among academics and practitioners alike, such as in 2005 when the installment pertained to Cultural Sport Psychology and in 2008 with a focus on the intersection ofsport psychology and ethics. The 2009 special edition of Athletic Insight is already solidified, and rest assured the topic matter will berelevant among our international readership. In retrospect, Miguel and I had little understanding where the development of an annual special edition would take us. With each year’s installment we were able to secure strong contributors, which in turn has leveraged the quality of the journal upward to its present status as a hard copy release published by Nova Science. Through our new partnership with Nova Science the intent is now to have three releases each year in place of the original four, with one devoted entirely to special topics. The chapters that follow are a compilation of invited papers, building on earlier special topics compilations. Many of the papers are original works that are heavily modified from earlier special edition releases. Others reflect new work that has been invited on as part of the installment. The chapters forthcoming are unique contributions and they are original work. The goal was not to provide a slightly re-drafted version of earlier submissions. Rather, in the academy people’s thoughts change and evolve with time as does the literature meant to inform our thinking. The intent then is for the present work to provide current thoughts and ideas pertaining to research and / or practice, authored

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by well-respected members of the sport psychology field.What follows is a description of the book’s structure. The present book is divided into three general sections. Section one has been titled Sport Psychology in Practice. Chapter One provides an overview of work done with professional boxing. Within, I share my experiences working with highly successful professional boxers and their support systems over the course of 10 years amassed experience. Chapter Two is authored by Wayne Halliwell an eminent practitioner with extensive background experience working in the National Hockey League. Wayne was asked to unpack how to effectively prepare NHL athletes for a successful playoff run. Next, in Chapter Three Len Zaichkowsky was asked to consider based on his work with professional soccer (European football) some of the technological techniques he employs. Len has worked for several years with Spanish athletes through the World Cup series and also through affiliation with a professional soccer team in the same country. Adding to the section, Peter Haberl (Chapter Four) works with American Olympians through his appointment to the United States Olympic Committee. He considered work on-site with Olympic favorites. Ken Hodge and Gary Hermansson have worked with Winter and Summer Olympians for their home nation of New Zealand. For Chapter Five they were asked to consider how they motivate athletes from their country. Finally, RoniLidor and Boris Blumenstein from Israel work with Israeli Olympians through a systematic quadrennial plan that they describe in great detail in Chapter Six. Combined, the authors have provided a wonderful cross-section of applied practice with elite populations. Section Two is devoted to Cultural Sport Psychology. The term CSP was first used in the Autumn, 2005 Athletic Insight Special Edition. Since then, CSP has gained considerable credence in the scholarly literature. For example, this Autumn there will be an entire installment of the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology devoted to the topic, where I have co-edited with one of the invited authors in the present book, Tatiana Ryba. Within Section Two of the present book, there are seven contributions that address aspects of CSP. In Chapter Seven Amy Blodgett and her colleagues provide an overview of the field. The intent is to provide a road map for the chapters that follow in the same section. Chapter Eight features the work of Leslee Fisher, Emily Roper and Ted Butryn. Leslee and her colleagues are among the pioneers in the field, and their initial work was among the first to forefront culture and raise questions pertaining to whiteness among other possible spaces in the literature. In Chapter Nine Tatiana Ryba was asked to provide her most current thoughts on the intersection of CSP and cultural praxis. The intent is to convey how research and culturally informed practices can spur effective and meaningful engagement in the field. Within Chapter Ten Peter Catinahas provided a cross-cultural overview of CSP. His intent is to convey how constructs from social cognition might also intersect with CSP. Chapter Eleven features the work of Kerry McGannon and Jennifer Metz, two researchers who employ cultural studies perspectives in their own research. Kerry and Jennifer provide a few examples of how one might proceed with culturally sensitive and reflexive research methods. In Chapter Twelve, Stephanie Hanrahan was asked to update research she has been engaged in with Mexican Orphans over the course of 6-7 years, and in so doing provide one example of cross-cultural research. Her work shifts the focus from conceptual and aspects of CSP toward research. Finally,Chapter Thirteen was authored by Anthony Kontos and Eric Arguello. The focus of their work is on CSP practice with Latin American athletes. Anthony provides a fine example how application in the field canbe modified in relation to the

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intended client. It is hoped that several of these contributions will be of interest, thus pushing forward CSP as a trajectory. Section Three is comprised of Fourpapers pertaining to sport psychology and ethics. Chapter Fourteen is co-authored by Linda Keeler and Samuel Zizzi. Within the chapter, the authors were asked to consider many of the ethical challenges associated with graduate student supervision.Chapter Fifteen is authored by Brandon Harris, Amanda Visek and Jack Watson II. Within their contribution, Harris and colleagues looked closely at the intersection between the conceptual tenets of ethics and sport psychology practice, framing their discussion in relation to AASP’s Ethics Guidelines, presently in revision.For Chapter Sixteen Penny Werthner and John Coleman unpack the ethical challenges they have encountered when working with Canadian Olympic athletes. The installment ends with work from Andy Lane, a researcher and applied practitioner with background in professional boxing working with World Champions. Andy illustrates in Chapter Seventeen the ethical dilemma working with professional boxing when one knows that injury to the athlete / client and his opponent are a part of sport pursuit. The book is concluded with a commentary chapter, Chapter Eighteen, authored by Mary Pritchard and Sandy Kimbrough. Mary and Sandy are Associate Editors for Athletic Insight, each having worked as part of the AI staff from the point of the earliest special edition onward to the present. As such, their views of the chapters and book provide closure to the compilation. In closing, it is my hope that the present book is resourced by those interested in learning more about with special topics in sport psychology. Each section contains chapters that are theoretical, research-oriented, and applied, providing a balance to the compilation. Finally, many thanks to the authors of the present installment for their patience throughout the project.

Robert Schinke, EdD, CSPA - Editor

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 1

THE CONTEXTUAL SIDE OF PROFESSIONAL BOXING RE-VISITED Robert J. Schinke* Laurentian University, Canada

CHAPTER SUMMARY Five years ago, an installment of Athletic Insight was devoted to applied practice in professional sport contexts. One of the manuscripts published as part of the installment pertained to professional boxing practice. The work reflected five years of contextual experience in the field, and the experiences conveyed were those of the mental training consultant. The present chapter is a re-visiting of the earlier work in several ways. First, five additional years in the field have been garnered by the sport practitioner. Also, the present work speaks toa collaboration with an elite professional boxing coach. The coach, though not directly part of this chapter, has been a highly successful professional boxing coach for more than a decade, and his accomplishments have included working with world championship athletes in various weight divisions of the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Association, and the International Boxing Federation. His athletes have also been ranked overall among the most successful in the world by Ring Magazine, a high impact professional resource to boxing practitioners. Within the chapter, the author will re-visit the process of working with professional boxersand their coaching staff as the athletes progress in careers. In addition, several of the contextual challenges posed through high profile applied work will be considered. Five years ago, the author considered his experiences working with professional boxers, over the course of five years. The focal point through the contribution was the contextual side of boxing (see Schinke, 2004). Included within the writing was an overview of the following: initial meetings and barriers to athlete – practitioner rapport, the achievement of solid *

Robert J. Schinke, EdD, CSPA, B-241 Ben Avery Building, School of Human Kinetics, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd., Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, P3E 2C6, Email: [email protected], Telephone: (705) 675-1151 ext. 1045, Fax: (705) 675-4845

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relational footing (i.e., interpersonal relations), preparing athletes for critical bouts, the bidirectional relationship between the media and athlete performance, and the chronology of athlete achievement throughout a successful sport career. Herein, the very same aspects of applied practice are considered, though after five additional years of experience within the same context. The author has considered his experiences working with professional athletes. Narrowing the discussion, the paper is focused solely on our work with athletes ranked within the top 15 of world ranking systems. Myauthor’s is that there are many approaches to elite professional boxing within management teams. The present work only reflects one such view. Forthcoming, the author considers his experiences working in professional boxing.

SETTING THE STAGE Ten years ago, the author began working with professional boxers. At the time, he was the sport psychology consultant (SPC) to the Canadian National Boxing Team. During a training camp where the coach was working with two of the athletes, the two began to speak. The coach was intrigued by the tangible nature of sport psychology, and how matters pertaining to control and the monitoring of effective explanatory patterns could intersect with pre-competition and competition planning. At the time, the SPC was engaged in post-doctoral studies, and the option that arose was whether to remain in formal studies or to begin applied practice as a full-time staff member in the management team. Though the initial invite was rescinded because the management group and student resided several thousand miles apart, the discussions from that weekend continued sporadically as the first author was completing his studies. Two years later, the first author began working formally as part of the management team, after relocating to the same general region. The management group was in its third year of existence, and several athletes were becoming well known internationally due to their world rankings. The athletes and staff had over the three-year span enlisted the work (albeit in short durations) of a few SPC’s, though the fit was not correct. The athletes did not feel a connection with the consultants, and the lack of connection manifested in distrust, a lack of athlete SPC rapport, and consequently, ineffective work. Consequently, when the author reapproached the head coach with a proposal to begin work, there was some initial concern regarding the viability of services, meaning whether the services would meet the expectations of the athletes and staff alike. Through several phone calls and some persistence on the part of the SPC, the head coach agreed to meet with the author, and to subsequently introduce him to a few athletes. The ongoing experience resembles at least in terms of rapport building, encounters with the Canadian National Boxing Team (See Schinke, 2007). Precisely, early mistrust evolved into a long-term relationship that continues to present day. What follows is the chronology of experiences working with professional boxers from first encounters, onward to (and through) ongoing world titles.

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INITIAL MEETINGS = INITIAL BARRIERS Boxing is a fascinating context in which to do work. For a layperson, the sport of boxing might conjure up a context where the athletes are poorly educated, from the street, difficult to gain the trust of, and perhaps closed to the concept of sport psychology. From the author’s vantage, there is only some truth to boxing stereotypes. Granted there is often some trepidation among the athletes to speak openly with a SPC. To be a professional boxer, one must be mentally and physically tough, and disclosing one’s thoughts and feelings to a SPC can be misconstrued among some athletes as being soft (instead of hardened and mentally tough). Compounding the challenges he encountered in employing effective sport psychology work are the negative experiences several of the athletes recounted to the author prior to their decisions to engage. Negative initial experiences included several foreign athletes confiding personal experiences about a SPC, who breached confidentially and disclosed personal information to the coaching staff. Among other athletes were initial observations during their amateur careers of one particular SPC who spent an entire training camp taking the sun at poolside, without a single athlete meeting. Finally, there were others who viewed the domain as esoteric, intangible, and therefore its services as a waste of time. The author’s view is that athletes have many reasons when they are initially guarded, and a good starting point is to identify and understand where trepidations originate. It would be a mistake to assume when an athlete is initially closed off from the consultant, that the athlete will never engage in collaboration. With patience and a willingness to allow the athlete – SPC relationship to develop naturally, there will be ample opportunity for work. First appointments with athletes always seem to resemble a bout, believe it or not. There is a short feeling out process, followed by a first blink impression, and then a decision of how to engage. From his experiences the author recognizes that for the first meeting to happen, the athlete and SPC require support from the coach. The head coach is the gatekeeper to his athletes, though one might propose that he is also the gatekeeper to the SPC. To facilitate the SPC athlete relationship, the head coach proposes the idea to the athlete and then supports the suggestion with some effective support so that the athlete engages in the first meeting. Concurrently, by providing positive ongoing support to the SPC regarding how best to proceed with each athlete, the head coach serves to present the SPC in a manner that is enticing, and hopefully promising of further athlete development. When the author and coach began to work together, the two leading athletes they spent much of their time working with were prospective world champions. One of the athletes was Canadian by nationality, and his skepticism of sport psychology was based upon earlier encounters as a professional athlete with other consultants. The second athlete held an illustrious amateur career before he embarked on his professional career. His initial encounters with SPC’s were instances when he chose not to answer truthfully, and so he told the SPC what he thought was being hoped for as an answer (i.e., that everything was always fine). Both athletes were the first high standard professional boxing clients the SPC worked with, and both became world champions in short order, mostly because of the high quality coaching and management they received, which complimented their desire to succeed. First encounters felt stilted, undoubtedly to the athletes and SPC alike. One of the athletes was slightly more receptive than the other, primarily because by the time work began, he had challenged for a world title three times, always unsuccessfully. Consequently, that client was

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looking for any additional edge he could gain, and perhaps a last ditch effort at sport psychology was worth the risk. The second athlete was encouraged a little more actively by the second author to meet with the SPC. He at first spoke of his family during meetings, and there was very little said pertaining to sport, other than his initial negative encounter with a SPC, while he was a national team athlete. Within a short time, both athletes were engaged in the process, and the overarching ambition in the partnership was to debrief previous performances, glean a better understanding of why performances unfolded as they did, and subsequently from increased understanding, the goal was to enhance performance through knowledge of what does and does not work. It should be noted that since the initial contribution by Schinke (2004), the author with academic and applied colleagues has developed a theoretical framework upon which to expedite elite amateur and professional athlete adaptation (see Schinke, Battochio, Dubuc, Swords, Apolloni, &Tenenbaum, 2008; Schinke, Gauthier, Dubuc, & Crowder, 2007). Interestingly, the theoretical framework delineated through systematic research uncovered athlete understanding as the most critical step, contributing to effective athlete adaptation (as opposed to athlete mal-adaptation, leading to stagnation). Consequently, though athlete understanding is a topic matter pursued with the boxers from the outset, it is also an ongoing pursuit throughout relations, leading to athlete evolution throughout the span of a career.

ACHIEVING SOLID RELATIONAL FOOTING The author found that relations with athletes tend to develop quickly when the focus is placed squarely on athlete evolution. Every athlete seeks to understand what works well for him in performance, and therefore what to systematize as part of a bout (competition) plan. Debriefings of previous bouts are a critical part of what we do, and sometimes those debriefings must be used to track experiences as far in the past as 7-8 years ago. One of the athletes he worked with in the past viewed himself as someone who always underachieved in critical bouts. When the coach insisted that the athlete meet with the SPC, it was found inside the first meeting that such concerns stemmed from two consecutive amateur tournaments when the athlete was expected to win, and in thecrucial bouts, he was unable to execute his plan. The deeply held belief by the athlete was that he “choked” during the tournaments to the point where his talents could not be employed. Consequently, during the critical first meeting, discussions began with trepidations working with SPCs (based on negative formative experiences in an amateur career). Once the SPC was made aware by the athlete of his concerns with SPCs, the discussion turned to fears that he would underachieve during a forthcoming world title bout. Through discussions, earlier amateur experiences were recounted and thoroughly debriefed. Precisely, the question became what decisions the athlete made during his first negative amateur experience (followed by the second) that manifested in each of the subpar tournament outcomes. When the athlete became aware of omissions in his bout plans, hisemotional response was immediate. The pessimistic attribution of being someone who can choke was re-conceptualized into poor organizational decisions. Reattributing mistakes from uncontrollable to controllable fostered a level of understanding that in turn contributed to better planning decisions and subsequently, a dramatic world championship success. From the aforementioned story, the athlete became immediately

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receptive to sport psychology services as part of his training. Consequently, with the initial support from the coach and a subsequent effective intervention, the SPC and athlete were on solid relational footing. Though manifestations of trust have varied with every athlete based on his individual personality, experiences, and cultural background, each athlete in his own way articulated when he trusted the services. The SPC’s task was to listen carefully and to know when the relationship was forged, and also in a few cases, when more patience was (and in a few cases still is) required.

WORKING WITH ATHLETES THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS Every professional boxer has a lifespan for his career. We have found that the length of an athlete’s career varies with each athlete. Part of what accounts for the discrepancies in career spans from one athlete to the next is a matter of athlete resilience. Additionally, though equally salient is the matter of effective athlete management. Each aspect unto itself is necessary though insufficient if the goal is to retain professional boxers in successful careers over the long-term. The starting point is to work with athletes who are resilient. Athlete resilience does not just happen (see Retew&Reivich, 1995). Rather, there are indications of athlete resilience that stem from earlier amateur careers. Precisely, several of the athletes the author has worked with did not have illustrious amateur careers, though earlier careers were marked with instances where the athletes responded adaptively to setbacks, including deselection from a national team or from skills that did not fully match with amateur boxing. However, what was consistent among the most resilient athletes worked with is their ongoing choice to persist after setbacks immediately as opposed to months of inactivity and rumination (e.g., negative reflection, externalizing negative outcomes, holding negative and distrusting thoughts of coaching staff) (for a review see Schinke &da Costa, 2001, Seligman, 1991). Though resilience for the highprofile professional boxer is an innate characteristic, it must also be monitored throughout his athletic career. The intent is to ensure that after successes, lessons are gleaned in terms of why successes are successes. Also, even when the athlete wins a critical bout, the athlete and his coaching staff must always seek out aspects to improve forthcoming. The objective, even one working with world champions, is to ensure that there is always a sense of forward progression. Successful boxers are not only meant to maintain unblemished records. They are also supposed to grow within their success to the point where successful outcomes are also opportunities for learning. When setbacks are encountered, within such outcomes again there are lessons to learn, and such lessons are meant to be addressed sooner instead of later. The author has found that his athletes replay negative outcomes time and again in their minds. The re-visiting of such experiences is the consequence of a search for understanding on the part of the athlete. So long as the athlete does not fully understand why the performance manifested in a negative outcome, the experience will be considered unaddressed. The longer the span of time from the experience to the debriefing, the more times the athlete re-visits the negative outcome without a full appreciation of how behaviors / decisions connected with the outcome. The goal is to expedite the debriefing process so as to decrease the number of times that the athlete re-visits negative experiences, and thus the possibility of negative rumination as a habit.

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Consequently, the goal is to be efficient, and also to debrief performances quickly, always ensuring that the debriefing process is extensive, and sufficient in the mind of the athlete and his coaching staff. In so doing, each experience becomes a learning opportunity, one that is understood, facilitative of future plans, and then put to rest. Therein, through effective debriefings, the coaching staff plays their part ensuring that the athlete recovers mentally from each bout, thus re-affirming and building upon the athlete’s resilience with each bout. Finally, a caveat must be made in terms of athlete resilience. The reader might anticipate from what has been written thus far that resilience is in part intertwined with outcome. Precisely, it might be assumed that from successes, enhanced resilience is a foregone conclusion. However, the author hasobserved bouts second hand where successes have eroded at resilience, and also examples when negative outcomes have enhanced the same skill. Taking the example of positive outcomes undermining resilience, recently he witnessed bouts where athletes at the highest level won their bouts, though experienced a loss in positive mindedness. During one example, the athlete won 11 of 12 rounds of a critical bout, though barely managed to escape a knockout in the final round. The second athlete also won his critical bout, though in the bout, the win was not as definitely in terms of point differentials as compared to the firstcase. What both athletes shared was an emotional response post-bout that indicated relief in place of joy and excitement. The critical aspect in the effective tracking of professional boxing post-bout is their immediate post-bout emotional response. In keeping with well-documented literature on attributions such as the seminal work of Weiner (1985, 1986) and then transferred into a resilience framework through the work of Rettew and Reivich (1995), emotional responses are critical. Only some emotional responses are facilitative of resilience such as happiness and guilt, though not relief.

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA Within the earlier work of Schinke (2004) there was a section devoted to the relationship between (and sometimes amongst) the media and athletes and their respective management groups. We have both found that athletes tend to track the information about them in newspapers, on web sites, and in daily blogs. One athlete that the SPC recently worked with spent much of his time prior to a critical bout tracking the commentary made by his opponent. In addition, the athlete was aware of and concerned by the predictions for the fight made by the pundits. There is an extensive body of literature pertaining to social support and also selfconfidence where there is strong indication that athletes do not prepare nor perform in a vacuum. Rather, they are influenced by the feedback and words provided by others, in some cases through media outlets. Some athletes are less concerned about the views of others, and some track and pay credence to external feedback. Consequently, the role of media is a matter of more and less, though media does play a role in boxer performance. Within professional sport, you will find that athletes are sometimes trained regarding how to conduct themselves with the media. There are patent responses that some athletes learn to provide during interviews. Examples might include a focus on personal performance and how coaching staff and family have been supportive in preparation for the bout. Though responses are typically attempts at professionalism, regardless of what response is provided, it is constructed in language. The moment athletes are asked to consider their performances, and

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they respond, the words they select conjure up images. Each year, the author delivers a day’s workshop to Canadian elite coaches on the effect of language use when working with aspiring athletes. The moment an athlete is asked any question, and it is often hard to predict what questions might be asked by a reporter, the athlete must reflect over his response. The critical point is that thoughts constructed in language are thoughts nonetheless. From a press columnist’s questions, the athlete can embark on a trajectory of thinking that is either facilitative or debilitative of his performance. Further, when the words of the athlete are served up in printed form, they might range from a correct depiction of the athlete’s thoughts to a complete misinterpretation. If the athlete then reads the column out of curiosity prior to the bout, the words fed back to him can be a cause of positive or negative emotions. Consequently, when coaches and sport science staff are asked to provide interviews, our thought is to remain mindful that our athletes might be part of the readership. Hence, the media can be an opportunity for staff to deliver an effective message to the athlete, assuming that the responses we provide are resilience producing or affirming. In addition, the author has worked positively with a few athletes in the past regarding how best to employ the media as a performance enhancement strategy. For example, with one athlete recently, short sport psychology sessions were held before critical media interviews and press conferences. The athlete was an aficionado of the media. He loves the media, and he follows media releases closely. Hence, the question has become how to respond to the media so as to enhance resilience while also potentially parting messages to the opponent. Some opponents also track the media, and one particular opponent the consultant helped an athlete prepare for, seemed to download the most recent news / information about my client daily onto his website. Through simple observation it became evident that we could deliver messages to the opponent through the media, and the question became what messages might be effective for both parties? Any source of information that reflects back to the athlete can be employed as an effective way to send a message, and hopefully that message will be a positive and effective one for the intended client.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The present work is not intended is a definitive guide of how one might work with successful professional boxers, successfully. Further, it should be noted that there is considerably more to working with professional boxers and their management groups than has been considered herein. For example, there is pre-bout management, matters of travel away from home, how to work effectively with sport agents, how to support athletes before and during press conferences, and also how to work with boxers onsite. Such topics are matters for another submission, and were not discussed as part of the present contribution. Herein, the author provided a few considerations that we believe can enhance athlete performance through a systematic approach to athlete management. He considered what was discussed within the present installment as part of the contextual side of what we do with the boxers we work with effectively. The SPC does not do all of the strategies with every athlete, and so the headings reflect a composite of parts, written together as part of an overarching approach. Within the present chapter he has considered some of the initial challenges an SPC might encounter when working with aspiring boxers. Afterward, considerations included how

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an SPC might forge a relationship with an athlete, how one might work with athletes throughout their careers, and also how we at times have worked effectively with the media. It is hoped that our words encourage others to also contribute in print, aspects to their respective approaches as consultants in professional sport. Forthcoming are a few suggestions we propose for those interested in working with professional boxers. •

•

•

Relationships with athletes take some time to develop. An effective strategy toward the beginning of the relationship is to focus (should the athlete be comfortable) on debriefings of previous amateur and professional bouts. From such discussions that consultant will learn some of the patterns of the athlete, thus familiarizing him/herself with the individual case. As well, debriefings are a good opportunity for athletes to learn about their previous performances, and employ such lessons in their future strategies. There are cases when boxers are reluctant initially to engage in work with a SPC. Trepidation might be a matter of previous negative experiences or a lack of belief in sport psychology / mental training service provisions. Our suggestion is to gain an initial understanding of how the athlete regards such services, and then to approach the athlete as the athlete is ready, not before. Boxers learn their varying amounts of resilience directly through past encounters, though also from the supportive resources that surround them. We have proposed that the very best of athletes from those we have worked with were naturally resilient. Precisely, the resilient athletes were resilient long before we ever began working with them. A strong base line of resilience is necessary for world-class athletes to become and remain successful over the long-term. We seek out such athletes, and then subsequently try as best we can to track their resilience through their explanations and emotional responses within and shortly after crucial bouts. We propose that the more efficient the debriefing process after bouts, the better when the objective is to push athletes in their ongoing evolution.

REFERENCES Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman. Lane, A.M. (2006) Reflections of professional boxing consultancy: A response to Schinke (2004). Athletic Insight, 6. Retrieved December 20, 2006, from URL: http:// www.athleticinsight.com/Vol8Iss3/Reflections.htm Rettew, D.,&Reivich, K. (1995) Sports explanatory style. In G. McClellan Buchanan & M.E.P. Seligman (Eds.),Explanatory style (pp. 173-186). NJ: Erlbaum. Schinke, R.J. (2007). A four-year chronology with national team boxing in Canada.Journal of Sport Science and Medicine, 6 (CSSI – 2), 1-5. Schinke, R.J. (September, 2004). The contextual side of professional sport.Athletic Insight, 6.Retrieved December 20, 2006, from URL: http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol6Iss2 /ProfessionalBoxing.htm

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Schinke, R.J., Battochio, R.C., Dubuc, N.G., Swords, S., Appoloni, G., &Tennenbaum, G. (2008). Adaptation attempts of Canadian Olympians using archival data.Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 2, 1-21. Schinke, R.J., &da Costa, J. (2001). Understanding the development of major-games competitors' explanations and behaviors from a contextual viewpoint. Athletic Insight, Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol3Iss3 /ExplanationDevelopment.htm Schinke, R.J., Gauthier, A.P., Dubuc, N.G., & Crowder, T. (2007). Understanding athlete adaptation in the National Hockey League through an archival data source. The SportPsychologist,21, 277–287. Schinke, R.J., Peltier, D., Hanrahan, S.J., Eys, M.A., Yungblut, H., Ritchie, S., et al (in press). The progressive move toward indigenous strategies among a Canadian multicultural research team.International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5. Seligman, M.E.P. (1991).Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. NY: Pocket Books. Skinner, E.A. (1995). Perceived control, motivation, and coping. London, UK: Sage. Weiner, B. (1985). An attribution theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review,92, 548-573. Weiner, B. (1986). Attribution, emotion, and action.In R. M. Sorrentino& E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition Vol. #1 (pp. 281-311). NJ: Erlbaum.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 2

PREPARING PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYERS FOR PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE Wayne Halliwell* University of Montreal, Canada

CHAPTER SUMMARY Working with professional hockey teams in the playoffs is a unique consulting experience. I have been privileged to work “behind the scenes” on a number of occasions with both National Hockey League (NHL) and American Hockey League (AHL) teams during their long, intense playoff runs. In this chapter I will describe some of the strategies that we have used to help the players, the coaches and the teams get mentally and emotionally ready for the challenges of playoff hockey. I will also discuss the differences that I have observed between providing sport psychology consulting services to professional hockey teams in the playoffs and working with our Canadian national hockey teams in short-term events such as the Winter Olympics and the World Hockey Championships.

THE CONSULTING APPROACH I use an “interactionist” approach (Miner, 2005 ) when consulting with both the Canadian national hockey teams and the professional hockey teams. In this regard, my interventions can be categorized as being player-related (Person), or related to the surrounding social and physical environments (Situation). It should be noted, however, that “interactionism” is a word that never comes up in my conversations with professional hockey players and their coaches. In addition to considering social and physical environmental factors which affect the players, it is also important as a consultant to be aware of the unique “hockey culture” which *

Wayne Halliwell, Ph.D., CSPA, Department of Kinesiology, University of Montreal, 2100 Edouard Montpetit. Montreal, Quebec H9W3N9, e-mail address [email protected], Phone : 514-343-7008, Fax : 514-343-2181

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exists in professional hockey (Botterill, 2004; Halliwell, 1990, 2004). Throughout the chapter I will discuss the role of the interaction between certain personal factors and a number of physical, social and cultural factors. In addition to having a sound conceptual framework to guide the delivery of sport psychology consulting services to professional hockey teams, I feel that it is very important to adopt a low profile. By maintaining a low- key, “behind the scenes” approach, especially when dealing with the increased media presence during the playoffs, both players and coaches will respect your professionalism (Halliwell, Orlick, Ravizza & Rotella, 1999). The last thing they want to see is the sport psychology consultant doing a lot of television, radio or newspaper interviews. I like to follow the motto “high input – low profile.”

THE UNIQUE TASK DEMANDS OF PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYOFFS As a consultant working with professional hockey teams during various playoff series, what have really struck me are the length and the intensity of the playoff competition. In contrast to the Winter Olympics or the World Hockey Championships which last two weeks and have teams playing seven or eight games (including preliminary and medal round games), professional hockey playoffs in North America begin during the second week in April and don’t end until the second week in June. The drained and battle-scarred faces of the players during television interviews in the NHL playoffs is a testament to the gruelling nature of the Stanley Cup journey with teams playing two months of extremely intense, emotional, and physically draining hockey. The Stanley Cup Champion may be required to play as many as 28 games during four seven games series. In addition, the teams travel across several time zones in short periods of time and the players may have to cope with playing at a high altitude in cities like Denver and Calgary. Some players can be seen getting supplementary oxygen on the bench between shifts during games which are played at altitude. Given the special task demands of professional hockey playoffs (see also Battochio, Schinke, Battochio, Eys, Halliwell & Tenenbaum, submitted for publication), there are a number of areas where the sport psychology consultant can help the players and the coaches cope with the mental and emotional demands of this two month marathon of games. In the next section I will identify some of the areas that we focus on to help these professional athletes master the mental and emotional side of their game.

MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS FOR PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYERS Whenever I talk to professional hockey players about mental and emotional skills I always remind them that what we are talking about is not exactly “rocket science”. I like to keep things simple and emphasize a lot of “C” words such as control, composure, concentration, commitment, confidence and consistency. Specific examples of areas that we work on include:

Preparing Professional Hockey Players for Playoff Performance •

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helping players get focused and stay focused so they can “stay in the moment” and focus on playing “one shift at a time” for the entire length of the game. In the playoffs, some games can last over 120 minutes with 60 minutes of regulation time and another two or three periods of sudden-death overtime hockey. helping players regroup and refocus if they get distracted and frustrated during the game because of missed scoring opportunities, bad plays, bad bounces, questionable calls by the officials helping players control their emotions and not get frustrated by things like: opponents’ stifling, close-checking defensive tactics opposition goalies playing “out of their minds” inconsistent refereeing decisions helping players control their emotions, maintain their composure and not retaliate to opponents’ aggressive, intimidating actions and verbal comments – also known as “chirping” helping players develop the resiliency and mental toughness to bounce back and re-energize themselves after tough losses helping players deal with playoff pressure and media and fans’ expectations helping players stay loose and play with intensity helping players cope with the mental, emotional and physical fatigue of the long playoff grind helping players play with a high level of confidence and consistency helping players develop a selfless “team first” attitude with a total commitment to doing “whatever it takes” to win (e.g., blocking shots, playing through nagging injuries, playing fewer minutes per game)

DELIVERING THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS INFORMATION Having identified some of the mental and emotional challenges of playoff hockey at the professional level, we can now take a look at some of the strategies that have proven to be effective in delivering the mental and emotional skills information. However, before we examine the what and the how of the delivery of this information, it is important to consider who we are delivering this information to. On every professional hockey team there is a mix of young players, mid-career players and older experienced veteran players. The players on an NHL team could range in age from 18 to over 40 years old. The veteran players prefer to be called “40 years young”! In terms of their ability to deal with the mental and emotional aspects of playoff hockey at the professional level I like to classify the players in three groups based on their years of playoff experience:

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Inexperienced Players These are players who have no NHL playoff experience so they “Don’t know what to expect and Don’t know how to respond”.

Players with Some Playoff Experience These are players who have limited playoff experience and they “Know what to expect but still Don’t know how to respond”

Experienced, Veteran Players These players have years of playoff experience so they “Know what to expect and Know how to respond”. Players in this category include Steve Yzerman, captain of the Detroit Red Wings, Scott Stevens, captain of the New Jersey Devils and Joe Sakic, captain of the Colorado Avalanche. Each one of these players has won multiple Stanley Cups and they have “figured out” how to get focused, stay focused and if needed - refocus. They also know how to control their thoughts and their emotions and create a mindset which enables them to elevate their games and play with both confidence and consistency in pressure-filled playoff games. These players truly enjoy the challenge of competing and playing hard every second night for two months and getting the opportunity to lead their teammates to victory. In an interview late in his illustrious 22 year, three Stanley Cup career with the Detroit Red Wings, captain Steve Yzerman said “I really enjoy the atmosphere now, the emotional highs and lows of the playoffs. That’s the thing that, ironically, as you get older, you get more comfortable with. You get less scared of it.” (Detroit Free Press, 2006. p.88).

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE In this broad classification of playoff performers it is clear that knowledge and experience are two key factors which enable the top players to perform to their potential. From a conceptual perspective, it can be said that this knowledge consists of what a player knows about himself and what he knows about dealing with various situations (Interactionism once again jumps into the picture). Veteran players, with their years of experience, have acquired this knowledge and as a result they know what to expect in the playoffs and they know how to respond. In their words, they have “figured things out”. To help younger players acquire this knowledge and figure out the mental and emotional side of playoff hockey, I like to show them video clips of experienced playoff performers and top athletes from other sports discussing topics such as focusing, visualizing, breathing, dealing with pressure, and dealing with frustration. Professional hockey players do not like to sit through long meetings with a sport psychology consultant discussing mental training techniques, however they love to watch short video clips of other world-class athletes talking about their experiences and their mental

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approach to major competitions. As Malcolm Gladwell (2002) vividly states in his brilliant book “The Tipping Point”, packaging information in the right way is the key to “getting it to stick” in people’s minds. A recent television interview with one of the world’s top golfers, Tiger Woods, provides a good example of an effective video clip which can help hockey players grasp the concept of “staying in the present” and “playing one shift at a time”. In this interview, when asked a question about his mental approach to each shot, Tiger Woods states “You have to make a commitment to each shot. At that moment in time, that shot is the most important thing in your life. You have to stay in the moment and be totally focused”. This is exactly what coaches want their players to do every shift during the game and because NHL players have such great respect for Tiger Woods they will listen to his words and apply them to their sport. On the topic of dealing with frustration, during the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs there was a great interview after the first period of the seventh game final with New Jersey Devils forward John Madden. His team was completely outplaying their opponent, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, but the game was still tied 0-0 because of the terrific goaltending of the Mighty Ducks goalie Jean- Sebastien Giguere. When asked if it was frustrating to be totally outplaying and outshooting the opposition and not being able to score, Madden replied “No, it’s not frustrating. It would be frustrating if we weren’t getting scoring chances. The second period is always our best period and I’m sure we’ll be okay”. In discussing this interview with players I like to point out that John Madden never mentioned the opposing goalie and he focused on three positives. His team was dominating the game, they were getting scoring chances, and they always play well in the second period. History will note that John Madden’s team, the New Jersey Devils, went on to win that game and win the Stanley Cup. It should also be noted that the opposition goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, won the trophy for the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs. During the same intermission of this game another veteran player Steve Thomas was interviewed and when asked how that he dealt with the pressure of playing in a seventh game Stanley Cup Final, he replied “We just try to keep things simple - get pucks in, get pucks out, and take deep breaths”. These short video clips from experienced professional athletes provide a nice way of communicating information on topics such as focusing, motivation, dealing with frustration and dealing with pressure. On the subject of dealing with pressure, during the 2004 NHL playoff finals the players on the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning received some unexpected and highly appreciated advice from a former Stanley Cup winner and Hall of Fame player Raymond Bourque. Before game five of the finals one of the Tampa Bay players Tim Taylor received a telephone message from his former teammate Raymond Bourque with a reminder to “enjoy this great opportunity” to be battling for the Stanley Cup. Taylor played this voice message for his teammates on the speaker system in the Lightning locker room. In television interviews a number of the players talked about how much they appreciated this great former player taking the time to share his experiences and how the words “ enjoy” and “opportunity” really helped them approach the final games with a healthy, positive perspective. The experienced, respected professional athletes that I have mentioned in the aforementioned examples all have years of experience playing in pressure-filled situations and they all know how to embrace the pressure and “let their training and talent come out”. Quotes from these athletes are readily available in television interviews and in the sports pages of newspapers, magazines, and books. By preparing video clips and posting the

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comments of high profile professional athletes in the locker room we can help young professional athletes access this “timeless wisdom” and they can use this information to improve their mental and emotional skills. One of the excerpts that I like to share with teams in playoff situations is the following observation from Wayne Gretzky after his young talented Edmonton Oilers team was defeated by the three-time defending champion New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup final. He relates an unforgettable experience that he and his teammate Kevin Lowe had to endure after their losing to the Islanders: Kevin and I loaded up our troubles and our junk and made our way to the bus. We both knew that we were going to have to walk by the Islanders’ locker room and we were dreading it: having to see all the happy faces, the champagne shampoos, the girlfriends’ kisses, the whole scene we both wanted so much. But as we walked by, we didn’t see any of that. The girlfriends and the coaches and the staff people were living it up, but the players weren’t. Trottier was icing what looked like a painful knee. Potvin was getting stuff rubbed on his shoulder. Guys were limping around with black eyes and bloody mouths. It looked more like a morgue than a locker room. And we were perfectly fine and healthy. That’s why they won and we lost. They took more punishment than we did. They dove into more boards, stuck their faces in front of more pucks, threw their bodies into more pileups. They sacrificed everything they had. And that’s when Kevin said something that I’ll never forget. He said: ‘That’s how you win championships’ (Gretzky & Reilly, 1990, p.69).

PROCESS – ORIENTED FOCUS THOUGHTS Due to the importance of each playoff game, players have a natural tendency to focus on the outcome of the games instead of focusing on the process of winning. To get players focused on doing what it takes to win, instead of focusing on having to win, I like to get players forwards and defencemen to use action-oriented key words which we also refer to as “ trigger words”: “Move your feet”, “Drive the net”, “Speed wide”, “Win the battles”, “Track back hard”, “Finish your checks”, and “Head on a swivel”. For goalies I like to use key words such as: “ alert”, “big”, “calm”, “square”, “challenge”, “solid” and “fluid”. Players have found that these process-oriented key words help them focus on things that they can control and when combined with visualization techniques in their pre-game routine, players are able to create a confident mindset which enables to see and feel themselves playing with confidence and consistency. Experienced players have already figured out how to “program their computers” with positive images and words, so in sport psych terminology they know how to combine positive self-talk with visualization.

PLAYOFF TEAM THEMES Another area where I have really enjoyed contributing to professional hockey teams in their playoff preparation is the development of specific team themes and slogans. These themes evolve from discussions with the coaching staff and with input from the players. Once a playoff theme has been identified we print up T-shirts for all the players, coaches and

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support staff and these T-shirts are handed out at the first team playoff meeting. Examples of themes that we have used include: “Pay the Price”, “Discipline Over Emotion”, “Whatever it Takes”, “Short Shift Hockey”, “Will Beats Skill”, “Push the Pace”, “No Regrets”, “Each Other” and “Team First”. When the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2001 their playoff theme was “It’s All About Commitment”. This reminder was painted in big letters on the dressing room wall and it appeared in the team’s playoff motivational videos. Working with the team video coordinator to produce highlight videos is an enjoyable project and we get the players involved by asking them to supply suggestions for the music they like. A pre-playoff motivational video is prepared and then follow-up videos are produced with highlights from each playoff round that we win. One of the keys in preparing these videos is to ensure every player appears in the video so it is not just a series of highlights of a few of the more highprofile players on the team. Also, these videos should not just show great plays by individual players. Instead, they should also show little things like players displaying discipline, winning loose puck battles, blocking shots, back checking hard, and showing extra effort in skating hard to the net and getting to rebounds. In the 2004 NHL playoffs, the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning team used an interesting theme - “Safe Is Death”. One of the assistant coaches came up with this team theme because the coaches did not want the team to sit back and play too safely when they had a lead in a game. The theme apparently had an effect on the Tampa Bay players as they often extended the lead by continuing to “push the pace” instead of playing cautiously and trying to protect the lead. Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien also uses the team theme “Push the Pace” as he finds that it helps his players focus on “applying the pressure” instead of “feeling the pressure” and squeezing their sticks. Players like this aggressive, pursuit approach as it helps them get up their toes, get pucks deep, and take the play to the opposition by applying puck pressure both all over the ice. From these examples it can be seen how playoff themes can influence a player’s mindset and it is an area where a consultant can provide creative input by developing team themes which stick with the players and provide a constant reminder for the way they want to think and play.

PLAYOFF SITUATIONAL FACTORS During a two month playoff journey there are many situational factors that can be potential distractions to players. The coaches and team management of NHL teams do a great job of organizing travel, lodging and meals. Teams travel on charter flights, stay in first class hotels, and have team meals at excellent restaurants. However, due to the magnitude of the Stanley Cup playoffs, more demands are placed on the players as media coverage increases and players’ families and friends fly in to visit and share the Stanley Cup experience. Thus, players find themselves doing things such as scrambling to find extra tickets for games and making sure that their families and friends are looked after. These extra social demands can affect the players’ normal game day routine, as a result, many teams have their players check into hotels the night before home games. This allows the coaches to organize a team meal and a team meeting and it is a great time for the sport psychology consultant to find time for informal “consulting moments” with players. When working with hockey teams at the

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Olympic Games or at World Championships, players and coaches do not have these distractions as they are living in the Olympic Village or in a hotel. At these major international competitions it is much easier to put a family plan and a media plan in place and to develop distraction control and focus plans such as those described in Terry Orlick’s excellent book “In Pursuit of Excellence” (Orlick, 2000). Another unique social factor in the playoffs is the increased number of players on the team as NHL teams call up extra players from their farm team and there can be as many as 30 players available to play. Since only 20 players dress for each game, the extra players have to do extra on-ice and off-ice training to stay in shape and be ready to play in case of injuries. This group of reserve players develops an identity and they are referred to as the “Black Aces” because they wear black jerseys in practice. As the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden points out in his wonderful memoirs (Wooden & Jamieson, 1997), spending time with the reserve players and recognizing their efforts is one of the keys to any team’s playoff success as these players must have a positive influence on the team and be ready to contribute. The coaches that I have worked with have taken the time to build a positive attitude in the reserve group and the regular players also take time to mention the importance of the depth of their team when talking to the media. Spending time with these players is also an important role for the sport psychology consultant and I have thoroughly enjoyed chatting with these reserve players and helping them stay mentally and emotionally fit.

SUMMARY Professional hockey players face many mental, emotional and physical challenges during the long, gruelling playoff journeys. Working with these world-class athletes and seeing the passion they demonstrate in working together, growing together and winning together is a very rewarding consulting experience. Hopefully the experiences that I have shared in this chapter provide some insight into the uniqueness of the professional hockey playoffs and shed light on ways that consultants can deliver sport psychology services to professional hockey players and coaches in the playoffs.

REFERENCES Battochio, R. C., Schinke, R. J., Battochio, D., Eys, M. A., Halliwell, W., & Tenenbaum, G. The contextual challenges of ice-hockey players in the National Hockey League. Submitted for publication. Botterill, C. (2004). The psychology of professional hockey. Retrieved January 15th, 2009, from http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol6Iss2/ProfessionalHockey.htm Gladwell, M. (2002). The tipping point. New York, NY: Little, Brown & Company. Gretzky, W., & Reilly, R. (1990). Gretzky : An Autobiography. Toronto: Harper Collins. Halliwell, W. (1990). Delivering sport psychology services in professional hockey. The Sport Psychologist, 4, 369-377.

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Halliwell, W. (2004). Preparing professional hockey players for playoff performance, Retrieved December 10th, 2008 from http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol6Iss2 /ProfessionalHockeyPlayoffPerformance.htm Halliwell, W., Orlick, T., Ravizza K., & Rotella, R. (1999 ) Consultant’s guide to excellence. Chelsea, CAN: Baird, O’Keefe Publishing. Miner, J.B. ( 2005 ). Organizational behaviour 1 Essential theories of motivation and leadership. Armonk.NY: M.E.Sharpe Orlick, T. In pursuit of excellence. (2000) Champaign. IL: Human Kinetics. Wooden, J., & Jamieson, S. (1997). Wooden: A lifetime of observations and reflections on and off the court. Lincolnwood, ILL: Contemporary Books. Yzerman, S. (2006). The Captain: 22 Seasons, 3 Cups, 1 Team. Detroit: Detroit Free Press.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 3

A CASE FOR A NEW SPORT PSYCHOLOGY: APPLIED PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY AND FMRI NEUROSCIENCE Leonard Zaichkowsky Boston University, Massachusetts,USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter I present the argument that the profession of sport psychology has failed to convince coaches, athletes and sport governing body administrators that sport psychology is a critical and essential sport science. A number of reasons contribute to this skepticism, however the major reason, in my opinion, is our inability to quantify changes in human performance that is a result of specific mental skill training. The neuroscience techniques of biofeedback, neurofeedback and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provide sport psychologists with a methodology to quantify baseline abilities in mental skills, monitor changes, and enable sport psychologists to train athletes to self-regulate their thoughts, feelings and actions. Biofeedback, neurofeedback and fMRI methodology are briefly explained along with evidence suggesting applied psychophysiology and neuroscience serve as the foundation for research and practice in sport psychology. Four decades of scientific research and practical use of psychological intervention with athletes still has many coaches and athletes skeptical about the value of sport psychology/mental training even though they readily acknowledge the importance of the mind in performance. There are three major reasons for this skepticism: First, there is the misguided belief by coaches that champion athletes are born with talent and athletes either “have it or don’t have it” when a championship is on the line. Apparently the decade old research by eminent psychologist Anders Ericsson (1993) and sport psychology researchers (e.g., Durand-Bush & Salmela, 1996; Starkes 1996) has not reached or convinced the coaching population. It is quite clear from this research that “deliberate” and continued practice is what explains championship behavior and not “talent” or genetics. The second reason coaches have not embraced the profession of sport psychology is that many coaches believe the mental preparation of athletes is their responsibility. Having consulting sport psychologists intervening is something many coaches are not comfortable with, although they

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are quite comfortable with nutrition and strength and conditioning consultants. The third reason for skepticism on the part of coaches, is not knowing whether psychological training makes a difference in the development of optimal performance because, unlike physiological training, it is difficult to see or measure quantitative differences in psychological development. However, the good news is that now we have sophisticated technology enabling us to determine what happens in the central nervous system (including the brain) and the autonomic nervous system during training and high level performance. This helps us better understand how athletes think, feel, and react prior to and during competition. These technological advances, based on neuroscience, include biofeedback / neurofeedback, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In my opinion these two areas are the next frontier for sport science and sport psychology in particular. In this chapter, I will first describe biofeedback / neurofeedback methodology and its potential for being the foundation of sport psychology practice in the future. Specifically, I will provide a brief history of biofeedback and applied psychophysiology, followed by a description of the different modalities and protocols used in sport for assessment and training, and finally evidence of recent successful application of biofeedback to sport. In the last section of the paper I will discuss the exciting new method for scientifically investigating what happens in the brain of athletes during performance-the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BIOFEEDBACK AND APPLIED PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY The field of biofeedback first appeared in the literature in the 1960s when biofeedback pioneers such as John Basmajian, Barbara Brown, Elmer Green, Joe Kamiya, and Neal Miller published studies that demonstrated humans could self regulate physiological functions that were long thought to be under the control of the autonomic nervous system and as such not “controllable” by thought processes. Basmajian (1972) demonstrated, using an operant conditioning paradigm that subjects could learn to control single-motor units and thus electromyography (EMG) biofeedback was born. Around the same time, and working independently, Barbara Brown (1970) and Joe Kamiya (1968) demonstrated that brainwaves could be regulated by subjects if they were given brainwave feedback in real time. Elmer Green (1973) demonstrated that peripheral skin temperature could be controlled with temperature feedback and Miller demonstrated that rats could self-regulate heart rate and blood pressure, again using an operant conditioning paradigm. Barbara Brown (1977) is credited with coining the term “biofeedback”. For an excellent review of this early research refer to Brown (1977), and Shapiro et al. (1973). These early findings resulted in the formation of The Biofeedback Research Society, which later became the Biofeedback Society of America. More recently another name change took place and the current professional society for biofeedback is called the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB). I first proposed the use of biofeedback in sport in 1975 (Zaichkowsky, 1975) and two years later presented a research paper on the topic at the Fourth Congress of the International Society of Sport Psychology in Prague (Zaichkowsky, Dorsey & Mulholland, 1977). A third paper was published a year later (Zaichkowsky & Kamen, 1978). Since that time I have used

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biofeedback technology to help athletes learn self-regulation of their thoughts, emotions, and action. Unfortunately, biofeedback gained little traction in sport science over the past 30 years, in part because the hardware and technology was bulky and not well developed, the equipment was expensive, and few practitioners were trained in the theory and practice of biofeedback. It is true that studies examining the efficacy of biofeedback were published in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s (e.g., Peper & Schmid, 1983) and several reviews of this work were also published (e.g., Leonards, 2003; Zaichkowsky, 1994; Zaichkowsky & Fuchs, 1988), but they were few in number. It would be accurate to say that although the techniques of biofeedback have been around since the late 1960s, the application of biofeedback to sport has been minimal. However, a dramatic change occurred in 2006 when Italy defeated France in the World Cup of Soccer. The press reported that several Italian players who played for AC Milan used biofeedback to help them with their mental preparation. AC Milan Team psychologist Dr. Bruno DeMichelis used biofeedback equipment manufactured by Montreal-based Thought Technology Ltd., and created what he called the “MindRoom”. In the AC Milan “MindRoom”, football players were taught to relax and recover from fatigue as well as control physiological reactions to pressure situations. In order to control physiological reactions under pressure the football players viewed short video clips of successful and unsuccessful performance while receiving feedback about brainwaves, cardiovascular, and electrodermal activity. The success of AC Milan and Italian football in general resulted in much of the sporting world wanting to know how to develop their own version of the “MindRoom” for teaching athlete’s mental self-regulation.

WHAT IS BIOFEEDBACK? Both beginning and experienced athletes often fail to perform optimally or be in “the zone”, because of self-induced pressure. As such, their minds and bodies are in a state of disequilibrium, and at critical moments an athlete may not know how to self-regulate his/her thoughts, feelings/emotions, physiological reactions, and motor responses. Biofeedback technology is the single most efficient way to teach self-regulation. Perhaps the greatest feature of biofeedback instrumentation is that in recent years most manufacturing companies have developed software that allows for two separate operations: (1) assessment and (2) training. First, we can measure, assess, and profile baseline psycho-physiological activity in athletes under conditions of rest, competition, and recovery. Secondly, the technology allows us to train athletes using software screens to self-regulate specific biological functions (e.g., excessive muscle tension) that tend to interfere with performance. Through Biofeedback one uses sophisticated electrodes and sensors as well as computer driven encoders to measure the mind-body activity of an athlete. Today it is possible to measure modalities such as skin temperature, heart rate, sweat gland activity, respiration, and brainwave activity (now called neurofeedback). What is important is that sensors “feedback” information to the subject in real time so that the feedback is rapid, meaningful, precise, and consistent. With feedback and the other essential ingredient for learning, “practice”, athletes can learn to control or self-regulate biological functions that are related to essential mental skills such as muscle tension, heart rate, respiration rate, skin conductance, and brain activity-

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all factors that impact on human performance. Mental skills crucial to successful performance such as self-regulating stress reactions, controlling fear, relaxation, maintaining activation, focus, imagery and performance planning can be accurately quantified and useful for rapidly training athletes.

THE MODALITIES OF BIOFEEDBACK What follows in the present section are the modalities of biofeedback. Forthcoming each modality is described through a working definition. [1] Electroencephalography (EEG), also recently known as Neurofeedback (NF): EEG measurement and training is one of the original biofeedback modalities and has been a primary treatment for ADHD; however, its application to sport has been quite recent. Technological advances have resulted in its application to archery (Landers et al, 1991), golf and equestrian (Sime et al, 2001), and is a central modality in the AC Milan “MindRoom”. EEG is used to measure brain activity and it can be used to determine if appropriate parts of the brain (those regulating coordination, or spatial awareness, for example) are active during peak performance or inappropriate parts are active such as language production, and negative self-talk. Multi-channel recording can be used to determine what brain activity is associated with successful performance and what brain activity is associated with unsuccessful performance. Also, EEG or Neurofeedback enables researchers to examine the athlete’s attentional abilities, problem-solving abilities, and imagery abilities. [2] Electromyography (sEMG): sEMG refers to surface electromyography and measures specific muscle activity in microvolts. This form of feedback allows us to determine if muscles not involved in a particular skill need to be relaxed, and those muscles involved in a skill need to fire (i.e., respond) in the right sequence and with the right amplitude. In addition to using sEMG feedback for training specific skills such as the golf swing, EMG information can also provide insight into the athlete’s strength and conditioning or effects of an injury rehabilitation program. [3] Heart Rate (HR): HR is typically measured by standard EKG electrodes or a photoelectric plethysmography (PPG) sensor attached to a finger. Usually heart rate is a measure of exercise demands, however it can also reflect mental load as well as emotions. Heart rate and a more recent measure, heart rate variability, play a large role in the psychophysiological training of athletes. [4] Heart Rate Variability (HRV): Heart Rate Variability or HRV is the most recent form of cardiovascular feedback. HRV looks at the interbeat interval (IBI) which is the time between one heart beat and the next in milliseconds. It is currently being applied to a number of medical conditions including: anger management, anxiety disorders, asthma, cardiovascular conditions, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain. Through HRV training the patient is taught to increase the percentage of HRV to specific frequency ranges. Golf professionals Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson popularized the use of HRV for teaching emotional self-regulation among golfers using instrumentation developed by Heart Math, now called em-Wave (HeartMath, 2003). Marriott and

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[6]

[7]

[8]

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Nilsson claim HRV training improves concentration and motor coordination, maximizes emotional calmness and mental focus, and prevents anxiety (www.coachingforthefuture.com). Respiration: Respiration rate and amplitude is usually measured by a strain gauge placed in the thoracic or abdominal region (or both). Respiration rate and amplitude reflects response to the stress of exercise, psychological distress, or poorly learned breathing mechanics. Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA): RSA is a measure of the synchrony between heart rate and respiration. When an athlete is in a calm and alert state, the heart-rate rises and falls with each inhalation and expiration. Skin Conductance (SC): Skin conductance is measured by placing electrodes on the fingertips and measuring sweat gland activity. In the literature it is also referred to as either electrodermal response (EDR), skin conductance (SC), or galvanic skin response (GSR). Low stable skin conductivity is an indicator of strong autonomic nervous system function. Skin Temperature (Temp): Skin temperature is another measure of autonomic nervous system function and reflects athlete somatic relaxation (warmth of blood flow and hence vasodilation) or stress (vasoconstriction and cold hands). Electrodes are typically placed on the fingers or toes to measure the temperature of the skin.

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING PROTOCOLS USED IN SPORT Sport scientists and sport psychologists using biofeedback assessment and training typically start by getting baseline measures of the athlete using a standard protocol of: rest (2 minutes), psychological stress (2 minutes), and recovery (2 minutes). The stressor usually involves the use of a standardized test such as the Wisconsin Card Sort Test, Stroop Test, serial 7’s, or a sport video of performance stress. These measures create a psychophysiological profile that enables the sport scientist to design a training program that helps the athlete to cope with pressure and maintain an optimal psychophysiological state. Should lack of attention, or cognitive disruption manifest in incorrect decision-making, leading to disregulation, then the focus of training might be on neurofeedback (EEG). EEG assessment usually involves conditions of “eyes closed”, and “eyes open” during responses to stressful stimuli. In many cases however, lack of self-regulation skills is demonstrated in all the modalities, thus training will be necessary for all modalities such as EDR, HRV, and EMG. Training self-regulation using neurofeedback or biofeedback usually begins in the laboratory in a reclining chair. Here assessment/profiling is the essential first step prior to training self-regulation. After obtaining baseline information the process of training begins. The athlete attempts to self-regulate specific physiological functions either by using animation software provided by the biofeedback manufacturer or by reviewing DVDs of successful and unsuccessful performance. The goal is to become aware of specific biological reactivity to pressure and learn what optimal values are when the mind and body are in the “zone”. For example, athletes quickly learn about what happens to their physiology when

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they slow their respiration to 6-8 respirations per minute. They can also become aware of what happens when they view “anger” being displayed in a DVD video clip, or when they simply image an emotional/traumatic reaction. In all cases, each modality is quantified using statistical values. After training in the laboratory or clinic, the athlete attempts to replicate these ideal performance states on the playing field while executing specific motor skills. Wireless technology enables psychophysiological signals to be monitored and presented as feedback to both the athlete and sport scientist. Self-regulation training is learned through this real-time feedback and continued “deliberate” or intentional practice as well as through coaching from the sport psychologist/scientist. With quality deliberate practice in selfregulation training the athlete will be better able to perform under pressure, thus maintaining composure and staying focused.

RECENT EVIDENCE OF BIOFEEDBACK / NEUROFEEDBACK APPLICATIONS IN SPORT Scholarly reviews of the efficacy of biofeedback applications in sport and exercise have been published (Aubert, Seps & Beckers, 2003; Zaichkowsky & Fuchs, 1988; Zaichkowsky & Fuchs, 1989; Zaichkowsky, 1995, and Leonards, 2003). Additionally, empirical investigations have also been published in the last decade (e.g. Blumenstein & Bar-Eli, 1998; Bar-Eli, Dreshman, Blumenstein, & Weinstein, 2002; Lagos, Vaschillo, Vaschillo, Lehrer, Bates & Pandina, 2008). However it is the reporting of successful clinical applications in recent years that have propelled biofeedback and neurofeedback back in the headlines of applied sport science. It is unfortunate that quantitative sport psychology/science does not always allow rigorous scientific examination in elite sport. For example, Olympic and professional teams have as their primary goal the winning of championships. Scientific validation of sport science interventions is rarely a goal; however changes are currently taking place such as the recent research collaboration between Real Madrid football, Boston University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://www.soccer-newengland.com/Real-Madrid-BU-MIT-Join-Forces.html. As mentioned earlier, the renewed interest in biofeedback and neurofeedback probably started with media reports coming from AC Milan football, however AC Milan sport psychologist Bruno DeMichelis later made a scientific presentation on the “MindRoom” at the 11th annual meeting of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe in Berlin in 2007. DeMichelis (2007) articulated the protocol he used in training the AC Milan football club. Vietta Wilson, one of the sport and biofeedback pioneers also shared her work with elite athletes in Canada. Since that time other sport scientists have utilized biofeedback in applied sport settings with considerable success. Pierre Beauchamp, a sport scientist for the Canadian Speedskating Federation, has successfully used biofeedback and neurofeedback in the training of national level speedskaters in Canada (P. Beauchamp,personal communication, April 2, 2009). At the 40th Annual Conference of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback in April, 2009 several papers were presented that featured applications of biofeedback / neurofeedback to sport. Louis Czoka (2009) reported successful implementation of a biofeedback program with a National Football League team and Harry van der Lei reported on successful use of heart rate variability training with Division I golfers.

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The feature address however was a paper by South African sport psychologist, Timothy Harkness, credited with successfully training Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in air rifle shooting (Figure 1). Harkness (2009) described in detail the 150 plus hours of training Bindra received in neurofeedback, HRV, EMG, and EDR. He noted that three modalities of biofeedback had the greatest effect on training. Neurofeedback enabled Bindra to learn when he was calm, relaxed, focused, and in emotional control before a shot. The goal of neurofeedback training for Bindra was to decrease theta production and increase a range of beta frequencies at Cz and to uptrain 8-10 Hz at T3 (Broca’s area), which reduced internal dialogue. Cz and T3 are specific standardized scalp electrode placement sites based on what is known as the International 10-20 System of Electrode Placement. Each electrode site has a letter to identify the lobe, along with a number or another letter to identify the hemispheric location. EMG feedback enabled Bindra to be aware of the activity of his major stability muscles and also maintain a relaxed state. EKG/respiration feedback enabled the shooter to recognized high respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). In fact, the best predictor of a bad shot was heart rate and breathing being out of phase (Figure 2).

Heart Rate

Heart Rate Variability SDRR

(Beats/Minute)

1.Eyes Closed BL

2. Eyes Open BL

3. Stroop Test

4. Recovery 1

1.Eyes Closed BL

2. Eyes Open BL

3. Stroop Test

4. Recovery 1

5. Math

6. Recovery 2

7. Game

8. Recovery 3

5. Math

6. Recovery 2

7. Game

8. Recovery 3

9. Positive Image

10. Recovery 4

11. Mouse Walk

12. Recovery 5

9. Positive Image

10. Recovery 4

11. Mouse Walk

12. Recovery 5

16. Biofeedback

13. Anticipation

14. Brief Stressor

15. Recover 6

16. Biofeedback

13. Anticipation

14. Brief Stressor

Respiration Rate

15. Recover 6

BVP Amplitudes

(Breaths/Minute)

1.Eyes Closed BL

2. Eyes Open BL

3. Stroop Test

4. Recovery 1

1.Eyes Closed BL

2. Eyes Open BL

3. Stroop Test

4. Recovery 1

5. Math

6. Recovery 2

7. Game

8. Recovery 3

5. Math

6. Recovery 2

7. Game

8. Recovery 3

9. Positive Image

10. Recovery 4

11. Mouse Walk

12. Recovery 5

9. Positive Image

10. Recovery 4

11. Mouse Walk

12. Recovery 5

13. Anticipation

14. Brief Stressor

15. Recover 6

16. Biofeedback

13. Anticipation

14. Brief Stressor

15. Recover 6

16. Biofeedback

Skin Conductance

(Micro-Siemens)

Temperature

(Degrees Fahrenheit)

Figure 1. Sample Biofeedback Report.

A combination of recent clinical applications to high performance sport and evidencebased research provide a compelling argument for the use of applied psychophysiology in sport. Assessment and behavior change interventions, whether they are “educational” in nature or “therapeutic”, need to move beyond self-report and qualitative assessment. Biofeedback and neurofeedback methods need to be mastered by sport psychologists practicing in this era, which emphasizes the pursuit of excellence and evidence that psychological interventions are making the athlete perform better.

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Figure 2. Sample EEG Report.

CONFIRMING BRAIN ACTIVITY: THE METHOD OF FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (FMRI) Brain imaging is a relatively new science first developed in the 1980s that used magnetic fields and radio waves to produce high quality images of brain structures. Scientists learned that blood flow changes in the brain could be measured by a technique called Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), initially referred to as BOLD fMRI (meaning BloodOxygen-Level-Dependent fMRI). Since the 1990s, fMRI has become the dominant method of brain mapping replacing PET and SPECT scans in part because of its low invasiveness and lack of radiation exposure. FMRI uses the properties of oxygenated and deoxygeneated hemoglobin to see blood flow changes in the brain that are associated with specific neural activity and as such it enables researchers to clearly view changes in small brain structures such as the amygdela. FMRI provides both structural and functional information about the brain as the subject / athlete is asked to engage in specific thoughts, feelings, and action. Although fMRI methodology is exploding in nearly every discipline that seeks to understand the brain and human behavior, sport scientists have been slow to move into this area of research, in part because of their lack of familiarity with the technique and the related expense associated with fMRI scanning methodology. One exception is the work of Dr. Hap Davis, a clinical sport

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psychologist in Calgary, Alberta, who for many years has been the sport psychologist for Swim Canada. Davis and colleagues (2007) published what may be the first study using fMRI methodology to better understand elite athlete performance. As a psychologist who had worked with many sports, Davis observed that numerous athletes “quit”, after underachieving and experiencing the disappointment of failure. They simply could not bounce back. Because Davis had expertise in human depression he hypothesized that this poor performance following disappointment might be caused by negative emotions that impacted the motor system. After consulting with neuroscientists such as Helen Mayberg at Emory University and Mario Liotti at Simon Fraser University, experts on the neuroscience of depression, Davis et al. studied 13 Canadian Olympic level swimmers, some of whom were successful and some of whom experienced disappointment in their performance. The researchers looked at brain activity elicited by two video clips: one where the swimmer failed and a control video of a different swimmer. When the swimmers viewed their own failed performance, the emotional centers in the brain resembled subjects experiencing “clinical” depression, a rather startling finding. Negative emotions correlated with fMRI activity in the anterior cingulate and parahippocampal gyrus. Negative affect also resulted in reduced activity in the medial frontal cortex, parietal, sensori-motor, and primary motor cortices - areas that plan essential body movements needed to swim. When Davis intervened with a twenty minute cognitive behavioral intervention program where athletes reflected on what they would modify in future performances, there was a significant reversal of negative affect and corresponding BOLD signals. Davis et al. hypothesized that negative emotions associated with failure may inhibit the motor cortex and subsequently have an impact on performance. For the past two years Davis has teamed up with me at the Boston University Imaging Center to conduct a series of studies using fMRI methodology on elite athletes (e.g., Davis, Zaichkowsky & Kim, 2007). This research has also added diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in order to investigate the connections between the emotional system of the brain and the motor-planning regions. It is also possible that this research will enable us to determine whether specific short-term interventions at the playing venue can “jump start” the prefrontal and motor cortex of the brain. These interventions need not be traditional cognitive behavioral intervention, rather it is possible that intense physical activity may also bring about a positive result. Although our fMRI studies are on-going, several findings to date as well as the research from related neuroscience areas offer the following insight relevant to applied sport psychology: The frontal lobe of the brain and the amygdale make an impact on quickness of response. As such, athletes need to engage in competition preparation that “primes” the motor cortex in the brain. This “priming” should include mind engaging activities such as reading aloud, doing puzzles, crosswords, and related critical thinking activity. The anterior cingulated cortex is associated with emotional reactions so athletes need to suppress negative emotions, and focus on full enjoyment of the moment, staying positive even under adversity. We know that negative thinking, fear, and self-doubt inhibits the motor system and subsequently, skilled performance. Athletes need to develop and practice a discipline of the mind that gives them freedom from expectations of others-family, friends, and in the case of the Olympics, their country. They must focus solely on the task at hand and lose themselves in the task. In conclusion, functional magnetic resonance imaging has exciting potential application for sport psychology researchers and practitioners. The brain and central nervous system has

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long been known as the “black box”, because scientists could not look inside the brain. fMRI methodology now allows scientists to look at brain activity during thinking, feeling and acting in “real time”. The mystery surrounding human performance may slowly disappear with future researchers using this methodology. Information gained from brain scanning research should enable researchers to develop biofeedback and neurofeedback training programs that will serve as strength and conditioning programs for the mind. The technology of biofeedback and neurofeedback enables sport scientists to utilize the two essential conditions necessary for athletes to acquire skill through feedback and practice. Further, biofeedback enables sport scientists to quantify developmental changes in self-regulation skills. It is this information that should convince coaches, athletes and sport administrators that sport psychology is an essential sport science.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE [1] Sport psychologists need to learn biofeedback and neurofeedback and general neuroscience methodology as part of their training in sport psychology. [2] Biofeedback measures should be used to obtain quantitative baseline levels of psychophysiological reactivity. [3] Biofeedback and neurofeedback should be used to teach athletes self-regulation skills such as anxiety control, attention control, and anger management. [4] Sport psychologists should publish research that provides “evidence-based” practice. [5] Sport psychologists should consider using fMRI as a research tool to better understand the workings of the athlete’s brain in sport performance.

REFERENCES Aubert, A.E., Seps, B., & Beckers, F. (2003). Heart rate variability in athletes. Sports Medicine, 33, 889-919. Bar-Eli, M., Dreshman, R., Blumenstein, B., & Weinstein, Y. (2002). The effect of mental training with biofeedback on the performance of young swimmers. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51, 567-581. Basmajian, J. V. (1972). Electromyography comes of age. Science, 176, 603-609. Blumenstein, B., & Bar-Eli, M. (1998). Self-regulation training with biofeedback in elite canoeists and kayakers. In V. Issurin (Ed.), Science and practice of canoe/kayak high performance training (pp. 124-132). Elite Sport Department of Israel, Wingate Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel. Blumenstein, B., Bar-Eli, M., & Tenenbaum, G. (1997). A five-step approach to mental trainng incorporating biofeedback. The Sport Psychologist, 11, 440-453. Blumenstein, B., Bar-Eli, M., & Tenenbaum, G. (Eds.). (2002). Brain and body in sport and exercise: Biofeedback applications in performance enhancement. U.K.: West Sussix, Wiley.

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Blumenstein, B., Beslav, I. Bar-Eli, M., Tenenbaum, G., & Weinsein, Y. (1995). Regulation of mental states and biofeedback techniques: effects on breathing pattern. Biofeedback and Self Regulation, 20, 169-183. Brown, B. (1970). Recognition of aspects of consciousness through association with EEG alpha activity. Psychophysiology, 6, 442-452. Brown, B. (1977). Stress and the art of biofeedback. New York: Harper & Row. Czoka, L (2009). Biofeedback and neurofeedback applications in sport psychology: Bring your “A” brain. Paper presented at the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback Conference. Albuquerque, N.M. Davis, H., Zaichkowsky, L. D., & Kim, D. (2007). Challenging traditional training paradigms to enhance performance. Paper presented at SPIN Conference. Victoria, British Columbia September, 15, 2007). Davis, H., Liotti, M., Ngan, E. Woodward, T., Van Snellenberg, J., van Anders, et al. (2008). fMRI BOLD signal changes in elite swimmers while viewing videos of personal failure. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2, 84-93. DeMichelis, B. (2007, February 28). AC Milan’s “MindRoom” and sport psychology. Paper presented at The Biofeedback Foundation of Europe, 11th annual meeting. Berlin. Durand-Bush, N., & Salmela, J. H. (1996). Nature over nurture: A new twist to the development of expertise. Avante, 2(2), 87-109. Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 363-406. Green, E. (1973). Biofeedback for mind-body self-regulation: Healing and creativity. In Shapiro, D., Barber, T., DiCara, L., Kamiya, J., Miller, N., & Stoyva, J. (Eds.), Biofeedback & self-control. Chicago: Aldine Publishing, Company. Harkness, T. (2009, April 3). Olympic gold for biofeedback. Paper presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. Albuquerque, N.M. HeartMath. (2003). Managing emotions: Golf’s next frontier. Boulder Creek, Ca: HeartMath, LLC. Kamiya, J. (1968). Conscious control of brain waves. Psychology Today, 1, 57-60. Lagos, L., Vaschillo, E., Vaschillo, B., Lehrer, P., Bates, M., & Pandina, R. (2008). Heart Rate variability biofeedback as a strategy for dealing with competitive anxiety: A case study. Biofeedback, 36, 109-115. Landers, D., Petruzzello, S., Salazar, W., Crews, D., Kubitz, K., Gannon, T., & Han, M. (1991). The influence of electrocortical biofeedback on performance in pre-elite archers. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise, 23, 123-129. Leonards, J. T. (2003). Sport psychophysiology: The current status of biofeedback with athletes. Biofeedback, 31, 20-23. Miller, N. E. (1973). Learning of glandular and visceral responses. In Shapiro, D., Barber, T. X., DiCara, L. V., Kamiya, J., Miller, .E., & Stoyva, J. (Eds.), Biofeedback and selfcontrol (pp. 90-95). Chicago, IL: Aldine Publishing Company. Peper, E., & Schmid, A. (1983). The use of electrodermal biofeedback for peak pereformance training. Somatics IV(3), 16-18. Shapiro, D., Barber, T. X., DiCara, L. V., Kamiya, J., Miller, .E., & Stoyva, J. (1973). Biofeedback and self-control. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.

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Sime, W., Allen, T., & Fazzano, C. (2001). Optimal functioning in sport psychology: helping athletes find their “zone of excellence”. Biofeedback, 29, 23-25. Starkes, J., Deakin, J., Allard, F., Hodges, N., & Hayes, A. (1996). Deliberate practice in sports: What is it anyway? In K. A. Ericsson (Ed.), The road to excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in the arts and sciences, sports and games (pp. 81-106). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Wilson, V. E., & Bird, E. (1981). Effects of relaxation and/or biofeedback training upon hip flexion in gymnasts. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, 6, 25-34. Wilson, V., & Gunkelman, J. (2001). Neurofeedback in sport. Biofeedback, 29, 16-18. Zaichkowsky, L. D. (1975). Combating stress: what about relaxation and biofeedback? Mouvement, 1, 309-312. Zaichkowsky, L. D. (1994). Biofeedback and imagery assisted self-regulation training in sports: research evidence and practical application. In S. Tsutsui & M. Kodama (Eds.), Biobehavioral self-regulation in the east and west. (pp. 230-234). Tokyo: Springer-Verlag Inc. Zaichkowsky, L. Dorsey, J. & Mulholland, T. (1977). The effects of biofeedback assisted systematic desensitization in the control of anxiety and performance. In M. Vanek (Ed.), IV Svetory Congress, ISSP (pp. 809-812). Prague, Czechoslovakia. Zaichkowsky, L. D., & Fuchs, C. Z. (1988). Biofeedback applications in exercise and athletic performance. In K. B. Pandolf (Ed.), Exercise and sports science reviews (pp. 381-421). New York: Macmillan. Zaichkowsky, L. D. & Fuchs, C. (1989). Biofeedback-assisted self-regulation for stress management in sports. In D. Hackfort & C. Spielberger (Eds.), Anxiety in sports: An international perspective (pp. 235-245). New York: Hemisphere. Zaichkowsky, L. D., & Kamen, R. (1978). Biofeedback and meditation: Effects on muscle tension and locus of control. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 46, 955-958. Zaichkowsky, L. D., & Sime, W. E. (1982). Stress management in sports. Reston, VA: AAHPERD.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 4

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BEING AN OLYMPIC FAVORITE Peter Haberl United States Olympic Committee1,USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY In order to add to the current body of knowledge of Olympic sport psychology service provision, this chapter will focus on a specific situation an athlete or team might find itself in at the Olympic Games, namely that of being the Olympic favorite. Sport psychology service provision to Olympic athletes prior to and at the Olympic Games has a relatively long history in the field of applied sport psychology, perhaps starting with Richard Suinn’s accreditation as a press photographer so he could continue to provide services to athletes at the Games (see Suinn, 1985). In 1989 The Sport Psychologist (Roberts, 1989 as editor) published a special issue dedicated solely to sport psychology service provision to Olympic athletes prior to and at the Olympic Games. In recent years, a number of consultants have further discussed their work with Olympic athletes, addressing such issues as long-term relationships (Haberl, 2003), ethical issues (Haberl & Peterson 2006), emotions at the Games (Fink-Sisniega & Haberl, 2005; Pensgaard & Duda, 2003) service delivery at the Games with individual (Gould, 2001; McCann, 2000) and team sports (Haberl 2001, 2006a), and service effectiveness (Haberl, 2005, 2006b; Orlick & Partington, 1987; Partington & Orlick, 1987). Based on personal observation from six Olympic Games, athletes can take on various roles during the Olympic Games, such as being the favorite, the underdog, the tourist or the surprise. The role of the favorite is quite different psychologically, than the other roles at the Olympic Games. As a sport psychologist who has the privilege to work with U.S. athletes, I often find myself in a situation where my athletes need to prepare for their role as the favorite. Irrespective of where the Games are held, whether on home soil or abroad, the role of the favorite will be unavoidable for many U.S. athletes. This is partly because the U.S. won the overall medal count in the last few Olympic Summer Games, and partly because of the

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Peter Haberl, Ed. D., Performance Services Division, United States Olympic Committee, 1 Olympic Plaza, Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Tel: 719 866 4956, Fax: 719 866 4850, Email: [email protected]

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increased media attention that US Olympians receive prior to the Games, media attention that invariably focuses on the expectations of success at the Games. Thus, in this chapter I will address the role of the favorite, its challenges, benefits and pitfalls in the prism of the Olympic Games and at the Olympic trials and how to psychologically prepare for this role. While the Olympic Games is a unique environment, the psychology of the favorite obviously also might manifest itself in other major competitions, such as the World Cup Soccer, Track & Field World Championships, so perhaps some of the thoughts expressed in this chapter will also be of interest to sport psychologists working with favorites in other major sporting events. Furthermore, I will briefly address how my training and service philosophy guides and determines my consulting approach in working with an athlete and/or team who find themselves in this role in the unique Olympic environment. In order to protect the confidentiality of athletes I have worked with at the Games, I will rely on using examples that have been discussed in the popular press and books, making extensive use of quotes by Olympic athletes. Using the quote of an athlete does in no way infer that I know or worked with the athlete in a sport psychology context but the quote will be used to illustrate and augment my thoughts about the experience of the Olympic favorite. I will begin with the challenge of Olympic Trials for the favorite and then provide an overview of the Olympic Games, and the Olympic environment to set the stage for the experience of pressure the Olympic favorite might encounter. Then I move into a brief outline of my service philosophy followed by the sections on the tools and methods I use with athletes in the situation of the favorite. Awareness, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral techniques geared towards effective thinking, combined with some of the standard sport psychology interventions (imagery, goal-setting) now comprise the tool box that I utilize in working with Olympic favorites. I should also state at this point that I look at my tool box as a work in progress. The tool box is a work in progress shaped by the experience of working successfully and unsuccessfully with Olympic favorites over six Olympic Games. Assuming that I will continue to have the privilege to work with Olympic athletes, I foresee the tool box to continue to evolve in the years to come as I continue to learn from both success and failure in the highly unpredictable world of Olympic performance.

OLYMPIC TRIALS AND THE FAVORITE A special competitive scenario for American athletes who are the favorites is Olympic Trials. Most American athletes have to go through an Olympic Trials process to qualify for the Olympic Games (there are some exceptions, where athletes can qualify on the world cup circuit). In some sports, such as swimming and track & field, winning trials can be more difficult than winning an Olympic Gold Medal, simply because of the depth of the competition at the national scene and the fact that countries are limited in the number of athletes that they can bring to the Games. So, for example, in swimming, the US can only bring two athletes per discipline, yet for many swimming disciplines there are four or more athletes that could contend for medals internationally. Such a scenario often puts the favorite in a challenging position, and the experience of pressure at trials can be greater than at the Games themselves. The following quote by three time Olympian and 2004 Olympic shot put silver medalist Adam Nelson attests to this pressure:

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“The Olympic Trials are sometimes even more stressful than the Olympics themselves. It’s brutal. The only thing I can say, that the depth we have in this country in most events, there’s no other fair way to do it.” (Patrick, 2008, p. 2 B) Psychologically preparing for the role of the favorite begins well before the Games often at Olympic Trials. The pressure of the Olympic Games, and the uniqueness of the Olympic environment will almost always test the favorite and his or her preparation. Let’s turn now to a description of the unique environment of the Games before discussing my service philosophy and the specific tools I use to address the psychology of the favorite.

THE OLYMPIC GAMES AND THE OLYMPIC ENVIRONMENT The Olympic Games are frequently the pinnacle of an athlete’s career. The chance to compete and excel at the Games comes around only every four years. Often much is riding on this one performance. It can be a chance of a lifetime in an athlete’s career, a chance to excel at the highest level. It can be an opportunity to justify years of hard work for one moment of glory in the international spot-light, an opportunity to get lots of media attention, and a chance to perhaps reap big financial rewards in Olympic sports, which, at least in the U.S., often get little to no recognition and media exposure in the years preceding the Olympic Games. In short, the Games are a chance for fame, fortune and great personal achievement and satisfaction. However, while much is a stake, competing your best at the Games is by no means a given. While athletes do achieve personal best performances at the Games (Haberl, 2001) it can be nevertheless quite challenging (Gould, Eklund, & Jackson 1992a, 1992b) to be at your best at the right time. In the late 1990’s the USOC commissioned a series of studies looking at the differences between Olympic athletes who meet expectations successfully and the ones who did not. Successful athletes and teams attributed their performances to mental preparation, team cohesion, distraction control, and sophisticated planning and optimal physical preparation (Gould et al. 1998, 1999, 2002). Athletes and teams who failed to meet expectations attributed their performance to a lack of team cohesion, departure from routines, media distractions, coach issues, and lack of mental preparation (Gould et al. 1998, 1999, 2002). Thus, optimal preparation at the Games is not a given, and as Gould et al. (1998, 2002) stated, preparation is complex, multifaceted, requires careful planning and great attention to detail. For example, at the Olympic Games, support personnel, such as personal coaches, medical providers (e.g. massage therapists, chiropractors, etc.) and sport psychologists, often, due to the limited number of official accreditations for each sport and governing body have limited access to their athletes. This is in stark contrast to World Championships where access is usually not a problem. Therefore, gaining access to the athlete at the right time requires advance planning. Another example for the need for attention to detail in planning is housing. At the Games, most athletes stay in the Olympic village. Depending on the location of the village, it can be a considerable distance from the competition venue to the village. So the athletes and their coaches need to plan accordingly, by factoring in driving times, avoiding boredom, tardiness, and meeting nutritional needs pre- and post-practice and competition and doping control requirements. As Gould et al. (1998, 2002) stated, psychological preparation is very crucial, and one important area to plan for as a US athlete is the role of being a favorite at the Games. American athletes are expected to win, whether they like it or not. The US is a

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perennial summer sport powerhouse. The media hype surrounding Olympic super star Michael Phelps at the Beijing Games was a wonderful example of being given the stamp of the favorite, in his case, not just for one event, but rather for eight. While some “favorites” handle the role expectations that come with being the favorite easily, for others it can put considerable pressure on performance. In the lead up to the Beijing Olympic Games, the coach of Chinese 110 meter hurdles track star Liu Xiang was quoted as saying that the Chinese sports officials said unless Liu defended his gold medal from Athens in Bejing, all his other accomplishments were meaningless (Farber, 2008). This is mere speculation, but perhaps it is not totally surprising that the Chinese athlete pulled out of the Games due to injury. Winter Olympic Gold Medalist Nikki Stone, described the role of being the favorite as “nerve-racking” (Stone, 2003). Certainly it is possible for the favorite to be completely unaffected by the role perception, or even benefit from it. That said, the emotional experience of being the favorite can be persistent in the lead up to the Games, or surprise the athlete immediately prior and during competition and can potentially be performance impairing. The following comment from snowboarding gold medalist and Olympic favorite Shaun White illustrates how the role expectations of being the favorite at the Olympic Games can sneak up on an Olympian in a surprising way, even though the athlete may be generally comfortable in this role: "I think we all could sense the pressure. I'm just dropping in, and it hit me: I'm at the Olympics. I wasn't even looking at the half-pipe. I was looking at the crowd, going, 'Wow.'” (Zeigler, 2006, p. 1). The role expectations, mixed with the Olympic environment contributed to White struggling in his first run. Fortunately, he was able to refocus, regroup and come back to win the gold medal. As these anecdotal examples illustrate, it is important for the Olympic favorite to prepare for the added pressure that may come with the role of being the favorite at the Games. The psychological definition of pressure in the dictionary is “a constraining influence upon the mind or will” (American Heritage College Dictionary, 1993, p. 1083). This “constraining influence on the mind” has the potential to impact performance in a rather negative way. When athletes perform at their best, there is no “constraining influence on the mind” because the mind is so focused on the task at hand that there is no room for selfconsciousness, no room left in the field of attention for self-criticism and judgment (Csikszentmihaly, 1990; Jackson, 1992). The experience of pressure as the Olympic favorite can make it challenging to achieve such an ideal performance state at the Games. My service philosophy guides my approach in working with the favorite at the Olympics, and it is to this service philosophy that I address briefly below.

SERVICE PHILOSOPHY I am trained as a counseling psychologist and I work within a cognitive-behavioral framework. Within this framework, I am strongly influenced by the notion of psychological barriers and their impact on performance (Giges, 2000). Also, the 2500 year old Buddhist concept of mindfulness which has received a lot of scientific attention in psychology in the last 15 years (see Brown, Ryan & Creswell, 2007) strongly guides my work. Hence I am very concerned with how athletes think, feel and act in the here and now during competition. Thoughts, emotions and behavior can have a negative impact on the athlete’s performance

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and very often athletes are unaware of the impact their thinking has on performance. I am very concerned with where the athlete’s mind is during competition and how aware the athlete is of where the mind is. The overall objective is to equip the athletes with the psychological tools to maximize their chances to perform as close as possible to their potential in the Olympic Games. Achieving this objective requires being focused on the process, having the ability to recognize both internal and external distractions as they arise, and being able to refocus on the process of competing. All the psychological work with the athlete has a performance focus, since almost everything in the life of the athletes has the potential to impact their performance at the Games in a positive or negative manner. In my applied work I do not make a distinction between educational and counseling matters. Simply put, as McCann (2008) states clearly, everything is a performance issue at the Olympics. A case in point here would be the sad, and tragic murder of the father-in-law of the US Men’s Volleyball coach at the 2008 Olympics, a tragedy that impacted the performance of the men’s and women’s indoor and beach volleyball teams. Trauma and grief reactions generally fall under the umbrella of clinical or counseling work, whereas the work of focusing and refocusing would be considered more educational in nature from a traditional perspective. Yet, as the Volleyball example shows, both grief and focus may need to be addressed in the Olympic environment. Thus, the goal of sport psychology at the Games is to give the athletes as many tools as possible, so they can be as close as possible to an ideal performance state, despite being in this challenging environment. This does not mean an athlete needs to be “in the zone” to perform well at the Olympics. As Ken Ravizza has pointed out frequently, more often than not, it will be a question of compensating and adjusting, while perhaps still striving for that elusive state (Ravizza & Hanson, 1995). To help the athletes get as close as possible to an optimal performance state and successfully focus on the task at hand, I rely on a number of tools and approaches firmly rooted within a cognitive behavioral framework with an emphasis on building skills. In this following section I will address these tools, starting with the importance of awareness, followed by the skill of thinking effectively and the training of mindfulness to maintain and/or regain optimal focus while performing.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AWARENESS Working from a cognitive-behavioral service philosophy, I view awareness as the key meta-skill for performance. Nothing effective happens without awareness. For an athlete, it is very important to be aware of where the mind is: Is it focused on the process of competing, on task execution? Or is the mind beginning to wander off into the future (“What if I don’t win the gold medal?”) or the past (“I lost four years ago in this situation”)? Perhaps the athlete is lost in judgment (“This shouldn’t happen!”), evaluation (“It’s not going well”) or planning (“I need to get ready for the next opponent”). Ideally, the athlete is focused on the performance. Attention is completely directed towards skill execution. However the ideal situation often does not happen at the Olympics, and in my opinion the athlete’s mind goes back and forth between being task or process focused and outcome focused. The mentally skilled athlete is aware of this oscillation and can bring attention back to the task whenever necessary. The mentally unskilled athlete can lack this awareness at which point the unnoticed change in

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focus becomes a problem. Once the focus is moved away from the process and the athlete is not aware of where the mind is at, he or she is much more likely to be locked into an automatic, absentminded reaction that can be detrimental to performance. If the athlete is not familiar with experiencing pressure as the favorite at the Olympics he or she cannot do anything about it. If the athlete isn’t aware of being overcome by nerves or performanceirrelevant thoughts, the athlete can’t work effectively with these emotions and thoughts and refocus. The lack of awareness will lead to an automatic reaction, rather than a mindful response. At the 2004 Olymic Games in Athens I had the opportunity to observe a fascinating competition in men’s synchronized 3 meter springboard diving where some of the athletes perhaps become locked into such an automatic, absentminded response. Half way through the competition, there was a major distraction when a spectator, dressed in rather silly looking outfit ran onto the diving board to advertise for a casino. It took about 15 minutes for security to eventually remove this person from the pool. Despite this disruption, not one of the teams seemed to be affected by it in a negative manner as all the teams continued to dive strongly. With one dive to go, the three favorite teams, the Chinese, the USA and the Russians were in the lead, as expected. All three favorite teams were stacked with experienced athletes who were by all accounts, confident, composed and intensely focused. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, one favorite team after the other faltered on their last dive. The Chinese got the ball rolling when one of their divers got lost in the dive, landing flat on his back. Not only must this have been painful, it also meant that the Chinese would finish last. The dive order had the Russians follow the Chinese. The individual three meter gold medalist from Sydney, Sautin hit his toes on the board during this last dive. Again painful, and at the cost of a great reduction in points, the Russians finish in seventh place, second to last. With tension rising in the arena, next up was the American team, the sole remaining favorite in the competition. The door to the gold medal seemed wide open. Alas, their dive was not synchronized, placing the Americans in sixth place, out of medal contention. The Greek team, the perfect underdog, ended up winning the competition, sending the audience in a frenzy of joy and jubilation. This is mere speculation on my part but there is a good chance that as the Chinese finished last in the competition, the other favorites experienced a plethora of thoughts unrelated to task execution, making it challenging to maintain focus on the task at hand. It is in precisely such a situation where awareness is crucial for the athlete. If the athlete is aware of how thinking has occupied attention and how attention is no longer task focused, the athlete can take steps to refocus. If not, there is great potential for being less than optimally focused. The three favorite teams in this example, experienced and confident, in perfect position with one dive to go, ended up in seventh and sixth place (out of eight teams) (the three favorite teams cannot end up in only two places). Ever since the Athens Olympics I consider the ability to recognize and correct a shift in focus to be crucial for the favorite. Hence I consider awareness a key still to be developed by the favorite in preparing for the Games. Awareness begins with understanding how the role of the favorite might impact attention. Open-ended questions, such as “How do you see your role?” and “What do you think the psychological impact that role has on your performance?” are an excellent way to begin to canvas the role perception and its impact for the favorite. Such open-ended questioning provides a great starting point to see where the athletes are and how well they understand the potential ramification of their role perceptions. People in general often are not very good predictors of how they will feel in the future (Gilbert, 2006). Assuming that athletes are no different in this regard, it is important to raise awareness to the potential emotional roller coaster ride that awaits them at

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the Olympics. Athletes often fail to take the possibility of experiencing unpleasant emotions at the Games into account (partly because they believe the myth that mentally tough athletes don’t have any negative emotions). Examples of other athletes, in the form of stories, videos and quotes, are excellent tools in beginning the process of normalizing the experience and preparing the athlete for the full spectrum of emotions and thoughts that might arise. Forthcoming is an example from Olympic Champion Maurice Greene that nicely illustrates the strong and unexpected emotions that an athlete can experience prior to his performance at the Games: “As the 100 drew nearer, Greene grew tighter. He has won back-to-back world titles, holds the world record (9.79 seconds) and has broken 10 seconds 31 times, more than any other man in history. But these were his first Olympics, and last Friday night, after the quarterfinals, he stayed at the stadium much too long, talking and strutting, keeping up the image of confidence. "Olympic rookie," said Greene's agent, Emanuel Hudson. "He doesn't realize he hasn't won anything yet." On Saturday morning he realized it. "I was messed up, man," Greene said. "My nerves were all over the place. I tried to drink a glass of water, and my hand was shaking." (Layden, 2000, p. 46).

And mind you, this comes from an athlete who generally is portrayed as being supremely confident. Normalizing such emotional reactions and being willing to accept the potential roller coaster as opposed to falling either into the trap of experiential avoidance, or panicking about the negative thoughts and emotions, will go a long way in preparing the athlete to cope effectively with such negative emotions at the Games. Experiential avoidance, such as not wanting to have negative emotions, or not wanting to have negative thoughts (e.g., “what if I won’t do well at the Games?”) can easily lead to having exactly these emotional experiences at the most inopportune time, and affect performance in a detrimental way (see Eifert & Forseyth, 2005; Gardner & Moore, 2006 for an in-depth discussion of experiential avoidance). Another useful awareness exercise is asking the athlete to think about the advantages and disadvantages of being the favorite as opposed to being the underdog by using the cognitivebehavioral technique of doing a cost-benefit analysis (Burns, 2006). Advantages of being the favorite may be being more confident, feeling that you have a psychological edge, a sense of being able to break other teams/athletes psychologically, getting them to give up, or having the referee(s) and judge(s) in your corner. Disadvantages may be that ‘you think you have a target on your back, you play with something to lose, you are crippled by the pressure you experience, the other team is free to play their best, they have nothing to lose, the other team will bring their A-Game and be extra motivated to knock you off your pedestal, you may also get lazy and complacent, not give 100 %, be unfocused, or the referees might not cut you any slack, and everybody expects you to come out on top.’ Awareness of the thoughts that fall under the “disadvantage” column is particularly helpful, because it is often these thoughts that trigger a shift from task focused attention to outcome focused attention. Once the athlete is aware of such thoughts, he or she can learn to work with them in the most useful way, either by training to think more effectively or by skillfully employing mindfulness and refocus on the task at hand. Employing mindfulness and thinking effectively are the next two tools I want to discuss.

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THINKING EFFECTIVELY IN THE ROLE OF THE FAVORITE A major disadvantage for the favorite is often the perception of increased pressure due to heightened outcome expectations. Increased expectations are sometimes a disadvantage, and bring up the fundamental question when working from a cognitive-behavioral framework that I want to address with the athletes: What causes pressure of Olympic proportion? What causes pressure that impairs performance? What causes pressure that makes the athlete to go all “Olympicky” as Shaun White put it while describing his first run at the 2006 Games in the halfpipe (Willoughby, 2006, p. D-01)? What is it that “constrains the mind”? Is it the situation, being in the role of the favorite? Or is it the thoughts and the beliefs about being in the role of the favorite? Certainly from a cognitive perspective the answer is clear: Almost always, it is not the fact that the team, or the athletes might be the favorite, but rather it is the beliefs, the thoughts and the inferences about that role that lead to the experience of pressure. In the experience of track and field athlete Suzy Favor Hamilton, described below, we can see the “constraining influence” of the perceived pressure of the favorite at work in a very negative way. Favor Hamilton was one of the favorites to win the 1500 meter race at the Sydney Olympics, only to mysteriously fall in the last 200 meters. Journalist Melanie Conklin (2008) captured Favor Hamilton’s recollection of the last part of the race before her fall: "With 200 yards to go, I hit empty on my gas tank," she begins. "At that point I started to have a panic attack. In my mind, I knew winning was the option, only winning could be a success." With the finish line in sight, another runner passed her and she thought, "OK, silver." Then two more women passed and with them her chance at a medal. "In fourth place I decided fourth was not good enough and I somehow needed to vanish," she says. "But how do you vanish when the whole world is watching?" She recalls the flurry of thoughts that followed. "I thought of my best friend who was dying of cancer and was watching the race. I thought of my family, and my brother had passed away a year before, and thought if I could win they would be happy. I was thinking about my husband and my coach. And people had told me, ‘If you can win the gold just think about the impact that would have on the sport.' " Then comes what she calls the toughest admission of her life: "I was thinking about everyone, how happy they would be. And at that moment I had let them all down, so falling was the option. And I fell." (Conklin, 2008, p. 1)

As painful as this experience must have been for Favor Hamilton, it is a perfect example of how thinking can shift from a task focus to a self-referenced one, and how thoughts can figuratively “explode” in the head of the athlete, completely taking attention away from task execution, and in this case literally lead to the downfall of the athlete. It is not the fact that the athlete was in the role of the favorite, but rather the thoughts, perceptions and beliefs that arose once the reality of the situation no longer matched the performance expectations of the favorite that led to the athlete’s downfall. As the leading cognitive-behavioral psychologists such as Burns and Beck postulate, drawing on the wisdom of the ancient Greeks, it is not the situation that makes us upset, but rather our thoughts about it (Beck 1995, Burns 2006). And transferred to the Olympic arena, it is not being in the role of the favorite that is distracting, but rather the thoughts about being in the role of the favorite that distract the mind of the athlete and then potentially impact performance in a negative way. The thoughts about being the favorite and the interpretation of that role can lead to behavioral and emotional responses that can range from cocky, complacent and unfocused at one end of the spectrum to overly

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nervous, timid, too narrowly focused, inhibited, and perhaps exhausted, on the other hand of the spectrum. And in that broad spectrum of behavioral and emotional experiences we can also find a confident, optimistic, composed, optimally focused, flexible and highly determined athlete that can excel in the role of the favorite, with attention completely on the task at hand. Relishing the role of the favorite, maximizing its advantages and minimizing the disadvantages is intricately linked to being aware of and to a certain extent in charge of one’s own thinking, beliefs, interpretations and evaluations of the role of the favorite. Using a standard cognitive-behavioral technique of doing an A-B-C sheet (e.g. Whalen, DiGuiseppe, Dryden 1992; Beck 1995) can be helpful in raising the awareness of the athletes to the powerful role that thinking plays in performance. Thus, thinking will also play a key role in effectively managing the role perception of the favorite. What thoughts, what beliefs and inferences will lead to the experience of pressure, what thoughts lead to losing focus, experiencing debilitating emotions and as was the case for Suzy Favor Hamilton “falling on the track”? Two categories of thoughts are of relevance while working from a cognitive perspective: Automatic thoughts and then more firmly entrenched beliefs (Burns, 2006). Both can be catalysts in the athlete experiencing unhelpful pressure. Speed skater Chad Hedricks, a multiple medal favorite at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino provided a wonderful example of random automatic thoughts that the favorite can experience: We've been here too long. You come here 12 days (before the competition) and now you start to think about things you don't need to think about. It was a battle before the race. All (kinds of) thoughts going through my head. I was thinking about things I'd never thought about, like, `Is my skate sharp enough?' Just dumb stuff.' (Hedrick, in Reid, February 12, 2006)

While Hedricks’ distracting thoughts are an example of random automatic thoughts, Favor Hamilton’s disruptive internal dialogue reveals a number of more deeply entrenched beliefs, such as winning being the only option, having to make everybody happy and letting everybody down. Thoughts of not living up to expectations (one’s own, one’s coaches, one’s country, etc.), thoughts of being a failure in the absence of success on the playing field, and thoughts of having to perform are examples of beliefs that most likely will get in the way of an adaptive performance focus. Such troubling beliefs for the favorite often fall in a number of categories, such as perfectionism, achievement addiction, low frustration tolerance and the superman/superwoman syndrome. Perfectionism – the belief that you can’t make any mistakes --is a particularly dangerous territory for the Olympic favorite. Perfectionism when looked at as a multidimensional construct (Flett & Hewitt, 2002) is a double-edged sword for Olympic athletes. The side that cuts the athletes is when they feel that they cannot make mistakes. The athletes are overly concerned with worrying about screwing up and becoming a failure. The side of perfectionism that drives the athletes is when the athletes set high standards, are organized and highly conscientious, and not overly concerned about making mistakes. So perfectionism is not good or bad when it comes to performance but rather has good and bad components. And perfectionism researchers make a distinction between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism (Flett & Hewitt, 2002) as well as by looking at perfectionism as a multidimensional construct (Frost et al. 1990). Olympic gold medalists often score high in adaptive perfectionism and low in the maladaptive sides (Gould, Dieffenbach & Moffet, 2002). That said, the Olympic environment of being the favorite, with

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the tempting promise of fame and fortune, can easily trigger a tendency to worry about making mistakes, which can become a slippery performance slope. Achievement addiction, the belief that your worth as a person depends on how successful you are, is another belief that can entrap Olympic favorites. When your whole sense of self is on the line in front of global media coverage, it can become very difficult to perform your best. Low frustration tolerance, not being able to tolerate discomfort, uncertainty and changing conditions with a measure of equanimity, is another belief system that easily can get the Olympic favorite into trouble. The Olympic environment, almost invariably, will present the athletes with all kinds of discomforts. Discomforts can run the gamut from bad calls from referees, changing wind and light conditions, noisy, disrespectful spectators, crowded conditions in the village, stressed out support staff, and the media, always looking for the next scandal. Transportation to and from venues to and from the village deserves particular mention here. The un-official motto for the Olympic experience may well be “hurry up and wait,” whether it is for buses, in traffic, or making it through security lines. Having low frustration tolerance in such situations is an unnecessary waste of energy and often disrupts focus and undermines team cohesion. The Superman/superwoman syndrome, the belief that you always have to be on top of things, that you should show and experience no negative emotions can get athletes in trouble, when they are in an environment that often acts as a catalyst for a roller coaster of emotions. Chad Hedrick, the speedskater quoted above is a wonderful example of an athlete who managed to avoid falling prey to being an emotional Superman at the Olympics. Although a self-described supremely confident athlete, he found himself being overcome by emotions right before his first race in Torino (Reid, 2006). Working with his sport psychology consultant and spending time in the supportive, unconditional embrace of his family allowed him to process and experience negative emotions, let them run their course and successfully refocus on competing. Gardner and Moore (2007) defined poise as the ability to perform “while experiencing whatever thoughts or emotions are triggered by any given situation” (p. 131). Certainly, Hedrick, as the favorite, with the presence of negative emotions, showed great poise in his first Olympic race by winning the gold medal in the 5000 meter race. A belief closely related to achievement addiction and the Superman/woman syndrome that often puts undue pressure on the favorite is the notion of “defending the title.” A returning gold medalist is frequently asked by the media about the notion of defending the gold medal from four years ago. From my perspective, this potentially puts the athlete into a defensive frame of mind that is not conducive to performance. Thinking “I need to defend my title” can quickly lead to playing not to lose, rather than playing to win. Simply asking the athlete if he or she finds this thought helpful is a great starting point. If the athlete doesn’t find the thought helpful then the cognitive approach offers an excellent way to work with such a belief by checking for the logic in the belief. I make the case with the athlete that believing “I need to defend the title” is not logical. It implies that the athlete already has won the gold medal, “owns” the gold medal and now it can be taken away (and hence the “need to defend”). However, nobody has won the gold medal prior to the actual start of the Games. You can’t lose something you don’t have, such as a projected Olympic Gold medal. But you can certainly gain it. And it is much more conducive to performance to focus on “gaining” vs. “losing” something. For those who have won medals in prior Olympics, those medals are theirs for the rest of their lives. Once you are an Olympic Champion, you always will be an Olympic Champion. Shifting perspective from having something to lose to having something

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to gain can make a big difference. In order to work effectively with such automatic thoughts and potentially entrenched and distracting beliefs, athletes need to be aware of these beliefs and thoughts. Again, awareness is such a key skill and an integral part of the cognitive approach. Preferably, an awareness of thoughts and emotions happens in the moment of their arising in the mind. This is not an easy task, and requires the deliberate practice and cultivation of awareness and attention. An excellent, but thoroughly underutilized way to formerly practice awareness and attention is mindfulness (Gardner & Moore, 2007; KabatZinn, 1990, 1994, 2005).

MINDFULNESS Mindfulness, generally defined in the western psychological literature as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4) is an excellent training tool for awareness and attention. Mindfulness is both a set of techniques and a way of being (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, 2005). Mindfulness trains the ability to aim, sustain and regain attention in a formal way (Siegel, 2007). Knowing where your mind is and having the ability to put it where you want it to be, is a crucial skill when it comes to performing well as the favorite at the Olympics. There are many distractions at the Games that can disrupt focus. They run the gamut from external distractions such as the media (e. g. at least twice as many journalists as athletes attended the Beijing Games), the excitement of the Olympic Village and opening ceremonies, agents and sponsors who want to capitalize on the economic and marketing opportunities, fabulous sponsor parties (e.g. a perennial favorite is the Sports Illustrated Party with Swimsuit models), to extended families and friends wanting to spend time with the athletes. Then, of course, there are the internal distractions, thoughts and beliefs already mentioned. All of these can easily lead to the athlete being drowned in distractions that the pageantry and the hype of the Games create, particularly for the favorite. Even an athlete not easily prey to internal distractions will still have to cope with this potentially distracting environment and plan for it. Clearly, having detailed distraction plans, expecting the unexpected, sticking to routines and controlling what one can control are key elements of an athlete’s preparation for the Olympics (Gould et al. 1998, 1999, 2002). All of these steps to manage distractions require awareness and benefit from mindfulness. Thinking, in the form of “I need to win the gold medal, and if I don’t do it now the last four years have been a waste” present an internal distraction for the athlete. Often the athlete is not aware of such thinking, and gets literally carried away in a stream of thoughts. With mindfulness the athlete not only develops awareness of thinking but also the skill to step away from thinking, and refocus on the task at hand in the present moment. Favor Hamilton’s experience of the last 200 meters, discussed earlier, is a vivid example of how thinking can take attention away from a process focus and derail performance. From my perspective, traditional distraction plans often don’t take enough account of thoughts as internal distractions. We have the illusion that we control our thinking, which is partly reflected in the saying “control what you can control,” namely yourself. But thinking is often automatic, unscripted and immensely distracting. What we can potentially control is our attention, through awareness and mindfulness. Mindfulness can be trained formally, through such activities as sitting meditation, walking meditation, yoga, and mindful eating, and also

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informally in everyday activities (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, 2005; Parent 2002). Besides the formal practice, I strongly emphasize the informal practice, encouraging athletes to extend the formal practice into their everyday practice and competition. I regard mindfulness as the key ‘utensil’ in my tool-box and I combine mindfulness with other ‘utensils’ drawn from the cognitivebehavioral perspective to help the favorite prepare for the Olympics. In this approach I stray from current thinking in sport psychology where it is proposed that cognitive-behavioral interventions focused on changing thoughts are irreconcilable with mindfulness (Gardner & Moore, 2007). Mindfulness and the cognitive-behavioral toolbox offer two different, and in my mind complimentary, technologies to work with the distracted, pressured Olympic favorites onsite. With mindfulness the athlete works on changing the relationship to thoughts (Kabat-Zinn, 2005), rather than the thoughts themselves. With the cognitive-behavioral approach the athlete works on changing thinking (Burns, 2006). Both approaches allow the athlete to detect and remove internal barriers to optimal performance. Both approaches are very effective in providing the athlete with the tools to effectively self-regulate the roller coaster of competitive emotions the favorite can experience at the Olympics. Both require practice and effort ahead of the Games and the Olympic Trials. In the next couple of sections I will discuss a few more examples of how I combine mindfulness with cognitive-behavioral techniques in my work with Olympic favorites. The first example is the tyranny of the ‘shoulds’, followed by goal setting, imagery and perspective taking.

THE TYRANNY OF THE SHOULDS I addressed earlier how Olympic favorites can approach Olympic competition thinking “I have something to lose” and how distracting such thinking can be. There is another set of thoughts, to which I pay particular attention when working with the favorite. These types of thoughts are appropriately labeled by Karen Horney (1950) as the “Tyranny of the Shoulds”: “I am number one in the world, I am the world record holder, I am the favorite to win Gold at the Games, therefore I should win the Olympic Games.” The tyranny of the shoulds is often detrimental to performance. It represents a self-imposed rule, a self-imposed demand of how the world should work, which clashes frequently with the actual reality of the situation. It leads the athletes to an almost constant evaluation to see if the rule is being met in reality. If this reality checking fails to satisfy the demand of how the world should be (and it almost always does), it disrupts the athletes concentration and greatly challenges the ability to refocus and return to staying in the moment. “Should” paints the perception of a natural law. But there are no natural laws in the psychological realm of competition. There is no law that says that the favorite “should” win, the referee “shouldn’t have made that call,” “the crowd should be quiet,” the weather “shouldn’t be this windy” and so forth. Yet, I often see athletes, and particularly favorites fall prey to the ‘Tyranny of the Shoulds’ at the Olympics. Awareness, mindfulness and effective thinking are the key skills. Once the athlete becomes aware of his or her mind being distracted by “shoulds”, the athlete can begin the process of distancing from the thought and letting the judgmental thought go by refocusing on the task at hand. This is mindfulness at work. Prior to the in-the-moment use of mindfulness, the athlete can take steps to see through the illusion of the should by drawing on a variety of cognitive techniques. Simply asking the question “Does it help me to think this way?” can go a long

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way in allowing the athlete to let go of the pressure inducing “should.” Recognizing the inherent cognitive distortion in the “should” statement is another effective technique. Actively changing the “should” to a “want to” is another technique Burns (2006) referred to as the semantic technique. So changing the demand, the self-imposed rule into a preference can make a big difference: “I am the favorite, I am in great position to do well and win trials, and I really want to win it. In order to do that I will focus on the process and adjust flexibly to anything that comes up”; “I would prefer for the referee not to have made that call, but he did. I will stay focused on the game”; “I would prefer to have calmer conditions, but all competitors have to deal with the wind. I am actually quite good at competing in the wind.” From my perspective mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral interventions work very well in combination. Another way for me to combine the two approaches is in goal-setting.

GOAL-SETTING AND THE OLYMPIC FAVORITE I encourage the Olympic favorite to make a clear distinction between outcome, performance and process goals, a standard sport psychology technique (for a more detailed description of the three types of goals see Hardy, Jones & Gould, 1996). Gardner and Moore (2006) have questioned the effectiveness of goal-setting in sport psychology (and imagery as well). Yet athletes do set outcome goals. I doubt there are many Olympic medalists that haven’t clearly stated the goal of winning a medal before they actually achieve it. So it becomes important for me to effectively work with these goals. From my perspective, outcome and performance goals have great motivational value. They facilitate and guide hard training and sacrifice. I ask my athletes to set all three types of goals. Yet the closer the athlete gets to Olympic competition the more I want the outcome and performance goals to recede into the background, because they can become a distraction, and the process goals to be in the foreground. As I discussed during the philosophy of service provision section, focusing on the task at hand and becoming immersed in the process is the goal through the sport psychology intervention. The athlete can use process goals to anchor attention in the present. However, at the Olympics achieving and maintaining such a process focus during the crucial stages of the competition can be a major challenge as I highlight through the example of Suzy Favor Hamilton. For me in my work with Olympic favorites, it is not enough to just set the process goals, I want the athlete to also train to bring focus back to this process goal, once attention has wavered. When the athlete’s attention switches from a task-focus to a selfreferenced focus, as it did for Favor Hamilton, and as it often does for many athletes, mindfulness can be the tool to allow the athlete to quickly refocus. So mindfulness allows the athlete to refocus on the process goal once attention has wavered and the process goal becomes an anchor of attention in the present. I also believe that mindfulness aids the practice of imagery, another standard sport psychology technique that I may use in my work with Olympic favorites.

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IMAGERY AND THE OLYMPIC FAVORITE Imagery, practiced in the coping and mastery version (Hardy, Jones, & Gould, 1996), can help the Olympic favorite as well in his or her preparation. Staying with the above example of the “tyranny of the shoulds” the athlete can use coping imagery to rehearse becoming aware of the “tyranny of the should,” then work on letting go, and changing the demand of the should to a “want to” and conclude by seeing himself/herself compete effectively at the Games. A number of Olympic medalists have told me that mindfulness work has augmented their imagery practice by allowing them to recognize quicker when they drift into daydreaming and come back to focused imagery practice. It is easy, and to a certain extent normal to become distracted, as anybody that practices mindfulness meditation will quickly notice. Imagery practice will be more effective and beneficial if the athlete’s attention is on the actual desired image, rather than a daydream. Maintaining and regaining attention requires discipline. Mindfulness requires work, and the work of mindfulness hones the discipline it takes to understand and realize when attention has wavered and then to refocus on the task at hand, whether this is the present centered focus of the competing athlete, or the focus on the image with which the athlete is working. An athlete trained in mindfulness and in the cognitive techniques mentioned above, in my opinion, gives himself/herself the best chance to perform not with a quiet mind, but with a mind where the “ego” is quiet, and where all attention is focused on the task at hand. This notion of a quiet ego yet focused attention is a crucial component of Csikszentmihalyi’s (1990) flow model. Flow is characterized by an ‘absence of self-consciousness’ and a ‘merging of action and awareness’. Dietrich (2003, 2004) from the perspective of neuroscience thinks of the flow state and meditation as states of ‘transient hypofrontality’. In this state of transient hypofrontality the “higher cognitive abilities of the prefrontal cortex” (the ego) are selectively disengaged while “executive attention” is fully engaged (Dietrich 2004, p. 757) Keeping higher cognitive abilities of the prefrontal cortex quiet at the Olympics can be a major challenge at the Games, particularly for the favorite, who can get caught up thinking about how much is at stake. Along with mindfulness and the other techniques discussed, maintaining perspective is one more cognitive technique the athlete can use to keep the “ego” quiet.

PERSPECTIVE Few athletes respond well to being put in a do-or-die situation. Unfortunately, the Olympics can be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The media, agents, coaches, and National Governing Bodies (as we saw with the Chinese hurdler discussed above) will often do their part to paint such a scenario. Again, it is helpful to prepare the athlete for this Olympic reality. From a cognitive perspective, putting a “perspective kit” together can be quite helpful. A “perspective kit” consists of anything that provides a balanced point of view. This can include perhaps family photos, letters, poetry, other personal items, or items that capture spirituality and remind the individuals of their religious values. NBA champion Robert Horry, after hitting the game winning three point shot for San Antonio in the 2005 NBA finals

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provided a wonderful example of perspective and how it can help free up the mind to focus on the task at hand (for Horry didn’t score until a minute left in the third quarter, eventually finishing with 21 points) and not be consumed by the outcome: “You have to have the attitude that, ‘It’s only a game, you take a shot and you either make it or miss it. So what? It isn’t life or death. It doesn’t mean my kids won’t love me when I get home if I didn’t make it.” (Smith, 2005, p. 3) Although Horry’s quote is not an Olympic example it illustrates the helpfulness of perspective. From a mindfulness point of view, the “do-or-die” mentality athletes sometimes adopt at the Olympics can again be approached as “more thinking.” If the athlete can hold such thoughts mindfully in awareness and look at them non-judgmentally from the perspective of “here I go thinking ‘do-or-die’,” and refocus on the process of execution the athlete changes the relationship to his thinking. With the practice of mindfulness the athlete begins to understand that he is not his thoughts, but that thoughts are often random occurrences in the mind that come and go. The athlete doesn’t have to buy into the thoughts by believing them (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). This distancing from the content of thinking in mindfulness allows the athlete to let go of the thoughts and refocus on the task at hand. Mindfulness work further allows the athlete to look at this “do-or-die scenario” through the lens of non-attachment and non-striving. Mindfulness is about being present in this moment, knowing that each moment is unique. It is not about getting somewhere (such as to a gold medal), or feeling something special (such as the excitement that comes with winning), but feeling this moment, knowing that it will be a transitory state, regardless of whether it is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral (Kabat-Zinn, 2005). And since it is a transitory state, there is no need to cling to it too much. “Clinging to the outcome” can easily manifest when the athlete thinks that winning the gold medal will be a life-changing event leading to perpetual happiness. Suffice it to say that getting lost in such a state of mind is not conducive to performance. Mindfulness and the ‘perspective kit’ can provide a useful antidote to such an illusion of the mind. Angela Ruggerio (2007), in her description of the mindset of the women’s ice hockey team in the Gold medal Game at the 2002 Winter Olympics provided a compelling example of how difficult it can be for the favorite (who won all eight prior games against Canada during the pre-Olympic tour), to stay immersed in the process at the Olympics and not cling to the outcome in the final game: We had focused on the end goal (winning) as opposed to the experience and the process. Instead of letting the game come to us, we played on our heels and never applied the pressure or had the same confidence that we had in our undefeated pre-Olympic tour. No matter how many excuses we might try to muster, we did not gel as a team that night. Losing is part of sports. Losing is part of life. That still didn’t stop our tears from flowing. We had won a silver medal but it was an enormous failure in our own minds and those of many who had invested so heavily in us. (Ruggiero, 2006, p. 143)

As I mentioned in the beginning, as painful as it is, much can be learned from an unsuccessful performance. As the sport psychologist who had the privilege of working with the US Women’s Ice Hockey Team for 10 years it is indeed a painful lesson. The lesson learned for myself from this defeat is to take the preparation of the favorite very seriously by bringing a big toolbox consisting of mindfulness and a host of cognitive-behavioral techniques to the table. The difference between winning a game 3:2 and losing it 2:3 is very

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small. The favorite’s mindset is one of those small factors that should be carefully attended to. With this attention to detail in mind, I conclude with a brief summary and recommendations for sport psychologists working with Olympic athletes who find themselves in the role of the favorite.

SUMMARY When returning Olympians are asked what they would do differently in their preparation if they would have a second chance at the Games, they mention doing more sport psychology, more mental preparation, planning better (particularly for the distractions), resting more, spending more time on stress management, working more on being a cohesive team and not overtraining (Gould et al. 1998, 1999, 2002). Many Olympians do not get a second chance to prepare optimally for the Games and certainly they don’t often get a second chance to be the favorite. Since there might only be one chance for the athlete to compete at the Games, detailed planning and optimal preparation, physiologically and psychologically, matter for aspiring Olympians, specifically if they find themselves in the role of the favorite. In this chapter, I’ve tried to outline how mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral interventions offer a rich toolbox that the athletes and the sport psychology consultants can utilize in their preparation for the Games.

Recommendations for Practitioners Following below are a number of recommendations for practitioners working with Olympic favorites: Step 1: Assessment of role perceptions – raising awareness. (a) Assess how the athlete perceives his or her role at the Olympics by asking a number of open-ended questions, such as “How do you see your role at the Games? What do you think the psychological impact of that role is on your performance? How do you think the favorite will feel? What about the underdog?” (b) Have the athlete do a cost-benefit analysis: What are the advantages of the favorite? What are the disadvantages? Ask the athlete to assign a percentage rank to each side and get an indication which side the athlete prefers. Step 2: Continue to raise awareness and normalize emotional reaction to being the favorite: (a) Educate the athlete about the Olympics by providing him/her with stories, quotes, and video examples of Olympic favorites who dealt with the role of the favorite successfully and unsuccessfully. Step 3: Help the athlete understand the crucial role the mind plays in adjusting effectively to the role of the favorite

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(a) Return to the cost-benefit analysis and take a close look at the disadvantages mentioned. Use this list to uncover unhelpful thoughts and beliefs that will distract the athlete from staying focused on the process. Work with an A-B-C sheet, where “A” stands for activating event, in our case being in the role of the favorite, “B” stands for beliefs and thoughts the athlete has about the situation of being the favorite, and “C” captures the emotional and behavioral consequences of those thoughts about being the favorite. These thoughts can be performance facilitating or debilitating. Ask a series of questions about the thoughts (about the B’s): “Is it helpful to think this way? Is it logical to think this way? Are there other ways to think about it? If your best friend is in the same situation would you tell him/her the same thing you are telling yourself? If the answer is no, why not? Are there any shoulds present in your thoughts? What would happened if you change them into a ‘want to, prefer to’?” (b) Come back to the example in the form of, quotes, stories, videos and look at the thoughts of the athletes in the role of the favorite and see if the athlete understands how those thoughts impacted performance Step 4: Training in Mindfulness. a.

Train the athlete in formal mindfulness meditation practice, using such techniques as sitting meditation, walking meditation, yoga and mindful eating. b. Encourage the athlete to train mindfulness informally as well by taking the practice of mindfulness to the practice field. c. Debrief competition and practice from the perspective of mindfulness by using journaling or talking about the competition/practice. When was it difficult to stay focused on the task at hand? What came up? When did the athletes notice their internal dialogue and the distraction it presented? Were they successful at refocusing back to the task at hand? Step 5: Planning for distractions (a) Begin planning for distractions at the Olympic Games. Brainstorm about various external (media, friends and family, etc.) and internal distractions that might arise at the Games. (b) Come up with contingency plans for handling those distractions. Work on active problem-solving, but also on more emotion based coping. (c) Pay specific attention to the internal distractions (using the thoughts and beliefs uncovered as material for this part, along with the A-B-C form to work on effective thinking and the mindfulness work). Step 6: Goal-setting. a.

Ask your athlete to set outcome, performance and process goals for all competitions leading up to the Olympics.

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Step 7: Use mastery and coping imagery to prepare for the emotional experience of the Games Step 8: Ask the athlete to put a perspective “kit” together. The “kit” can consist of anything that gives the athlete perspective in life. Make sure it is transportable and small enough to bring to competitions and the Olympic Games.

REFERENCES American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd edition. (1993). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. Beck, J. S. (1995). Cognitive therapy. Basics and beyond. New York: The Guilford Press. Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2007). Mindfulness: Theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychological Inquiry, 4, 211-237. Burns, D. (2006). When Panic Attacks. The new, drug-free anxiety therapy that can change your life. New York: Random House. Conklin, M. (2008). Olympic athlete Favor Hamilton tells her secret. In Wisconsin State Journal. September 28, 2008; located at http://www.badgerbeat.com/news/article/ id/306841 Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow. The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row. Eifert, G.H., & Forseyth, J.P. (2005). Acceptance & commitment therapy for anxiety disorders. A practitioner’s treatment guide to using mindfulness, acceptance, and valuesbased behavior change strategies. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger. Dietrich, A. (2003). Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis. Consciousness and Cognition 12, 231–256. Dietrich, A. (2004). Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the experience of flow. Consciousness and Cognition 13, 746–761. Farber, M. (2008) What I am looking forward to at the Games. In Sports Illustrated.com, Friday, July 25, 2008; located at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics /2008/writers/michael_farber/07/24/looking.foward/index.html?eref=T1 Fink-Sisniega, C., & Haberl, P. (2005). I thought I would be happier! The emotional roller coaster of the Olympic Games. Workshop presented at the 20th conference of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, October 26-30. Flett, G. L., & Hewitt, P. L. (2002). Perfectionism. Theory, research and treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Frost, R. O, Marten, P., Lahart, C., Rosenblate, R. (1990). The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14, 449-468. Gardner, F. L., & Moore, Z. E. (2006). Clinical sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

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Gardner, F. L., & Moore, Z. E. (2007). The psychology of enhancing human performance. The mindfulness-acceptance-commitment (MAC) approach. New York: Springer Publishing. Giges, B. (2000). Removing psychological barriers: Clearing the way. In M. B. Anderson (Ed.), Doing sport psychology (pp. 17-32). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Gilbert, D. T. (2006). Stumbling on happiness. New York: A. A. Knopf. Gould, D. (2001). Sport psychology and the Nagano Olympic Games: The Case of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team. In G. Tenenbaum (Ed.), The practice of sport psychology (pp. 4979). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Gould, D., Dieffenbach, K., & Moffet, A. (2002). Psychological characteristics and their development in Olympic champions. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 172-204. Gould, D., Eklund, R.C., & Jackson, S.A. (1992a). 1988 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Excellence: I. Mental preparation, precompetitive cognition, and affect. The Sport Psychologist, 6, 358–382. Gould, D., Eklund, R. C., & Jackson, S. A. (1992b). 1988 U.S. Olympic wrestling excellence: II. Thoughts and affect occurring during competition. The Sport Psychologist, 6, 383– 402. Gould, D., Greenleaf, C., Dieffenbach, K., Lauer, L., Chung, Y., Peterson, K., & McCann, S. (1999). Positive and negative factors influencing U.S. Olympic athlete and coaches: Nagano Games assessment. US Olympic Committee Sport Science and Technology Final Grant Report, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Gould, D., Guinan, D., Greenleaf, C., Medbery, R., Strickland, M., Lauer, L., et al. (1998). Positive and negative factors influencing U.S. Olympic athlete and coaches: Atlanta Games assessment. US Olympic Committee Sport Science and Technology Final Grant Report, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Gould, D., Taylor, M., Chung, Y., Rolo, C., Pennisi, N. S., & Carson, S. (2002). 2000 Sydney Olympic Games: U.S. athlete and coach performance lessons learned assessment. USOC sport Science & Technology Grant Project Final Report. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Haberl, P. (2001). Peak performance at the Olympics: An in-depth psycho-social case study of the 1998 U.S. Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Team. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Boston University, Boston, MA. Haberl, P. (2005). Is USOC sport psychology effective? The verdict of athletes and coaches! Colloquia presented at the 20th conference of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, October 26-30. Haberl, P. (2003). Strategies for maintaining long-term consulting relationships with Olympic Teams and athletes. In J. Bauman (Chair), Sport psychology at the Olympic level: 365 days a year and always a work in progress. Workshop conducted at the 111th American Psychological Association convention, Toronto, Canada. Haberl, P. (2006a). A U.S. Perspective: No two teams are alike! No two Olympic Games are the same! In P. Haberl (Chair), Consulting with female Olympic team sports: An international perspective. Symposium presented at the 21st conference of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Miami, FL, September 27-30. Haberl, P. (2006b). Road to Olympic expertise: Ten years and 10.000 hours or time for a new face? In K. Peterson (Chair), Olympic sport psychology service provision: Perspectives in preparation for the 2006 Olympic Games. Symposium presented at the 2006 APA Convention, in New Orleans, LA, August 10-13.

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Haberl, P. (2004). The road to the Olympic Games – A procrustean bed it is not! In S. McCann, (Chair), All roads lead to Athens: The paths of 4 Olympic consultants. Symposium presented at the 19th conference of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Minneapolis, USA. Haberl, P., & Peterson, K. (2006). Olympic-size ethical dilemmas: Issues and challenges for sport psychology consultants on the road and at the Olympic Games. Ethics & Behavior, 16, 25-40. Hardy, L., Jones, J. G., Gould, D. (1996). Understanding psychological preparation for sport: Theory and practice of elite performers. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and human growth: The struggle towards self-realization. New York: Norton. Jackson, S.A. (1992). Elite athletes in flow: The psychology of optimal sport experience. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, US. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain and illness. New York: Dell Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are. Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion. Kabat-Zinn (2005). Coming to our senses: Healing ourselves and the World through mindfulness. New York: Hyperion Press. Layden, T. (2000, Oct. 2). The start of something big; Marion Jones's drive for five began brilliantly in the 100, then came news that her husband had failed a drug test. Sports Illustrated, 40-47. McCann, S. (2000). Doing sport psychology at the really big show. In M. B. Anderson (Ed.), Doing sport psychology (pp. 209-222). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. McCann, S. (2008). At the Olympics, everything is a performance issue. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6, 267-276. Orlick, T., & Partington, J. (1987). The sport psychology consultant: Olympic coaches’ views. The Sport Psychologist, 1, 95-102. Parent, J. (2002). Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game. New York: Random House. Partington, J., & Orlick ,T. (1987). The sport psychology consultant: Analysis of critical components as viewed by Canadian Olympic athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 1, 4-17. Patrick, D. (2008). It’s trials by fire. USA Today, June 27, 2008. Pensgaard, A. M., & Duda, J. L. (2003). Sydney 2000: The Interplay between emotions, coping and the performance of Olympic-level athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 17, 253267. Ravizza, K., & Hanson, T. (1995). Heads-up baseball. Playing the game one pitch at a time. Indianapolis, IN: Masters Press. Reid, S. M. (2006). Grandma’s gold; The memory of “Nanny’ pushes Hedrick in the 5000 meters. The Orange County Register, Sunday, February 12, 2006. Roberts, G. (Ed.). (1989). Delivering sport psychology services to the 1988 Olympic Athletes (Special Theme Issue). The Sport Psychologist, 3, 299-394. Ruggerio, A. (2006). Breaking the Ice. My journey to Olympic Hockey, the Ivy Leagues and Beyond. East Bridgewater, MA: Drummond Pub. Siegel, D. J. (2007). The mindful brain. Reflection and attunement in the cultivation of wellbeing. New York: W.W. Norton Company.

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Stone, N. (2003). Keynote address. USOC Sport Psychology Registry Pre-AAASP Workshop, Philadelphia. Smith, S. (2005). Glory goes to Horry in Game 5 win; Hits 3-point basket with 5.8 seconds left in overtime. Chicago Tribune, Monday, June 20, 2005. Suinn, R. (1985). The 1984 Olympics and sport psychology. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7, 321-329. Whalen, S. R., DiGuiseppe, R., & Dryden, W. (1992). A Practioner’s Guide to Rational Emotive Therapy. New York. Oxford University Press Willoughby, S. (2006). He's heart over heels Shaun White spins and twists his way to gold in men's halfpipe. The Denver Post, p. D-01, Monday, February 13. Zeigler, M. (2006). Taking flight; Board-sports icon Shaun White, 19, leads the U.S. to 1-2 finish in halfpipe. The San Diego Union-Tribune, p. 1, Monday, February 13, 2006.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 5

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION OF ATHLETES FOR THE OLYMPIC CONTEXT: TEAM CULTURE AND TEAM-BUILDING Ken Hodge1 and Gary Hermansson2 Mental Skills Trainer for NZ Winter Olympic Team, University of Otago, New Zealand1 Team Psychologist for NZ Summer Olympic Team, NZ Olympic Committee, New Zealand2 Key words: Olympics, mental skills training, team cohesion, team-building

CHAPTER SUMMARY Team-building and team culture for the whole Olympic team? Why? Why bother? What is the value of such an exercise for a multidisciplinary Olympic team? The answer (we believe) is that the Olympics present ‘unusual’ challenges for athletes and coaches; consequently there is a clear need for different measures to cope with these different circumstances. The Olympic Games (both Summer & Winter) are an atypical sporting experience for most athletes and an alien competition context for some (Greenleaf, Gould & Diefenbach, 2001; Hodge, 1993; Hodge & Hermansson, 2007). The Olympics are atypical and unusual because (i) they only occur every four years and (ii) they are a ‘multisport’ event. Most elite athletes quickly become familiar with the annual schedule of international events in their particular sport (e.g., rowing world cup regattas, skiing FIS World Cup race circuit) and adjust to the mental demands of such regular elite competition within their sporting discipline, but the multisport Olympics held only every four years present particular challenges and difficulties. The four-year cycle offers few opportunities for most athletes to gain experience and ‘acclimatise’ to the unique mental challenges of the Olympic environment (Gould, 2001; McCann, 2000). Perhaps the key mental challenge is the ‘multisport’ (almost festival/circus)

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aspect of the Olympics which can be a distraction as well as serving to dilute the normal exclusive focus on the athlete’s own sport. The multisport Olympic environment also generates a greater public profile, media coverage, sponsor expectations, and public expectation. For many so-called minor sports, the Olympics generate a substantially higher public profile and media coverage than these athletes are accustomed to (sentence ending in preposition). Because of these kinds of factors, the global profile of the Olympics is somewhat unique and the pressures associated with performing under such an intense ‘gaze’ become a burden for many. In our view, developing a strong overall team culture, along with the more regular efforts to create unity and strength within the sub-units (e.g., swimming, sailing teams/groups), can be a powerful method to counter the pressures that are unique to the Olympics. Consequently the purpose of this chapter is to outline the overall team-building approach and the methods we have been part of with recent New Zealand Olympic Teams. However, before we describe the elements involved, we will outline what we see as some of the common mental challenges associated with the Olympics. We do not propose to detail the specific mental skills training we provide for Olympic athletes in New Zealand (NZ) as we know from discussions with colleagues from other nations that there is little fundamental variation in the ‘basic’ mental skills training offered around the world for Olympic athletes (Hodge, McKenzie & Hermansson, 2001). Excellent descriptions of Olympic mental skills training programs can be found in book chapters by Gould (2001) and McCann (2000). Rather than focusing on our version of an Olympic mental skills training program we will outline the common mental challenges that we have identified with NZ athletes and then outline the overall team-building strategy (a ‘One Team-One Spirit’ vision/philosophy) that NZ Olympic Teams have employed over recent Games to help build a strong performance platform and within which we operate to serve these typical mental skills challenges. Also, we will consider specific strategies we have used to help build strength and unity within the separate sub-units of the overall team, working on the premise that attention to both dimensions (overall team and separate subunits) will combine to bring about something that goes beyond the sum of its parts.

COMMON MENTAL SKILLS CHALLENGES AT THE OLYMPICS The authors have both been involved in several Olympic Games campaigns. The first author (Ken Hodge) went to the Barcelona Summer Games in 1992 and the Torino Winter Games in 2006. The second author (Gary Hermansson) has been the NZ Team Psychologist at the last three Olympic Games in Sydney, Athens and Beijing. Both authors have also worked separately with many elite athletes both pre- and post-Olympic campaigns. In our experience, beyond the mental skills needs that most elite athletes typically work on (e.g., confidence, motivation, concentration, controlling arousal/activation, coping with adversity), there are a number of mental challenges more specific to the Olympic environment. Pre-event mental preparation. Many athletes need to take ‘ownership’ of their performance by working hard to fine-tune their ‘mental prep’ to suit the requirements and special demands of the Games environment. Much of our work in this regard revolves around helping athletes modify existing ‘pre-race/event routines/plans’ that are created by them to

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provide a feeling of control over the situation, deal with stress, and give them confidence that they will perform up to their personal best (Hodge, 2004a). The most common difficulty regarding pre-race/event routines/plans at the Olympics is managing the shift that almost inevitably goes towards focussing intently on outcome/results thinking (Gould, 2001). Because the event is a culmination of years of training and because there is intense interest in results by everybody, athletes often struggle to stay focussed on performance objectives, even more so than usual. Whilst they often have some understanding of the shift that occurs within them, they typically find it hard to discipline their thinking towards essential and more controllable performance issues. ‘Games wobbles.’ Despite the added focus on fine-tuning their mental preparation mentioned above, some athletes start waivering and decide to radically change their routines and Pre-Event Mental Preparation because they are at the ‘Games’. Somehow the usual often becomes doubted and there can be a loss of trust in the familiar (Gould, 2001). Athletes need to trust themselves and their routines, back their confidence, and stick to their normal training and competition procedures (Clarke, 2004; Gould, Eklund, & Jackson, 1993; Greenleaf et al., 2001), but for many, the Games environment severely challenges that sense of trust. Stress management. A common psychological issue at the Olympics is stress/anxiety management (Dugdale, Eklund, & Grove, 2002; Gould et al., 1993; Hodge, 1993). Managing stress primarily focuses on the use of mental skills such as relaxation, centering, imagery, and positive self-talk. Performing at the Games can be a particularly stressful experience for a number of reasons: •

• • • • • • • •

the time, effort, and money required to compete at the Olympic level can become a source of stress when the athlete begins to wonder if it is ‘all going to pay off’; (this bullet is a sentence; none of the other bullets are) worry about ‘life-after-sport’, win or lose at these Games what will I do next?; the incredible media coverage at the Games, compared to the level of coverage that their sport may usually receive (Greenleaf et al., 2001); the ‘atmosphere’ of the Games -- representing their country, competing against the world’s best with the spotlight on their performance; living in the village and dealing with the ‘artificial’ surroundings, organisation, transport and security hassles; dealing with injury, health, or fitness problems; dealing with the disappointment of a ‘poor’ performance in the first race/heat/event; coping with the disappointment of a ‘poor’ overall performance; interpersonal conflict with teammates, coaches or managers.

Any one or a combination of the above sources of stress can interfere with the athlete’s mental preparation and responses, cause stress/anxiety, and undermine her/his confidence. Particular issues of stress relate to living circumstances, with this being an overarching stressor for most. Village accommodation invariably requires several athletes to share the same room in relatively cramped conditions. These living arrangements can make for difficulties with sleeping, personal space, a lack of privacy, and noise control; especially as the Games progress and some athletes finish their competitions.

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Public expectations, increased media attention, and funding pressures place some Olympic athletes under enormous stress. For many, funding is strictly tied to their Games performance - if they succeed at the Games they are likely to secure funding for the future; if not, their funding is likely to be cut or withdrawn. This type of pressure is a ‘double-edged sword’; it can provide motivation for training and competition, but it can also generate enormous pressure, stress and anxiety that, in turn, can hinder performance. Interpersonal conflict. At every Olympics there are a number of issues related to conflict arising between athletes and their teammates, coaches and managers (Gould, 2001). The intensity of the occasion can bring this about, or heighten existing rifts, and the kinds of pressures already identified for athletes can have similar impact on coaches and support staff leading to the potential for relationship problems. In any issue of conflict there are always two sides and typically mistakes made by both parties. Often these conflicts develop from or are exacerbated by a lack of communication, lack of tolerance, and lack of empathy (Clarke, 2004). Coaches and managers need to be appointed early in the Olympic cycle by each sport so that they have time before the Games to ‘get to know’ their athletes (and the athletes to get to know the coaches/managers), establish lines of communication, and develop working relationships. More time should also be devoted to communication skills training for managers and coaches - some managers and coaches are lacking in some aspects of effective communication with elite/international athletes and this can lead to mis-communication, misinterpretation and inevitable conflict among the parties. An important feature of NZ Games Team appointments of management and support staff over recent years has been a focus on ‘adding value.’ Whereas in the past such personnel might have been appointed for reasons associated with being a good servant to their sport, the emphasis now has shifted onto performance outcomes for management and support staff as well. There have been occasions where the NZ Olympic organisation has turned down a management staff appointment proposed by the sport because it was considered that the individual concerned was judged not to be up to the performance demands. Everyone has to be able to make a positive impact. ‘Psych’ aspects of injury rehabilitation. Injury also has clear psychological aspects (Williams & Scherzer, 2006), especially in the Olympic context when the four-year cycle offers a small window for participation opportunities. Athletes carrying or acquiring injuries will typically have to cope with the emotions and stress that accompany the worry that an injury may hinder a top performance or worse still prevent them from competing at the biggest event of their sporting career - one that they have trained and made sacrifices for over a number of years (Greenleaf et al., 2001). In regard to dealing with the psychological aspects of injury rehabilitation in the Games environment, a feature of the work that helps athletes is the immediate presence of a multidisciplinary health team involving medical staff, physiotherapists, massage therapists and chiropractors (Reid, Stewart, & Thorne, 2004). When such teams work well, the opportunity is there for athletes to benefit from an (should this be “a”?) holistic and unified orientation and this can markedly ease the stress for them. For us, also, the experience of working within such a team of providers has been a valuable addition to the effectiveness of our own work and ultimately to the benefit of those personnel (athletes, coaches and support staff) who we strive to assist. Second Week ‘Blues.’ Many members of a Games ‘Team’ (athletes, coaches, managers, health team personnel) will suffer to some extent from a phenomenon we have

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euphemistically labelled as 2nd Week Blues. In our experience it is normal at most Olympics for everyone (including ourselves) to get a little stressed and irritable after the first week of living in the claustrophobic Games environment. A range of issues related to living inside the ‘Games Bubble’ can start to irritate people, especially the athletes; for example, the cramped Village, bland bedrooms, lack of privacy, lack of spare/private time, monotonous food, and the tedious and intrusive security checkpoints......need a verb here to make it a sentence. Such relatively minor issues tend to become amplified as the lead-up to competition occurs, especially among those who are at the village for the entire Games. There is usually a period of heightened tension as the competition gets closer and athletes taper and/or intensify towards ‘the big moment.’ Such issues can be especially frustrating for athletes who do not compete until the second competition week of the Games. Helping to address the aforementioned unique challenges, in addition to the regular elite sport stressors (e.g., managing performance anxiety, staying focussed), tend to make up the essentials of Games work for Mental Skills Trainers/Sport Psychologists, with this certainly being the case for us with various NZ Games Teams. Much of our mental skills work is performance-focussed, but a lot can be regarded as performance-related; that is, work peripheral to the actual event but having a potential impact on it. Our presence within Teams over the years has also meant that we have been able to both assess and contribute to the collective Team cultures as they have been developed and played out. For us, this is a significant proactive engagement as it helps set the conditions both for support and for constructive challenge of all within the Team, and potentially makes our work more impactful and widespread. In our experience, many of the common mental challenges identified above for ‘Games’ athletes can be prevented, or at least managed better, if the overall Games Team has a strong team culture (i.e., teamwork and team spirit).

TEAM DYNAMICS AND TEAM BUILDING The matter of team culture has received particular attention for NZ Olympic Teams over recent years and will continue to be a feature of the lead-up to the Vancouver Winter Olympics (2010) and beyond. There had been concern around the time of the Sydney Olympics in 2000 that a considerable degree of fragmentation within the “Games” Team was becoming evident and that this fragmentation was having a profound effect on levels of motivation, satisfaction and performance. In earlier times, the total NZ Olympic Team, usually relatively small in number, was announced at the same time; then the Team gathered together at a single location within the country for outfitting and a farewell function before travelling as a single unit to the Games city. However, more recently, selections of separate sporting teams are announced progressively in the months leading up to the Games, athletes are scattered around the world training and competing, they are outfitted from afar, and they arrive at the Games venue from different directions at differing times (sometimes just immediately before their event). The prospect of athletes experiencing the Games as ‘just another event’ in the calendar of their own sporting code was seen as increasingly likely, as was the loss of the impact of being a part of a powerful single team entity - with its own social support, enjoyment, motivational and performance potential.

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Whilst recognising the realities involved in changing circumstances, it was considered by those recently responsible for building, shaping and managing the culture (Chef de Mission, management personnel and ourselves) that important elements were being lost. Consequently, some opportunities were not even tapped into that could help to provide a powerful foundation of identity, belonging, cohesion and meaning. It was thought that these elements and opportunities would in and of themselves provide a solid inspirational platform for all concerned that would both greatly enhance levels of satisfaction and, most importantly, performance. The Chef de Mission appointed following Sydney (Dave Currie) championed the notion of explicit team-building for the whole Olympic team, and was instrumental in building an organisational team with a shared vision for developing and taking the explicit team-building philosophy forward. This philosophy has been captured in the concept of ‘One Team-One Spirit,’ which has become the guiding orientation both for preparation and application. From a psychological perspective, this philosophy has been helpful in creating a valuable support network as well as an environment where the challenge to perform remains strong. It also provides a more settled atmosphere within which our individual and team psychological work can take place. The greatly enhanced social-psychological conditions have been important in themselves (Amorose & Anderson-Butcher, 2007; Bloom, Stevens & Wickwire, 2003), but they have also helped to better underpin our work in relation to the kinds of psychological challenges previously identified.

PURSUING A ‘ONE TEAM-ONE SPIRIT’ ORIENTATION Whilst the national team is the unifying structure within which a country’s separate sporting teams gather and perform, the group dynamics seen as crucial for athletes performing to the best of their abilities have typically been left totally in the hands of the separate sporting teams (sub-units) themselves. As we shall indicate later in the chapter, we have played our role in helping in the development of such separate teams towards building their own strong performance and support cultures. Such features as team unity and cohesion, motivation, goal setting and managing the pressures of competition (see, for example, Hodge, 2004a; Murphy, 1996; Orlick, 2000) have typically be seen as the responsibility of the coach(es), section manager(s) and athletes in the various sports, with assistance at times from people such as ourselves. Any sense of overall national team unity and cohesion has been usually regarded as an informal bi-product of the various sports coming together wearing a common uniform and performing under a nation’s flag, along with the experiences of living closely together in the Olympic Village as a distinct entity for the period of the Games. The concept of cohesion is recognised as an important dynamic for any sporting team (cf., Carron, Bray & Eys, 2002, Carron & Hausenblas, 1998, Carron, Coleman, Wheeler & Stevens, 2002, Carron & Spinks, 1993; Hodge, 2004b; Hodge, McKenzie, & Lonsdale, 2005; Syer, 1986). For example, Carron and Spinks (1993) stated that: cohesion has been associated with a number of positive individual and group consequences. For example, with higher levels of cohesiveness, group performance is superior, task and social interactions and communication are enhanced, the group is more

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stable, and role acceptance and conformity to group norms increase. In addition, individual members experience less anxiety and greater self-esteem; show greater trust, feelings of security, and willingness to change; and more readily share responsibilities for group outcomes. (p. 8)

Even though circumstances increasingly seem to conspire to make the main focus of involvement on the separate sporting teams (e.g., cycling, hockey, skiing, bobsleigh), the organisational requirements of participating at the Olympics, the common uniform and flag, the living arrangements and the efforts made to distinguish the residential quarters by their national character means that being part of a national ‘team’ is very much a feature of the experience of all who are involved regardless of where their point of departure is when travelling to the Games. Given that this overall team membership will inevitably be part of the consciousness of all athletes and support staff, the degree to which it is a positive, unifying and inspirational experience is crucial for individual and overall team success. It could be argued that the same aspirations for cohesion (cf., Bloom et al., 2003; Carron & Spinks, 1993; Carron & Hausenblas, 1998; Hodge, 2004b), is as much a need in the overall team as it will be for each of its separate units (i.e., different sporting teams and support groups). Consequently, the development of overall national team cohesion could be seen as a valuable objective for any country participating in the Olympic Games, with the purpose of enhancing team members’ satisfaction and performance. It was with this intention that the management personnel of the NZ Olympic Games Team (NZOC) made preparations for Athens 2004, Torino 2006, Beijing 2008 and will be maintaining the emphasis for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

THE NEW ZEALAND TEAM EXPERIENCE: ‘ONE TEAM-ONE SPIRIT’ VISION The One Team–One Spirit vision developed progressively from the Sydney Olympics and to date has been most fully articulated and implemented for the Torino and Beijing Games. One of the cornerstones was in relation to national identity – drawing strength and meaning from knowing who we are as people from a particular nation and having a firm sense of belonging and communal strength. New Zealand is essentially a bicultural nation built on a Treaty between the indigenous Maori and European settlers (see King, 2003) and, even though the relationship between the peoples has not always been straightforward, by international comparisons there is a solid sense of partnership and unity. This bicultural relationship means that any Team culture based on strengths of NZ national identity needs to genuinely reflect bicultural dimensions, and in a way that is not tokenism. To do this sincerely meant bringing into the planning team cultural advisors from within Maoridom and sharing leadership in working on the Games planning and Team development. Following extensive consultations within Maoridom and within the NZOC organisation, this step was taken and a commitment was made to work in partnership from Athens 2004 onward. A number of tangible actions in terms of Team development (the ‘One Team’ component) were taken, in general and in regard to biculturalism, which will be outlined, but all the way along the emphasis has been on the underpinning values and ethos (the ‘One

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Spirit’ component) that such actions reflect. The Beijing Games Handbook (NZOC, 2008) for Team members set out the vision [both in English, as shown here, and in Maori translation] – the One Team–One Spirit vision (below) was also used with the Torino Winter Olympic Team: One Team – One Spirit Being part of the New Zealand Olympic Games Team is a commitment by everyone to create an environment that inspires, empowers, supports and recognises achievements, an environment that is enjoyable, where everyone wears the silver fern [national emblem] with pride. An environment where athletes can excel.

The cloak (Kakahu): The Maori tribal groups within New Zealand/Aotearoa [Maori name] collaborated to weave a feather cloak (a Kakahu) for the NZ Olympic Team in 2004, “To highlight the uniqueness of New Zealand, Maori culture has been woven into the core of our Olympic Games Team” (NZOC, 2008, p. 16). The cloak is only ever to be worn by the Team Flag bearer at each Olympics “[The] team kakahu is an exquisite work of art and will be seen as a mantle of leadership and spiritual protection. The cloak itself becomes empowered by the status and mana [standing] of the wearer, and as a result the cloak’s mana will increase with each successive flag bearer” (p. 16). Once the kakau/cloak was created, efforts were made to have each living NZ Team Flag bearer from prior Olympics wear it, prior to it being placed on the shoulders of the chosen Flag bearer in Athens. The chosen flag bearer, starting with Athens, now wears the kakahu into the Stadium for the Opening Ceremony: Beatrice Faumuina (Athens 2004 - Polynesian-descent Discus Thrower), Sean Becker (Torino 2006 - European-descent curler), and Mahe Drysdale (Beijing 2008 European-descent rower). Greenstone (Pounamu) Pendant: Pounamu is a jade-like stone found in certain parts of the country’s South Island, is a recognised treasure (a toanga) for Maori and for New Zealanders as a whole. It is regarded as precious – “It is... a stone with mana [status & standing]” and those who see it and wear it receive honor. Again, the Maori tribes provided a large piece of Pounamu for the Games Team as a ‘touchstone’ for connection, strength and individual/collective mana, and each team member was given an individually carved Pounamu pendant, which was personally presented to them at a ceremony upon their arrival into the Village in Athens, Torino, and Beijing. The Village: The Team location in the Village, as with other nations, has always displayed the national flag, but now there are also large banner hangings from apartment balconies with stylised ferns, and in Athens and Beijing a traditionally carved wooden gateway (Waharoa) framed the entrance down to the Athletes’ Lounge (in Athens known as ‘Middle Earth’ in recognition of the country’s association with the filming of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy). Several other artefacts – cultural and kitch – are located around the Team location to create a sense of connection with home and a bond with each other. The Haka: New Zealand sporting teams have often been known internationally for performing the Haka – a Maori dance/chant that the nation’s ‘All Blacks’ Rugby Team performs before international games, and most New Zealand young people travelling together in foreign countries finish up doing it (not always very well) as a kind of party item to signify that they are New Zealanders. Done well it is a dramatic collective statement of challenge,

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respect and honor. The Haka is also often performed as part of a greeting for people coming home and as such is a strong and moving experience of bonding and belonging. Following on from the learning and practice of the Haka that teams had experienced separately in the lead-up period to the Games, it formed a distinctive statement of welcome and union for the Team in Athens, Torino, and Beijing. As each unit arrived at the Village – no matter when they arrived (the Curling Team arrived in Torino at 1:30am) or how many people in the unit – they were greeted by those already in residence by a Haka followed in traditional fashion by every person arriving being greeted individually by each Team member already there (by handshake, kiss on the cheek, or hongi – a nose-nose press favoured by Maori as a symbol of unity). A snowball dynamic occurred, with those who arrived then becoming part of the greeting party when new arrivals came. This ritual was a very symbolic statement of identity, support and unity – both for those arriving and reinforced each time for those doing the greeting. Towards the end this ritual (haka and individual greetings) involved approximately 150 people in Beijing, and it also attracted large crowds of people from other teams who got used to seeing NZ Team members gathering to greet and typically came running to watch and take photographs. The particular actions outlined above were experienced as meaningful in themselves; they were bicultural in nature, in that the strategies involved forefronted Maori culture where, usually, European organisational, communication and procedural activities typically dominated. For the authors as (social/individual) psychologists, the greeting rituals in particular represented dynamics that contributed substantially to community strength and cohesion and as such helped to deal with some of the tensions that go with being at a pinnacle high profile event. In addition, this cohesion helped to ease the way for us to be accessible to athletes and to work more effectively within and drawing on the Team culture.

NOTABLE LOGISTICAL STRATEGIES Underpinning these more obvious and distinctive activities towards ‘One Team-One Spirit,’ there were a number of other actions deliberately taken to cement the vision being forged. The following (also) contributed to the emerging ethos: Section manager meetings. Major gatherings of section managers are conducted in the lead-up period to each Games. Whilst the focus of the meetings is on information sharing and organisational preparations, considerable emphasis is now given to processes designed to enhance a One Team-One Spirit experience. The sessions have been typically facilitated by the Team Psychologist/Mental Skills Trainer and include structured activities designed to encourage participants to mix and get to know each other more fully by sharing details of their personal and sporting interests and involvements. As well, at the first gathering, deliberate attention is given to the ‘One Team-One Spirit’ vision, and a discussion of the benefits and possible resistances to this pursued. Initially there was some concern expressed about the overarching aim possibly detracting from individual team objectives and interests, but there has been an increasing acceptance of the value of the concept with each successive Games and a commitment to getting the best from the unified orientation.

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Team briefings. Throughout the 6-9 month period leading up to each Games athletes in their various sports teams are briefed on planning and procedures. At these gatherings there is a similar emphasis on processes designed to promote a one-team culture. This emphasis includes participants getting to know each other beyond their narrow roles as athletes, with attention given to mixing ages and experience. Also, deliberate discussion is initiated about team unity and likely implications. In regard to the latter, special attention is given to the need for and value in people taking the initiative at the Games in meeting and getting to know other team members in situations where they might not actually know each other, and for experienced and well known athletes in particular to take the lead in this regard. Web-based on-line community. In keeping with the principles underpinning a One TeamOne Spirit philosophy, as well as recognising the realities of modern sporting involvement where athletes are often scattered around the world and where global technology is evolving, an initiative has been undertaken to create and operate a web-based on-line virtual community (called ‘Zeus’) for NZ Games Teams. This virtual community is seen as an innovative idea with far-reaching potential. Since the first incarnation of this strategy in 2000, this initiative has grown steadily in status and use by athletes, coaches and team personnel. Zeus is now the main format used for communicating detailed organisational material, as well as for providing resources to athletes and management staff – including material on mental skills issues and strategies. The web component has been franchised on to several other nations to assist in their organisational and preparation activities. The website, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world (internet cafes as well as personal and office computers), has within it a number of tools that not only provide for information sharing, but also promote community/team development through active dialogue and ready contact for those registered as users of the site (password encrypted). Other initiatives. A number of other minor initiatives are also pursued for promoting the cohesive orientation. In the regular NZOC newsletter, which runs through the lead-up period and during the Games, periodic attention is given to the vision and related practices. This attention is also an aspect of orientation sessions conducted as athletes arrived in the Village. A reminder is also given at these times for individuals to take the initiative in meeting and get to know athletes in other sports in the team and an area of the main dining room is demarcated as a place for team members to eat with and meet others as part of the ‘One Team-One Spirit’ concept. In the lead-up to competition, several social events are organised with an emphasis on getting to know athletes and support staff from other sports. The team motto, which appears on various signs around the NZ quarters in the Village is ‘One-Team, Our-Team.’

TEAM BUILDING EXERCISES FOR SEPARATE TEAMS As previously indicated, whilst there has been a notable shift to addressing the overall Team culture and cohesion, there is also ongoing recognition of the value in similarly addressing matters of group culture within the separate units that make up the Games Team. Effective work in this domain means that the various sub-components will be strong and will contribute exponentially to the overall collective. Working with the sub-groups also helps to

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identify and address issues that might become amplified and potentially detrimental to the desired culture of the overall team. In this section we outline interventions that we have found to be especially useful with specific or separate teams (e.g., snowboarding, curling, basketball, hockey) within the overall Olympic team. Successful teams have athletes who work toward common goals (Carron & Hausenblas, 1998). The culture of the team will dictate these goals and whether or not they are accepted by all members (Bloom et al., 2003; Holt & Dunn, 2006). Therefore, the team vision and values must be carefully molded. Many methods can be used, however, any session designed to establish a team’s vision and values should include (i) the opportunity for all members of the group to contribute to the process and (ii) concrete examples and strategies that ensure that the vision and values will manifest themselves in the day-to-day operations of the team. We have developed a number of workshops/exercises that can be used to shape a team’s vision and values. Examples of some of these workshops/exercises are described below. The first author (Ken Hodge) used the exercises below to help the separate teams (e.g., curling, snowboarding teams) within the 2006 NZ Winter Olympic team to define their own unique vision and values. The first exercise was termed the “Team Legacy Speech.” The team was divided into groups of four to five athletes. Each group was pre-selected so that senior team members were mixed with newcomers. Each group was then required to write a “team legacy speech.” The athletes were told that their speech should be the one they might give at the end of the upcoming Games. After “writing” and “practise” periods, one member of each group delivered the 2-minute speech to the whole team. Each speech had to include acknowledgement of (only) four important people and had to focus on “how” and “why” the team accomplished its ultimate goal of winning medals. The purpose of this exercise was to encourage the group to define success for themselves (vision) and examine the ways in which they could ensure success (values). Many of these speeches were humorous as well, but the key benefit was the group’s efforts to identify ‘how’ and ‘why’ the team, and the individual team members, succeeded at the Games. The team then participated in an exercise called “Team Destruction.” New groups were formed and each was given the following instructions: •

• •

Imagine you are part of the management team for our main opponents – your mission is to send a saboteur or spy into our Team in order to sabotage and destroy our campaign. What would your instructions be? What would you get the spy to sabotage? What would you get the spy to do in order to destroy our team and stop us achieving our goal(s)?

The sabotage plans of each group were pooled together and the entire team decided on the most “destructive schemes” (some were quite innovative and many were humorous!; e.g., laxatives in drink bottles, starting rumours about teammates, always being late for meetings/transport). The point of this exercise was for the team members to realise that the ‘spy’ could not succeed if the team had a strong set of values, because any negative actions (subtle or otherwise) would stand out as not being consistent with the team’s values (i.e.,

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‘how we do things around here’). Each group was then encouraged to devise ways to “spyproof” our team against the best efforts of the saboteur. •

What plans can be put into place to prevent the spy/saboteur from being successful or cope with problems if they arise? Agreeing on a solid set of team ‘values’ became an obvious solution for ‘spy-proofing’. So how do you develop a set of team values?

The final exercise was termed “Build the Ideal Teammate.” New groups were formed and instructed to design the “ideal” teammate for the team. Athletes were asked to brainstorm about the behaviors / actions / values that they wanted this teammate to demonstrate. The ‘actions / values’ were outlined for each of the following team situations: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

At fitness / individual skill training sessions. At team / squad training sessions. Before competition. During competition. After competition (social activities). When we are “Off-Duty” together as a Team (away from competition). Away from the ‘Team.’

The “Team Legacy Speeches,” “Team Destruction” and “Ideal Teammate” exercises resulted in a variety of ideas concerning the team’s vision and values. Overnight, the first author in his role as Mental Skills Trainer met with the management team to summarize the athletes’ responses on the above exercises, and to write a ‘draft’ Vision & Values statement for the team to consider. The next day the team discussed the draft statement as one large group – suggested revisions were debated and agreed upon. The purpose of the exercise was not only to establish the team’s vision and values, but to also encourage the athletes to identify concrete situations in which the team’s values were likely to be most important. The Team’s vision was defined as the “why” of the team and questions such as “Why are we together?” and “What sort of team do we want to be?” were used as prompts. The Team’s values were defined as “how we do things around here” and the athletes were encouraged to think of their team values as a set of philosophies that could be used to help guide their behavior and decision making in the team environment. For example, one team’s draft Values statement contained a list of 18 values so the athletes were then asked to prioritise this extensive list by identifying only four ‘core’ values as the most important. After some time, a list of the four core values emerged (e.g., Honesty, Trust & Respect; Positivity & Passion; Balanced Lifestyle; Commitment & Sacrifice). Groups were formed again and the athletes were asked to describe concrete examples of behaviors that exemplified each of the four core values (i.e., what does each value actually ‘mean’ in behavioral terms?; what behavior[s] does each value represent?). The seven broad categories from the “ideal team-mate” exercise described above were used as cues for identifying potential behavioral examples. The final version of the team’s ‘Vision & Values’ statement was signed by each athlete and a copy was then supplied for each team member’s training diary/logbook. In addition these values were referred to at numerous times throughout the Games by the coaches and management team.

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OUTCOMES The main obvious effect for NZ Olympic teams from the team-building focus, overall and in the various sub-units, outlined above has been in terms of a clear and solid sense of team unity and togetherness. In terms of Carron and Spinks’ (1993) cohesiveness indicators, there has been a substantial increase in positive social interaction and communication, obvious team stability and acceptance of role responsibilities and a commitment to shared group norms. A heightened sense of trust and security with each other has developed in our Games’ Teams, and athletes display a commitment to and enjoyment from being part of a unified team. In 2004, 2006 and 2008 those athletes and support personnel who had been to other Olympics commented very favourably on these features in contrast to their experience at previous Games. The Athens and Beijing Games were very successful for the NZ Team, both in terms of medal count and quality performances, but also in terms of satisfaction and enjoyment. Several athletes at both the Athens and Beijing Games publicly acknowledged the power of the One Team-One Spirit philosophy and experience in terms of their performance, but also in terms of having a greater understanding of what being a New Zealander actually means. The vision is dynamic and evolving and at present planning is proceeding for Vancouver 2010 and beyond (London 2012) with the same fundamental principles driving things forward. The challenge now is to remain committed to this unifying orientation for future Games Teams. The groundwork has been laid and the challenge before us is to grow and develop this orientation, and seek the desired benefits both in terms of results (task) and social (people) processes. For us as the Mental Skills Trainer/Sport Psychologist, the philosophy is very compatible with support and with the challenges of performance, and our involvement with the vision in proactive ways has paid a substantial dividend within the Games context itself. The skill needs outlined earlier remain as challenges, but the One Team - One Spirit environment within which these challenges are met is one that assists the work that we do.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OUR VIEWPOINT AS MENTAL SKILLS TRAINER/SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST • • • • • •

recognize the power of the overall collective (Bloom et al., 2003; Clarke, 2004). provide a positive, unifying and inspirational motivational climate that is crucial for individual and overall Team success (Amorose & Anderson-Butcher, 2007). make sure that everyone (athletes, coaches, managers, medics) adds value (Reid et al., 2004). value national identity and draw from it, taking care not to become overly nationalistic in regard to other national teams in the process. give support to multicultural make up of modern teams and respect and value differences. realize the powerful interactions between individual contributions and collective dynamics.

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work in a focussed way at both ends of the continuum – individuals and total collective - as well as with meaningful groupings along the way

REFERENCES Amorose, A. J., & Anderson-Butcher, D. (2007). Autonomy-supportive coaching and selfdetermined motivation in high school and college athletes: A test of self-determination theory. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 8, 654-670. Bloom, G. A., Stevens, D. E., & Wickwire, T. L. (2003). Expert coaches' perceptions of team building. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 15, 129-143. Carron, A. V., & Hausenblas, H. (1998). Group dynamics in sport (Second Edition). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Carron, A. V., & Spinks, K. S. (1993). Team building in an exercise setting. The Sport Psychologist, 7, 8-18. Carron, A. V., Bray, S. R., & Eys, M. A. (2002). Team cohesion and success in sport. Journal of Sports Sciences, 20, 119-126. Carron, A. V., Coleman, M. C., Wheeler, J., & Stevens, D. (2002). Cohesion and performance in sport: A meta analysis. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 24, 168188. Clarke, P. (2004). Coping with the emotions of Olympic performance: A case study of winning the Olympic gold. In D. Lavallee, J. Thatcher, & M. Jones (Eds.), Coping and emotion in sport (pp. 237-251). NY: Nova Science. Dugdale, J. R., Eklund, R. C., & Gordon, S. (2002) Expected and unexpected stressors in major international competition: Appraisal, coping and performance. The Sport Psychologist, 16, 20-33. Gould, D., (2001). Sport psychology and the Nagano Olympic Games: The case of the U.S. freestyle ski team. In G. Tenenbaum (Ed.), The practice of sport psychology (pp. 49-76). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Gould, D., Eklund, R. C., & Jackson, S. A. (1993). Coping strategies used by US Olympic wrestlers. Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, 64, 83-93. Greenleaf, C., Gould, D., & Diefenbach, K. (2001). Factors influencing Olympic performance: Interviews with Atlanta and Nagano U. S. Olympians. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 13, 154-184. Hodge, K. P. (1993). 1992 Olympic Report: Sport psychology at the Barcelona Olympics. New Zealand Journal of Health, Physical Education, & Recreation 26, 8-11. Hodge, K. P. (2004a). Sport motivation: Training your mind for peak performance (2nd Edition). Auckland, Reed Books. Hodge, K. P. (2004b). Team Dynamics. In T. Morris & J. Summers (Eds.), Sport psychology: Theory, application, and current issues (2nd Edition; pp. 210-233). Sydney, Aust.: Jacandra Wiley. Hodge, K. P., & Hermansson, G. (2007). Psychological preparation of athletes for the Olympic context: The New Zealand Summer and Winter Olympic Teams. Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 9 (4). http://www.athleticinsight.com/ (2007).

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Hodge, K. P., McKenzie, A., & Hermansson, G. (2001). Chapter 7: Sport Psychology in New Zealand. In R. Lidor, T. Morris, N. Bardaxoglu, & B. Becker (Eds.), World sport psychology sourcebook (Third Edition; pp. 208-211). Morganstown, VA, USA: Fitness Information Technology. Hodge, K. P., Lonsdale, C., & McKenzie, A. (2005). ‘Thinking Rugby’: Using sport psychology to improve rugby performance. In. J. Dosil (Ed.), Sport psychology: Improving performance in different sports (pp. 183-209). West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons. Holt, N., & Dunn, J. (2006). Guidelines for delivering personal-disclosure mutual-sharing team building interventions. The Sport Psychologist, 20, 348-367. King, M. (2003). The Penguin history of New Zealand. Auckland, NZ: Penguin. McCann, S. C. (2000). Doing sport psychology at the really big show. In M. B. Andersen (Ed.), Doing sport psychology (pp. 209-222). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Murphy, S. (1996). The achievement zone. NY: Berkeley Books. NZOC (2008). New Zealand Games Team - The Olympic Experience, Beijing 2004. Unpublished Booklet. Wellington, NZ: NZOC. Orlick, T. (2000). In pursuit of excellence (3rd Edition). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Reid, C., Stewart, E., & Thorne, G. (2004). Multidisciplinary sport science teams in elite sport: Comprehensive servicing or conflict and confusion? The Sport Psychologist, 18, 204-217. Syer, J. (1986). Team spirit. London: Simon & Schuster. Williams, J. M., & Scherzer, C. (2006). Injury risk and rehabilitation: Psychological considerations. In J. M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (pp. 565-594). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 6

FROM ONE OLYMPICS TO THE NEXT: A FOUR-YEAR PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION PROGRAM Ronnie Lidor*1 and Boris Blumenstein2 The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, and Faculty of Education, University of Haifa, Israel1 Ribstein Center for Sport Medicine Sciences and Research, Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sport, and The Ohalo College of Education and Sport, Israel2

CHAPTER SUMMARY The purpose of this chapter is to describe the four-year psychological program provided to Israeli elite athletes whose goal was to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The chapter provides a brief explanation of the criteria that elite athletes in Israel are required to meet in order to be included in the category of "Olympic athletes", and describes the professional support (e.g., medical and psychological) made available to these athletes. The five main foundations of the psychological program for elite and Olympic athletes are also briefly presented. The chapter introduces the general psychological framework used in each of the four years of preparation: Year 1 – analysis, orientation, and basic foundations, Years 2 and 3 – international experience and advanced practice, and Year 4 – the Olympic year. The objectives of the three psychological interventions used during the four-year psychological preparation – the Five-Step Approach, the specific psychological training program, and the response training program – are discussed. The designated psychological preparation program that was provided to the athletes during their stay in the Olympic Village is also presented. More specifically, the four phases of the onsite psychological preparation are described: the habituation phase, the psychological routine phase, the specific psychological preparation phase, and the recovery phase. Five psychological tips for sport psychology consultants who engage in multi-year preparation of elite athletes for the Olympic Games are suggested.

*

Dr. Ronnie Lidor, Associate Professor, The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya 42902, Israel, Fax: +972-9-8650960, E-mail: [email protected]

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The Olympic Games are perceived by elite athletes, both in individual and team sports, as probably the most glorious sporting event in which they could participate (Gould, Tammen, Murphy, & May, 1989; Hemery, 1986). Although financial awards are not given to winners in the Olympics as they are in other numerous international sporting competitions, athletes still endeavor to be part of the Games – in most cases primarily for the sake of participation and not only for winning a medal. Elite athletes from all over the world are required to spend several years preparing themselves for the Games. Many of them see participation in the Games as the peak of their sporting career (Gould, 2001; Hemery, 1986), and therefore they are willing to devote themselves to any and all preparations necessary for this event. It has been documented in the literature on methodology of training that effective preparation for an international sporting event such as the Olympics can take six to eight years (Bompa, 1999; Matveyev, 1981; Zatsiorsky, 1995). Elite athletes and their coaches are required to carefully plan this preparation so that the athletes' peak will be reached at these events. The purpose of this chapter is to describe how sport psychology interventions were provided to Israeli elite athletes whose aim was to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The chapter focuses on a four-year psychological preparation program given by one sport psychology consultant (the second author – male, approximately 30 years of experience in applied sport psychology, including extensive consultation to elite and Olympic athletes; the first author contributed conceptually to the development of the foundations, principles, and philosophy of the four-year psychological preparation program) to Olympic athletes from one individual sport – judo. It was our intention to present the main principles of the psychological preparation given to the athletes in each of the four years, as well as to describe the frameworks in which the interventions were given. We also present the phases of the psychological preparation program given to the elite athletes at the Games themselves, namely during their stay in the Olympic Village. Since we are presenting the general framework of a multi-year psychological preparation in this chapter, we have not described in detail the psychological interventions used each year and the rationales for using them. Precise information on our psychological approach to Olympic athletes and the specific psychological interventions we used in each phase of the training program can be found in Blumenstein, Lidor, and Tenenbaum (2005), Lidor and Blumenstein (2009) and Lidor, Blumenstein, and Tenenbaum (2007a, 2007b). Relevant and specific information on the psychological preparation program provided to athletes during their stay in the Olympic Village can be found in Blumenstein and Lidor (2008). The chapter is composed of five parts. The first part explains the criteria that elite athletes in Israel are required to meet in order to be included in the category of "Olympic athletes," as well as describing the professional support provided to these athletes. The second part presents a short overview of our psychological approach to Olympic athletes, and the third introduces the main principles of the interventions given to aspiring Olympic athletes during their four-year psychological preparation. The fourth part focuses on the psychological program provided to the athletes during their stay in the Olympic Village. The fifth part offers a number of tips for sport psychology consultants who work with Olympic athletes.

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BECOMING AN OLYMPIC ATHLETE: CRITERIA AND SUPPORT Olympic sports in Israel have been supervised by the Elite Sport Department since its establishment in 1984, and are sponsored both financially and ideologically by two bodies: the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture and the Israel Olympic Committee. The main objective of this Department is to provide elite athletes, and particularly Olympic athletes, with the optimal physical and psychological conditions required to attain a high level of athletic excellence. Elite athletes in individual sports such as fencing, judo, kayaking, sailing, surfing, swimming, and wrestling are the main beneficiaries of the Department. The professional services of the Department, including psychological consultations, are offered not only to the athletes but also to their coaching staff. The Elite Sport Department has established several performance criteria for elite athletes whose aim is to participate in the Olympic Games and who seek the necessary support for attaining the high level of proficiency required to achieve this goal. Two types of criteria have been set by the Department: the Elite Sport Department's criteria and the Olympic criteria. The Elite Sport Department's criteria were established for the first two years of the four-year preparation for the Beijing Olympic Games – Year 1 (2004-2005) and Year 2 (2005-2006). In order to meet the Department's criteria and obtain its financial and professional support for Years 1 and 2, the athletes were required to take between the first and the tenth place in a world championship according to the type of sport, or between the first and fifth place in a European championship. Winning the top medals (two to three each year) in major international tournaments was a criterion as well. Olympic criteria were set for the third and fourth years within the four-year preparation program – Year 3 (2006-2007) and Year 4 (2007-2008). In essence, these criteria were similar to the Elite Sport Department's criteria (e.g., taking between the first and the tenth place in a judo competition in a world championship). However, these criteria had to be met during a time period closer to the Olympics. From a practical perspective, the level of competition demonstrated in international sporting events during Years 3 and 4 of the athletes' preparation was considerably higher than the level demonstrated during Years 1 and 2, because Years 3 and 4 were closer to the Olympic Games, and therefore athletes from other countries were also preparing themselves for the Games. Although the criteria were similar to the ones set for Years 1 and 2, it was more difficult for the athletes to meet them as they progressed in their preparation. In addition, the achievements obtained by the athletes during Year 3 and particularly Year 4 reflected their current athletic ability as well as their physical and mental readiness for the upcoming Games. The financial support given to the athletes who met these criteria, and whose participation in the Olympic Games was thus ensured, was higher than the support they received during Years 1 and 2. Those athletes who would be competing at the 2008 Olympics were members of what the Elite Sport Department termed "The Golden Group" – the official Israeli Olympic athletes. In addition to the financial support given to each athlete and his or her coach, the Elite Sport Department provided the athletes and their coaches with the services of a large team of professionals, including a physician, a physical therapist, a nutritionist, an orthopedic surgeon, an athletic trainer, a strength and conditioning coach, and a sport psychology

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consultant. The qualifying athletes and their coaches had regular access to the aforementioned sport science resources.

PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO OLYMPIC ATHLETES The present work addresses the sport psychology services available to Olympic athletes in Israel during a set period of time. The following are the five main foundations of our psychological program for elite and Olympic athletes (see also Lidor et al., 2007a): [1] The sport psychology consultant should be one of the members of the professional staff that works on a regular basis with the individual athlete or the team; [2] The sport psychology consultant should discuss his or her psychological plan with the coaching staff; [3] The sport psychology consultant should meet on a weekly basis with the coaching staff in order to exchange ideas on how the psychological program can contribute to the athlete's or the team's success; [4] The psychological consultation should take place in three settings: (a) laboratory settings (controlled and sterile conditions), (b) practice settings (authentic and real conditions), and (c) home settings (quiet environment); [5] The sport psychology consultant should be willing to consider any request coming from the coaching staff, the individual athlete, or the team during the time he or she provides the consultations. Further details on the philosophy and professional foundations of our psychological program for elite individual sports can be found in Blumenstein et al. (2005; judo) and for elite team sports in Lidor et al. (2007b; basketball). In our program, mental skill techniques such as imagery, focusing attention, relaxation, and self-talk are regularly used to help the athletes overcome psychological barriers. Among the barriers are a low level of motivation, lack of concentration, mental fatigue, and the necessity of overcoming injury. The psychological program reflects the objectives of each phase of the annual training program – preparation, competition, and transition (Blumenstein et al., 2005; Bompa, 1999). During the preparation phase, the athlete and his or her coach develop a general framework of the physical, technical, tactical, and psychological preparations for the upcoming season. Throughout the competition phase the athlete has to reach his or her peak, both physically and psychologically. Finally, during the transition phase, the athlete relaxes physically and psychologically, however he or she should attempt to maintain an acceptable level of physical activity.

A FOUR-YEAR PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION PROGRAM TOWARDS THE OLYMPIC GAMES In this part we describe how our psychological program was implemented over a fouryear period, taking into account two parameters – time and content. The program is presented

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on a yearly basis – Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4 – and the specific psychological emphases are described for each year. We also describe the psychological program provided to our athletes during their stay in the Olympic Village. The sport psychology program available to the athletes during the Olympics is an integral part of our four-year psychological preparation program towards the Olympic Games. One individual sport was selected to demonstrate the use of the psychological program: judo. This sport is among many others in which the sport psychology consultant has worked; however, his work in judo best reflected the scientific and practical foundations of the fouryear psychological program given to Olympic athletes. Judo has become one of the most popular individual sports in Israel (Blumenstein et al., 2005). Israeli judokas won two medals in the Olympic Games in Barcelona (1992) and one in Athens (2004). In addition, a number of medals have been earned by Israeli judokas in World and European championships in the present decade. At the Beijing (2008) Games, one of Israel's male judokas took fifth place in his weight category.

Year 1 – Analysis, Orientation, and Basic Foundations The psychological preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games started about two months after the conclusion of the Athens 2004 Games, when the sport psychologist began working with several elite athletes and their coaches. The athletes were classified into one of the following three categories: new athletes (NA), continuing athletes (CA), and returning athletes (RA). The NA category was composed of athletes who had met the Elite Sport Department's criteria for the first time, and therefore were not familiar with the foundations of the psychological preparation. In Israel, athletes practicing in their local sport clubs in both individual and team sports do not usually consult sport psychology consultants. Only in a few clubs, mainly leading basketball and soccer clubs, are sport psychology consultants an integral part of the team which provides scientific services to the athlete/team. When the athlete makes the national team, he or she begins to be regularly provided with sport psychology consultations and starts using psychological interventions. The CA category included those athletes who took part in the 2004 Olympic Games and had also met the Elite Sport Department's criteria for 2005. These athletes were familiar with the general psychological program as well as with the interventional techniques, since they had devoted a considerable amount of time practicing them during their preparation for the 2004 Games. The RA group consisted of athletes who had participated in the 2000 Games but not in the 2004 Games. However, during 2005 – Year 1 of their preparation for the 2008 Games – they had achieved the Elite Sport Department's criteria, and therefore were eligible for the Department's support. These RAs had gained some experience with several of the psychological interventions during their preparation for the 2000 Games; however they required some time to readjust to the protocols of the psychological program. The psychological preparation in Year 1 had two objectives. The first objective was to evaluate the contribution of the psychological preparation given to CAs and RAs during the previous year (i.e., the Olympic Year of the previous four-year cycle of preparation). This assessment was undertaken through deep and repeated discussions between the athlete and the sport psychology consultant. It was the aim of the sport psychology consultant to understand how the athletes perceived the contribution of various psychological interventions, such as

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imagery and focusing attention, to their actual performance. The information gleaned was used by the sport psychology consultant to develop a psychological program for Year 1 in the new cycle. The second objective was to provide the athletes with the psychological preparation they needed to achieve their athletic goals. For the NAs, the objective was to explain the program's psychological orientation, and to teach them the basic foundations of some of the interventional techniques. For the CAs and RAs, the objective was to refine the psychological skills they had already practiced, and to teach them new techniques. Three main psychological interventions were used in the psychological program: the Five-Step Approach (Blumenstein & Bar-Eli, 2005), the specific psychological training program (Blumenstein et al., 2005), and the response training program (Blumenstein et al., 2005; Lidor et al., 2007a). Table 1 presents the general framework of the four-year psychological preparation program given to each category of athletes. Table 1. General Framework of the Four-year Psychological Program Psychological Interventions

5-SA a) Introduction b) Identification c) Simulation d) Transformation e) Realization Self-regulation test

SPTP

RTP

Year 1 2004-2005

Four-year Preparation Year 2 Year 3 2005-2006 2006-2007

NA, RA NA, CA, RA NA, CA, RA NA, CA, RA NA, CA, RA

NA NA, RA NA, CA, RA NA, CA, RA NA, CA, RA

CA, RA CA, RA CA, RA

NA, CA, RA

NA, CA, RA

CA, RA

NA, CA, RA

NA, CA, RA

CA, RA

NA, CA, RA

NA, CA, RA

CA, RA

NA – new athletes CA – continuing athletes

5-SA – Five-Step Approach SPTP – specific psychological training program

RA – returning athletes

RTP – response training program

Year 4 2007-2008

CA, RA CA, RA CA, RA CA, RA

CA, RA

CA, RA

During the initial steps of the psychological program, namely during Year 1 of the fouryear psychological preparation period, the Five-Step Approach played a major role, and a considerable amount of time was devoted to the acquisition of this technique's basic principles. However, for most of the program – Years 2, 3, and 4, as well as during the athletes' stay in the Olympic Village – the three sub-programs were given an almost equal amount of time. The Five-Step Approach. The Five-Step Approach is a self-regulation technique incorporating biofeedback (BFB) training. The technique enables athletes to transfer the psycho-regulative skills performed in sterile laboratory settings to real practice and competition settings, using testing and different simulative materials (Blumenstein & Bar-Eli, 2005). The Five-Step Approach is composed of the following stages: (a) introduction – learning various self-regulation techniques (e.g., imagery, focusing attention, and self-talk),

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(b) identification (identifying and strengthening the most efficient BFB response modality), (c) simulation (BFB training with simulated competitive stress), (d) transformation (bringing mental preparation from the laboratory to the field), and (e) realization (achieving optimal regulation in competition). There were three reasons for the selection of the Five-Step Approach as the basic technique of our psychological program. First, this technique was scrutinized in a few empirical investigations (e.g., Bar-Eli & Blumenstein, 2004; see also a review of a series of studies examining the use of the Five-Step Approach in different sports in Blumenstein & Bar-Eli, 2005), and was found to be effective. Second, the application of the program was based on accumulated practical experience by elite Israeli athletes in various top-level events, such as the Olympic Games and European and world championships (Blumenstein, 2001). Third, according to the principles of the Five-Step Approach, it is not always necessary to start with the first step in every psychological session. The athlete, together with his or her sport psychology consultant, defines his or her current psychological state and selects the most appropriate step with which to begin. The specific psychological training program. The specific psychological training program was composed of mental skill techniques – focusing attention, imagery, self-talk, and relaxation – that had been used by the sport psychology consultant throughout many years of professional practice. Similar techniques have also been used by other sport psychology consultants who work with top-level athletes (e.g., Henschen, 2005; Moran, 2005), and they have been given with empirical support (see Abma, Fry, Yuhua, & Relyea, 2002; Short et al., 2002). When performing focusing attention, imagery, self-talk, and relaxation, the current physical and psychological states of the athlete and the specific phase of the training program were taken into account. For example, at initial parts of the program the techniques were performed in laboratory sessions, namely in controlled and sterile conditions, in order to enable the athletes to acquire the basic foundations of each technique. When progress was made in the laboratory, the techniques were then applied in actual practice sessions where the athletes were exposed to authentic situations, with real-life distractions. In another example, relaxation was performed first for short periods of time (e.g., intervals of 1 to 3 min) to help the athletes recover after early-season practices, and then imagery and focusing attention were used to help the athletes cope with the specific tactical demands of their training program. The response training program. The main objective of the response training program was to enhance the athletes' (e.g., judokas) responses under real-life settings (e.g., a combat). The program consisted of several reaction-time tasks (Blumenstein et al., 2005). A computersimulated setting was used and several methods were adopted during training to expose the athletes to competitive situations that better reflected real life. Among these were a video demonstration of actual combats, external distractions such as noise recordings, and competitions between two judokas performing reaction-time tasks at the same time (see Blumenstein et al., 2005 for a description of specific protocols of the response training program as used by Olympic judokas). Table 2 presents the four-year general psychological preparation for male judokas, and Table 3 presents the specific psychological interventions given to them in Year 1. The psychological preparation started in October 2004, about two months after the end of the 2004 (Athens) Olympics. As can be seen in Table 2, different emphases were made in the NA, CA, and RA categories. For example, in Year 1 the NA began to acquire the fundamentals of basic psychological techniques such as focusing attention and self-talk.

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Ronnie Lidor and Boris Blumenstein Table 2. Four-Year General Psychological Preparation for Male Judokas Preparation Phase NA – learn basic techniques (4) CA – improve techniques (2) NA (4) CA (2) NA (2) CA (2) (two-week training camp abroad) NA (4) CA (4) RA – improve techniques (3) NA (4) CA – improve techniques in special situations (7) RA (4)

October, 2004 November, 2004 December, 2004 January, 2005 February, 2005

March, 2005 April, 2005 May, 2005

Competition Phase NA (2) CA (4) RA (2) (international competition) NA (6) CA (6) RA (6) (international competition) – develop individual competition mental plan NA (3) CA (3) RA (3) (training camp, European Championship, 2005)

June, 2005

Transition Phase NA, CA, RA (2)

July, 2005

Preparation Phase NA, CA, RA (5) (training camp abroad)

August, 2005 September, 2005

Competition Phase NA (4) CA (7) RA (7) (international competition) – improve individual competition mental plan NA (6) CA (6) RA (7) (World Championship, 2005)

October, 2006 November, 2006 December, 2006 January, 2007 February, 2007

March, 2007 April, 2007 May, 2007

June, 2007 July, 2007

August, 2007

September, 2007

(#) – psychological session (NA) – new athletes (CA) – continuing athletes (RA) – returning athletes

Preparation Phase improve psychological techniques (2) improve psychological techniques (4) improve psychological techniques (4) improve techniques under different conditions (4) (training camp abroad) (7) (international competitions) Competition Phase (7) (training camp abroad) (7) (international competitions) (7) (training camp abroad; European Championship, 2007) Transition Phase (2) (5) (training camp abroad) Preparation Phase (7) (international competitions) Competition Phase (7) (World Championship, 2007)

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Table 3. Specific Psychological Interventions for Male Judokas in Year 1 Main Psychological Intervention

Procedure

Psychological analysis + relaxation

1-2 times (30-40 min each); Laboratory sessions

November, 2004

5-SA (steps a-c)

4-6 times (50-60 min each); Laboratory sessions

December, 2004

5-SA (steps c-e)

4-6 times (50-60 min each); Practice sessions

January, 2005

Self-regulation techniques: imagery, self-talk, focusing attention

4-5 times (50-60 min each); Laboratory sessions

February, 2005

SPTP

4-8 times (50-60 min each); Laboratory sessions

International tournaments

March, 2005

RTP

4-5 times (50-60 min each); Laboratory sessions + practice sessions + home assignments

International tournaments

April, 2005

Self-regulation techniques + RTP

6-8 times (50-60 min each); Laboratory sessions + practice sessions + home assignments

International tournaments

May, 2005

Self-regulation techniques + RTP

3-4 times (50-60 min each); Practice sessions + home assignments

June, 2005

RTP, 5-SA (steps b-c), SPTP

2-3 times (50-60 min each); Laboratory sessions + home assignments

July, 2005

Self-regulation techniques + RTP

August, 2005

RTP

September, 2005

SPTP

Month

October, 2004

Competition Event

European championship

International tournaments

4-6 times (50-60 min each); Laboratory sessions + home assignments 6-8 times (50-60 min each); Practice sessions

International tournaments

7-8 times (50-60 min each); Practice sessions

World championship

5-SA – Five-Step Approach SPTP – specific psychological training program RTP – response training program

These techniques were practiced in sterile settings, mainly in the office of the sport psychology consultant. Detailed information was given to the athletes about the objectives of each technique. In addition, the techniques were associated with sport-specific activities. For example, the judokas were taught to focus attention while imagining themselves practicing combat maneuvers. The CAs, who had already performed the aforementioned formative techniques, were not required to re-learn the psychological training. They performed the

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interventional techniques in special situations such as competition-simulated conditions. For example, one judoka selected combats, or parts of one combat, in which he had been defeated because of ineffective focus (e.g., thinking about the outcome of the combat and not what he should be doing during the combat). An appropriate focusing-attention technique was established which the judoka practiced for a few minutes.

Years 2 And 3 – International Experience and Advanced Practice During Years 2 and 3 of the preparation for the Olympics, the athletes spent a considerable amount of time taking part in training camps abroad as well as participating in international competitions, in order to gain international experience. The athletes practiced with world-class international athletes and competed against the best in the world. The main objective of the psychological preparation in both Years 2 and 3 was to teach the athletes intervention techniques that could be used in practice sessions, multi-day competitions, and tournaments. During Years 2 and 3 of the psychological preparation, each athlete developed his or her repertoire of psychological techniques, and began using it regularly. All three subprograms of the psychological preparation – the Five-Step Approach, the specific psychological training program, and the response training program – were used as well, but with a heavy orientation towards the competitive events. For example, our elite judokas practiced a relaxation procedure for about 3 to 5 min while imagining themselves performing in an actual combat, in order to approximate the 5-min length of combat (Blumenstein et al., 2005). Techniques such as imagery and self-talk were performed during warm-up sessions before the beginning of official competitions, to help the judokas prepare themselves tactically for the upcoming combats. In particular, the judokas were reminded to verbalize those words/sentences of self-talk they had previously used before successful combats. In addition, the athletes were provided with home assignments for practicing their psychological techniques during their free time (e.g., imagery and focusing attention). According to the foundations of our consultation program, the sport psychologist traveled with the athletes quite often during Years 2 and 3 of the psychological program, not only to international competitions but also to the training camps. Daily psychological sessions were conducted during the training camps. Both individual and group sessions were held, depending upon the requests made by the coaching staff.

Year 4 –The Olympic Year The final year of the four-year preparation was the most crucial for the athletes, since it was their last opportunity to meet the Olympic criteria. The athletes had to cope with a great deal of stress, due to the fact that their coaches and the entire professional staff, and often also the public at large, expected them to qualify for the Olympics. The psychological preparation provided to the athletes during Year 4 had three objectives. The first objective was to help the athletes ready themselves for several key competitions in which they had to "bring it all together" and perform at the height of their abilities to meet the Olympic criteria. The second objective was to continue the psychological preparation of those athletes who had already met the criteria and whose participation in the Olympics was assured. The third objective was to

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help those athletes who failed to meet the Olympic criteria, and therefore would not participate in the Olympic Games, to effectively cope with their feelings of deep disappointment and failure. As in Years 2 and 3, the sport psychology consultant traveled to the key competitions with the athletes, so as to be in close proximity to them during their final qualification year. The psychological interventions were given mainly in individual sessions so the sport psychology consultant could focus solely on one athlete at a time. According to our consultation strategy, individual psychological sessions were considered to be a major vehicle of communication between the sport psychology consultant and the athlete (Lidor et al., 2005). We felt that individual sessions should be held regularly to mentally prepare each athlete according to personal psychological needs. In addition, during key competitions daily meetings were conducted between the sport psychology consultant and the entire professional staff, particularly with the coaching staff, in order to obtain updated, relevant information on the current physical, technical, and tactical preparations of the athlete, and to select the most appropriate psychological intervention for the athlete during onsite competitive events. The competition phase was a long one since the judokas participated in many international competitions in order to provide them with enough opportunities to meet the Olympic criteria. During this phase, almost every athlete received daily psychological sessions. Home assignments were provided as well, to help the athletes make it their own responsibility for mastering the psychological techniques. A specific psychological program was developed for the athletes who had already met the Olympic criteria during the early months of Year 4. Since no additional international competitions were required for those who already achieved the Olympic criteria, the main objective of the psychological preparation during the final qualifications was to prepare coping strategies for the forthcoming Olympics. Examples of these are coping strategies pertaining to living in the Olympic Village, being interviewed by national and international press, and being exposed to a high level of stress. The sport psychology consultant showed the athletes videos of the facilities at the Olympic Village of the 2004 Games, and described a number of social events that had been organized for the athletes during their stay in the Village in Athens. He was thus conveying to them a similar atmosphere to the one they would be experiencing during their stay at the Olympic Village in Beijing. While the athletes were watching the videos, the sport psychology consultant also described the security arrangements that had been undertaken by the organizers of the upcoming Games to ensure the safety of all participants. During Year 4, some of the athletes met with the sport psychology consultant only a few times a week, while others preferred consulting with him daily. In most of these sessions the sport psychology consultant reminded the athletes what would be expected of them at the upcoming Olympics – during the competitions as well as in the Village.

WORKING WITH ATHLETES WHO DID NOT MEET THE OLYMPIC CRITERIA During Year 4 of the psychological program, special attention was given to a number of athletes who did not meet the Olympic criteria during that year, and therefore could not participate in the Games. Some of them were young prospects, and according to their coaches

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they had the potential to meet the Olympic criteria for the next Olympics. Therefore, the Elite Sport Department continued to support these athletes throughout Year 4, although they were not part of the Olympic team. The sport psychology consultant met with these athletes twice a week in his office. During these meetings he continued to practice the Five-Step Approach and the specific psychological training program. He discussed with them the contribution of the psychological preparation to their athletic performance during Year 4, and what could be done to improve this preparation during the next year of practice. In these sessions, a relaxation technique was also used to help the athletes cope with their disappointment in not meeting their Olympic goals.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION IN THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE The main objective of the psychological preparation given to the athletes during their stay in the Village was to help them cope with a number of psychological barriers that could negatively influence their readiness for the competitive events. Three psychological barriers are discussed, followed by the four-phase psychological preparation program performed by the athletes in the Village.

Psychological Barriers During their stay in the Olympic Village, athletes have to cope with three main psychological barriers that can potentially interfere with their preparation for the Olympic competition (Blumenstein & Lidor, 2008): internal stress, external distractions, and the lack of privacy. Athletes and coaches are exposed to different sources of internal stress, such as the pressures involved in winning a medal and achieving the best results in the Olympic competition, in representing their country and its citizens, and in helping their national delegation to be ranked higher on the final medal roster. Athletes and coaches are also exposed to various external distractions. Among them are coping with the electronic and written media, meeting mega-star athletes from different sports, countries, and continents, and noise or disturbances generated by the other residents of the Village. Athletes and coaches are assigned to their rooms by the officials, and they usually have to share a room with another athlete or coach. They have meals with athletes and coaches from their own country as well as from other countries. They are constantly in the company of a large number of people; from the moment they arrive at the Village, they have no privacy. An additional external distraction that can negatively influence the preparation of the athletes staying in the Olympic Village is the fear of a terror attack. During the last two decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, the organization committees of the Games have had to cope with threats of terror attacks made by radical political groups acting in various countries around the globe. Intensive efforts have been made by the organizers of the Games to ensure the security of the athletes. Despite these efforts, the fear of a terror attack may occupy the athletes' thoughts during their stay in the Village.

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The Onsite Psychological Preparation To help the athletes effectively cope with the psychological barriers mentioned above as well as with various other problems, appropriate psychological preparation was provided to them during their stay in the Village. The psychological preparation given during the Olympics was conceptually connected to the psychological preparation given to the athletes before the Games, and in our program these barriers were also dealt with in pre-Olympic sessions with the consultant. The psychological preparation given to athletes during their stay at the Olympic Village was comprised of four phases – the habituation phase, the psychological routine phase, the specific psychological preparation phase, and the recovery phase (Blumenstein & Lidor, 2008). Each section will be considered below. The habituation phase. The athletes' first three days in the Olympic Village enabled them to become oriented to life in the Village. There were three objectives to the habitation phase: (1) to help the athletes overcome jet lag, particularly since the location of the Games was far from Israel, and therefore a long flight was required, (2) to help them get used to the unique psychological atmosphere of the Village, and (3) to help them become familiar with the training and social facilities at the Village. In the habituation phase, the sport psychology consultant used the Five-Step Approach and the specific psychological training program in his meetings with the athletes. The individual sessions were held only in a designated consultation room, either before or after practices. The consultant continued his work with the athletes on those techniques they practiced in Israel during Year 4 of the psychological preparation. For example, each athlete carried out the Five-Step Approach according to the step that had been practiced during the last week of preparation in Israel. In addition, each athlete continued with his or her specific psychological training program, such as focusing attention, imagery, and self-talk. The psychological routine phase. The second period of the athletes' stay in the Village lasted six to eight days, depending upon the total number of days each athlete stayed in the Village. The main objective of the psychological routine phase was to help the athletes remain in their routines, from both the physical and psychological perspective. In this phase, individual sessions were conducted not only in the consultation room, but also at the training facilities before and after practices. The sport psychology consultant practiced the alreadyestablished protocols of the psychological programs that the athletes had practiced during Year 4 of the four-year psychological preparation for the Olympic Games, specifically the Five-Step Approach, the specific psychological training program, and the response training program. In addition, in this phase the athletes were also provided with home assignments. They were asked to conduct a psychological session for twenty minutes every evening while they were alone in their room. They were mainly instructed to perform imagery and self-talk, and to think about what they had to do in their upcoming practice sessions. For example, one male judoka who was participating in the Games for the first time was asked to perform imagery sessions focusing on the arsenal of escapes, holds, and throws he had specifically developed for the Games. He was asked to feel each maneuver while imagining it as well as to verbalize to himself how it should be performed as accurately and rapidly as possible. He was told that while performing the imagery session in his room, he should try to feel as if he were in a real combat against one of his potential rivals in the judo competition in the Games.

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The specific psychological preparation phase. The immediate phase prior to competition/s was the third period of the athletes' stay in the Village and lasted two to four days. The objective of the specific psychological preparation phase was to prepare each athlete for his or her competitive events in the Games. Emphasis was placed on psychological preparation for the first round of the competition. A number of real environmental factors relating to competitive situations were taken into account in the individual sessions. The individual sessions were undertaken in the consultation room as well as on site, before or after practice sessions. The specific psychological training program was practiced within the time limitations of the competitive event. For example, in judo, imagery was performed for a time period of 5 min (the length of a combat). Imagery was used for developing a competition plan to be used in the first round of competition. The Five-Step Approach and the response training program were used for preparing the judokas to stay calm and relaxed between rounds, if more than one was scheduled for the same day. They were instructed to use attention focusing, imagery, and self-talk after the competitive events as well. The recovery phase. The post-competition phase was the last period of the athletes' stay in the Village and lasted one to two days. The objective of the recovery phase was to help the athletes start recovering from the extreme efforts in which they had invested during the Olympics. After the athletes finished competing, and regardless of the final place they took in the Olympics or their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with their final results/place, the sport psychology consultant proposed that they attend psychological recovery sessions. Relaxation techniques were used in the recovery sessions while listening to music. There was no discussion of the athletes' performance at the Olympics during these sessions. In addition, the athletes were told that after their return to Israel the sport psychology consultant would meet them for a number of sessions. The main objective of these sessions was to follow-up with a post-Olympic debriefing a number of weeks after the Games, when emotions had subsided. In these sessions, the sport psychology consultant used an analytical approach when working with the athletes.

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR THE SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTANT Working with elite and Olympic athletes for a four-year period of time is a complex and demanding process, requiring that the sport psychology consultants plan their psychological preparation effectively, exhibit a high level of commitment, and create a positive and trustful climate between themselves and the elite athletes and their coaches. Based on the experience of the sport psychology consultant who provided psychological interventions to our elite athletes, five practical tips for sport psychology consultants who work with top-level athletes are offered. (a) Sport psychology consultants should focus on their capabilities. Sport psychology consultants should focus on what they are capable of doing best (Lidor et al., 2007b). These professionals have a variety of psychological interventions available to them in the literature on sport and exercise psychology, and they can adopt various methods of consultation. However, we suggest that sport psychology consultants develop their own approach based on their individual experience, expertise, and

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professional knowledge. The psychological preparation given to our elite athletes was composed of three main programs – the Five-Step Approach, the specific psychological training program, and the response training program – which were developed throughout many years of experience and empirical inquiries. These psychological programs were consistently used by the sport psychology consultant during the four-year period of preparation, taking into account the specific needs of the athletes in each phase of the training program. After preparing Israeli elite athletes for the past four Olympic Games, it is clear to the sport psychology consultant that consistency is an essential aspect of a successful sport psychology consultation program. In order for the athletes to benefit from the use of psychological techniques, the sport psychology consultant should repeatedly practice these techniques with his or her athletes for a long period of time. Only then can an effective assessment be made of the contribution of the psychological program to the athletes' success. (b) Coordinate regularly with the professional staff. The sport psychology consultants should coordinate regularly with the rest of the professional staff working with the elite athletes. Psychological preparation is only one type of preparation in the domain of sport. Therefore, sport psychology consultants should cooperate with the other professionals, such as the coaches, athletic trainers, physicians, and strength and conditioning coaches, who are working with the elite athlete. They have to understand the objectives of each of the other preparations and listen carefully to any requests made by the other professionals. This cooperation should be maintained throughout the entire preparation period, and be evaluated every several months by those involved in the preparation process. (c) Develop effective paths of communication with the coaches. Among the professionals who regularly work with Olympic athletes, the coaches are considered to be the ones who lead the organizational efforts, namely, planning the training programs, selecting the competitive events in which their athletes take part, and setting the professional and social atmosphere for the players and the entire staff working with them. Therefore, sport psychology consultants should develop effective paths of communication with the coaching staff, particularly with the head coaches, concerning the best interests of the athletes. Sport psychology consultants should share their intervention plans with the coaches, as well as all consultation issues that are performed while working with the individual athlete or the team. In addition, sport psychology consultants should carefully listen to the coaches' requests, critiques, and opinions about the training program in general and the psychological program in particular. The coaches should be integrated into the psychological sessions and be part of the discussion as to the objectives and procedures of the psychological interventions performed. Sport psychology consultants should attend practice sessions as well, and receive information from the coaches concerning the current physical state of the individual athlete or the team. (d) Create a continuation of the psychological program. The psychological preparation given to the athletes in the Olympic Village should be a continuation of the psychological preparation provided to them during their four-year preparation for the Olympics (Blumenstein & Lidor, 2008; Lidor et al., 2007). In the four-year program the sport psychology consultant used three interventional programs: the Five-Step

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REFERENCES Abma, C. L., Fry, M. D., Yuhua, L., & Relyea, G. (2002). Differences in imagery content and imagery ability between high and low confident track and field athletes. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 14, 67-75. Bar-Eli, M., & Blumenstein, B. (2004). Performance enhancement in swimming: The effect of mental training with biofeedback. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 7, 454-464. Blumenstein, B. (2001). Sport psychology practice in two cultures: Similarities and differences. In G. Tenenbaum (Ed.), The practice of sport psychology (pp. 231-240). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Blumenstein, B., & Bar-Eli, M. (2005). Biofeedback applications in sport. In D. Hackfort, J. L. Duda, & R. Lidor (Eds.), Handbook of research in applied sport and exercise psychology: International perspectives (pp. 185-197). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Blumenstein, B., & Lidor, R. (2008). Psychological preparation in the Olympic Village: A four-phase approach. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6, 287300. Blumenstein, B., Lidor, R., & Tenenbaum, G. (2005). Periodization and planning of psychological preparation in elite combat sport programs. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 3, 7-25.

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Bompa, T. (1999). Periodization: The theory and methodology of training (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Gould, D. (2001). Sport psychology and the Nagano Olympic Games: The case of the U.S. freestyle ski team. In G. Tenenbaum (Ed.), The practice of sport psychology (pp. 49-76). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Gould, D., Tammen, V., Murphy, S., & May, J. (1989). An examination of U.S. Olympic sport psychology consultants and the services they provide. The Sport Psychologist, 3, 300312. Hemery, D. (1986). Sporting excellence – A study of sport's highest achievers. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Henschen, K. (2005). Mental practice – skill oriented. In D. Hackfort, J. L. Duda, & R. Lidor (Eds.), Handbook of research in applied sport and exercise psychology: International perspectives (pp. 19-34). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Lidor, R., & Blumenstein, B. (2009). Working with elite athletes in Israel. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp. 141-152). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Lidor, R., Blumenstein, B., & Tenenbaum, G. (2007a). Periodization and planning of psychological preparation in individual and team sports. In B. Blumenstein, R. Lidor, & G. Tenenbaum (Eds.), Psychology of sport training (pp. 137-161). London, UK: Meyer & Meyer Sports. Lidor, R., Blumenstein, B., & Tenenbaum, G. (2007b). Psychological aspects of training in European basketball: Conceptualization, periodization, and planning. The Sport Psychologist, 21, 353-367. Matveyev, L. (1981). Fundamentals of sports training. Moscow: Progress. Moran, A. (2005). Training attention and concentration skills in athletes. In D. Hackfort, J. L. Duda, & R. Lidor (Eds.), Handbook of research in applied sport and exercise psychology: International perspectives (pp. 61-73). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Short, S. E., Bruggeman, J. M., Engel, S. G., Marback, T. L., Wang, L. J., et al. (2002). The effect of imagery function and imagery direction on self-efficacy and performance on a golf-putting task. The Sport Psychologist, 16, 48-67. Zatsiorsky, V. M. (1995). Science and practice of strength training. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 7

INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL SPORT PSYCHOLOGY REVISITED Amy T. Blodgett1, Hope E. Yungblut1, Robert J. Schinke*1, and Stephanie J. Hanrahan2 Laurentian University, Canada1 University of Queensland, Australia2

CHAPTER SUMMARY The purpose of the present chapter is to introduce the domain of cultural sport psychology (CSP) and delineate the relevance of CSP within an increasingly multi-cultural sport setting. The chapter is organized into six sections. The origins of CSP will be delineated first, followed by the development and emergence of the field as a critical form of inquiry. Third, the integration of praxis will be discussed as an adjunct to a CSP approach. Fourth, a brief overview of research and practice that has been conducted on a cultural basis will be highlighted. The chapter will then conclude with some recommendations for individuals interested in engaging in CSP and some final closing remarks. It is hoped that our chapter will spur critical thinking regarding culture and its influence within sport psychology research and practice. Cultural sport psychology is a relatively new term within the sport psychology domain. With roots in psychology and anthropology, cultural psychology examines “the process of the social or cultural construction of the person – including thoughts, emotions, motivation, development, identity, and other psychological constructs” (Kral, Burkhardt, & Kidd, 2002, p. 154). Culture is much more than the colours of a people’s skin, the countries in which they live, the traditions they practice, or any other outwardly visible aspects. It is more of an internal process. Culture encompasses the ways in which people collectively produce meaning in their social and physical environments. Identities, beliefs, traditions, and *

Forward all correspondences to: Robert J. Schinke, B-241 Ben Avery Building, School of Human Kinetics, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd., Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, P3E 2C6, Email: [email protected], Telephone: (705) 675-1151 ext. 1045, Fax: (705) 675-4845

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experiences are described in relation to collective categories such as age cohort, gender, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, and race (Kral et al., 2002). Although the consideration of such cultural influences in sport psychology research and practice has only begun to surface, the need has existed for a long time. As early as 1990, Duda and Allison called for the systematic incorporation of racial and ethnic factors (as two aspects of culture) to be examined in relation to sport and exercise behaviour. The authors noted that although the United States population was becoming increasingly pluralistic in terms of ethnic / racial variation, the failure to consider cultural influences on sport participation diminished the importance of minority groups’ experiences. In turn, the authors noted that the theoretical domain would be left with a biased and distorted understanding of athletes’ experiences, reflective of only mainstream sport participants. Traditional sport psychology was founded upon the ways of thinking of White European scholars. Consequently, the language, values, and beliefs inherent in the domain today are reflective of mainstream society (Ryba & Wright, 2005). Consider, for example, the emphasis on self theories within North America and Europe, such as self-determination, self-efficacy, and self-concept (see Schinke, Hanrahan, & Catina, 2009). The underlying value in mainstream theoretical frameworks is an individualistic orientation and the promotion of the self over another, an inherently individual focus. Nevertheless, it has been recognized that not all cultures are inspired through self-determined and intrinsic motives (Baron, Byrne, & Watson, 2005); some cultures are motivated through group processes and shared achievement (Ryba, 2009). Shared achievement can be evidenced in the Canadian (Blodgett et al., 2008) and Australian (Hanrahan, 2004) Aboriginal populations, where collectivism is promoted over individualism and the self theories are not deemed culturally relevant among traditional clients. Similarly, Latin Americans place a high value on family, and therefore a family systems approach to sport psychology, though not commonly used within Western tradition, may be necessary when working with some Latino athletes (Kontos & Arguello, in press). The diverging values that belie individualism and collectivism are among the myriad of potential differences that result in either shared perceptions or misunderstandings. Other differences may manifest in perceptions of time, use of space, goal-directed behaviour, and views of masculinity and femininity (see Schinke, Hanrahan, & Catina, 2009). Consider the idea of ‘machismo’ that underlies much of the Latin American belief system. Kontos and Arguello (in press) noted how the male-dominated culture of Latin Americans can bring a host of challenges and a general resistance toward female sport psychologists attempting to work with male athletes, while older male consultants may initially be paid more respect. In Korean culture, ideas of traditional femininity often restrict sport participation for women because physical activity may be viewed as ‘unladylike’ (Lee, 2005). Lee described how the possibility of attaining physical injuries and darker-toned skin (from being outdoors in the sun) are not consistent with the notion of feminine beauty, and instead symbolize tomboy status. Each view of masculinity and femininity (among the other aforementioned considerations) speaks to the cultural nuances that exist and intersect within sport. It therefore becomes important to consider culture and its role in relation to who athletes are, why they pursue sport, and how they are motivated, for sport psychologists to work effectively within the client’s parameters (assuming they can work effectively given the client’s cultural background, see Schinke et al., 2007). Butryn (2002) further suggested that sport psychology professionals shift their gaze inward and examine their own cultural influences in relation to who they are. This idea of

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engaging in reflexive practice involves self-questioning and self-understanding, denoting an awareness of the researcher’s / practitioner’s own contribution to the construction of meaning (Patton, 2002; Sparkes, 2002). Particularly when practitioners come from the dominant culture, they often overlook that they are themselves culturally situated and carry with them a host of unacknowledged biases and privileges that affect communication exchanges. For example, mainstream practitioners generally do not have to worry about athletes questioning their qualifications based solely on their race. When they are taking up issues with a coach or administrator, mainstream practitioners will most likely be meeting an individual who is from the mainstream culture. Mainstream practitioners may also feel comfortable advocating a color-blind sport environment, subverting cultural differences (Butryn, 2002; Lee & Rotella, 1991). Critical introspection helps to de-center such biases and the dominant taken-forgranted perspective (e.g., Whiteness) by recognizing that everyone is a cultural being operating under a set of norms and values (Butryn). Therefore, rather than being confined to the identification of distant ‘exotic others’ (see Butryn; Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003; Kral et al., 2002), the term culture is broadened and localized to reflect many different groups of people who may share the same physical location. There are multiple aspects that comprise culture, including geographic location, race, ethnicity, and religion (Kontos & Breland-Noble, 2002; Martens, Mobley, & Zizzi, 2000; Schinke et al., 2009). Although there is often considerable overlap and even controversy pertaining to the definitions of these cultural influences, they are differentiated for the purposes of the present chapter. Geographical location refers to physical regions where a particular culture is prevalent, such as the high population of Chinese athletes in Singapore (Schinke et al., 2009). Race identifies biological attributes such as skin colour, facial features, or hair texture, although it does not necessarily constitute culture on its own (Duda & Allison, 1990; Schinke et al., 2009). African Americans, for example, are often identified by dark skin colouring and coarse hair, while Japanese are recognized by their distinct eye shape. Ethnicity pertains to a perceived membership or sense of belonging to a group that is either selfascribed or ascribed by others, based on common practices and a shared sense of identity (Duda & Allison, 1990; Schinke et al., 2009). For example, Pacific Islanders in Australia and Aborigines in Canada are cultural communities that share unique practices and would be classified as ethnic groups. Religion refers to traditionally defined patterns and ceremonies that are tied to beliefs related to one or more supreme beings, worshipping, and moral guidelines (Schinke et al., 2009). For example, Christianity (the dominant religion in North America) is a monotheistic religion that is centered upon the belief that Jesus Christ suffered, died, and was resurrected to bring salvation to mankind from sin. Christian practices include attending churches for communal worship on Sunday and reading scripture from the Holy Bible. Any combination of the aforementioned aspects can influence the way a group of people live and how they produce meaning through their experiences. For example, in examining the cultural meanings that Korean American women associate with participating in sports, Lee (2005) noted that it is important to recognize that Asian Americans are both racial minorities and ethnic Americans, and that “as part of a broader Asian American community, Korean Americans’ lives are heavily influenced by how the dominant culture perceives them to be ‘people of Asian descent’” (p. 483). In this sense, Korean Americans experience dual identities: one relating to race, and the other relating to ethnicity and nationality. The facets of identity (above) produce stress and a sense of ambiguity within the lives of Korean American

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women who struggle to integrate two perspectives. Furthermore, they have to deal with challenges such as competing ideas about gender roles in relation to their sport involvement, and are put in the unsettling position of being “a part yet apart” (Lee, 2005, p. 486) from both the dominant American culture and traditional Korean culture. Consultants need to consider the multiple facets of culture to fully understand who people (or athletes) are, why they act the way they do, and what motives underlie their actions.

CONSIDERATIONS FROM SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: A STARTING POINT There are certain global similarities and common human experiences that span across people (including athletes) such as commonly interpreted facial expressions reflecting universal emotions (Myers & Spencer, 2003). For example, it has been well-established within the social psychology literature that there are at least six global basic emotions with facial expressions that are reliably recognized across cultures, including happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise (Ekman & Friesen, 1971; Haidt & Keltner, 1999). Despite commonalities, however, there are also clear differences in expressions and interpretations when people are compared across cultures. Ekman and Friesen suggested that even amongst the aforementioned six universal emotions, cultural differences manifest in the circumstances that elicit an emotion, the action consequences that follow an emotion, and in the display rules that govern the management of facial behaviour in particular social contexts. For example, Matsumoto (1990) suggested that cultures, such as the Japanese, that maintain power differentials among their members and promote a collectivist orientation, allow greater expression of negative emotions (e.g., anger, fear, sadness) toward out-group members and lower-status others. These negative emotional displays serve to preserve in-group cohesion / harmony and maintain power distances, which are the social norms of the culture. These cultural differences can have important implications within the sport domain, where athletes, coaches, and consultants from varying cultural backgrounds must work closely together and, at times, read one another’s responses. Consider the hypothetical situation where a Japanese soccer player lashes out in anger toward a referee after a red card was given to a teammate for a reckless slide-tackle. Although the rest of the team and coaching staff may not agree with the referee’s call, they remain calm and express only slight unhappiness in the call. However, the Japanese player, who is scowling and shaking his fists at the referee, has learned to maintain in-group cohesion amongst his teammates by standing up against out-group members (in this case, the referee) and expressing his anger. Coaches and consultants who work with this athlete would need to be aware of this cultural norm so as not to misinterpret his behaviour as being irrational or disrespectful. Beyond the area of facial expressions and emotions, cultural nuances can also be evidenced in different customs, beliefs, and languages / communication (Myers & Spencer, 2003; Schinke et al., 2009). Any of the aforementioned nuances provides pause when the intention is to gain an understanding of a unique standpoint and empower non-mainstream community members. Bartlett, Iwasaki, Gottlieb, Hall, and Mannell (2007), for example, were forced to consider their use of Western terminology in examining the lived experiences of Canadian Métis and First Nations peoples with diabetes, when they were instructed not to use the words stress/trauma, coping/healing, or diabetes with their participants. Aboriginal co-

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researchers indicated that the use of such terms would increase the likelihood of eliciting responses congruent with the Western culture from which the terms originate, rather than encouraging Indigenous perspectives. In applied work with Nigerian athletes, Ikulayo and Semidara (2009) indicated that strong traditional beliefs are evident in juju, which is the practice of invoking spirits to assist a person. Athletes who practice juju believe that the spirits can act negatively on opponents causing them to make mistakes on the field, therefore giving the advantage to the athletes who called forth the spirits. Ikulayo and Semidara noted that although Western sport professionals are not traditionally equipped to deal with this belief in juju, they must garner an understanding of such culturally relevant strategies when working with Nigerian athletes. Failure to consider cultural nuances such as language and beliefs when working with athletes from diverse cultures would be to misunderstand and misrepresent their experiences, therein overlooking traditional practices that may garner motivation or confidence. Cultural sport psychology, then, has developed out of its predecessors, social psychology and cognitive anthropology, and emerged to the fore as an interdisciplinary domain. Though it would be easy to assume that mental skills are transferable across all regions and people and that effective service provision constitutes universal strategies, such assumptions are not always correct. It is far too simplistic to assume that in sport, what works for one person’s standpoint will necessarily work for another. Culture inevitably plays a role in what is regarded as meaningful to a particular individual, and accordingly, professionals must consider numerous influences and perspectives when working with diverse athletes.

THE EMERGENCE OF CULTURAL SPORT PSYCHOLOGY Sport is a multi-cultural domain, comprised of athletes, coaches, and practitioners from a myriad of cultural backgrounds. Moreover, as noted by Kontos and Breland-Noble (2002), cultural minorities are often represented in greater proportions within sport than in the general population. For example, although African Americans only comprised 12% of the United States population in 1991, they represented 75% of players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 60% of National Football League (NFL) players (Lapchick, 1991). Consider also that approximately 25% of the players in Major League Baseball (MLB) are Latin American, coming from countries such as the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela (Kontos & Arguello, 2005). In Canada, members of the national boxing team have come from diverse geographical locations, including Barbados, Jamaica, Nigeria, Kenya, Afghanistan, Guatemala, and Iran (Schinke, 2007). Individuals bring with them unique experiences, values, beliefs, and attitudes. It becomes important, then, to consider why athletes from diverse cultural backgrounds choose to pursue sport and what meanings they associate with participation, so that professionals in the field can effectively support each individual and address unique needs / challenges. With the increasing globalization of society, sport environments are undoubtedly going to increase in multi-cultural make-up in the future. Although sport has long been a culturally diverse domain, the sport psychology profession has been slow to adopt practices that are culturally sensitive to clients. This slow transition toward cultural inclusion is most likely due to the fact that when it comes to positions of power pertaining to sport, diversity is almost

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non-existent. White males are largely over-represented in positions of power such as coaching, administration, and academia (Gill & Kamphoff, 2009; Roper, 2001). The overrepresentation of mostly White men creates an environment where there is little awareness of varied cultural standpoints. Such exclusive (and excluding) practices have in turn contributed to the pervasiveness of a mono-cultural sport psychology approach that has trickled down through the social hierarchy and been reinforced in both research and practice contexts. The mono-cultural approach, which is strictly reflective of White male values, has been applied to multi-cultural populations with little consideration of the consequences (Fisher et al., 2003). Practitioners educated within culturally-bound institutions have naively enforced narrow sets of (White European) cultural norms and values onto people who may be uncomfortable and resistant to them. Two cultural communities heavily influenced by such insensitive approaches as evidenced through sport and activity are Australian (Hanrahan, 2009) and Canadian (Schinke et al., 2008) Aborigines. These indigenous populations have struggled to retain their cultural identities throughout histories of being researched and practiced upon from a mono-cultural standpoint. Moving toward cultural inclusion and social reform, Hanrahan (2004; 2009) has worked with Australian Aboriginal performing artists and athletes and has provided recommendations for effective practice within their cultural parameters. Schinke and colleagues (2008) have further delineated the process of developing cross-cultural relations with a Canadian Aboriginal community through a research partnership aimed at creating positive social transformation within a Reserve. The developmental process progressed through time and the building of trust into a community-driven project has (a) fostered a genuine friendship amongst the bicultural research team members, (b) contributed to the empowerment of community members who guide the research process, and (c) provided the mainstream researchers with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for indigenous cultures. Each outcome has contributed to meaningful research strategies being employed that reflect the minority client and give leverage to their voices amongst the dominant culture. As awareness has grown in relation to the need for multi-cultural practice, scholars have criticized the mainstream sport psychology framework and expressed numerous consequences, including offering insensitive and ineffective services (Hanrahan, 2009; Kontos & Arguello, in press), silencing or misrepresenting the voices of the minority clients/ participants (Fisher et al., 2003), and reinforcing power and privilege differentials (Butryn, 2002). There has been a push to consider the existence of many sport psychologies on the basis of culture rather than one monolithic domain (c.f. Fisher et al., 2003; Ryba & Wright, 2005). Schinke, Peltier, and Yungblut (in press) recommended that CSP be developed in a manner that fosters the experiences of athletes in relation to their cultural backgrounds in order to contribute to a sport environment that reflects its culturally diverse composition. This acknowledgement comes more than 20 years after Martens (1987) teased at the ongoing need for researchers to leave the isolated conditions of the laboratory in exchange for complex real life applied settings to reconcile different voices, beliefs, standpoints, and ontology within the domain.

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INTEGRATION OF CSP AND PRAXIS Building on the movement away from a mono-cultural domain, sport psychology as cultural praxis has recently been proposed as a new trajectory for research and practice (see Ryba & Wright, 2005). The term praxis refers to the cyclical relationship between practice and theory, or academic and applied work, which is rooted in a fundamental commitment to creating positive social change (Bredemeier, 2001). Therefore, the intent through sport psychology grounded in cultural praxis is to gain deeper understandings of marginalized cultural communities to inform strategies and processes for personal and social change (Bredemeier, 2001; Ryba & Wright, 2005). Efforts are aimed at dismantling the power and privilege differentials that have long been perpetuated and normalized within the institution of sport. By integrating praxis into sport psychology, the field of CSP is extended to not only consider cultural influences in research and practice, but to actually empower cultural communities to share their stories and engage in a socially transformative process. The praxis movement in sport psychology has stemmed from feminist sport research wherein feminist praxis has been integrated to dismantle matters of gender inequity (see Bredemeier, 2001; Bredemeier, Carlton, Hills, & Oglesby, 1999). Bredemeier and colleagues discussed the need to bring about greater understanding and responsiveness to the interests and needs of marginalized groups (i.e., lesbians in physical education), particularly as they relate to power and privilege differentials. By encouraging female co-participants to share their stories and insights, recommendations were derived for coaches, educators, and athletes that could be used to facilitate social change. The female co-participants were viewed as having contextual knowledge of equal worth to the mainstream academic researchers in terms of their lived experiences, and in that sense the co-participants’ insights informed both the research process and outcomes. Through the use of a consensus decision-making model the researchers and the co-participants were able to understand and appreciate one another’s ways of knowing. Hence, praxis offers an enhanced sense of connection among researchers and coparticipants (Bredemeier, 2001; Fisher et al., 2003). Integrating praxis and CSP forms a way of “doing” sport psychology that pushes the field toward a comprehensive approach (Ryba & Wright, 2005). Research as praxis invites academics to consider the ways in which they produce knowledge that is deemed valuable in the theoretical realm, dismantling the politics behind traditionally accepted and reinforced forms of knowledge (see Fisher et al., 2003). For example, in flipping through introductory sport psychology textbooks (please note that we have not pointed fingers at any specific authors, but rather at a general trend), it becomes evident that certain constructs (such as motivation and aggression) are designated as primary topics, while others (such as race and sexual orientation) are treated as special topics at the margins of the text (typically found at the back of a text) (see Fisher, Butryn, & Roper 2005). Through CSP as one praxis trajectory, mainstream practitioners and researchers are encouraged to consider from whose standpoint the textbooks (and other scholarly material) are being written, whose standpoints are not included, as well as what types of knowledge are being reinforced and why. Ryba (2005) framed the need for cultural praxis: Instead of approaching the psychology of sport in its totality using historical examples to legitimize the existing practices, sport psychology as cultural praxis rejects origin stories or

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essences and disrupts the traditional linear historical narrative by putting forward multiple, competing and shifting narratives and interpretations. Through research as praxis, co-participants (beyond academic authors) propose the amelioration of power and privilege imbalances through collaboration and negotiation among cultures (Butryn, 2002), leading to practical solutions for social problems. Consequently, athletes from marginalized cultures are encouraged to step into the light and share their stories in an effort to instigate social transformation that challenges existing power structures. Yet despite the socially transformative power of sport psychology research conducted as praxis, Blodgett and colleagues (2008) have provided one of the only examples where such applied research has been undertaken. In their work in a Canadian Aboriginal Reserve, community members took on leadership roles in all aspects of the research, from proposing and guiding the project to disseminating the results in both Aboriginal and mainstream research forums and implementing the applied community outcomes. Blodgett et al. encouraged more research as praxis to be conducted from a cultural standpoint and provided recommendations for researchers who feel compelled to address issues of social justice by engaging in such meaningful work.

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF CULTURAL RESEARCH Because CSP is a trajectory in its infancy, contributions are scant. A few researchers have engaged in cross-cultural research with the intent of comparing participants from various cultures in relation to pre-conceived variables. These cross-cultural efforts, which are largely (though not necessarily) quantitative in nature, have been crucial in identifying commonalities and differences across cultures in terms of sport related behaviours and motivations. For example, Alfermann, Stambulova, and Zemaityte (2004) looked at the effects of athletic career termination on German, Lithuanian, and Russian athletes, and Weinberg et al. (2000) examined the participation motives of American, Australian, and New Zealand youth in competitive sport versus physical activity. Such cross-cultural research provides the opportunity for sport participants to be considered using the same research instrument / approach to make comparisons across the same variables and dimensions (Hanrahan & Schinke, in press). These efforts provide insight into some of the general strategies that may be effective when engaging in service provision within a diverse population. It must be noted, however, that general grouping strategies need to be applied cautiously so as not to perpetuate stereotypes, as discussed by Andersen (1993) in relation to African American athletes. Information based upon generalities and reductionism should be applied on a case-by-case basis in a flexible and adaptable manner rather than being assumed to be applicable to all athletes in all situations. Furthermore, reflexivity must be accounted for in cross-cultural research, in terms of considering the influence of the researcher’s background in the research process and how it may affect the data collection, interpretation, and writing up of results (McGannon & Johnson, 2009; Sparkes, 2002). Some practitioners have described their practical experiences working with clients within a particular cultural context. These efforts have shifted from an emphasis on general grouping strategies and cross-cultural comparisons to a focus on understanding another’s culture in and of itself (Hanrahan & Schinke, in press). Examples include work with African American

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student athletes (Lee & Rotella, 1991), Australian Aboriginal performing artists (Hanrahan, 2004), Latin American athletes (Kontos & Arguello, 2005; in press), and Asian Americans and Native Americans (Kontos & Breland-Noble, 2002). Although these efforts are anecdotal, they each contribute to the movement toward cultural inclusivity at an applied level and provide some initial recommendations for future researchers interested in pursuing CSP. Kontos and Arguello (in press) for example, cautioned against using a universal approach when working with Latin American athletes, and suggested that practitioners consider the unique influences of socio-economic status, geography, gender, and levels of enculturation/ acculturation on a case-by-case basis. The authors further recommended that sport psychology consultants working with Latin American athletes consider expanding their repertoire to include Spanish language skills to help built rapport and trust. The earliest examples of cultural psychology research in sport have come from Schinke and colleagues, who spent multiple years collaborating with community members from a Canadian Aboriginal Reserve to understand their sporting experiences. Although the earlier work (see Schinke et al., 2007) incorporated community consultation and the use of some culturally sensitive practices, such as community verification of the data analysis and coauthoring / co-presenting, numerous culturally-insensitive errors were made in the research process For example, semi-structured one-on-one interviewing, hierarchical content analyses, and data matrices were used, though these methods were not particularly meaningful or relevant to the Aboriginal community members. More recently, Schinke and colleagues (e.g., Schinke et al., 2008; Schinke, Peltier, Hanrahan, et al., in press) have questioned their mainstream research approaches and worked to establish a process that is more reflective of the local Aboriginal culture. For example, the use of one-on-one interviews was abandoned in favour of talking circles, because talking circles were identified to be a traditional community practice that promoted the sharing of ideas and experiences in a more comfortable, meaningful context. Furthermore, recent projects have been proposed and led by the community, and consensus decision-making models have been employed. Each of these recent efforts is rooted in the belief that through a closer integration of Aboriginal practices, the research will more accurately reflect the authentic perspectives of the participants and empower them to share their stories and insights. The aforementioned CSP efforts reflect work where the sport psychology researchers were educated and trained in the mainstream culture and the clients came from a different culture with knowledge systems, experiences, and values that were unaccounted for within the mainstream research strategies. As a consequence of the divergent cultural backgrounds, sport psychologists have experienced various challenges, including limited trust among those from minority and marginalized cultures (Hanrahan, 2004; Schinke, Peltier, Hanrahan, et al., in press), different views of masculinity and femininity (Kontos & Arguello, in press), varying degrees of acculturation versus retained cultural identity that affected intervention strategies (Kontos & Breland-Noble, 2002), and different motivations for pursuing performance (Hanrahan, 2004). Each report, however, reflects a step toward the development of effective multicultural relations and practices through the vehicle of sport psychology. A comprehensive array of strategies reflecting multicultural practices will continue to be developed as more researchers and practitioners in the field respond to the demand for CSP and reflexive practice.

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICING CSP Following suit with the growing body of research that is being conducted with diverse cultural communities, a broad range of applied practices are also being developed to help consultants work effectively within cultural parameters that are comfortable and meaningful to the relevant clients. A few general recommendations have been established by different scholars and practitioners for working within a culture other than one’s own and engaging in effective CSP. These recommendations will be outlined, though it must be noted that these recommendations should only serve as general guidelines for CSP practice. The suggestions include: (a) engaging in critical introspection, (b) developing cultural competence, (c) focusing on relationships, (d) being reflexive, (e) engaging in cultural praxis, and (f) being open and flexible.

Engaging in Critical Introspection Before attempting to understand another individual, sport psychology researchers and practitioners (especially those from the mainstream culture) must be aware of the frame of reference from which they view the world around them. Through critical introspection sport psychologists are able to reflect on their culturally-bound perspectives, values, and biases and understand how these factors influence their work and interactions with others (Butryn, 2002; Gill & Kamphoff, 2009). Questions that might be raised could include: From what position do I speak? How do I know what I know? What privileges do I possess simply because of my race? What assumptions do I bring to my work? These questions allow mainstream practitioners to challenge their biases and begin dismantling the power and privilege that are associated with Whiteness as the dominant perspective (Butryn, 2002; Fisher et al., 2003). Butryn has suggested that White mainstream practitioners make a list of all the White privileges that have been conferred upon them simply because of the colour of their skin, to acknowledge, examine, and then de-center what would otherwise remain “in the periphery of racial consciousness” (p. 318).

Developing Cultural Competence Cultural competence (in terms of applied practice) has been defined as “the ability to counsel people of different backgrounds in a meaningful and ameliorative manner” (Kontos & Breland-Noble, 2002, p. 297). Such competence is essential for engaging in effective CSP practice and requires continual development through concerted efforts to learn culturally relevant and sensitive strategies that reflect the athlete population (Gill & Kamphoff, 2009). All researchers and practitioners need to be proactive in their efforts to foster deeper understandings of diverse cultures to work effectively with diverse populations and prevent “sensitive stereotyping” (Andersen, 1993; Kontos & Breland-Noble). Sensitive stereotyping refers to the failure to recognize that the variance within any particular cultural group is just as large as the variance between cultural groups. Although generalizations can be useful for providing a framework in which to better understand members of a particular background,

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they must be applied carefully within new situations and must be open to change and challenge on an individual basis (Andersen, 1993; Kontos & Breland-Noble). Resources that aid the development of cultural competence include cultural sensitivity training, courses on multi-cultural issues, and experience from applied practice. As expressed by Gill and Kamphoff, at the minimum, sport psychologists should have a working knowledge of the American Psychological Association’s multicultural guidelines (see APA, 2002). The six guidelines set forth by the APA encourage psychologists and researchers to recognize not only clients, but also themselves, as cultural beings, and to apply this awareness in research, education, and practical settings. Schinke et al. (2008) noted that the mere recognition of cultural experiences does not go far enough in promoting cultural reflexivity and advocated for the integration of culturally reflexive strategies that promote the relevant culture’s worldview.

Focusing on Relationships Underpinning CSP is an emphasis on fostering improved relationships among cultures. Through collaborative processes that involve shared understandings, mutual respect, and appreciations for different ways of knowing, cultural differences can be bridged amongst researchers and co-participants (Bredemeier, 2001; Fisher et al., 2003; Kral et al., 2002). For example, collaborating with the specific research population in the development of research projects can help cultivate a shared purpose between researchers and participants by setting goals and outcomes for the project that are meaningful for everyone involved. These deeper relationships foster effective and meaningful work, as well as a genuine sense of caring. It is especially important to establish strong relations when researchers or professionals from the mainstream attempt to work with marginalized populations (see Schinke et al., 2008). Many minority communities have struggled through histories of being abused and oppressed by mainstream society, and therefore these people often express mistrust and resistance toward approaches from mainstream professionals (Kral et al., 2002; Schinke et al., 2008). Nevertheless, with time, genuine intentions, and mutual respect, trusting relationships can be established and meaningful practices and projects can be developed in collaboration with cultural communities.

Being Reflexive Reflexivity involves self-questioning and self-understanding, denoting an awareness of the sport psychologist’s own contribution to the construction of meaning throughout the research or consulting process. It involves constant scrutiny of what I know and how I know it (Patton, 2002; Sparkes, 2002, raising questions such as, ‘How does my own identity and social position privilege particular choices in the research process, while also marginalizing particular choices?’ Sport psychologists are encouraged to overtly analyze their personal situatedness (e.g., historical, political, geographical, social) and how these factors shape what constitutes knowledge as well as how marginalized cultures are researched, portrayed, and ultimately written about (Patton; Sparkes). By engaging in reflexive practices, researchers are

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able to break down existing power structures and empower marginalized athletes, coaches, and consultants.

Engaging in Cultural Praxis The intersection of research and practice in cultural praxis should address social justice issues and have a transformative intent as the overarching goal (Bredemeier, 2001; Ryba, 2009; Ryba & Wright, 2005). Through emphasizing the voices of marginalized people and acknowledging their personal experiences to be deep wells of insight, co-participants become engaged in the process of creating social change, on both a personal and cultural level (Bredemeier, 2001). Emphasizing the voices of participants by engaging the relevant population in the development and implementation of research through consultation and community meetings can empower change from within the group. Through such efforts, practitioners can work to dismantle the power and privilege differentials that have long been perpetuated and normalized within the institution of sport, reflecting a movement away from the mainstream Eurocentric sport psychology tradition. Through the use of strategies such as consensus-decision-making (Bredemeier; Blodgett et al., 2008) and meaningful dialogue (Ryba, 2009; Ryba & Wright, 2005), co-participants are viewed as the experts of their lived experiences and continue to inform the research process and goals. Through cultural collaboration and negotiation, praxis produces an enhanced sense of connection among researchers and co-participants (Bredemeier, 2001; Fisher et al., 2003), whereby both parties are asked to consider one another’s ways of knowing.

Being Open and Flexible Sport psychologists must be open and flexible to processes and relationships that are constantly evolving through better contextual understandings (Blodgett et al., in press; Schinke et al., 2008). The capacity for gaining new understandings of diverse cultural contexts, current multi-cultural issues, and effective strategies is endless, and sport psychologists need to constantly re-evaluate and refine their approaches. They also need to be open to adopting new practices that might enhance their work. It is important to recognize that just as there is no singular White mainstream experience, neither is there any unified experience within another’s culture (Butryn, 2002), and therefore there are no universal strategies that are the same for all people. Although some individuals within a particular culture may reflect one or more of the ethnic generalizations that are attached to their culture as a whole, each individual represents a unique worldview and is influenced in varying degrees by multiple factors (Kontos & Breland-Noble, 2002). Therefore professionals need to constantly be open to new strategies and processes that are applied on a case-by-case.

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CONCLUSIONS Though the sport domain has historically been comprised of athletes, coaches, and practitioners from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, sport psychology researchers and practitioners have been slow to adopt practices supportive of diversity. An ethnocentric, White, male perspective has been the traditionally accepted and reinforced approach, wherein mono-cultural strategies and interventions have been presented as universally effective for all athlete populations. A monolithic approach, while privileging all people of White mainstream culture, actually has worked to marginalize athletes from all other non-mainstream cultures by silencing their voices. The mono-cultural approach went relatively unchallenged until 1987, when Martens first called attention to the pertinent need to reconcile different voices reflective of sport contexts rather than assuming that all sport participants are the same in their needs, values, and goals. In the years following Martens’ observations, other scholars began addressing the need to start instigating a movement toward cultural inclusivity wherein more voices are being reflected within sport psychology discourse (see Fisher et al., 2003; Ryba & Wright, 2005). In the transition from a mono-cultural approach to a multi-cultural trajectory for sport psychology, CSP has emerged as a line of inquiry that can be developed by and within a particular culture to more deeply reflect the specific client (Schinke et al., 2009). Cultural aspects such as geographical location, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, geography, and language are considered in relation to the unique aspirations and needs of different cultural communities. Consideration is also given to the bi-directional influence of culture, both on the part of the athlete/client as well as the sport psychologist/consultant, and how these contextual demands work to influence relationships and strategies. Integrating cultural praxis within CSP adds an element of empowerment to research and practice, where positive social transformation is the overarching initiative. By challenging socially-constructed power structures and encouraging participants from marginalized cultures to share their sport experiences, communities are given a voice within sport psychology discourse. Nevertheless, CSP is a relatively new field that is still in its infancy. Much more research needs to be conducted on a culture-by-culture basis so that strategies can be developed to encompass a wide range of cultures. The consideration of culture within sport psychology is undoubtedly daunting given the quantity of perspectives to reconcile and the associated complexities of each within our global sport community. To counter though, never has there been more of a need for shared understanding and pooled academic and practical effort. With more efficient communication mediums than ever before, there are more opportunities for bridging communication among sport enthusiasts and sport professionals. CSP offers a challenging future with a rewarding outcome for those who embrace human cultural differences in the pursuit of expanding relevant practices to be reflective of all participants within the auspices of sport.

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Hanrahan, S. J. (2004). Sport psychology and indigenous performing artists. The Sport Psychologist, 18, 60-74. Hanrahan, S. J. (2009). Working with Australian Aboriginal athletes. In R. J. Schinke & S.J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Hanrahan, S. J., & Schinke, R. J. (in press). The integration of culture within sport psychology. In P. Terry & T. Morris (Eds.) Ikulayo, P. B., & Semidara, J. A. (2009). Working with Nigerian athletes. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp. 165-172). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Kontos, A. P., & Arguello, E. (2005). Sport psychology consulting with Latin American athletes. Athletic Insight, 7(3). Retrieved October 5, 2006, from http://www. Athleticinsight.com/Vol7Iss3/LatinAmerican.htm Kontos, A. P., & Arguello, E. (in press). Sport psychology consulting with Latin American athletes. In R. J. Schinke (Ed.), Contemporary sport psychology. Hauppage, NY: Nova Science. Kontos, A. P., & Breland-Noble, A.M. (2002). Racial/ethnic diversity in applied sport psychology: A multicultural introduction to working with athletes of color. The Sport Psychologist, 16, 296-315. Kral, M. J., Burkhardt, K. J., & Kidd, S. (2002). The new research agenda for a cultural psychology. Canadian Psychology, 43, 154-162. Lapchick, R. (1991). Five minutes to midnight: Race and sport in the 1990’s. Lanham, MD: Madison Books. Lee, C. C., & Rotella, R. J. (1991). Special concerns and considerations for sport psychology consulting with black student athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 5, 365-369. Lee, Y. (2005). A new voice: Korean American women in sports. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 40, 481-495. Martens, M. P., Mobley, M., & Zizzi, S. J. (2000). Multicultural training in applied sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 14(2), 81-97. Martens, R. (1987). Science, knowledge, and sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 1, 2955. Matsumoto, D. (1990). Cultural similarities and differences in display rules. Motivation and Emotion, 14, 195-214. McGannon, K. R., & Johnson, C. R. (2009). Strategies for reflective cultural sport psychology research. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp. 57-75). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Myers, D. G., & Spencer, S. J. (2003). Social psychology: Canadian edition. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Roper, E. A. (2001). The personal becomes political: Exploring the potential of feminist sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 15, 445-449. Ryba, T. V. (2005). Sport psychology as cultural praxis: Future trajectories and current Possibilities. Athletic Insight, 7(3). Retrieved October 5, 2006, from http://athletic Insight.com/Vol7Iss3/CulturalPraxis.htm

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Ryba, T. V. (2009). Understanding your role in cultural sport psychology. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp. 35-44). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Ryba, T. V., & Wright, H. K. (2005). From mental game to cultural praxis: A cultural studies model’s implications for the future of sport psychology. Quest 57, 192-212. Schinke, R. J. (2007). A four-year chronology with national team boxing in Canada. Journal of Sport Science and Medicine, 6, 1-7. Schinke, R. J., Hanrahan, S. J., & Catina, P. (2009). Introduction to cultural sport psychology. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp. 311). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Schinke, R. J., Hanrahan, S. J., Eys, M. A., Blodgett, A., Peltier, D., & Ritchie, S. D. (2008). The development of cross-cultural relations with a Canadian Aboriginal community through sport research. Quest, 60, 357-369. Schinke, R. J., Hanrahan, S., Peltier, D., Michel, G., Danielson, R., Pickard, P., et al. (2007). The pre-competition and competition practices of Canadian Aboriginal elite athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 1, 147-165. Schinke, R. J., Peltier, D., Hanrahan, S. J., Eys, M. A., Ritchie, S., Recollet-Saikonnen, D., et al. (in press). The progressive integration of Canadian Indigenous culture within a sport psychology bicultural research team. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6. Schinke, R. J., Peltier, D., & Yungblut, H.E. (in press). Canadian elite Aboriginal athletes, their challenges, and the adaptation process. In J. Forsyth & A. Giles (Eds.), Red and white: Aboriginal people and Canadian sport. Sparkes, A. C. (2002). Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Weinberg, R., Tenenbaum, G., McKenzie, A., Jackson, S., Anshel, M., Grove, R., et al. (2000). Motivation for youth participation in sport and physical activity. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 31, 321-346.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 8

REVISITING DIVERSITY AND POLITICS IN SPORT PSYCHOLOGY THROUGH CULTURAL STUDIES: WHERE ARE WE FIVE YEARS LATER? Leslee A. Fisher1, Emily A. Roper2and Ted Butryn3 University of Tennessee1, Sam Houston State University2, San Jose State University3, USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY The central purpose throughout this paper is to revisit the ways that sport psychology researchers, educators, and practitioners have (or have not) used a cultural studies perspective to enhance their research and applied work since we first wrote about this issue (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003). We suggested in our previous review that key cultural studies concepts such as privilege, power, and praxis could be utilized by sport psychology professionals. In line with Sage (1993), we also promoted an “athletes-as-citizens” model of service provision in the applied setting. In this paper, we review sport psychology literature published in the last five years which focuses on privilege, power and power dynamics, praxis, and promoting “athletes-as-citizens” (Sage, 1993). We also describe a recent study (Butryn, 2008) related to graduate students’ experiences of wrestling with a cultural studies of sport curriculum and summarize our sense of progress to date.

INTRODUCTION In what ways have sport psychology researchers, educators, and practitioners used a cultural studies perspective to enhance their research and applied work in the last five years (2003-2008)? This is the central question we take up in this chapter. In our previous work (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003) we suggested that key cultural studies concepts such as power, privilege, and praxis could be utilized by sport psychology professionals. We also promoted an “athletes-as-citizens” model of service provision in the applied setting in line

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with suggestions by Sage (1993) and the work of Jack Scott at the University of California at Berkeley during the 1960’s and 1970’s. In the present chapter, we begin by reviewing two recent sport psychology texts (Andersen, 2005; Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009). We also review empirical work focusing on privilege, power and power dynamics, praxis, and promoting “athletes-as-citizens” (Sage, 1993) published during this time period. We end with a summary of the state of the field to date.

WHAT’S NEW? The good news is that two recent sport psychology (edited) texts contain emphases on a cultural studies of sport, one to a lesser degree than the other. These are Mark Andersen’s Sport Psychology in Practice (2005) and Rob Schinke and Stephanie Hanrahan’s (2009) Cultural Sport Psychology. While Andersen and his authors spotlight the processes of applied sport psychology service delivery to athletes – particularly the added section on working with “diverse athletes” (i.e., the book is a follow-up to Andersen’s 2000 book entitled Doing Sport Psychology) - Schinke and Hanrahan’s text is the first to “….focus entirely on a challenging line of discussion that we have called cultural sport psychology (CSP)” (p.vii). In his book, Anderson sets out to explore a variety of applied issues practitioners may face when working with individual athletes and teams. Andersen approaches issues – which include alcohol abuse and violence, eating disorders, injury and identity development, transference and countertransference – using a unique approach. In addition to reviewing the literature relative to each topical area, the authors of each chapter incorporate sample dialogues between an athlete and practitioner. His textbook is divided into three sections: (a) doing sport psychology with groups, (b) issues surrounding ethical situations, and (c) issues related to working with diverse populations. Of particular importance to our current chapter is the section devoted to diversity in service delivery. Parham (2005) addressed the importance of developing an understanding of athletes from racially, culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds. Hanrahan (2005) detailed a group session for athletes with various disabilities. Marterns and Mobley (2005), in their chapter - “Straight guys working with gay guys” explored various issues involved in working with gay male athletes including the fear of being outed, issues related to HIV and AIDS, coming out, and dealing with one’s own homophobia. Krane and Barber (2005) expanded upon Martens and Mobley’s chapter, focusing on homonegativism and heterosexism in women’s sport. Like Andersen, Schinke and Hanrahan (2009) have international experience working in applied sport psychology settings. These experiences were grist for fruitful conversations between the two related to becoming culturally sensitive and reflexive in their praxis – the integration of theory and practice. However, this occurred only after they worked with culturally diverse teams ranging from amateur and professional boxers to Aboriginal performing artists. Their experiences working with a variety of performers allowed the editors to become appreciative of (and responsive to) how cultural awareness is a necessity in the practice of applied sport psychology in a global sport community. After problematizing their own lack of cultural awareness, they turned their attention to the overwhelming lack of discussion of it in the discipline and called for scholars to engage critically with them on this issue in their text.

Revisiting Diversity and Politics in Sport Psychology Through Cultural Studies… 107 While each of the authors in Schinke and Hanrahan’s (2009) compilation integrated cultural awareness concerns, we were asked to take up the challenge of engaging cultural studies with the discipline of sport psychology in one of the introductory chapters (see Fisher, Roper, & Butryn, 2009). In our chapter, we presented a viewpoint the editors call “the cultural studies perspective” as contrasted with the “sport psychology perspective” chapter which preceded us (see Peters & Williams, 2009; Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009, p.vii). We attempted to integrate cultural studies and sport psychology in six areas, using postmodern theory to critique the dominant underpinnings, typical research questions, theories and methods of the discipline as well as propose a new way of looking at sport psychology personality research from a lens that recognizes constructions and locations of identity. Like the editors, we envisioned a reconstruction of sport psychology as cultural sport psychology (CSP) and posited our “ideal” CSP as having the following emphases: “A focus on athlete identities as multiple, fragmented, and dependent upon location rather than fixed or unchangeable; a choice of academic methods and theories based on an intellectual sensibility revolving around a certain theoretical orientation or critical stance versus strict interdisciplinary boundaries; an emphasis on seeing the developing athlete in a web of power dynamics and relationships that advantage some selves while disadvantaging others; an interrogation of the institution of sport and how and when it has influenced athlete identities; a critical examination of the politics of race and class and how they affect athletes and consultants; an addressing of embedded politics and unacknowledged contributions in sport related to potentially exploitative relationships and damaging long-term consequences for health” (Fisher, Roper, & Butryn, 2009, p.30)

Based on this ideal, we now discuss privilege and how the field of sport psychology has privileged some but not others. We feel that this discussion is critical to the future growth of sport psychology in a changing, global society.

PRIVILEGE Expanding our 2003 and 2009 stance (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003; Fisher, Roper, & Butryn, 2009), we prefer to think of privilege now as part of an interlocking system which also includes oppression and resistance. In other words, like Heldke and O’Connor (2004), we believe that: (a) oppression is most powerfully defined as the systematic and unfair marginalization of some members of a society; (b) privilege is the flipside of oppression, in that if some members are marginalized, then other members are given an unfair advantage; and (c) oppression (and privilege) can be resisted against. In addition, it is our conviction that the most effective way to create change in an oppressive system – like the system in place in organized sport some would argue – is to educate people about how “….social change requires collective action working against existing systems” (Heldke & O’Connor, 2004, p.vii). What ramifications does this way of envisioning oppression, privilege and resistance have for sport psychology professionals, both researchers and practitioners? Taking research first, our research theories and methodologies could be based on this critical intellectual sensibility toward athlete oppression, privilege and resistance. This means that multiple

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theories (i.e., queer theory, postmodern theory, critical race theory) could be utilized along with multiple methodologies (i.e., critical ethnography, autoethnography, semi-structured interviewing) to examine the ways athlete identities are fragmented, multiple (i.e., In what ways are athletes both oppressed and privileged at the same time?) and dependent upon location in matrices of power rather than being unchangeable or fixed (i.e., in which sports are privilege and oppression occurring and why?). Such critical intellectual sensibilities and methods help us examine how athletes develop their identities in a web of power dynamics and relationships that advantage some selves while disadvantaging others. This places emphasis on research questions which also address who is resisting oppression in sport, who is resisting privilege (if any), in what ways and at what times, if athletes are even aware of their own oppression and privilege, why/why not/when, who it serves if they are not aware, and if they and sport psychology professionals are interested in taking action against their own oppression and privilege. An interrogation of the institution of sport – its embedded policies/politics/contributions to athlete exploitation and how/when it has influenced athlete (racialized, gendered, classed) identities in terms of oppression, privilege and resistance - is also critical. With regard to sport psychology practice and issues of oppression / privilege / resistance, similar questions could be asked. For example, one of our invited speakers at the AASP conference in 2007 - a person of color himself – counted the number of people of color in the audience during a keynote address (not his own), one of the largest ones attended. He came up with four out of a roomful of approximately 200 people, at which point he turned to one of us and said, “Why aren’t there more people of color who belong to AASP?” This is a thoughtprovoking and important question for us to wrestle with. Other questions are equally important, including: Who gets to be a consultant and why (e.g., race, class, gender of consultant)? Who is an ally in helping marginalized professionals get consulting opportunities and why? Which sports are available for consultation and why? Should consultants work toward empowering the athletes they work with? Should they discuss politics with the athlete? And, should they work toward changing oppressive sport systems that their athletes participate in? While most sport psychology consultants work for/in the best interests of their clients, we envision very few practitioners who would challenge an existing oppressive system in sport for fear of repercussions. Along these lines, Roper (2008a) found that male sport psychology professionals played a significant role in assisting six of the female practitioners interviewed in her study in obtaining access to their initial applied opportunities. While male professionals (i.e., the majority of consultants) should work to assist female practitioners in entering the field, it is important to explore the privilege male practitioners possess that grants them the ability to assist women in gaining access. In maintaining such positions of power, men remain the gatekeepers to entry into advanced sport psychology positions (Roper, 2008a). Continued attention needs to be brought to the underlying privilege and power men possess within society and within the sport community in particular.

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POWER AND POWER DYNAMICS Privilege is related to power in important and disturbing ways. As reviewed in our earlier work (Fisher, Butryn & Roper, 2003), power is a concept frequently discussed in cultural studies but not so much in sport psychology. While researchers within sport sociology have acknowledged (and continue to acknowledge) the importance of interrogating power in sport, the field of sport psychology has yet to devote serious attention to the role power and power dynamics play within the research and practice of applied sport psychology. Within the past five years, only a handful of sport psychology scholars have incorporated discussion of power and power dynamics into their work (Fasting, Brackenridge, & Walseth, 2007; Roper, 2008a; Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009; Schinke, Hanrahan, Eys, Blodgett, Peltier, Ritchie, Pheasant, & Enosse, 2009). Recently, applied sport psychology professionals were challenged by Celia Brackenridge (2008) to incorporate such an analysis. This type of analysis could provide a more meaningful and deeper interrogation of relations of power and the impact they have on athletes. Celia Brackenridge, a sport science researcher, educator, and activist, was selected as the Distinguished International Scholar to present at the 2008 annual Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The title of her presentation was “Sex, lies, shock, and role: Sport psychologists as agents of athlete welfare.” It is notable that Brackenridge’s interdisciplinary work, also published in her book– Spoilsports: Understanding and preventing sexual exploitation in sport (2001)- was selected as an invited presentation at the annual conference. However, despite the significance of Brackenridge’s inclusion in the conference program, attendance was low1. The low attendance at Brackenridge’s presentation, while disturbing, was not surprising as many of the CSP presentations and symposia at AASP have been, and continue to be poorly attended. This pattern is especially interesting as many of the conference attendees wore “diversity” ribbons that were distributed by the AASP Diversity Committee. In her presentation, Brackenridge discussed the prevalence and incidence of sexual exploitation and abuse in sport, noting the over 600 cases she has personally recorded. Considerable attention was devoted to the unique aspects of the sport domain which make it a setting where sexual exploitation can (and does) easily occur. Specifically, Brackenridge suggested that the male-dominated nature of sport, prevalence of high-ranking sport positions populated by men, adherence to hegemonic masculinity, and emphasis on the physical body are all significant contributors to the development and maintenance of a culture of violence and objectification of sport women and men (Brackenridge, 2001). While many perceive sexual abuse and exploitation to be “personally perpetrated” and “personally experienced” (Brackenridge, 2001, p. 44), Brackenridge proposed that there exists a network of stakeholders in any sexual exploitative situation including coaches, parents, sport organizations, media, teachers, team managers, athletic trainers, peer athletes, and sport scientists. Brackenridge suggested further that as sport psychology professionals, we play an integral role in the “instigation, continuation, and termination of sexually transgressive behavior in sport…all bear[ing] some shared responsibility” (p. 44). 1

As our editor pointed out – and we concur – many of the CSP presentations and symposia have low attendance at AASP conferences. This is ironic considering the pride that attendees have in wearing cultural diversity badges.

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Within applied sport psychology, many practitioners espouse an athlete-centered approach. However, little scholarly attention has been devoted to the specific tenets of such a philosophy of practice. As cultural studies informed practitioners we must focus not only on the individual athlete’s welfare, but also the sport environment. Brackenridge contended (2008) that this is a setting that is organized and structured in ways that allows sexual exploitation to easily occur. As sport psychology professionals, we believe that a cultural sport psychology-infused practice makes it our responsibility to focus on the aftermath of such incidents and to monitor and promote a safe sport environment. Furthermore, due to the unique relationship formed between a practitioner and athlete, it is possible that we could find ourselves in a position to uncover incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse before others and assist athletes – and parents and other coaches - in developing the skills necessary to confront a perpetrator (Brackenridge, 2001; 2008). The power dynamic does not only impact athletes in sport contexts. We noted in our previous work (Fisher et al., 2003) that issues of race, gender, class, and sexuality should be “…viewed not as simple categories, but as relations of power, as spaces where individuals negotiate for greater agency within the existing power structure” (p. 396) and that includes sport psychology professionals. We argued for the need for a cultural studies informed professional to do the following: …acknowledge gender-biased and homophobic behaviors within the hyper-masculine structure of many sports, as well as to confront ways that consultants, whether male or female, have the potential to be both perpetrators and victims of discriminatory practices themselves (p. 393).

Following up on this charge, Roper (2008a) qualitatively examined the career experiences and perceptions of female practitioners working in applied sport psychology. In line with her previous research examining women’s career experiences in academic sport psychology (Roper, Fisher, & Wrisberg, 2005), the participants in Roper’s (2008a) study suggested that women working in applied sport psychology face unique obstacles and barriers to gaining access, respect and support. For example, all eight of the participants acknowledged that the majority of high-profile, “recognized” practitioners were men. As a result, many of the participants perceived that their applied work was often ignored or deemed “less valid.” In pushing women’s experiences to the margins, greater emphasis and value is placed on the experiences of those in power. Similar to research findings within the coaching profession which have found that male coaches are perceived as more knowledgeable and better suited to coach (Staurowsky, 1990; www.gogirlworld.org/cgi-bin/iowa/issues/coach/article.html?record=3), male sport psychology practitioners are viewed as representing the authority on knowledge in applied sport psychology. Therefore, those who are not seen as the authority are not taken as seriously or as legitimate representatives of the field. It is critical to consider what forms of knowledge are being utilized in sport psychology and whose voice is represented and whose is not? In order to develop a more valid and comprehensive representation of the field, incorporation of women’s experiences and ways of knowing as well as the voices of other marginalized individuals, is necessary. In line with the work of Brackenridge (2001, 2008), a particularly disturbing experience was detailed by one of the participants in Roper’s (2008a) study which a group of male

Revisiting Diversity and Politics in Sport Psychology Through Cultural Studies… 111 athletes began to undress while she remained in the locker room; she described this behavior as the male athletes’ ways of “testing” or “playing with” her (p. 420). Sport sociologists have argued that the men’s locker room is a site in which men work to maintain their control and power, especially due to the increasing visibility of women in sport (Curry, 1991; Kane & Disch, 1993). As a result, women who occupy this space (e.g., trainers, journalists, sport psychology practitioners) are often “displaced from [their] role as authoritative critic” and “reassigned to [their] appropriate role of sexual object” (Kane & Disch, 1993, p. 331). Discussion of this scenario among sport psychology practitioners is especially important considering the locker room is often described as an “appropriate” setting in which to meet with and provide team sessions. Also in 2008, Schinke et al. addressed the development of cross-cultural relations with a Canadian Aboriginal community through reflective research. In their paper, Schinke and colleagues presented their experiences as researchers working within a multicultural group. The purpose of the research group was to study the adaptation challenges experienced by Canadian Aboriginal athletes pursuing athletic experiences in mainstream North American sport settings. The initial research group - which consisted of professionals with a North American mainstream education - purposefully sought feedback from the Aboriginal community. As Schinke et al. (2008) stated, “the intent was to gain some expertise from the Aboriginal community to ensure the credibility of the data and accurate description” (p. 359). Of particular importance to this section of the chapter is the discussion of power relations within the research group. While the White members of the group held the privileged position in the early stages, a transition in power gradually occurred as the integration of the members continued. As Schinke et al. suggested, There was sometimes a tendency to revert back during negotiations to the previous power differential in which the mainstream members would make decisions and all that was needed was community endorsement. During such moments the community and academic team leaders reminded the group of its mandate, and the power decisions returned to the community members. (p. 361)

This paper provides an example of the ways in which researchers have the potential to adhere to and model the multicultural guidelines of the American Psychological Association.

PRAXIS With three exceptions, the concept of praxis has not been taken up in sport psychology work since our 2003 article. As we mentioned then, the integration of theory, research, and practice – praxis – is a concept that is familiar and important in cultural studies work (Hall, 2000) but has not been given much attention in applied sport psychology. The exception prior to 2003 was the work of Bredemeier and colleagues (Bredemeier, 2001; Bredemeier, Carlton, Hills, & Oglesby, 1999; Bredemeier, Desertrain, Fisher, Getty, Slocum, Stephens, & Warren, 1991). Post-2003, Schinke and Hanrahan (2009) have included at least 13 chapters on applied practice in their recent text (see Araki & Balasekaran, 2009; Diehl, Hegley, & Lane, 2009; Galloway, 2009; Gill & Kamphoff, 2009; Hanrahan, 2009; Ikulayo & Semidara, 2009; Kontos, 2009; Kozuma, 2009; Lidor & Blumenstein, 2009; McGannon & Johnson, 2009;

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Moraes & Salmela, 2009; Ryba, 2009; Schinke et al., 2009; Stambulov et al., 2009; Terry, 2009). However, we feel that three recent studies better exemplify a praxis-focused line of research. These are two studies conducted by Schinke and colleagues (Blodgett, Schinke, Fisher, Wassengeso George, Peltier, Ritchie, & Pickard, in press; Blodgett, Schinke, Fisher, Yungblut, Recollet-Saikkonen, Peltier, Pickard, & Ritchie, in press) and one study conducted by Roper (2008b). Schinke and colleagues (Blodgett et al., 2008; Blodgett et al., 2008) continued a line of earlier work by Schinke, Michel and colleagues (2006) related to Canadian Aboriginal youth. Their 2006 study revealed that these youth suffer from lower health demographics, higher rates of substance abuse, diabetes, heart problems, and obesity than the rest of the Canadian population. With that in mind, the two 2008 studies were unique in that “mainstream” academics from the university partnered with Aboriginal community members to address “real-life” concerns that community members had. These concerns centered on the struggle that elite Aboriginal youth felt between acculturating to Canadian mainstream society during their elite sport participation and retaining their Aboriginal customs. Townspeople and elders were also concerned about attrition in their youth sport programming. After realizing that their “traditional” methods of interviewing were not getting at the issues that were important to the townspeople, researchers became a part of Aboriginal “talking circles” where consensus decision-making became the goal. Analysis of “talking circles” themes resulted in issues of integrating Aboriginal elders, promoting role models, and broadening the volunteer base in the community’s sport programming. This type of cultural sensitivity and research flexibility is exactly what is meant by praxis, the integration of theory, research, and practice. In addition, the project changed the way the academic researchers viewed their own life and customs as a result of immersing themselves in Aboriginal customs. Another study exemplifying praxis is Roper’s (2008b) examination of female recreational runners’ feelings of fear and concerns for safety and the strategies used to negotiate their feelings of fear. Interviews were conducted with thirty female recreational runners in a major U.S. city – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Findings revealed that these runners limited and altered their running patterns due to feelings of fear and concerns for safety. These women reported higher levels of fear when running: (a) by themselves; (b) in natural (secluded, wooded) areas; and (c) in dark and unfamiliar areas. From the findings, it was also revealed that female runners feared being attacked, having an accident/injury while running, and theft of their belongings while running. Each participant was asked to share recommendations for other female runners and to the city of Philadelphia. Participants provided a variety of suggestions including increased lighting and police presence, removal of excess vegetation/brush, increased discussion of safety within the community, promotion of park use, installation of police/emergency call boxes, and use of mirrors at blind spots. Upon completion of the study, the findings were shared with committee members of the Philadelphia Task Force for Safety. As a result, several of the recommendations provided by the participants were incorporated by the committee. This kind of “taking back” research findings and making improvements in the community is also illustrative of a praxis approach to research.

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A (CONTEXTUAL) RESURGENCE IN ATHLETES-AS-CITIZENS? The above studies illustrate how sport psychology researchers can be “good citizens” in the carrying out of their work. In our 2003 article, we expressed hope that one of the outcomes of a cultural studies approach to sport psychology would be “a rise in the promotion and emergence of a population of athletes and consultants who view themselves as citizens” and who are fully engaged in the political sphere (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003, p. 402). Indeed, we maintain that, “who better than sport psychology consultants – who have gained the trust of athletes and have their best interests in mind – to help them develop a critical perspective of their sport experience and its relation to larger global and political issues?” (p.398). While we have no empirical data to support any claims that athletes, in particular, see themselves as members of larger sociopolitical communities any more than they have in the past, the recent 2008 US presidential elections revealed that many athletes, both progressive and conservative, felt compelled to weigh in on Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. For supporters of Obama, in particular, many of whom were young African-American men, the election season gave a unique reason to speak out publicly both verbally and non-verbally (e.g., numerous pro-Obama t-shirts, etc.). An article in the widely read Street & Smith’s Sport Business Daily published a long list of articles and references to athletes making public statements about the 2008 elections and politics in general (Gelston, 2008). Interestingly, although many athletes mentioned that they perceived risks in being explicitly political, they chose to do so anyway. The coach of the NBA Champion Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, even stated, "I thought it was really interesting right after the game, the guys were celebrating Obama's victory more than we just beat the Rockets on the road. I thought that was really cool" (Gelston, 2008). As critical sport journalist Dave Zirin (2008) noted, however, some athletes’ political statements were derided if they were at odds with the performance ethos of elite sport. Zirin pointed to the case of Denver Broncos player Brandon Marshall who was restrained by two teammates as he attempted to don a black and white glove because – as he later explained - he “wanted to create that symbol of unity because Obama inspires me, our multi-cultured society” (http://www.edgeofsports.com/2008-11-10-385/index.html). Zirin admitted that the timing of the event, which occurred at a crucial point in the game with the Broncos slightly ahead, was difficult. However, Zirin admonishes the response from numerous sportscasters who, predictably, framed Marshall’s attempted political act as selfish rather than something to be admired due to its placement of free speech and politicized statements in the arena ahead of mere wins and losses. While the phenomenon of vocally political athletes is obviously not connected to any sort of cultural studies project or sport psychology, we contend that this trend, if it continues, illustrates that perhaps our students and athletes (and student-athletes) are primed for the kinds of issues cultural studies brings to the academic and athletic table. However, athletes are not encouraged to develop their political voice. In addition, any argument that the field of sport psychology should be somehow removed from the explicitly political public domain would seem to be rendered useless, when a new surge of athletes-as-voters (and perhaps, by extension, citizens) across the political spectrum clearly feel otherwise.

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STUDENTS’ ENGAGEMENT WITH A CULTURAL SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CURRICULUM With respect to sport psychology professionals becoming more politicized (including consultants within the academy), we also have little to offer in the way of evidence. What we do know is that since our 2003 article other scholars have continued to articulate the importance of not only cultural studies, but of culture itself within sport psychology. As previously mentioned, the publication of Schinke and Hanrahan’s (2009) groundbreaking book on cultural sport psychology is but one example of this trend towards examining cultural issues related to the field. However, we still have little data on how to make CS or CSP work with SP, and how students engage with related ideas. Indeed, some scholars have noted that even within cultural studies, there is a relative lack of research on pedagogy (Maton & Wright, 2002). In other words, if the trend towards a cultural sport psychology, and to some extent a cultural studies-infused approach to the field, is to continue we must examine how students take up issues of culture, particularly those issues that may be considered to the left, politically. While our biggest organization, AASP, is not explicitly conservative by any means, we argue that by not addressing or otherwise marginalizing these issues, the applied field positions itself directly in opposition to the project we are advocating. In an effort to more closely examine the experiences of sport psychology graduate students learning about and engaging with cultural studies and to determine how their educational experiences affected their eventual careers as sport psychology professionals, Butryn (2008) conducted an exploratory story using in-depth interviews with seven former doctoral students, all of whom had been trained in both sport psychology and, to different extents, cultural studies. Participants were currently employed in a variety of university academic settings and most were doing some sort of consulting with athletes. The interviews lasted between 45 to 75 minutes and focused on figural experiences and engagement with the graduate curriculum, their perceptions of the relationship between sport psychology and cultural studies, occasions when they felt or witnessed resistance to cultural studies, and the ways, if any, that their cultural studies training affected their current sport psychology research, teaching, or service activities. Following data analysis and several peer review sessions with a colleague with an expertise in interview-based research, several thematic categories were identified. Due to space constraints, we chose to focus here on the two themes that are most relevant to this discussion: (a) interdisciplinarity; and (b) relevance of cultural studies to the current professional setting. One of the main themes was interdisciplinarity. Of course, several authors have written about the need for interdisciplinary work in sport psychology, and as Silva (2001) noted, “By 2010, sport psychology graduate programs will become interdisciplinary through the formation of applied curricula at the doctoral level” (p. 829). Gill (2007) also stated that interdisciplinarity must expand into academic spaces outside of mainstream psychology to account for the potential salience of social identity in sport. Social identit(ies) are a major thrust in cultural studies work, and therefore it is not surprising that authors such as Ryba and Wright (2005) have also advocated a cultural studies approach to sport psychology, in part to address dearth of sport psychology research that takes issues of racial and ethnic identities, for example, as both salient and central components of one’s sporting experiences (Peters & Williams, 2006; Ram, Starek, & Johnson, 2004).

Revisiting Diversity and Politics in Sport Psychology Through Cultural Studies… 115 All of the participants in Butryn’s study had positive views of the emphasis on, and extreme openness to, interdisciplinary work in their sport psychology doctoral programs. They pointed to specific times when, often as a result of their cultural studies coursework, they almost stumbled upon their dissertation topics that drew from cultural studies, phenomenology, feminist studies, and critical race theory. As one individual put it, “I remember that day, and the lightbulb came off… I was like, ‘Yeah, this fits!’…And then every project that I did whether in counseling or in like [another CS class] was geared to [my topic]. I just got jazzed about it and it took off.” Another participant noted that, while cultural studies is always and already politicized, the individuals’ advisors realized that not all of their sport psychology cohort identified as politically leftist. As a result, “I think that each one of us had a dissertation topic that we were really given the ok to run with. As radical or not radical as you wanted it to be you could go with it.” Pedagogically, then, we argue that, while we still maintain that there is a great need for a cultural studies emphasis within sport psychology curriculum, we also recognize that individual departments will have to decide what sort of cultural studies projects fit best within their context. The other theme that has implications for this chapter is related to participants’ perceptions of how their graduate education - specifically their cultural studies coursework impacted their current research and teaching endeavors. With respect to research, all of the participants noted that the major strength of their cultural studies education was that they not only learned a great deal about qualitative methodologies, but a variety of qualitative methods. Two participants explained that they took these qualitative forms of inquiry and directed them to non-traditional issues in sport psychology. As one individual said: My focus and passion shifted. After I went through the CS classes, I was like, ‘I want to increase the quality of life for this athlete...I want to know how these athletes are being treated.’ My whole [research] question and my passions changed!

Regarding their current teaching experiences, some participants who were teaching at what they described as more conservative universities or departments described how their unique academic training was, at times, something that was both positive and something they had to carefully negotiate. As one individual put it, “If you look at my syllabus compared to someone else in my department, they’re completely different...the topics that we do. This is the first time these students have been exposed to this!” Another participant also noted that although s/he incorporated issues of whiteness and male privilege into his/her group dynamics course, s/he had to do so in ways that were digestible to the mostly conservative, straight, white students. Finally, participants talked about how their general approaches to sport psychology, particularly the applied domain, had changed during the years since their graduate training. While a few of them reported no meaningful changes, and more specifically no “lasting effects” from their cultural studies training, five of the participants reported what might be described as paradigm shifts over the five to ten years since receiving their degrees. These individuals recognized that although they may or may not be “doing cultural studies” in the truest sense, they were consciously aware of, and negotiating, the politics of their work. As one participant who was a decade removed from his/her doctoral training noted, “I always ask myself, ‘Who benefits from this?’ That was a theme throughout the curriculum for me. We

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critically analyze educational practices, the institutional practices in a lot of ways... so one of the things I do is just say, ‘Who benefits from this?’.” Quotes like the ones above clearly illustrate that even though former graduate students receiving cultural studies training in the sport psychology curriculum may not always fully embrace every aspect of it, they understand a key element of cultural studies, which is the notion that something is always “at stake” in cultural studies work and in academic work in general. Indeed, three participants explicitly made the choice to do more critical sport psychology work and to use critical feminist and race theories to address questions that they perceived were marginalized within mainstream sport psychology. In total, although this study was preliminary and the participant number was small, the results, nevertheless, demonstrated that the infusion of cultural studies into sport psychology graduate programs has the potential, at least, to fundamentally alter the ways that new professionals “do” sport psychology. Further, even students who might not fully embrace cultural studies as a political project still gain some exposure to how issues of identity, culture, and power impact sport and their work with students and athletes. Indeed, although sport and the field of sport psychology would never be considered “progressive” social spaces, they are not inherently and permanently “un-progressive.” As Howell, Andrews, and Jackson (2002) noted, while cultural practices are produced from specific social and historical contexts, they are also actively engaged in the ongoing constitution of those contexts” (p. 171). In other words, the “contextual, specific, and political intellectual practice” (172) of cultural studies has the potential, when strategically and intentionally deployed, to perhaps alter some of the power dynamics and cultural sensibilities of sport and sport psychology.

SUMMARY We ended our 2003 paper with a discussion related to Morgan (2000) who contested that if we don’t help athletes – and we contend, ourselves as applied sport psychology professionals - become better “citizens” soon, we may find ourselves in a sporting practice and culture “…that is largely narcissistic and self-indulgent rather than liberating and community-building” (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003, p.599). We still believe this to be the case. We are hopeful, however, with the recent addition of texts (Andersen, 2005; Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009) and studies (Blodgett et al., in press; Blodgett et al., in press; Butryn, 2008; Fasting Brackenridge, & Walseth, 2007; Roper, 2008a) which examine power, privilege, and praxis that we continue to see movement toward a more global, culturally sensitive and aware group of sport psychology professionals. While sparse, it appears that a small group of scientist-practitioners in the field of applied sport psychology have begun to engage with cultural sport psychology (see Schinke & Hanrahan, 2008). And, many of these have also been invited to write chapters in two other innovative edited texts that are on their way in 2009 (Ryba, Schinke, & Tenenbaum, 2009; Hanrahan & Andersen, 2009). One suggestion for bringing some of the issues we have discussed to the forefront of the field is to feature, rather than simply integrate, topics related to identity politics, democratic politics, and so on into the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. While cultural studies research in sport psychology is still lacking, there is certainly enough to develop a substantive unit of study within an applied sport psychology course. Indeed, we see the recent textbooks

Revisiting Diversity and Politics in Sport Psychology Through Cultural Studies… 117 dealing with cultural sport psychology and the inclusion of cultural issues in other mainstream sport psychology texts as a sign that professionals in sport psychology see these issues as vital to the development of a strong, global field. Only time will tell if others will be interested in this integration of cultural studies and sport psychology into curriculums and practice.

REFERENCES Andersen, M. B. (2005). Sport psychology in practice. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Araki, K., & Balasekaran, G. (2009). Singaporean athletes in a multicultural society. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.193-204). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Blodgett, A. T., Schinke, R. J., Fisher, L. A., Wassengeso George, C., Peltier, D., Ritchie, S., & Pickard, P. (2008). From practice to praxis: Community-based strategies for Aboriginal youth sport. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 32(4):393-414. Blodgett, A. T., Schinke, R. J., Fisher, L. A., Yungblut, H. E., Recollet-Saikkonen, D., Peltier, D., Ritchie, S., & Pickard, P. (In Press). Praxis and community-level sport programming strategies in a Canadian aboriginal reserve. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Brackenridge, C. (2001). Spoilsports: Understanding and preventing sexual exploitation in sport. London: Routledge. Brackenridge, C. (2008). Sex, lies, shock, and role: Sport psychologists as agents of athlete welfare. Presentation at the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) conference, St. Louis, MO. Bredemeier, B. L. (2001). Feminist praxis in sport psychology research. The Sport Psychologist, 15, 412-418. Bredemeier, B., Carlton, E., Hills, L., & Oglesby, C. (1999). Changers and the changed: Moral aspects of coming in physical education. Quest, 51, 418-431. Bredemeier, B., Desertrain (Solomon), G., Fisher, L., Getty, D., Slocum, N., Stephens, D., & Warren, J. (1991). Epistemological perspectives among women who participate in physical activity. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 3, 87-107. Butryn, T. M. (2008). Graduate students’ experience of engaging in a cultural studies of sport curriculum. Unpublished study. Curry, T. (1991). Fraternal bonding in the locker room: A pro-feminist analysis of talk about competition and women. Sociology of Sport Journal, 8, 119-135. Diehl, C. D. P., Hegley, A., & Lane, A. M. (2009). Working with Ghanaian athletes. In R. J. Schinke & S.J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.173-184). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Fasting, K., Brackenridge, C., & Walseth, K. (2007). Women athletes’ personal responses to sexual harassment. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 19, 419-433. Fisher, L. A., Butryn, T. M., & Roper, E. A. (2003). Diversifying (and politicizing) sport psychology through cultural studies: A promising perspective. The Sport Psychologist, 17, 391-405.

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Fisher, L. A., Roper, E. A., & Butryn, T. M. (2009). Engaging cultural studies and traditional sport psychology. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.23-34). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Galloway, S. (2009). A Canadian sport psychologist in Kuwait. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.153-164). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Gelston, D. (2008, November 5). Associated Press. Sports world pauses to talk about Obama's win. Retrieved at: http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=210&sid=1511812 Gill, D. L., & Kamphoff, C. S. (2009). Cultural diversity in applied sport psychology. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.153-164). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Hanrahan, S. J. (2009). Working with Australian Aboriginal athletes In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.153-164). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Hanrahan, S. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2009). Handbook of applied sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Heldke, L., & O’Connor, P. (2004). Oppression, privilege and resistance. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill. Howell, J. W., Andrews, D. L., & Jackson, S. J. (2002). In J. Maguire & K. Young (Eds.), Theory, sport & society (pp. 151-177). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science Ltd. Ikulayo, P. B., & Semidara, J. A. (2009). Working with Nigerian athletes. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.165-172). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Kane, M. J., & Disch, L. J. (1993). Sexual violence and the reproduction of male power in the locker room: The “Lisa Olsen incident.” Sociology of Sport Journal, 10, 331-352. Kontos, A. P. (2009). Multicultural sport psychology in the United States. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.103-116). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Kozuma, Y. (2009). Samurai and science: Sport psychology in Japan. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.205-218). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Lidor, R., & Blumenstein, B. (2009). Working with elite athletes in Israel. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.141-152). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. McGannon, K. R., & Johnson, C. R. (2009). Strategies for reflective cultural sport psychology research. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.57-78). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Moraes, L. C., & Salmela, J. H. (2009). Working with Brazilian athletes. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.117-124). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Peters, H., & Williams, J. (2006). Moving cultural background to the foreground: An investigation of self-talk, performance, and persistence following feedback. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 18, 240-253. Ram, N., Starek, J., & Johnson, J. (2004). Race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation: Still a void in sport and exercise psychology. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 26, 250-268.

Revisiting Diversity and Politics in Sport Psychology Through Cultural Studies… 119 Roper, E. A. (2008a). Women’s career experiences in applied sport psychology. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20, 408-424. Roper, E. A. (2008b). Perceptions of fear and concerns for safety among female runner. Manuscript submitted for publication. Roper, E. A., Fisher, L. A., Wrisberg, C. A. (2005). Professional women’s career experiences in sport psychology: A feminist standpoint approach. The Sport Psychologist, 19, 32-50. Ryba, T.V. (2009). Understanding your role in cultural sport psychology. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.35-44). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Ryba, T. V., Schinke, R. J., & Tanenbaum, G. (2009). The cultural turn in sport and exercise psychology. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Sage, G. H. (1993). Sport and physical education in the New World Order: Dare we be agents of social change? Quest, 45, 151-164. Schinke, R.J., Hanrahan, S.J., Eys, M., Blodgett, A., Peltier, D., Ritchie, S.D., Pheasant, C., & Enosse, L. (2008). The development of cross-cultural relations with a Canadian Aboriginal community through sport research. Quest, 60, 357-369. Schinke, R. J., & Hanrahan, S. J. (2009). Cultural sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Schinke, R. J., Blodgett, A., Ritchie, S., Pickard, P., Michel, G., Peltier, D., Pheasant, C., Wabano, M. J., Wassangeso George, C., & Enosse, L. (2009). Entering the community of Canadian indigenous athletes. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.91-102). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Stambulova, N., Johnson, U., & Stambulov, A. (2009). Sport psychology consulting in Russia and Sweden. In R. J. Schinke & S.J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.125140). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Staurowsky, E. (1990). Women coaching male athletes. In M. Messner & D. Sabo (Eds.), Sport, men, and the gender order: Critical feminist perspectives (pp. 163-170). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Terry, P. C. (2009). Strategies for reflective cultural sport psychology practice. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.79-90). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Zirin, D. (2008, November 10). No Obamamania for Brandon Marshall. Retrieved at: http://www.edgeofsports.com/2008-11-10-385/index.html.

AUTHORS’ NOTES The authors would like to thank Rob Schinke for his invitation to participate in this text as well as for his editorial suggestions on this chapter.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 9

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY AS CULTURAL PRAXIS Tatiana V. Ryba* University of Jyväskylä, Finland

CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter, I utilize a cultural studies model to suggest a future in which sport psychology becomes more interdisciplinary, joins with sport studies in addition to sport sciences to produce a cultural discourse of sport psychology. This new discourse would take up as central subjects and areas previously eschewed by sport psychology such as social and cultural contexts; the complex subjectivity, identity and identification of athletes and coaches; issues of power and social change. It stimulates research with marginalized athletic populations (e.g., female, queer, and indigenous athletes) and advocates psychological practice underscored by social justice concerns. Sport psychology as cultural praxis actively contributes to the development of the relatively new area called cultural sport psychology, which focuses on culturally informed sport psychology research and practice. In sport psychology literature, cultural sport psychology is used as an umbrella discourse that engages with issues of power and sociocultural difference while encompassing a variety of approaches that differ in philosophical underpinnings, terminology, political foci, and ultimate priorities (see conceptual chapters in Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009). In this chapter, I argue for the development of “sport psychology as cultural praxis” (Ryba & Wright, 2005)— a discourse that reflects the paradigmatic shift that I believe is necessary for sport psychology scholars to make as a timely response to the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape of the globe. By invoking ethnoscapes in flux, I refer to “theexperience of uncertainty [that] characterizes a global situation ofmultivoicedness (complexity) that does not allow a fixation of meaning(ambiguity), that has no superordinate voice forresolving contradictionsand conflicting information (deficit knowledge), and that is to a largeextent unpredictable” (Hermans & Dimaggio, 2007, p. 37).I begin with an outline of future trajectories of the discipline, proposed by prominent sport psychologists in North America, and focus on a brief *

Forward correspondence to:Tatiana V. Ryba, PhD, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, P.O.Box 35 (Viveca), FI40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Email: [email protected]

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theoretical articulation of the intersection of applied sport psychology and cultural studies as one of the possible approaches to future work in sport psychology. Next I illustrate how the hegemonic origin story of the field (i.e., the American genealogy with Coleman Griffith as a father figure) limits its discourse and practice. After that I offer five strategies that can be used to facilitate one’s engagement in a critical multicultural project of sport psychology in applied setting. I conclude with a call for increased interdisciplinarity and the incorporation of transnational trajectories into a North American sport psychology.

FUTURE TRAJECTORIES The late 1990s and turn of the 21st century witnessed sport psychologists ruminating about the future of the discipline. Performance enhancement and mental coaching were firmly established as the primary emphasis of the sport psychological theory and practice. This, in combination with a consideration of the athlete as a unified individual, the utilization of quantitative research methods, and an accepted divergence of academic and applied sport psychology, constituted the mainstream psychology of sport that, arguably, hegemonically exists to the present day. However, there are a number of current developments and proposals (interdisciplinarity, consideration of gender and power issues, etc.) that have begun to introduce new, distinctly untraditional trajectories for sport psychology. Silva (2001), therefore, observed that “[s]port psychology is at a vital crossroads;” and that “[d]ecisions made in this decade will determine the future…growth of sport psychology on a global level” (p. 830). As a result, a number of prominent scholars in the field have attempted to predict future trajectories for sport psychology (c.f., Silva, 2001; Williams & Straub, 2001) and many of them point to new directions rather than a continuation of traditional approaches and characteristics. Figures like Daniel Gould, Terry Orlick, John Silva, and Robert Weinberg, for example, appear to be in agreement that sport psychology will forge links with other related fields such as exercise science, counseling, and psychology and that strongly interrelated programs or even interdisciplinary programs will emerge as a result. They also anticipate that applied sport psychology will bridge the gap between research and practice, that research will increasingly be conducted in naturalistic settings and sport-simulating lab situations (as opposed to the purely artificial environment of the traditional laboratory), and that there will be a shift toward the educational model, as opposed to the clinical model, of sport psychology consulting (Silva & Weinberg, 1984; Williams & Straub, 2001). Another set of figures, including Brenda Bredemeier, Diane Gill, Vikki Krane and Carole Oglesby, have contributed to the evolution of an emerging feminist sport psychology. These individuals have initiated a new dialogue on the future of sport psychology, one that predicts the growing importance of such issues as interdisciplinarity, gender and social difference in general and issues of power and representation in research and in the field of sport in particular. Their efforts began to open up traditional sport psychology to critical epistemologies and critical forms of qualitative research. It is testimony to the importance and growing influence of feminist work in the field that apart from individual essays, an entire issue of The Sport Psychologist was devoted to the topic of feminist sport psychology.1 1 Gill, D. (Ed.). (2001). In search of feminist sport psychology: then, now, and always [Special Issue]. The Sport Psychologist, 15(4). This special issue provides an inclusive overview of various approaches to feminist sport

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In other areas of sport studies, exciting innovative work has been done on the intersection of cultural studies, philosophy, history and sociology of sport. Sport studies scholars such as David Andrews (2001, 2002), Steven Pope (Pope & Nauright, 2009), Jennifer Hargreaves and Patricia Vertinsky (Hargreaves & Vertinsky, 2007), to name a few, injected critical approaches into their fields by undertaking analyses of sporting practices as cultural phenomena, in conjunction with political economy, body politics, ideology, and power relations. In a similar vein, the intersection of cultural studies and sport psychology offers new trajectories for the future work in our field. In this chapter, I draw on my collaborative work with Handel Kashope Wright to discuss the possibility of (re)conceptualizing sport psychology by means of its articulation with cultural studies. Specifically, a heuristic model of cultural studies as praxis, developed by Wright (2001/2002, 2003), is drawn upon to problematise the privileged modern status of sport psychological discourse (i.e., institutionalized, positivistic, white, male, middle class and elitist) and propose a sport psychology as cultural praxis as yet another possible future for the field.

WHAT IS SPORT PSYCHOLOGY AS CULTURAL PRAXIS? Sport psychology as cultural praxis is the discourse and practice that is currently evolving out of a traditional sport psychological discourse. As defined by Ryba (2009), cultural praxis is an active and reflexive process that links theory, lived culture and social action in a dialectical reciprocity. It pushes our singular “scientific” discipline to become one that draws on and crosses a number of disciplines (e.g., sociology, history, and philosophy of science among others). Hence, sport psychology as cultural praxis is interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, focused on issues of sociocultural difference and social justice (with a particular emphasis on a reconceptualization of the athlete’s identity), blends theoretical and practice work together in praxis and favors forms of progressive qualitative research, such as what Lather (1991) has called “research as praxis” (Blodgett, et al., 2008; Ryba & Wright, 2005). It is significant to note that inter/anti/post/disciplinarity are integral characteristics of cultural studies. Interdisciplinary projects within a cultural studies paradigm display a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches since the investigated issues are considered to be more important than the disciplinary constraints placed on what questions one can ask and examine within an individual discipline. When cultural studies intersects with sport psychology, the resulting articulation2 pushes sport psychology out of a “theoretical and methodological monoculture, which is still too dominant in our field” (Stelter, 2005, p. 15), into becoming an aspect of multicultural inter/anti/post/disciplinarity. “Doing” sport psychology as an interdisciplinary multicultural project opens up the field to new research topics and pressing questions facing contemporary sporting culture. In addition, this psychology research. The contributors are Diane Gill, Carole Oglesby, Ruth Hall, Vikki Krane, Brenda Bredemeier, Diane Whaley, Christy Greenleaf and Karen Collins, Tamar Semerjian and Jennifer Waldron, and Emily Roper. 2 In a cultural studies sense, the concept of articulation means both to speak to something and to “make a unity of two different elements, under certain conditions. It is a linkage which is not necessary, determined, absolute and essential for all time” (Hall 1986, p. 53).

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theoretically and methodologically expansive version of sport psychology provides a vantage for addressing effectively psychological issues that are understood in relation to dominant cultural narratives in which we live. One of the effects of the articulation of sport psychology with cultural studies (which has been increasingly informed by poststructuralist and postmodernist theorizing) is that the (re)examination of identity in general and the identity of the athlete in particular becomes a central concern. Sport psychology, as a discourse that “focuses on the individual” (Gill, 2000, p. 228), is intimately connected to the theorization of the athlete’s identity and subjectivity. Thus, the way the individual (or in poststructuralist terms, the subject) is theorized is not merely central to the psychology of sport but also determines the focus of its research and practice. The poststructuralist perspectives (e.g., Butler, 1990; Foucault, 1982, 1995; Weedon, 1997) offer a theorization of the subject, which is radically different from the liberal humanist perspective that is central to Western academic and civic discourses and is still taken for granted by the dominant sport psychological discourse. Instead of essentializing aspects of the “self,” scholars influenced by various poststructuralist theories explicate the role of competing discourses in temporarily “fixing” subjectivity on behalf of particular power relation and social interests. By suggesting that subjectivity is fluid, poststructuralist theorizing opens subjectivity to change and transformation and has much to offer sport psychologists in terms of enhancing their understanding of athletes’ sporting experiences as well as developing new forms of therapeutic interventions (see Leahy & Harrigan, 2006 and Thorpe, 2008 as examples of this work). Generally speaking, sport psychologists tend to operate with a psycho-social view of the individual and to rely on the interactional mode of analysis. Weinberg and Gould (2003), for example, proposed three levels of personality structure (i.e., the psychological core, typical responses and role-related behavior) that encompass an “internal/constant – external/dynamic” continuum. This conception of the individual is consistent with the humanist belief in what poststructuralists would describe as essential subjectivity, i.e., a predetermined authentic essence that makes the subject what he or she is (Weedon, 1997). Humanist discourses of the unified rational subject, who inherently has agency and control over his or her life, stem from the scientific assumptions of reality, objectivity and truth, subscribing to the idea of a singular true reality that can be accessed by means of rationality and modes of scientific thinking (e.g., the psychological core that represents the “real” you can be objectively measured by various psychological inventories). Unlike this disembodied and de-contextualized viewpoint on the athlete, sport psychology as cultural praxis draws on poststructuralist conceptions and, therefore, considers the athlete to be an embodied subject of multiple discourses (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, etc.), a member of numerous social and cultural groups, and a part of sport as an institution immersed in a particular sociocultural and historical context. In a globalizing world society, the fragmentation of subjectivity may result in such multiple identities as an Algerian football player representing English club in an international competition and afterward praying in a mosque; a Kenyan distance runner studying in the United States and teaching salsa to adolescents as a volunteer. Such multiplicity of subject positions, often engaged in tensions, negotiations, and conflicts, come together in one athlete who is both subjected to and an active agent within various discourses. This reconceptualization of identity is one that traditional sport psychologists find particularly difficult to accept and to which they offer considerable resistance. The resistance is perhaps not surprising if we consider that a major

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bulk of graduate coursework consists of modules related to mainstream psychology which, in turn, is a project if modernity centered on the rational and coherent concept of personality. Any suggestion of fragmentation then becomes a suspect of pathological disassociation of personality, leading to abandoning the concept of fragmented identity in flux before a theoretical engagement with poststructuralisms has even started. Sport psychology as cultural praxis challenges us to transgress the comfort of a taken-for-granted “athlete as a whole person” and confront the fact that athletes have multiple, fragmented identities and identifications within various discourses of class, gender, race, sexuality, region, etc., that athletics is a subculture within a larger culture, and that the institutions in which athletes are located attempt to control and mold their behavior. The complex dynamics involved in athletes’ negotiations of their subjectivities within and in relation to these various discourses has a crucial effect on athletes’ lives and performances. Thus, in some ways, sport psychology as cultural praxis intersects with and underscores previously mentioned new trajectories. For example, it involves a move toward interdisciplinarity, a bridging of the gap between research and practice, and the incorporation of gender issues and power dynamics. However, this new trajectory differs significantly in terms of some of its details. First, while it has been predicted and proposed that sport psychology would forge links with related disciplines, such as exercise science, counseling and psychology and might even develop interdisciplinarity, the cultural studies approach makes interdisciplinarity almost a foregone conclusion rather than a mere possibility. Moreover, the links that it promotes are with critical sport studies and cultural psychology rather than with exercise science and mainstream psychology. Second, it has been anticipated that sport psychology might start to incorporate qualitative research methods and, indeed, our field has somewhat opened up toward phenomenological, some forms of narrative and feminist qualitative work. Sport psychology as cultural praxis promotes further feminist, queer, and other explicitly political forms of qualitative research. Third, while feminist sport psychology has opened up the field to the examination of issues of gender and power, especially the empowerment of women, cultural studies has broadened that focus to include sociocultural difference (including masculinity, sexuality, race, etc.) and justice in general and the empowerment of athletes from socially and culturally marginalized groups in particular.

THINKING HISTORICALLY ABOUT THE FIELD Historian Peter Seixas (2003) contends that there is an inevitable tension between using history as “lessons from the past” that serve the present causes, and thinking historically. The latter is a more challenging, confluentengagement of continuity and change in the complex process of evidentiary historical interpretation. Seixas’ assertion underscores the fact that sport in general and sport psychology in particular are not fixed monolithic formations but have a history that reflects sociocultural politics and is related to efforts at social engineering (Wright & Ryba, 2006). In other words, the meanings of sport and sport psychology “always already” have an initial sociocultural purpose that has been shifting over time to reflect dominant social values and cultural practices.

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It appears, therefore, that one way of opening up and diversifying the “monoculture” of our field is to move away from its singular origin and begin to think of sport psychology as atransnational project. Instead of approaching the psychology of sport in its totality using historical examples to legitimize the existing practices, sport psychology as cultural praxis rejects origin stories or essences and disrupts the traditional linear historical narrative by putting forward multiple, competing and shifting narratives and interpretations. As Wright (1995, 1998) has asserted, the point of the resulting multiplicity of origins and historical narratives of a field is not to have readers discern which version is “accurate” but to acknowledge the open-endedness of the field and highlight the politics of historical representation. I argue, therefore, that a modern historical rendering of our field is sustained by putting forward a monolithic, singular history of sport psychology that creates a sense of uninterrupted progress and legitimizes the sport psychological discourse as a scientific model, influenced by natural sciences. Moreover, the long-established privileged status of academic scholarship and research over professional issues and application have resulted in a fostering of sport psychology as a homogeneous positivistic and institutionalized discourse, positioned on the margins of critical multicultural scholarship. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge some earlier work that had critiqued the prevailing scientific model that searches for objective and scientific analyses of human experience in sport. For example, Martens’ (1987) then radical essay challenged the practical significance of the published contemporary orthodox sport psychology texts and questioned the underlying ontological assumptions of sport psychology’s knowledge base that had resulted in the utilization of limited and limiting epistemologies. Similarly, in his earlier analysis of the then current status of sport psychology, Alderman (1984) contended that “research and statistical techniques [were] emphasized as the major contribution” and “the concepts explored [were] usually those which [were] easiest rather than those of theoretical importance” (p. 47). Although Alderman and later Martens tended to question the validity of a number of scientific assumptions, specifically the notion of truth and objectivity, they were yet inextricably connected to the humanist project of modernity. Today we need to face the reality of our rapidly changing (post)modern sport and exercise culture in a global context. Consider, for example, the following snapshot of our sociocultural world in flux: •

• •

Globalization and technological advances have constructed a hyper-real illusion of the unified world, which is strikingly divided along the sociocultural and geographical axes of power. Some globalization issues that are relevant to our field include transnational sporting corporations, global production and consumption of athletic bodies and celebrity spectacles, athletic talent migration and blurring national identities; The fall of the Berlin Wall and break-up of the Soviet Union marked radical political changes in Europe and the world in general; The changing politics of the performing body and its relationship with the cultural shift in masculine and feminine identities as manifested in body modification, tattooing/body art, aggression and violence in sport, use of illegal performance enhancing means and megarexia and/or anorexia;

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New sports budding in our (post)modern hedonistic society that require new kind of sporting facilities and artificially constructed challenges; Finally, as past president of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) Roland Seiler (2005) has observed, physical education in schools is under constant attacks by politicians who aim at reducing PE classes; there are increasing health risks and medical costs associated with physical inactivity and a sedentary life style; and a growing number of elderly persons in society than ever before.

Accounting for historical continuity and change while temporarily fixing our analyses in a specific cultural context is important because as Shi-xu (2002) has observed, historically specific social and cultural practices permeate and constitute individuals’ “psychological” worlds. To strengthen the research profile of sport psychology and provide answers to psychological issues that tend to manifest themselves differently when different historical, political and sociocultural forces are at play, it seems viable to situate our work in a broader (but simultaneously more specific) context of international, culturally discursive scholarship. Positioning ourselves inside/outside the existing discourse of sport psychology and moving beyond the disciplinary boundary that confines and is confined by the work we dare to undertake, opens up new avenues and exciting possibilities for the field in general and scholarly work in particular.

PRACTICING A CULTURALLY SENSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT The starting point of sport psychology as cultural praxis is to work with the broad elements of theory, practice, and research, with an emphasis on critical forms of research that bridge the dichotomies between theory and practice, abstract text and lived culture. This understanding of sport psychology highlights the multidimensionality of the practitioner who attempts to stay abreast of theoretical developments in the field to inform his or her practice while reflecting on knowing-in-action, which is mostly tacit and revealed through the spontaneous behavior of skillful practice. According to Schön (1983), “When someone reflects-in-action, hebecomes a researcher in the practice context. He is not dependent on the categories of established theory and technique, but constructs a new theory of the unique case” (p. 68). Becoming a culturally reflexive practitioner is a process similar to that of an action oriented qualitative inquiry and requires both time and effort. The process is also dialectical during which the practitioner develops sensitivity to the epistemological challenges of adapting psychological constructs to the parameters of local cultures. In research, the benchmark work in the area of a culturally sensitive sport psychology is being done by Robert Schinke and colleagues in collaboration with a Canadian Aboriginal community, the Wikwemikong. Although the project began as a traditional research investigation into adaptation strategies of elite Canadian Aboriginal athletes who train and compete within the mainstream sport system, the prolonged engagement of the academic research team in the mundane everyday of the reserve and the white scholars’ willingness to learn from the indigenous co-researchers have transformed the project into a timely cultural praxis work. By encouraging community members to take an active role in and the ownership of research, the research team succeeded in mobilizing resources and expertise to address

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pressing health and well-being issues of Wilkwemikong youth (see Blodgett, et al. (in press) and Schinke, et al. (in press) for reflexive reportsabout the progressive integration of Wikwemikong’s cultural practices in successive multicultural projects). In applied setting, a culturally reflexive practitioner also draws on theory and research, negotiated through lived culture, to engender personal transformation and social change. The following five strategies demonstrate how theory and research, articulated with local specificity, facilitate a culturally sensitive practice of sport psychology.

Strategy 1: Learn about Sport Psychology’s Status Quo The first step in the direction of a culturally reflexive and just practice in sport psychology is to learn about the field’s status quo. Most introductory sport psychology and research methods texts are influenced by the tenets of logical positivism and rely upon scientific methods of inquiry. Yet the philosophical assumptions underpinning positivist knowledge claims are rarely discussed, presuming no priori logic. It is not surprising then that we tend to readily legitimize mainstream sport psychology theory and practice, which are grounded in hidden and seemingly indisputable premises of logical positivism. Consider, for example, how the notion of validity is used in sport psychological research. Validity that was conceived within positivism and is procedure-driven in its enforcement of scientific rigor is incompatible with social constructionism, which provides epistemological grounds for most qualitative inquiry. Despite, numerous arguments put forward by qualitative researchers to renounce validity in qualitative inquiry (see Kvale, 1989; Lather, 1986; Sparkes, 1998), one cannot publish a qualitative study in sport psychology journals without appealing to parallel notions of validity and, therefore, perpetuating what Lather (1993) called a “fertile obsession” with validity (p. 674). Exploring the current prevailing paradigm and its conceptual premises, assumptions, and beliefs that guide our methodology and overall thinking about various psychological issues, will help us to realize the uses and limits of the mainstream knowledge base. Once we realize that knowledge is “always already” from a certain perspective, we might be able to gain an insight into the status quo’s organizing purpose. Highlighting Voltaire’s point that “history is written by the victors,” Vealey (2006) has elaborated on this issue. Once a paradigm, or a “box,” is entrenched, there is a tendency to sit back and enjoy the bounty, to retreat to the security of established methods and questions within the box, and each day to rediscover the validity of hard-won but now well-worn principles”(p. 129). It is necessary, therefore, not only to learn the “facts” of research-based knowledge but to understand the belief system from which these “facts” have emerged.

Strategy 2: Seek Alternative Perspectives The second strategy encourages us to read outside the discipline of sport psychology. Despite the increased calls advocating for an interdisciplinary approach to sport and exercise psychology, our field remains quite narrowly specialized and grounded in conceptual premises of logical positivism. Exploring competing perspectives inside and especially outside the discipline, such as those suggesting that “scientists construct an image of reality

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that reflects their own preferences and prejudices” (Schutt, 1999, p. 393), might help us to understand how sport psychology can disempower particular groups of the sporting community. A reflective analysis of the conceptual systems operating beneath the surface of both the mainstream and other ways of knowing can further help us to clarify our own existential and epistemological positions. Just as the social sciences feature epistemological pluralism, there are conflicting paradigms of professional practice, “each of which entrains a distinctive approach to problem setting and solving” (Schön, 1983, p. 41). For example, within the positivist model of practice, rigorous professional knowledge is viewed as the effective application of research-based theory and technique to the problems of practice. Many practitioners are bound by this epistemology of practice in a context of the Western performance ethic, which Coakley (2004) takes to mean that performance has increasingly become a “measured outcome and an indicator of the quality of the sport experience” (p. 133). If that is the case, we might be narrowly focusing on carving the disciplinary track of psychological dimensions of human behavior, overlooking the importance of the social and cultural context (Coakley, 1992; Gill, 2002; Hardy, 2006). The excessive pressure to win at any cost and a subsequent single-minded focus on performance enhancement issues might lead to an objectification of the athlete insofar as the athlete’s body is viewed as an instrument that needs to be worked and fine-tuned to achieve a desired outcome. If we broaden our view of the rigorous professional knowledge to include the intuitive and artistic ways of coping with messy and uncertain situations of practice, we might realize that our way of framing the practitioner’s role is also shifting. Shall we practice sport psychology rigorously in disciplining the athlete’s mind and body to compete through pain and injury? Or shall we forsake technical rigor to take account of critical social issues that beset the world of sport today? The process of trying to position ourselves in highly contested belief systems that come with blurred boundaries and multiple ambiguities is longitudinal, ambivalent, and even anxiety-provoking. The value of the effort, nonetheless, is that we (re)emerge as reflective practitioners with a stronger sense of professional integrity and heighten awareness of diversity and richness of knowing.

Strategy 3: Become a Researcher in the Practice Context The third strategy is to approach the real world problems as a researcher, shifting the focus from problem solving to problem setting. How do we assess a problem? Do we let the phenomenon (or fact) speak for itself? Or do we see the experience itself as an effect of multiple discourses of gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, (dis)ability, etc? What professional discourses make our views intelligible? Do we tend to hold the individual athlete responsible for her actions? Do we consider power relations in our assessment of the problem? And do we acknowledge the possibility of our contribution to the problem, predicated on largely unacknowledged privileges? When the practitioner asks these kinds of questions due to his or her concern with the research process (i.e., problem setting) as much as with obtaining the findings (i.e., problem solving), the practitioner is known to be engaged in reflexivity. As defined by Schwandt (1997), reflexivity includes “examining one’s personal and theoretical commitments to see how they serve as resources for generating particular data, for behaving in particular ways…and for developing particular interpretations” (p. 136). I assert

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that reflexivity, both epistemological and personal, is a crucial piece in the process of efficient engagement and service delivery to marginalized populations. Strategies 1 and 2 aim at mapping our beliefs and conceptual presuppositions to a particular epistemological paradigm. Enhanced by epistemological reflexivity, plunging into multiple layers of the self through personal reflexivity can help us to become more attuned to our own ways of doing things, which are likely mediated through unearned privileges as well as those gained due to our playing by the rules. In addition, this process might result in genuine realization that our cultural norms are not universal; and that there are alternative normative systems that shape behavior and largely constitute cognition. When we become researchers in the practice context, we in a sense keep track of two simultaneous research projects: one into construction of a problem (e.g., what piece of information warrants a further exploration?) and the other into the self (e.g., what values and experiences shape my understanding and interpretation of the problem as well as my consequent decisions?). Such a model of knowing, while theoretically informed, is not bookish but constructed by means of reflection on our intuitive knowing and capacity to cope with the unique, uncertain, and conflicted situations of practice.

Strategy 4: Develop Meaningful Communication The fourth strategy is to work towards achieving meaningful communication with our clients. When I think of what it means to be culturally competent, I have more questions than answers. Even if we assume that culture can be learned, how can we familiarize ourselves with all variations within a culture— not to mention the dynamic hybridity of gender, class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, spirituality, education, geographical location and so forth? In addition, growing global mobility produces intensified cultural contact between “global” culture and various “local” cultures and is sometimes manifested in dramatic behavior transformations that cannot be attributed to any “original” culture. While basic understanding of alternative ways of knowing is certainly important, the only way to learn and attain an empathetic understanding of the worldview of the other seems to be through a meaningful dialogue. Moghaddam and Studer (1997), for example, contended that the concept of “meaningful dialogue” is universal (i.e., there is enough similarity in a human society to create some psychological universals that are present across cultures such as having two persons for a dialogue to occur). However, they argued, “the norms of turn-taking [in verbal and non-verbal communication] are enormously various, expressing the widely different rights accorded to speakers and potential speakers in different cultures” (p. 198). For there to be a meaningful dialogue then, the two parties concerned have to operate at the same wave length. This does not mean that both speakers share the same cultural norms but are in the process of attaining a sharable language. Understanding is linguistically formed and always relational (Schwandt, 2000). As Schwandt has further explained, “in the act of understanding there are not two separate steps—first acquiring understanding; second, applying that understanding. Rather…understanding is ‘lived’ or existential” (pp. 195 - 196). Once again, our focus shifts from problem solving (i.e., resolving the problem of miscommunication) to problem setting (i.e., clarifying the conditions under which understanding takes place). Using this approach,

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our search for a sharable language transforms (or attempts to transform, at the very least) the information gathering dialogue into shared experience. I further assert that meaningful dialogue does not occur automatically. For the dialogue to break down the inherent power hierarchy between us, practitioners of sport psychology and the minority (in terms of power) athlete, that breakdown has to be purposefully planned and actively pursued with a view to mitigating power imbalances. A good starting point would be letting go of Eurocentric exoticization of the other as bizarre, strange, or very different and resisting the “dual temptation of facilely assimilating what others are saying into our own categories and language without doing justice to what is genuinely different, or simply dismissing what the other is saying as incoherent nonsense” (Sparkes, 1998, p. 382).

Strategy 5: Engage in Cultural Praxis The fifth and final strategy advocates addressing issues of social justice through the coparticipatory and transformative professional practice. Cultural praxis fosters progressive social change in our field by means of demystifying power relations and challenging assumed normative systems of the lived culture. According to Freire (1970, 1985), human reality is not static and a given destiny, but rather fluid and transformable. At the centre of his understanding of praxis is education that serves as a catalyst for reflecting on the conditions of our lives and becoming agents of social transformation for ourselves and society as a whole. Mastering performance enhancement techniques such as concentration, for example, can be an incredibly empowering process for athletes. As they learn to recognize an instant they are losing their mental alertness and to re-focus, effectively allocating an appropriate attention field, they transform the way they are positioned in the competitive sporting environment. These athletes are no longer blindly accepting or adjusting to the opponent’s game, but are creating the conditions in which seemingly effortless excellence is demonstrated. A performance enhancement intervention can also be our pedagogical moment to help athletes to realize that they have agency in their dealings with oppressive and controlling sporting structures. As Ryba and Wright (2005) pointed out, a cultural praxis version of sport psychology does not suggest that teaching performance enhancement techniques is wrong or ought to be abandoned. Rather, it calls for creating a space for both performance enhancement and individual empowerment, with an aim of progressive social transformations to occur. From the perspective of cultural praxis, our clients are the experts on their own experiences. By engaging in meaningful dialogue, they provide insight into the condition of their experience. Our role is to share our understandings and interpretations, deepening the dialogue and opening it to new possibilities of meaning. Our role shifts from being the expert who shapes minority athletes’ responses to hegemonic normative systems in the name of athletic success to a co-participant in the collaborative process of learning, reflection, critical awareness, and intervention.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS In this chapter, I introduced a cultural praxis discourse of sport psychology, which is interdisciplinary, fundamentally contextual, and culturally reflexive; focuses on issues of sociocultural difference and social justice; critically rearticulates personality as the product of historically specific, discursive sociocultural relations; and blends theoretical and practice work together in praxis.Sport psychology as cultural praxis contributes to bridging the dichotomies between academic and applied work, theory and practice, text and lived culture. Moreover, while recently emerged existential and feminist epistemologies of sport psychology have opened up the field to the incorporation of qualitative research methodologies and examination of issues of gender and power, especially the empowerment of women, cultural studies has broadened that focus to include other forms of qualitative research and examination of sociocultural difference and justice in general and the empowerment of athletes from socially and culturally marginalized groups in particular. Next, I demonstrated that the way our field is historicized shapes and naturalizes our belief of what constitutes legitimate work in sport psychology and influences our research approaches and theoretical frames. The taken-for-granted singular history of the positivistic model of sport psychology polices its disciplinary boundary and limits our ability to pose questions that don’t neatly fit within the traditional discipline. When we position ourselves inside/outside the traditional disciplinary boundary, we might become more responsive to alternative ways of investigatingpsychological phenomena that account for the diversity of meanings and experiences of the sociocultural world. Interestingly, the European sport psychological discourse which is constructed on the juxtaposition of national histories and has to accommodate the variety of cultural narratives and social perspectives appears to be more open towards new approaches, methods and conceptual models than its North American counterpart.3 Finally, in an attempt to foster a culturally sensitive sport psychology, I offered five strategies for an effective and just delivery of sport psychology services to culturally diverse populations. It is my hope that by learning about the field’s status quo, seeking alternative perspectives inside and especially outside the discipline, approaching real world problems as a reflexive researcher, working towards attaining a sharable language with diverse cultural groups and engaging in cultural praxis work, we will be better equipped to achieve a democratic, culturally reflexive, and just practice of sport psychology.

REFERENCES Alderman, R. (1984). The future of sport psychology. In J. Silva & R. Weinberg (Eds.), Psychological foundations of sport (pp. 45-54). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Andrews, D. L. (2001). Michael Jordan, Inc.: Corporate sport, media culture, and late modern America. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

3

As an example, the theme of the 11th European Congress of Sport Psychology (2003) was “New Approaches to Exercise and Sport Psychology: Theories, Methods and Applications.” The Congress invited scholars in sport sciences to submit papers that were “conscious of the changes and challenges of our time.”

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Andrews, D. L. (2002). Coming to terms with cultural studies. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 26, 110-117. Blodgett, A. T., Schinke, R. J., Fisher, L. A., George, C. W.,Peltier, D., Ritchie, P. et al. (2008). From practice to praxis: Community-based strategies for Aboriginal youth sport. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 32, 393-414. Blodgett, A. T., Schinke, R. J., Fisher, L. A., Yungblut, H. E., Recollet-Saikkonene, D., Peltier, D., et al. (in press). Praxis and community-level sport programming strategies in a Canadian Aboriginal reserve. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble. London: Routledge. Coakley, J. (1992). Burnout among adolescent athletes: A personal failure or social problem? Sociology of Sport Journal, 9, 271-285. Coakley, J. (2004). Sport in society: Issues and controversies (8th ed.). Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill. Foucault, M. (1982). The subject and power. In H. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow (Eds.), Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics (pp. 208-226). Brighton, England: Harvester Press. Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans. 2 ed.). New York: Vintage Books. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum Press. Freire, P. (1985). The politics of education: Culture, power, and liberation. South Hadley, Mass.: Bergin & Garvey. Gill, D. (2000). Psychology and the study of sport. In J. Coakley & E. Dunning (Eds.), Handbook of sports studies (pp. 228-240). London: Sage. Gill, D. (2002). Gender and sport behavior. In T. Horn (Ed.), Advances in sport psychology (2nd ed., pp. 355-376). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Hall, S. (1986). On postmodernism and articulation: an interview with Lawrence Grossberg. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 10(2),45-60. Hardy, L. (2006). Commentary on Walker, Kremer and Moran. Sport and Exercise Psychology Review, 2, 40-43. Hargreaves, J., & Vertinsky, P. (2007). (Eds.) Physical culture, power, and the body. London: Routledge. Kvale, S. (1989). To validate is to question. In S. Kvale (Ed.), Issues of validity in qualitative research (pp. 73-92). Sweden: Studentliterature. Lather, P. (1986). Issues of validity in openly ideological research: Between a rock and a soft place. Interchange, 17, 63-84. Lather, P. (1991). Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the postmodern. London: Routledge. Lather, P. (1993). Fertile obsession: Validity after poststructuralism. The Sociological Quarterly, 34, 673-693. Leahy, T.,& Harrigan, R. (2006). Using narrative therapy in sport psychology practice: Application to a psychoeducational body image program. The Sport Psychologist, 20, 480-494. Martens, R. (1987). Science, knowledge, and sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 1, 2955.

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Moghaddam, F. M., & Studer, C. (1997). Cross-cultural psychology: The frustrated gadfly's promises, potentialitites, and futures. In D. Fox & I. Prilleltensky (Eds.), Critical psychology: An introduction (pp. 185-201). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Pope, S. W., & Nauright, J. (2009). (Eds.). Routledge companion to sport history. London: Routledge. Ryba, T. V., & Wright, H. K. (2005). From mental game to cultural praxis: A cultural studies model's implications for the future of sport psychology. Quest, 57, 192-212. Ryba, T. V.(2009). Understanding your role in cultural sport psychology. In Robert J. Schinke & Hanrahan, Stephanie (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology: From theory to practice (pp. 35-44). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Schinke, R. J., & Hanrahan, S. (2009). (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology: From theory to practice.Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Schinke, R. J., Peltier, D., Hanrahan, S. J., Eys, M. A., Recollet-Saikkonene, D., Yungblut, H. E., et al. (in press). The progressive integration of Canadian Indigenous culture within a sport psychology bicultural research team. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith. Schutt, R. (1999). Investigating the social world (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge. Schwandt, T. A. (1997). Qualitative inquiry: A dictionary of terms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Schwandt, T. A. (2000). Three epistemological stances for qualitative inquiry: Interpretivism, hermeneutics, and social constructionism. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 189-213). Thousand Oaks: Sage. Seiler, R. (2005). Epilogue. In R. Stelter & K. K. Roessler (Eds.), New approaches to sport and exercise psychology (pp. 175-181). Oxford: Meyer & Meyer Sport. Seixas, P. (2003). Using the past and thinking historically (Summary of Research). Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia. Shi-xu (2002). The discourse of cultural psychology: Transforming the discourses of self, memory, narrative and culture. Culture & Psychology, 8, 65-78. Silva, J. M. (2001). Current trends and future directions in sport psychology. In R. N. Singer, H. A. Hausenblas & C. M. Janelle (Eds.), Handbook of sport psychology (2nd ed., pp. 823-832). New York: Wiley. Silva, J. M., & Weinberg, R. S. (Eds.). (1984). Psychological foundations of sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Sparkes, A. C. (1998). Validity in qualitative inquiry and the problem of criteria: Implications for sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 12, 363-386. Stelter, R. (2005). New approaches to sport and exercise psychology: Critical reflections and useful recommendations. In R. Stelter & K. K. Roessler (Eds.), New approaches to sport and exercise psychology (pp. 13-30). Oxford: Meyer & Meyer Sport. Thorpe, H. (2008). Foucault, technologies of self, and the media: Discourses of femininity in snowboarding culture. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 32,199-229. Vealey, R. S. (2006). Smocks and jocks outside the box: The paradigmatic evolution of sport and exercise psychology. Quest, 58, 128-159. Weedon, C. (1997). Feminist practice & poststructuralist theory (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Blackwell.

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Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2003). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Williams, J. M., & Straub, W. F. (2001). Sport psychology: Past, present, and future. In J. M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (4th ed., pp. 1-12). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield. Wright, H. K. (1995). Would we know African cultural studies if we saw it? The Review of Education/Pedagogy/Cultural Studies, 17,157-165. Wright, H. K. (1998). Dare we de-Centre Birmingham? Troubling the origins and trajectories of cultural studies. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 1,33-56. Wright, H. K. (2001/2002). Editorial: Cultural studies and service learning for social justice. Tennessee Education, 31/32(2,1), 11-16. Wright, H. K. (2003). Cultural studies as praxis: (Making) an autobiographical case. Cultural Studies, 17, 805-822. Wright, H. K., & Ryba, T. V. (2006). Organized youth sport and its alternatives. In S. Steinberg, P. Parmar & B. Richard (Eds.), Contemporary youth culture: An international Encyclopedia (Vol. 2, pp. 622-626).Greenwood Press.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 10

THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO CULTURAL SPORT PSYCHOLOGY Peter Catina Department of Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University,Pennsylvania, USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY While behavioral differences in sport throughout the world are mainly attributed to sociological matters, various psychological issues shape the mind sets of athletes from different cultures. It is the way in which the individual’s behavior reflects and is affected by different cultures that is the focus of this chapter. Cultural sport psychology provides much insight for coaches, athletes, and sport psychology practitioners to interact effectively with people throughout the world. Presently, cultural sport psychology research has largely been based on cultural awareness and understanding in order to improve the exchanges between people from different cultures. But the theoretical implications and psychological perspectives of how cultural differences evolve and the effects they have on the individual have not been fully addressed. What follows in this chapter is a theoretical approach from psychology to examining cultural influences on human behavior. Various concepts and psychological mechanisms such as identity, motivation, group dynamics, collectivism, individualism, self-complexity, and self-concept will be discussed. In the past, cross-cultural studies were generally viewed as a subcomponent of mainstream psychology and were generally not included in the literature. Today, however, cross-cultural studies report differences that are widespread, and make fundamental challenges to mainstream knowledge. Throughout history, a common thread ties much of this literature together, and that is its overwhelming concern with uncovering universal and culturally specific aspects of behavior. Newly discovered aspects will forge a path for cultural sport psychology to be integrated into mainstream psychology, shifting momentum in our thinking, and changing the way in which we study human behavior. We are already witness to these changes, as we are riding the wave of an evolution in sport psychology (Matsumoto, Weissman, Preston, Brown, & Kupperbusch, 1997; Schinke, Michel, Danielson, Gauthier, &

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Pickard, 2005). The evolution is critical because it strengthens existing connections among athletes and psychologists around the world, and develops new ways of cooperation among scholars and practitioners of sport psychology. The multidimensional roles of a sport psychology practitioner are to analyze, assess, explain, and direct various aspects of sport within the framework of psychological processes. According to the position statement of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (1996), the sport psychologist is interested in athletic well-being and augmenting human performance. This knowledge is then applied to either assessment or intervention. Application techniques such as talent detecting and cognitive testing in the former, and guidance and counseling in the latter. Sport psychologists study behavioral variations in athletes. Variations can be attributed to either individual differences such as personality dimensions, to environmental differences such as the social dynamics within the nature of the sport itself, or to cultural influences which not only have an impact on behavior, but may explain and predict it as well. Within the framework of cultural sport psychology, socio-cultural aspects of the athlete’s environment need to be considered as a possible gateway leading to motivational skill refinement and revision (Schinke, Hanrahan, & Catina, 2009; Schinke, Michel, Danielson, Gauthier, & Pickard, 2005). Academic institutions that wish to incorporate multicultural training into the curricula of sport psychology students, and sport psychology practitioners can gain valuable insight by considering how socio-cultural factors shape the individual. A person’s psychological shaping is a derivative of social contexts (Markus & Nurius, 1987). Simply put, one cannot be a self by one’s self. In order to better understand different psychological mindsets of different athletes, an examination of the cultural basis of these psychological differences is necessary both within and across cultures. For example, Jasinskaja-Lahti, Liebkind, Jaakkola, and Reuter (2006) investigated the social support systems of different groups of immigrants and how variations of ethnic networks affected their well-being. Along with social support systems, myriad intermediary components are essential in transforming desire into action owing to the giant chasm that exists between elite athletes and their non elite counterparts. Dedication, persistence, self-regulation, optimism, mastery orientation, and the ability to endure the extreme pressure of elite competition are paramount to excellence in any sport. As one progresses in athletic skill level, one should never forget what it took to get there. Remember what it was like to think of sport endeavors as a beginner. The beginner’s mind has many options, while the experts mind has few. It is in that beginner’s mind where the theoretical implications of cultural sport psychology are grounded, and it is essentially the particular societal influences on the self-concept of athletes with which this chapter is governed.

CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON THE SELF-CONCEPT The term “looking-glass self” conveys a striking image of the tendency to reflect upon one’s self and one’s characteristics (James, 1890). The evaluation of one’s self is formulated by attending to the information in the environment. The connection I am trying to make between the self-concept and sport psychology comes from the perspective that the environment influences the way in which an athlete sets goals and uses self-referent thoughts

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to achieve those goals. The differences in the internal dialogue or the self-talk of athletes are relative to how different societies and cultures shape the self-concept of different athletes. While research exists on the different strategies of self-talk within cultures, there is little research on the different strategies of self-talk between or across cultures. For example, Papaioannou, Ballon, Theodorakis, and Avwelle, (2004) studied self-talk strategies within a group of soccer players from Greece. They reported that instructional and specific self-talk resulted in better sport performance than general and global self-talk strategies. It would be interesting to pursue a research hypothesis whereby different self-talk strategies were effective based on different cultures and how each of those cultures helped to shape athletes’ perception of social feedback and consequently their self-talk strategies. Similarly, research exists on one’s perceptions of success and failure that are primarily conducted within, but not between cultures. For example, Elliott and Dweck (1988) demonstrated that success-oriented individuals attribute success to high ability and failure to internal and controllable factors such as not trying hard enough. Once more, it would be interesting to see the outcome of such research from a between-cultures analysis. This approach would shed light on how the self is formed in relation to different cultural contexts and how the mind sets of different athletes can be better articulated with regard to their cultural background. The Rogerian theory of personality has an emphasis on the self (Rogers, 1959). The self is described as a conceptual, consistent gestalt, wherein the individual perceives his or her own emotions and characteristics as an extension into the social environment. According to Rogers, the actualizing tendency motivates all behaviors. This tendency enables the individual to strive for growth and differentiation by realizing only positive experiences that maintain or enhance the organism. The self-actualizing tendency uses the criterion which the individual develops to enhance self regard. Rogers referred to this criterion as the conditions of worth. The conditions of worth must defend the self-concept in order to maintain selfconsistency. As a result, self-experiences that are incongruent with the conditions of worth are either denied or symbolized in awareness in a distorted form. For example, an individual has a strong need for a positive self-regard. When a person learns to evaluate different social experiences in terms of how he or she can improve self-regard, then that person has developed conditions of worth. One can easily see how different cultures produce difference conditions of worth. In order to maximize potential, it is important for an athlete to know the content and meaning of the self. The self is divided into two parts, the public part that everyone else sees and the private part that only you see. It is the core of our personality. The word personality is derived from the Greek root “persona,”, which means mask. Since we’re all “actors upon a stage,” then the public self is the mask we wear when we’re playing a particular role in a particular situation. By experiencing different cultures, i.e., different stages, we increase the repertoire of interactions to the environment and enrich our personalities. According to Hanrahan (2004), “Traveling to places where one is an obvious cultural and/or ethnic minority can help people, who in their everyday lives are part of a majority, experience what it can be like to feel different or out of place” (p.72). Much of the success in sport is due to having the ability to adapt to different environments in the competitive arena. Learning about other cultures either by traveling or by reading not only enriches our personalities, but can sharpen the mechanisms we use to react to the complexities of social feedback inherent in different sport environments. For example, I

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trained a highly motivated lifter who struggled 8 years through serious injury and intense pain to one day lift 500 lbs. Every time he went to competition and heard the meet coordinator announce “John is attempting 500 lbs.” he would valiantly get under the bar only to be crushed to the floor like a piece of gum. He failed with this particular weight dozens of times until Worlds was held in Milan, Italy, where the meet coordinator announced his attempt in kilograms. Upon hearing the number 227.5, John got under the bar and sprang up a successful lift with ease. He became elated when he learned that 227.5 kgs. actually converted to 501.75 lbs. Obviously, a psychological block was removed by experiencing competition in a culture where, for John’s sake, the metric system was used during competition. The exposure to a different cultural sport environment influenced John to change his self-talk strategy from one that had repeatedly defeated him to one that incorporated “tricking” his mind into perceiving the weight as being lighter than it actually was.

COLLECTIVISTIC AND INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES What is psychologically important to an individual depends strongly on what is salient to that person’s identity in relationship to the activity in which he or she is engaged. For example, if I lose a game to a superior golfer, I am not quite as disappointed as I would be if I lost a match to a superior lifter. That’s because I don’t identify myself as a golfer to the extent that I do as a weight lifter. The importance of self-identity is more closely associated with individualistic cultures rather than with collectivistic cultures (Williams, Satterwhite, & Saiz, 1998). The importance of identity in close-working relationships like team sports may be greater in individualistic countries than in collectivistic countries, due to work and leisure being more highly differentiated in individualistic countries. Individualistic cultures foster a unique sense of self and autonomy, clearly delineating boundaries between one’s self and others, encouraging the needs, wishes, and desires of individuals over group or collective concerns. Collectivistic cultures, however, foster needs, wishes, and desires of in-groups over those of individuals, valuing harmony, cooperation, cohesion, and conformity (Yamaguchi, 1994). Individualistic people like Americans, are more engaged in self-enhancement and selfidentity than Collectivistic people like Japanese who are more engaged in self-criticism and group-identity (Kitayama, Markus, Matsumoto, & Norasakkunkit, 1997). It is one thing to label cultural perspectives such as collectivistic and individualistic, and quite another to examine exactly how these cultural perspectives psychologically influence the mind sets of athletes. In a cross-cultural analysis of team sports, Catina (2006) revealed a striking similarity in certain measured “illusion of control,” a particular component of optimism, making a strong connection across all the cultures sampled. Given that social contexts shape our personalities, it stands to reason that different cultures i.e., collectivistic and individualistic cultures, affect our mind sets. Within the study it was indicated that “illusion of control” was extremely prevalent in athletes across all cultures measured. Given this empirical evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that athletes from countries such as Norway, Croatia, and the United States, for example, behave in an individualistic manner with identity as a prominent feature. In fact, the importance of self-identity has been shown to be very high in cultures that are individualistic by majority. (Williams, Satterwhite, & Saiz, 1998). However, it is important to note that the populations in each of these countries contain

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minorities who are collectivistic in nature, and this should be considered when coaching and consulting sport teams that may have this element of diversity. While self-identity can stem from passively receiving social feedback, logically, it can evolve by actively seeking it. Athletes from individual minded cultures may perceive social feedback in such a way that it is more directly related to the psychological core of the self. Attending to feedback from fans, coaches, media, and significant others without screening out these variables may have different effects on identity formation than athletes from collective minded cultures who more selectively seek out social feedback from sources they believe will sustain or enhance the relationships in the group. Obviously, it is not always possible to regulate social interaction, but is seems plausible that collective minded athletes who actively seek social support with the interest of the group at heart, might be able to minimize psychological stress and maximize group performance. The contrast between how western and non-western cultures affect identity can be seen as follows: Individualistic cultures give priority to goals that are related to the identity of the individual so when these athletes experience failure it may affect their self-esteem more profoundly than collectivistic cultures giving priority to goals that are related to the identity of the group which may buffer or minimize negative effect on self-esteem because it is absorbed more evenly throughout the community. Further investigation is needed in this regard not necessarily to determine which cultural approach is better, since it is likely that both individual minded and collective minded strategies arrive at the same destination of athletic performance, but understanding more clearly what the underlying mechanisms are for each strategy seems to be the research question. Schinke, et al. (2006) conducted a study where it was found that Canadian Aboriginal elite athletes actively sought out social support from as many as eight different Aboriginal resources. Positive interaction such as this, between athlete and community, satisfies the athlete’s need for consensus in the community. Positive interaction is not always the result of top-down practices in other cultures that may be centered on individual aspects rather than collectivistic aspects of development (Schinke, et al., 2009). Clearly, there are many ways, including, but not limited to socioeconomic status, geography, cultural expression, values, and language proficiency in which culture can have an influence on athletic behavior (Kontos & Arguello, 2005). A study by Kashima, et al. (1995), examined how different cultures (Australia, the United States, Hawaii, Japan, and Korea) influenced the self-concept. The study showed that differences between these cultures are captured mostly by the extent to which people see themselves acting as independent agents, whereas gender differences are best summarized by the extent to which people regard themselves as emotionally related to others. People construct their self-conceptions based on what is available in a culture. Public discourse, including narratives and metaphors, provides the cultural basis of self-construal. According to Bruner, (1991), the self-construal about doing (Agency) does not preclude any self-construal about saying (Assertiveness). When comparing narratives and metaphors in the United States and Australia, there is a theme of individuality. People in such cultures are bound to implement this cultural meaning system to construct their own conception of themselves. Given the prevalence of cultural symbols of individuality, people in Australia and the United States are more likely to acquire a greater number of individualistic selves than those in Japan or Korea, (Bellah, Madsen, Sullivan, Swidler, & Tipton, 1985). The way in which selfcomplexity affects the goal-attainment structures of different athletes would be an interesting

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avenue of sport psychology research, especially if examined under the collectivisticindividualistic lens.

LEVEL OF SELF-COMPLEXITY The structure of one’s self-representation explains why people differ substantially in how extreme they respond to events in their lives (Kitayama, Markus, & Matsumoto, 1995; Matsumoto, 1993; Mohammed & Angell, 2003). Self-complexity in individuals ranges from low to high. The less complex a person’s self, the more extreme the person’s affect and selfappraisal are, be it positive or negative. The more complex a person’s self, the more even handed the person’s affect and self-appraisal are (Wilenski, 1983). When there is a high level of self complexity, there are more aspects that are independent of one another. High selfcomplexity enables a person to maintain positive feelings about some aspects, which act as a buffer against negative events in other aspects of the self (Linville, 1985). An athlete’s goals can exhibit a high degree of self-complexity. They are personal strivings to becoming a “possible self.” Possible selves are images of one’s self in the future, which have motivational qualities (Markus & Nurius, 1987). According to Sheldon and Emmons (1995), goalintegration is the extent to which the athlete’s strivings are helpfully linked to the possible self. The problem when strivings are not coordinated with possible selves is that by “putting too many eggs in one basket,” athletes may suffer by not having enough distinct roles to buffer against failure. Within nearly every culture there are success stories of how particular athletes devoted their entire lives to getting out of the ghetto or overcoming life-threatening diseases to rise to the top of their sport. But, few if any stories are told about those who do not make it to the top and the devastation they must feel because they have nowhere else to go and nothing else to do when they fail. How does culture influence integration or differentiation of personal strivings? The integration of goals may act as a problem-solving strategy posed by increased differentiation. For example, consider the possible self of “collegiate athlete” with no clear method of moving towards it. This person could develop and coordinate personal strivings of making time to practice, earning a college degree, and finding ways to improve physical appearance in order to facilitate the likelihood of becoming the possible self of collegiate athlete thereby enhancing the individual’s sense of achievement and well-being. Self-conceptions can be diverse in and of themselves. When cultural identities, such as being Italian and American or Hispanic and American are added into the equation, the complexity of the self-concept is shaped by an even greater diversity of socio-cultural factors. If these cultural identities are not in harmony with each other, they can create havoc and tension within the self-concept and increase the likelihood of failure. By sifting through the cultural elements, retaining the ones that are harmonious and discarding the ones that are not, the athlete develops a more cohesive self-concept and increases the likelihood of success.

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IDENTITY PROCESSES AND COPING WITH ADVERSITY Recent research on mental health suggests that normal mental functioning is characterized by self-aggrandizing positive biases, namely overly positive self-conceptions, an exaggerated perception of personal control, and overly optimistic assessments of the future (Taylor & Brown, 1988). These biases cannot be thought of as defense mechanisms such as repression or denial because they promote rather than undermine other aspects of mental health (Taylor, Collins, Skokan, & Aspinwall, 1989). Additionally, the mind processes negative information differently, depending on the pervasiveness of that negative information for the self. In such ways, people are able to preserve positive self-conceptions while making adaptive use of negative feedback. Within social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), it is stated that individuals strive to achieve self-esteem through membership in social groups. The positive or negative values associated with these groups are a result of social comparison between one’s in-group and a relevant out-group. A positive identity is achieved if one’s in-group is seen as being different from a relevant out-group in a favorable way. The theory describes three strategies to cope with threatened or negative social identity. Individual mobility is one strategy based on the belief that social mobility is possible and that group boundaries are permeable; one simply leaves the in-group to join the out-group. Social creativity is another strategy of comparing the in-group with the out-group on a new dimension or by changing the value assigned to traditional dimensions or by finding a new out-group to make the comparison. Social competition is yet another strategy of engaging in conflict with the advantaged out-group in order to reverse the social status positions of the groups. Social status positions in United States associated with gender are still archaic in certain athletic domains. For example, I once coached a young South American transfer student who had been heavily involved in a gang. When Veronica came to the United States, she didn’t fit in or adjust that easily. Her parents practically forced her to go to college. She found that being on the Collegiate Powerlifting Team buffered her transition from gang to college student, and she experienced much athletic success having won Nationals in her weight class (132 lbs.) two years in a row and setting a drug-free world record lift of 329 pounds. Especially interesting was the Chilean cultural influence on her athletic mind set. For example, it is not unusual for Chilean women to exude and express their physical strength. Unfortunately, in the United States, gender biases in the weight room are abundant. While in the weight room on her own, putting in extra hours outside of her obligations to training with the team, she asked a rather large imposing young man if she could work in with him as he was lifting in the squat rack. He said, “No, because I don’t want to take all this weight off the bar to let a girl work in with me.” She replied, “That’s okay, I didn’t want you to take weight off the bar for me to lift, I want you to put more weight on the bar.” Although I witnessed this from a distance, I laughed out loud when I saw the young man grab his weight belt and promptly leave the gym with his tail between his legs. For Veronica, the process of identity she displayed was linked to her Chilean background. She simply thought it would be better to share the equipment and had no conception that her physical prowess would be potentially threatening to a North American man. Her involvement in the task was free from the primitive-based impulses of aggression

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and sexuality displayed by the meathead in the gym. She was there to train her body; not her ego.

GROUP DYNAMICS AND PSYCHO-SOCIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT It is interesting to note how culture influences play among children. Much can be learned from this perspective since it is not unreasonable to view sport as a logical outgrowth of play. In older cultures, children play more hierarchical games involving status, power, and aggression. In newer Western modern culture, children play fewer status games; there is less physical aggression with a greater emphasis on organized games. But in Western gang life in socioeconomically deprived areas there is a preference for hierarchical relationships involving power and aggression reverting to a much older cultural form than the more egalitarian contemporaries of North American mainstream. Games in different cultures often mirror that particular society. For example, Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback. The goal is for the skilled riders to grab the carcass of a headless goat or calf while sometimes riding at a full gallop, and then get it clear of the other players and pitch it across a goal line or into a target circle or vat. Even though it's known as a popular Afghan sport, Buzkashi is a popular game among the south Central Asian nomads such as the Hazaras, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Dungans, and Turkmens. Competition is typically fierce, as other players may use any force short of tripping the horse in order to thwart scoring attempts. Even more rugged on the far side of the mountain barrier Hindu Kush near the Soviet border, one hundred Turkmen and Uzbek play it without any reference to the Olympic Federation rules. There are no sides at all; each man pitted against the rest. The best horsemen, called chapandez, play before the King on his birthday (Sutton-Smith, 1968). An incisive analysis of Afghan political dynamics demonstrates how play and politics, ordinarily perceived as separate activities, can interpenetrate one another (Azoy, 1982). Buzkashi continues to prove itself to be an apt metaphor for ongoing Afghan political control and chaos. The ways in which sports are played within a society mirror that society. While the sport of Buzkashi reflects Central Asian society, it also reflects the collective interaction of small group dynamics. The elements of leadership, power struggle, power shifting, cohesiveness, and decision making are inherent in both smaller scale sport team environments as well as in larger scale societal environments.

POSITIVE ILLUSION AND MOTIVATION Some people appear to be motivated by competition. The reasons why some people tend to be more competitive than others have been identified by Franken and Brown (1995). For some, it is to improve their performance. For some, it is important to win. For still others, it is to increase motivation. Furthermore, two personality measures have been linked to goaldirected behavior: hope and optimism. The case has been made that optimism is associated with success or winning. More specifically, optimists explain success using an explanatory style that is characterized as global, stable, and internal and they explain failure using an explanatory style that is characterized as external, specific and unstable (Seligman, 1991).

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When we encounter various stimuli in the environment, we construct certain beliefs about how we feel or what we do next. These beliefs have consequences stemming from the adversity we might come across in our lives. If you learn to change your mental response to adversity from a negative to a positive interpretation, then you can learn to cope with disappointment and catastrophe much better. Since psychological components, indeed, separate elite athletes from their non-elite counterparts, athletic performance is then a function of individual and environment. More specifically, it is a result of the interaction between intrapersonal and interpersonal factors. Intrapersonal factors are those within the individual; they are personality dimensions such as intrinsic motivation, confidence, and positive illusions. Interpersonal factors are those outside the individual and are concerned with social environment elements such as audience, media, and social support networks (Iso-Ahola, 1995). The magic of believing applies to every aspect of human behavior. We have a tendency to behave like the person we believe ourselves to be. It should be obvious to see why there is a direct relationship between self-confidence and success. Confident athletes expect miraculous performances and consequently---they experience them. “Other things being equal, private self-consciousness people emphasize the individual aspects of their identity. They attend more to unshared idiosyncrasies of their particular experiences such as fantasies [positive illusions]...Public self-conscious people tend to identify with groups and see themselves as social beings with shared attitudes and affiliations with others” (Buss, 1995, p. 22, emphasis added).

The term positive illusion represents a multidimensional psychological dimension consisting of the following three sub-constructs: self-aggrandizement, illusion of control, and unrealistic optimism (Taylor & Brown, 1988). Self-aggrandizement is the perception of one's self, one's past behavior, and one's enduring attributes as more positive than is actually the case. Illusion of control is an exaggerated belief in one's personal control, involving the perception that one can bring about primarily positive but not negative outcomes. Unrealistic optimism is the perception that the future holds an idealistically bountiful array of opportunities and an absence of adverse events. These positive illusions are common in mentally healthy individuals and become especially important in the athletic arena (Catina & Iso-Ahola, 2004). The theory of positive illusion has been well established in the literature, but an assessment tool that measures it has only recently begun to be recognized (Catina & IsoAhola, 2007). The implementation of a theory-based instrument assessing the factors that influence levels of success in sport is necessary to understand the role of positive illusion in sport-performance outcomes. Although a host of psychological factors examined in the literature such as anxiety, hardiness, locus of control and intrinsic motivation offers insight into explaining sport performance (Iso-Ahola, 1995), positive illusion has not been fully addressed as a variable influencing favorable outcomes in sport. Since there is a sense of mastery, which can be gained through the use of positive illusion, it stands to reason that there is a strong and positive relationship between the construct of positive illusion and the constructs of self-esteem and optimism. For example, Taylor (1983) advanced that the adjustment process of cancer patients is centered around three themes: a search for meaning in the experience, an attempt to regain mastery over the

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event, and an effort to restore self-esteem through self-enhancing evaluations. Other researchers have found similar attributes. Helgeson and Cohen (1996) suggested the following five psychological mechanisms that facilitate emotional adjustment to having cancer: enhancement of self-esteem, restoration of perceived control, instilling of optimism about the future, provision of meaning for the experience, and fostering of emotional processing. A positive sense of self, a need for control, and an optimistic view of the future facilitate normal mental functioning (Taylor & Brown, 1988). This positive sense of self becomes especially important in the face of threatening social feedback (Naoi, Watson, Deaner, & Sato, (in press); Schinke et al., 2006; Schinke, et al., 2007; Taylor, 1983; Taylor, 1991; Taylor & Brown, 1988; 1994; Taylor & Armor, 1996; Taylor & Aspinwall, 1996). The way in which some personality constructs outlined above are affected by culture may be partially explained by Oettingen’s (1995) research. He conveyed that“members of different cultures might not assign the same importance to these events, they might differ in terms of the valence that they attach to them, or may fail to imagine that these events will actually happen to them” (p. 4).

In the previous reference to explanatory styles, optimists’ attributions were discussed. In contrast, pessimists tend to make internal, stable, and global attributions for negative events. Some helpful examples within cultures follow: When experiencing a negative event such as missing a vault, a pessimist’s explanatory style might be “I missed the vault because I am too short.” Do you see how this is internal, stable, and global? Perhaps a better way to understand this is to replace the word stable with “unchangeable.” That way you can see how this would not lead to success. It only increases negative feelings and anxiety because it cannot be changed. The athlete has now lost the “illusion of control” he or she has over the event. Now let’s look at what an optimist might say: “I missed the vault because I didn’t plant the pole effectively and the rhythm of my stride was off.” Do you see how this now becomes changeable? The pole-vaulter can reflect on the many times he or she had the proper stride in training and now increase positive feelings by re-gaining a sense of control over the event. This leads to goal-directed behavior. It’s really not unlike a student failing an exam and saying “I failed the exam because I’m stupid”. It’s pretty hard to change “stupid.” An optimistic explanatory style would be “I failed the exam because I didn’t study hard enough.” This is changeable. Now the student has a sense of control over the event, and by studying harder can increase the likelihood of success. So, does the self change to accommodate structural change in the environment? Or, does the structural change in the environment change the self? La Place (1954) conducted a study of elite athletes. He found that major league baseball players were better adjusted than minor league players were. However, it should be noted that psychological adjustment might simply be more difficult for the latter group because of the pressure on minor league players to become major league players. While it is difficult to make direct comparisons, it is certainly possible to conclude that athletes have different personality structures than non-athletes (Bandura, 1991; Kontos, & Breland-Noble, 2002; Taylor & Armor, 1996; Tennenbaum, Pinchas, Elbaz, Bar-Eli, & Weinberg, 1991).

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CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY, POSITIVE ILLUSION, AND THE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR There are many causes of behavior, which we can observe but cannot articulate. Positive Illusion may explain what ensues between an individual’s perception of the environment and his or her reaction to or behavior within that environment. In the upper echelons of competitive sport, physical characteristics and genetics alone cannot account for all the variance in athletic performance. Positive Illusion, to some degree, may explain what separates elite athletes from their non-elite counterparts. What differences exist between one sub-group of athletes and another? What cognitive processes are responsible for athletic success and what characterizes these processes? What goes on inside the athlete's mind between perception and action? How do people construct these perceptions? The way in which a positive mindset influences outcome in sport is that the competitive athlete displays an illusion of control and a high expectancy of desirable outcomes, thereby increasing persistence, and facilitating success. Many analysts find obvious ways in which cultures are different. But, the richness of cross-cultural psychology can be increased by finding ways in which cultures are similar, thus, implicating to some extent that athletes are similar, psychologically. The construct of positive illusion has cross-cultural validity and is a universal personality dimension both from a theoretical perspective as well as a practical perspective (Catina, 2006). A plausible reason for positive illusion to be such a strong predictor variable for success in sport is that it may be an evolutionary trait necessary for survival. Evidence suggests that emotional affect constructs like optimism and motivation are more consistent with evolutionary biology than with social constructivist perspectives (Church, Katigbak, Reyes, & Jensen, 1999). The way in which a positive mindset influences outcome in sport is that the competitive athlete displays an illusion of control and a high expectancy of desirable outcomes, thereby increasing persistence, and facilitating success. Situational inputs activate psychological mechanisms similar to how they activate physiological mechanisms. For example, resistance to sunburn is activated only by repeated exposure to the sun; likewise psychological mechanisms are activated only by repeated exposure to the contextual input of certain sport environments such as stress, injury, and adversity inherent in the sports arena. Analyzing human behavior through a cross-cultural lens, Duda and Allison (1990) found that there is a cultural influence on the meaning of sport activity. Ethnic minorities use sport activities to express their own identity even when these groups participate in mainstream sports like baseball.

SUMMARY Culture acts as buffer for adversity by its meaning systems that provide the individual with an explanation for the causes of adversity. This promotes psychological healing, acceptance, and reestablishes the vitality and purpose necessary to move forward in a positive direction. It is important to understand that while many cultures embrace the notion of furthering human development, there are also many cultures that severely restrict human development and adversely affect the quality of life of their people. It is often difficult to

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reverse the prevailing attitudes bestowed on these unfortunate individuals, but that reversal is critical to opening the door for healing and for growth. The explanation for the variance in behavioral practices across cultures requires a precise account of the contextual differences from historical, developmental, and experiential frameworks. One must recognize the notion that not all of the behavioral variances can be accounted for in terms of cultural influences. A deeper subset of cultural phenomena acting on psychological mechanisms needs to be addressed. Recognizing the role of the socially influenced psychological mechanisms will provide a critical foundation for the cultural analysis of sport psychology. Just as culture shapes human behavior; the unique psychological mechanisms of individuals can likewise shape culture.

Recommendations for Cross-Cultural Sport Researchers •

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Since most of the research pertaining to athletes’ attributions for success and failure is from Western culture, it is critical to examine attributional styles outside the USA and other Western cultures. A further examination is needed of how cross-cultural differences in individualistic and collectivistic philosophies affect athletes’ perceptions of social feedback, their identities, self-esteem, and motivational styles. The effects that culture has on behavior in sport are apparent in the literature, i.e. behavior in sport is a reflection of behavior in society. For example, different social systems can have different influences on sport behavior. Look at football and rugby. In many ways they are identical, but in many ways the spirit in which is game is played is radically different. The effects that culture has on the individual are not as readily apparent in the literature. For example, more research is needed on the cultural effects on the individual such as elements of the self-concept and identity processes. Also a comparison of cultural effects on the individual between athletes who compete in team sports and those who compete in individual sports is needed. Hopefully, the theoretical approaches presented in this chapter can be used as a platform to further research and understanding of the psychological underpinnings associated with different cultures and the effects they have on individual athletes within and across cultures.

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Schinke, R. J., Hanrahan, S. J., & Catina, P. D. (2009). Introduction to cultural sport psychology. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp.311). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Schinke, R. J., Hanrahan, S. J., Peltier, D., Michel, G., Danielson, R. Pickard, P., Pheasant,C., Enosse, L, & Peltier, M. (2007). The precompetitive and competitive practices of Canadian Aboriginal elite athletes. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 1, 2, 147-165. Schinke, R. J., Michel, G., Danielson, R., Gauthier, A., & Pickard, P. (2005). Introduction to cultural sport psychology. Athletic Insight. Retrieved January 18, 2009 from http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol7Iss3/IntroductionCulturalSportPsychology.htm. Seligman, M. E. P. (1991). Learned optimism. New York: A.A. Knopf. Sheldon, K. M., & Emmons, R. A. (1995). Comparing differentiation and integration within personal goal systems. Personality and Individual Differences, 18, 1, 39-46. Sutton-Smith, B. (1968). The two cultures of games. In G. S. Kenyon (Ed.), Aspects of contemporary sport sociology (pp.135-147). University of Wisconsin: C.I.C. Symposium Press. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks Cole. Taylor, S. E. (1991). The asymmetrical impact of positive and negative events: The mobilization-minimization hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 67-85. Taylor, S. E. (1983). Adjustment to threatening events. American Psychologist, 38, 11611173. Taylor, S. E., & Armor, D. A. (1996). Positive illusions and coping with adversity. Journal of Personality, 64, 4, 873-898. Taylor, S. E., & Aspinwall, L. G. (1996). Mediating and moderating processes in psychological stress: Appraisal, coping, resistance, and vulnerability. In H.B. Kaplan (Ed.), Psychological stress: Perspectives on structure, theory, life-course, and methods (pp. 71-100). San Diego: Academic Press. Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1994). Positive illusions and well-being revisited: Separating fact from fiction. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 1, 21-27. Taylor S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210. Taylor, S. E., Collins, R. L., Skokan, L. A., & Aspinwall, L. G. (1989). Maintaining positive illusions in the face of negative information: Getting the facts without letting them get to you. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 8, 2, 114-129. Tennenbaum, G., Pinchas, S., Elbaz, G., Bar-Eli, M., & Weinberg, R. S. (1991). Effect of goal proximity and goal specificity on muscular endurance performance: A replication and extension. Journal of Sport of Exercise Psychology, 13, 174-187. Wilensky, R. (1983). Planning and understanding: a computational approach to human reasoning (pp. 112-121). San Diego: Addison-Wesley. Williams, J. E., Satterwhite, R. C., & Saiz, J. L. (1998). The importance of psychological traits: A cross-cultural study. New York: The Plenum Series in Social/Clinical Psychology. Yamaguchi, S. (1994). Collectivism among the Japanese: A perspective from the self. In U. Kim, H. Triandis, C. Kagitcibasi, S. Choi, & G. Yoon (Eds.), Individualism and collectivism: Theory method, and application (pp. 175-188). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 11

THROUGH THE FUNHOUSE MIRROR: UNDERSTANDING ACCESS AND (UN)EXPECTED SELVES THROUGH CONFESSIONAL TALES Kerry R. McGannon and Jennifer L Metz Department of Health and Sport Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY In his edited volume, Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey, Sparkes (2002) outlined how the expanding landscape in qualitative research in a postmodern age presents sport and physical activity researchers with the conundrum of confronting issues of representation, reflexivity, and voice. The emergence of reflexivity as a qualitative research strategy further presents two issues: (1) what are the practical means by which researchers might engage in the process of reflexivity? and (2) how might identity and representation issues in relation to the researcher and research participants be explored to highlight social, political and psychological effects? In the present chapter, we explore these issues by presenting two pieces of reflexive research in the confessional tale genre (Smyth & Shacklock, 1998; Sparkes, 1994, 2002; Van Maanen, 1988). Both confessional tales focus upon gaining access in the research process. While distinct, the two tales converge on the themes of ‘access’ as multidimensional, socially constructed, dynamic, contradictory, and infused with power issues, within the context of the researcher’s identities and sport and exercise psychology research (Smith & Sparkes, 2005). We conclude by noting that postmodern confessional tales allow researchers to acknowledge viewpoints outside of their own to unpack complex power relationships in the research process. Acknowledging and unpacking power relationships are necessary to empower marginalized identities and groups within sport and exercise contexts toward behavioral and social change that benefits their lives. The reflexive narratives of researcher’s encounters with the intersections between the researcher’s values and the research processes reintroduces the researcher as person into the account. Issues like ethics, gender, race,validity, reciprocity, sexuality, voice, empowerment,

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authorship, andreadership can be brought into the open and allowed to breathe as important research matters. Smyth & Shacklock, 1998, p.1 Within sport psychology qualitative researchers have highlighted the limits of realist tales that present words and actions of research participants as revealing truths about themselves and culture (Gilbourne & Richardson, 2006; Sparkes & Douglas, 2007). The notion that researchers speak from “interpretive omnipotence” uncovering facts reflecting social, cultural and theoretical realms (Sparkes & Douglas, 2007; Van Maanen, 1988) has been problematized because “form and content are inseparable, and how we write about a phenomenon shapes how we come to understand it” (Sparkes & Douglas, 2007, p. 171). Realist tales have been further problematized due to the author’s absence from the text, an omission which hides the researcher’s position of power in relation to the research process (Sparkes, 2002, Van Maanen, 1988). Researchers within sport and exercise psychology (Butryn, 2002; Gilbourne & Richardson, 2006; Greenleaf & Collins, 2001; Holt, 2003; McGannon & Johnson, 2009) and outside of sport and exercise psychology (Bolam, Gleeson & Murphy, 2003; Brackenridge, 1999; Richardson, 1995; Jegatheeson, 2005) have challenged the notion of the researcher as a neutral, disembodied, objective observer, whose presence instead has social and political effects in the research context. The above critiques are important because they create a space for alternative modes of qualitative research within sport and exercise psychology to stand alongside realist tales as legitimate forms of inquiry such as confessionals/writing stories (McGannon & Johnson, 2009; Sparkes 1994), creative non-fiction (Gilbourne & Richardson, 2006), poetic representations (Sparkes, Nilges, Swan & Dowling, 2003; Sparkes & Douglas, 2007) and autoethnography (Holt, 2003; Sparkes, 1996). Such critiques draw further attention to an issue on the margins of sport and exercise psychology that warrants further attention: researcher reflexivity. Researcher reflexivity is an emerging innovation in qualitative methodology whereby investigators situate their own personal identities to explore surprises and undoings in the research process. Self-reflexivity “is the capacity of language of thought—of any system of signification—to turn or bend back upon itself, thus becoming an object to itself” (Foley, 2002, p. 474). The process of seeing the self as one sees others is the first step, with the self becoming the site of analysis and the subject of critique. With reflexivity the mirror is reflected back on itself, and one is then able to “see” oneself in the text. This notion of selfreflexivity, of seeing myself in the text by acknowledging the ways in which I am shaping the text through my thoughts and interactions and even the way I am writing the project, all come under the rubric of self-reflexive research. Saukko (2002) wrote that “reflexivity is a tool to enhance awareness of our situatedness and, subsequently, to be more receptive to perspectives that approach the world from a different position” (p. 88). Reflexive researchers may also explore the ways that particular points of view in the research process (e.g., data collection, data analysis, results representation and write-up) are simultaneously avoided/marginalized and promoted/embraced in light of their own identities (Gergen & Gergen, 2000). In turn, reflexive researchers acknowledge their own field experiences and backgrounds by examining how such interpretations come about, asking themselves, “what do I know, why do I know, and how do I know it?” (Hertz, 1997, p. vii). These questions can be explored in terms of the researcher’s impact on the research process and research participants with the awareness that the research product is a socio-cultural construction within a broader academic field (Bourdieu & Waquant, 1992). For example, a

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Caucasian sport psychology consultant working with minority athletes might ask “in what ways do my own white privilege, social class and social position produce particular power hierarchies? And toward what end do those power hierarchies structure my interactions with, and interpretations of, athletes? How do these same issues structure and limit how athletes respond within the consulting context?” Similarly, a researcher who interviews gay or lesbian athletes to understand their experiences within a particular sport might also ask such questions. Examining these questions in the context of power issues between consultant and athlete or researcher and athlete and the psychological and behavioral effects that result also requires attention to the larger institutions (e.g., cultural capitalism within sport contexts) and social norms (e.g., normative heterosexuality) that contribute toward making spoken and unspoken power differences seem concrete, fixed and unquestionable. In his edited volume, Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey, Sparkes (2002) outlined how the expanding landscape in qualitative research in a postmodern age presents sport and physical activity researchers with the conundrum of confronting issues of representation, reflexivity, and voice. Specifically, reflexivity presents researchers with dilemmas about how to express one’s social position and identity without marginalizing other cultures and identities. However, such dilemmas also provide researchers with the opportunity “to confront the issues of identity and representation and consider how we might develop texts that highlight the problematic worlds we study, our relationships to such worlds, and how we translate them” (Tierney, 1997, p. 34). The emergence of reflexivity as a qualitative research strategy further presents two issues: (1) what are the practical means by which researchers might engage in the process of reflexivity? and (2) how might identity and representation issues in relation to the researcher and research participants be explored to highlight social, political and psychological effects? Toward this end, it has been argued that reflexivity discussions tend to remain at the methodological level, with the practical means by which investigators might go from theory to research praxis (i.e., theory and practice are used to make concrete changes in daily life), needing further development (Bolam, Gleeson & Murphy, 2003). The purpose of this chapter is to show two pieces of reflexive research that focus upon the notion of gaining access in the research process. Through these reflexive tales, the term ‘access’ will be shown to be multidimensional, socially constructed, dynamic, contradictory, and infused with power issues, within the context of the researcher’s identities and sport and exercise psychology research (Smith & Sparkes, 2005). Because the term reflexivity is broad and applicable to multiple genres of qualitative writing (e.g., poetic representations, fictional representations, autoethnography) we will focus upon one reflexive tradition to explore the aforementioned researcher dilemmas: confessional tales (Smyth & Shacklock, 1998; Sparkes, 1994, 2002; Van Maanen, 1988). An exploration of confessional tales is done to add another useful tool to the reflexivity research tool box as opposed to replacing existing tools and/or advocating one genre of reflexive writing over another. To accomplish the above, three central principles of confessional tales will first be outlined. Next, to widen reflexive traditions beyond explication of the researcher’s impact on the research process to include a reflexive awareness of the broader research and sociocultural context, post-modernism will be outlined as a theoretical tool within which to further ground confessional tales. Finally, examples of confessional tales from each author will be

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presented that apply the stylistic conventions outlined with a post-modern sensibility; one from the realm of exercise and one from the realm of sport.

CONFESSIONAL TALES: STYLISTIC CONVENTIONS AND POST-MODERNISM In contrast to realist tales where the author is absent from the text and/or clearly separated from research and culture, consistent with the reflexive genre, confessional tales highlight what is problematic about the notion of a neutral researcher and research process (Van Maanen, 1988). The overarching goal of confessional tales is to reveal dilemmas and tensions in research by way of first-person researcher stories which draw “on personal experience with the explicit intention of exploring methodological and ethical issues as encountered in the research process” (Sparkes, 2002, p. 59).

Three Stylistic Conventions In his chapter on confessional tales in Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey, Sparkes (2002) outlined three main stylistic conventions that often form a back drop for the confessional tale genre of reflexive writing in sport and physical activity research. Based upon Van Maanen’s (1998), Tales from the field, the first of these conventions is that the human qualities of the researcher (e.g., personal biases, vulnerabilities) are shown via the use of the personal, embodied voice of the author. This convention establishes intimacy with readers by creating an “ironic self-portrait” (Sparkes, 2002, p. 59) of the author with whom readers can identify on multiple levels. An ironic self-portrait is accomplished by way of conveying to readers that the researcher is human; he or she gets things wrong and misled at times and is not omnipotent, objective and without feeling. In the second convention, a character-building conversation using a “modest unassuming style” (Van Maanen, 1988, p. 75) is written to portray the author as an active agent, who creates and experiences dilemmas in the research process, as opposed to a passive agent to whom things happen. This convention reveals a learning process about mistakes and surprises that the author willingly and/or unwillingly undertook, and explores how this process affected the researcher’s identities and vice versa, in the context of understanding the participants’ experiences. The final convention – naturalness—(Van Maanen, 1988) is when the confessional tale is symbiotic with realist tales. A confessional tale can be said to have subscribed to naturalness when the tale supports previous writing of the cultural phenomenon that the author studied or published --despite the acknowledgement of tribulations and dilemmas by the author. In this way, confessional tales can stand alongside, rather than in contrast to, realist author-evacuated tales as they elaborate on methodology and expose what went on “behind the scenes” of the final “realist telling” (Sparkes, 2002, p. 61). Naturalness is what further distinguishes confessional tales from autoethnographic tales (i.e., narratives of self), in which researchers create highly personalized and revealing texts/stories about their own lived experiences (Richardson, 1998; Sparkes, 2002).

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In a general sense, reflexive work in the confessional tradition may consist of a story about the research project or fieldwork experiences, keeping a research diary about how the researcher approached a study both theoretically and practically, or includes an exploration of the researchers’ personal biases and biography (Bolam, Gleeson & Murphy, 2003). Sport psychology consultants or exercise psychologists who work in the applied realm can also use confessional tales to acknowledge and explore how their own backgrounds impact the people they work with (i.e., practice), in various ways. While few published confessional tales within sport and exercise psychology exist, examples of published confessionals in the broader sport and physical activity literature have used the three stylistic conventions outlined to a greater or lesser degree. For example, some confessionals have explored important ethical issues such as dilemmas researchers experience about how to gain access, trust and credibility within an ethnographic study of a body builder’s gym (Klein, 1993). Sparkes’ (1994) confessional tale focused on a life history study of a white, lesbian physical educator (i.e., Jessica). This confessional allowed Sparkes to explore how being a white, male, heterosexual shaped his understanding of Jessica’s experiences, as well as how his thinking changed over time as he experienced ethical dilemmas (e.g., silencing teaching homophobia and heterosexism in his undergraduate classes). Four years later, Sparkes extended his confessional tale (Sparkes, 1998) to raise critical questions about the nature of reciprocity in his relationship with Jessica in relation to the research process (e.g., his motives for self-advancement in constructing research accounts, his own need to renegotiate tensions in the research process). In both confessionals, Sparkes raised post-modern concerns around issues of authorship and voice such as how might researchers or practitioners “go beyond paternalistic notions of "giving" voice, towards a view of life history as an expression of solidarity with those who share their stories in the hope of creating individual and societal change” (Sparkes, 1994, p. 17). Thus, reflexive confessional tales can be used by researchers to not only acknowledge their own view points, but the value of viewpoints outside of their own. Such acknowledgement can be further used to reposition research participants as co-participants who are acknowledged as having a stake, and given a voice, in the research process. The ultimate goal of this endeavor is to empower previously marginalized people toward realizing concrete changes that impact their lives. An example of the above in sport psychology comes from the work of Schinke and colleagues (2008) who have reflected on their own identities as outsiders (e.g., sport psychologists, academics, white males) up front to explore how they can enlist Canadian aboriginal sport communities as co-participants who actively partake in the research process. Rather than trying to “study” such a community and impose research goals on them, these researchers work with and for the community to identify what the community dwellers see as important issues within their community and how such issues can be linked to the research conducted. While not within the confessional tale genre per se, this research is important because it shows that an important effect of researcher self-reflection can be the acknowledgement of power differences which can be further used to reposition research participants. In turn, a formerly marginalized community is given a voice in the actual designing of research questions and (re)presentation of research results. By incorporating the voices of research participants in this manner, the end research product is one that empowers and benefits a formerly marginalized community’s needs and wants as opposed to the needs and wants of the researcher (Schinke et al., 2008).

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LOCATING EPISTEMOLOGY: POST-MODERNISM While the above confessional tales are outside of the realist tale genre some forms of confessional tales are more explicitly grounded in post-modernism. Postmodernism can be used to question the notion that any one particular method, theory, discourse, or worldview is the right way to know about people. Truth and knowledge claims about people serve particular interests that are located in local, cultural, and political struggles; although researchers can claim to know something about people, that knowledge is partial, local, historical, and fragmented (Richardson, 2000b). This view of knowledge as socially and culturally constructed and fragmented further means that from a post-modern perspective, people’s sense of self—including the researcher’s---is multiple, shifting and contradictory, as opposed to stable and fixed as is often assumed by realist tales. Researchers are therefore invited to explore ways of knowing to understand how research participants and their own self-related views are simultaneously shifting and contradictory. Researchers can further view themselves reflexively as persons, writing from particular positions within discourse(s) and explore the social and political effects – for themselves and/or for others (e.g., research participants) (Richardson, 2000b). Thus, post-modern confessional tales are attempts to go beyond an inclusion of the author and an acknowledgement of the researcher’s point of view and encourage researchers to further locate themselves within power dynamics of research and/or research relationships (e.g., researcher/researched; researcher/academic politics) and the broader social and cultural discourses that (re)produce them. Within the realm of physical education and teacher education post-modern confessional tales have been used to explore the researcher’s biography and/or research practices in relation to representation issues (e.g., silencing voices of research participants, authorship) and the (re)production of ideologies (e.g., that sexuality and gender are biological givens presented as natural to serve particular interests and subvert others) in the context of the broader webs of power circulating such tensions and conflicts (Brackenridge, 1999; Humberstone, 1997; Pedersen, 1998; Sparkes, 1998). Gilbourne and Richardson’s (2006) recent piece in sport psychology takes a post-modernist approach using creative non-fiction to show different forms/moments of applied sport psychology work in English professional soccer. The applied discussion that emerged from these confessional and creative tales illustrated and critically reviewed in a storied and engaging fashion, how practitioners’ responded to a range of field-related challenges (e.g., enhancing sport performance through caring, ethical dilemmas surrounding disclosure).

SITUATED KNOWLEDGES The process of reflexivity also situates the author(s) within the text by acknowledging their place within the text, their active participation in the creation of the text and the various types of knowledge that emerges from the text. In the words of Haraway, all knowledge is “situated knowledges”- incomplete, partial and reflective of the particular standpoint of the author/researcher/writer of the text1. The god trick of infinite vision unmarred by practical 1

Haraway challenges this notion of “knowledge” as an objective construct and argues for multiple ways of knowing and products of knowing.

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realities of race, class, gender and sexuality, is challenged by the process of reflexivity. It is within reflexive moments that the researcher acknowledges his/her biases and positions those biases and themselves within the larger text. The confessional tale operates as a crystallization of that moment; it is the moment where researchers realize their own situatedness and how it interferes with “vision” of the text/research. This moment is not a failure of “objectivity” as it were but rather an acknowledgement of what it means to be in the text. Because an overarching goal of the present article is to extend the literature in sport and exercise psychology employing a reflexive sensibility, it is these latter forms of confessional tales grounded in post-modernism that we see as a jumping off point for highlighting the need for research exploring researcher identities in the context of ideological, political and power issues in sport and exercise psychology. This point is underscored by the call for critical appraisals of reflexive research genres grounded in post-modernist perspectives within the sociological realm of sport and physical activity (Richardson, 2000a; Sparkes, 2002). In the examples that follow, we explore the first two stylistic conventions of confessional tales via the construction of confessional tales by each author with a post-modern sensibility. Kerry McGannon has constructed two different but related confessional tales using the broader concept of an outsider to explore her researcher identity as simultaneously historical, multiple and fractured within the overarching field of exercise psychology and academic politics. As the term is used in this tale, outsider refers to feelings that one is outside of a group or social circle, as opposed to how the term is often used in ethnographic research (i.e., the perspective of a person who does not share lived experience of a particular culture/society) (Young, 2005). While this latter meaning is related to the former meaning and could have implications for Kerry’s confessional tales, incorporation of the ethnographic usage of the term into this discussion is beyond the scope of this paper. The second sets of confessional tales by Jennifer Metz are excerpts from her dissertation Babes, balls and babies: An auto-ethnography of working motherhood which was a study of working motherhood and professional athletics. Jennifer interviewed 13 professional athletes who were also mothers in Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Women’s United Soccer Association (W*USA) and these interviews were aired on WTCL radio. She interviewed 11 mothers who played in the WNBA during the 2003 season: Annie Burgess, Pamela McGee, Joy Harris Holmes, Olympia Scott Richardson, Sheryl Swoopes, Niele Ivey, Nadine Malcolm, Natalie Williams, Jessie Hicks, Tracey Henderson, and Jackie Moore. Additionally, she interviewed two members of the now-defunct Women’s United Soccer Association (W*USA), Carla Overbeck and Danielle Fotoupolis. During the course of these interviews Jennifer grappled with understanding her own position in the text as a former athlete, as an academic and as a member of the media. In the first narrative Getting AccessTo them and Me Jennifer reflexively has explored the process of getting access and how her own auto-biography allowed her access to her athletes. In the second narrative, Interviewing the Self, Jennifer looks at processes of reflexive interviewing where she is forced to see herself –thoughts, fears, personal biases- while she is interviewing and the resulting confusion and moments of clarity provided by this experience. The overarching goal of both author’s confessional tales is to show how the notion of gaining access within the research field is complex and multi-dimensional. Access is shown to be multi-dimensional in light of the psychological, social, and political effects linked to access experiences and processes. Specifically our confessional tales are constructed to reveal that access in the research process: (1) is personal (i.e., researchers have multiple selves and

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identities -- which are simultaneously "inside" and "outside" in relation to research participants and the research process), (2) connects personal selves to various levels of access in the field (e.g., access to interviewing participants, access to various participant identities, and access to theory and methodology) and (3) reveals the foregoing notions of access are enshrouded in academic politics -- all of which frame and influence each respective level of access (i.e., personal selves, connection of selves to field access, theoretical and methodological). This third and final point impacts what is said by us (i.e., in each of our confessional tales), what is said by our research participants, and ultimately what is silenced (i.e., what goes unsaid) for both researcher and participant.

KERRY’S CONFESSIONAL TALES: TURNING MYSELF INSIDE-OUT My two confessionals are used to show my various exerciser identities as a useful way to understand my early development as a beginning social theorist within the field of exercise psychology during my dissertation research in the year 2000. Though a regular exerciser for over 13 years at the time of my dissertation data collection my struggle with understanding social theory uncovered my previous history and feelings of helplessness as a neophyte exerciser and non-athletic female. Both of these processes—becoming an exerciser and becoming a social theorist-- are characterized by multiple and layered identities connected to past and present identities, which also resulted in contradictory experiences (e.g., enjoyment, anxiety, frustration, fear, embarrassment, elation, doubt, and pride) during my dissertation research. The first confessional tale entitled The Two Keys was constructed in the present from field notes/reflexive journal kept during my data collection, as well as from past personal experiences as a beginning exerciser. The second story entitled Not that you would have any knowledge of this, but it ain’t easy to lose 20 pounds is constructed from field notes, participant interviews with neophyte female exercisers and their significant others (e.g., friends, spouses, children), and an authoethnography excerpt from a presentation at the 2004 Association of Applied Sport Psychology conference (McGannon, 2004).

The Two Keys I had a long walk home and no company, but I usually lone it anyway, for no reason except that I like to watch movies undisturbed so I can get into them and live them with the actors. When I see a movie with someone it's kind of uncomfortable, like having someone read your book over your shoulder. I'm different that way… S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders

There were concrete walls that divided the disciplines of exercise psychology and cultural studies in our department. Ironically, through my dissertation work I was trying to break down theoretical and methodological walls by using theories and methods from the sociocultural realm to study identity and exercise participation in exercise psychology. But I was frustrated because of these concrete and paradigmatic walls – I felt alone on my research journey, yet at the same time I got the feeling it was necessary and supposed to be this way. The methodology (i.e., discourses analysis) and theoretical perspectives (i.e., poststructuralism and ethnomethodology) I was using in my research were new to me and the

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field of exercise psychology. Writing about these perspectives to get ready for my comprehensive exams and dissertation proposal when coming from a traditional social psychology background had been difficult, but applying them to the mountain of interview data seemed even more difficult! There were no examples from exercise psychology in the literature so I drew upon other disciplines within psychology (e.g., narrative therapy) and the socio-cultural realm of sport. At times I found it difficult to translate those pieces of research into ideas that would make sense for the exercise psychology field. I went to my dissertation advisor to tell him how I was feeling and he assured me this was completely normal and that every graduate student goes through fear and doubt; “hang in there”, he said, “it is part of the process”. But I felt afraid I might never finish my dissertation. Taking on these theoretical concepts that were so foreign had already added an extra year to my program of study. I knew it was worth it and I was excited, but I was also afraid that I would never get a job, afraid that I would not finish and afraid that even if I did finish people in exercise psychology wouldn’t take my work seriously. In an effort to help with my intellectual progress, my advisor gave me a key to the “socio-cultural room” (as it was called) so that I could interact with graduate students conducting research using social theory in sport (there was no one studying exercise). And there was more good news: I was also allowed to retain my key to the “exercise psychology lab” (as it was called), where the majority of the research and student discussions were quantitative and grounded in social cognitive theory. I had already held this key for four years and it represented my educational and research background in traditional social psychology. It also symbolized my current struggle with my new found approach to theory and methodology and how to “write up” my research participants and give them adequate voice. My first entry into the socio-cultural room was akin to my first experience with group exercise in 1987: scary, intimidating and afraid that I didn’t know all the right moves and have on the right exercise clothes! No one in the socio-cultural room was mean to me, no one ignored me, and no one mocked my chosen clothes (at least not to my face). But like the first day of aerobics class, I felt positioned in the back of the room or on the sides of the room and of low fitness and stamina. I feared being singled out or mocked by others if I couldn’t keep up! When I was a beginner in group exercise, I also felt like an outsider as I watched other participants approach the instructor to say “hello” and speak to other class participants. Like in the exercise psychology lab, the (all female students) in this room had a shared history and used a particular theoretical and methodological language that was sometimes foreign to me. I understood history and the effects of it, but this feeling of being outside and out of place was compounding my theoretical and methodological insecurity (real or imagined). I felt like I wasn’t a “real social theorist” because I came from psychology—just like I felt like I wasn’t a real exerciser or athlete the first time I entered the exercise class. Despite reading theories and methodologies and doing some course work, these women had been immersed in cultural studies for years. The women finally asked me why I had a key to the room, and I explained who my doctoral advisor was and what my dissertation was about. This was met with either an “Oh” or “great – good luck”, and I felt more supported now that I met some new people(?) Just like after actually experiencing my first exercise class, I found that what I imagined would happen wasn’t quite so bad and that the people in the room were not to be feared – everyone was doing their own thing in a group setting, and no one was looking at me. But the whole experience – in the exercise studio and in the socio-cultural room-- made me look at myself. Finishing my first exercise class still wasn’t great either;

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feeling more mastery over my exercise in public would hopefully come in time when I persisted and mastered more moves…or would it? Meanwhile, over in the exercise psychology lab, for the first time in four years I felt like an outsider amongst the (all male) students as a result of going back and forth between the two rooms. Our research interests were now disparate and I wanted to bridge things so that we could still have research conversations in the lab. But I found that being an outsider in the socio-cultural realm resulted in still not being skilled enough with the theoretical and methodological concepts to communicate to my friends in psychology what exactly I was doing or at least trying to do. I felt caught between both disciplines and on the margins and fringes of both. I was unsure of how to resolve the feelings and tried to rationalize that I was normal despite not feeling normal within either the lab or the room. Again taking me back to that first day of exercise class I realized I didn’t want to tread on anyone’s toes and piss people off in either “the room” or “the lab”, so I might still hang around that back area of both spaces for a while longer, until I figured things out…

NOT THAT YOU WOULD HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THIS, BUT IT AIN’T EASY TO LOSE 20 POUNDS It is 10:00 pm and I just got home from my interview with Sara’s (one of the neophyte exercisers in my study) best friend, Lisa. The interview has me feeling excited, dumbfounded, and guilty. It was a great interview – Lisa was talkative and forthcoming, especially about Sara. But my head is swimming right now not only because of what she said, but because she talked about ME. How did I not anticipate that my own body would matter in this project? I mean I am one of the most narcissistic people I know and love right? I guess I never did anticipate where I would “fit” within the research, and I am upset about it – upset that it does matter, upset how it makes me feel, and upset that I didn’t know enough about the literature to have foreseen such a thing. Sure I was questioned about the “sociology of the body” during my PhD candidacy – but that was THE body, not MY body. Lisa was telling me a story about Sara’s reasons for exercising – “primarily weight loss and to get in shape”. It was a story about Sara trying on size 14 jeans. As she told the story, I could see that she was proud of Sara, she was very animated and she could hardly convey her excitement. But she was also angry because none of Sara’s other friends had noticed her weight loss and how she looked in those “size 14s”. There were many things said in the interview about weight loss and how that was important for physical activity motivation, but this story sticks in my mind because she brought me into it; “I was so proud of her, you could see all her hard work. And it’s not that you would have any knowledge of this, but I’ll fill you in, because there is no way in hell you know, it ain’t easy to lose 20 pounds, it’s not an easy thing”. I didn’t know what to say, so I told her that my sister has lost 70 pounds in the past year on Weight Watchers—I figured this was my naïve attempt at bonding, empathizing, and being an insider who perhaps had a shared (albeit vicarious) experience. What did she know about my struggles? And apparently, I know nothing about her’s either. But I think I do, because I have issues about my own body – don’t all women? Well perhaps not all women, I am sure the fitness instructor might be an extra special case. Fitness instructing does that to you– or at least to me. I guess I finally get what Foucault was saying,

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or maybe it was Butler; the sociological literature on the body is new to me, but I want to read more and more(?) No matter it’s something about, “meanings and texts are written on the body” – people look at you and they make inferences right? I think I had done the same about her when I saw her as well, wondering if because she was heavier, what kind of exercise she did and liked to do. Yet when I began this research on beginner female exercisers and identity, I viewed myself as an insider because I had come from a non-athletic background and also had struggled at one time with becoming a regular exercise participant. But apparently some of the women also viewed me as an outsider because of my body and how it looked. I feel uncomfortable when some of the participants refer to me as not knowing what their experiences are or how difficult it is to lose weight, and that “it ain’t easy” to lose 20 pounds. What did they know of my history? Should I tell them? I didn’t tell them and I wished I had but I was trying to be a good interviewer and let them speak! I had always felt like an outsider from sport and exercise until I became a regular exerciser. I’m not really sure when it began for me, this desire to go from participant to instructor either; I was the annoying person in the front row I guess. And that was MY spot from 1987-1994 – no matter which club, in which city, or what province I was in. I had gone from being scared to enter the room to being the participant who could anticipate the moves before the instructor could do them – which is funny to me because I had never really been athletic or what would be considered good at any sort of physical activity in my life; at least, not in my mind. So when all four of my study participants tell me of their struggles to become active and that they want to be not only more active, but maybe lose some weight and be more athletic, I feel like an insider because I’ve never been athletic. I wasn’t on the sport teams in school. I don’t even remember if I wanted to be on the teams; I’m pretty sure smoking a cigarette in the washroom was more appealing…I certainly liked to watch sports as a kid. And I liked to play…but aerobics…it just proved to be my thing! I am reminded of a conversation Gary (my husband) and I had last week. I have to cut back on my fitness instructing so that I can focus more on my dissertation and I fear gaining weight because I will be exercising less. All four of the women that I have interviewed so far tell me they experience guilt and feel bad about themselves if they eat too much and then miss their exercise session. I can relate to that but they do not know that I can. Rationally, I know it’s insane, because I am still teaching about 6-7 hours a week (down from 10 hours). Plus if I did gain 10 pounds, I would be at a healthier weight most likely. Still I was thinking then, and I am thinking now, that somehow my ass is becoming fatter. I had asked Gary, “honey, do you think my ass is getting bigger now that I’m not teaching so much?” Of course he says its fine, but he never even looked at me when he said it.

JENNIFER’S CONFESSIONAL TALES: GETTING ACCESS-TO THEM AND ME As I write about getting access as a simple methodological problem, I find myself struggling against the ways that my own biography allows me access to the WNBA. I tussle with the fact that I am constantly revealing myself in the text and struggle with the notion that my biography could be as central to this story as the biography of the athletes. I seek to

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unsettle the boundaries of study and find the seams where my own biography becomes an integral part of the narrative I am telling about motherhood and athletes. After all: Personal narrative can educate, empower, and emancipate. . . . Personal narrative can individualize and over personalize; it can normalize, naturalize, and moralize. . . . But telling one’s story as a personal narrative always carries risk, existential and political. (Langellier, 2003, p. 447)

I always hesitate to tell the other story—the story of me. I have avoided it thus far, arguing in my head that personal biography is not germane to the story at hand. Yet, people always ask, how did you get access? Are you a mother? Was it basketball? I began to realize the biography—and perhaps the need for there to be more autobiography—in this ethnography is where I go. I remember my last presentation in Norman Denzin’s class I heard Norm’s bass voice booming off the deep oak planes of the conference table. “The story is with you. It is your story of loss and gain that makes the text interesting. You bring their stories to life.” I watched as the other graduate students nodded. I feared that my work, if written from the personal perspective, would be dismissed as publishable personal therapy and would do a disservice to the athletes whose stories I am trying to share and the mothers whose world I hope to impact. Thus, again I find myself at the crossroads of whose stories to tell and how to tell them. It is my endless bout of circling back to myself.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR Palms sweaty, I pick up the phone. I dial the WNBA’s media representative. She has to be in. I don’t think I can talk to the secretary again. I have to get permission this time to interview all the mothers of the WNBA. The phone rings, and—finally—there she is, her voice richly modulated and professional. Hello, I’m Jennifer Metz, a graduate student at the University of Illinois. I pause and I know in my heart that she has just stopped listening. I pick up the pace—andimworkingona PAUSE FOR BREATH dissertationaboutprofessionalwomensathletics. I know I have lost her even as I begin to run the words together for speed. I know she is thinking, how does this help me? She is kind enough to let me finish. I wipe my sweaty palms on my skirt, and I listen to my heart hammer against my sternum. She pauses, and then —her voice still modulated, but a fraction cooler and far more brisk (think an athletic Mary Poppins) —says, “Well, you have a team list. Go ahead and contact each team individually and they will give you each player’s agent and then you can work with each of them. Thanks for your interest in the WNBA.” I hang up the phone and sigh. Calling each team and each agent will be a fruitless endeavor. I will get one or two to agree and that will only be through incessant wrangling and a good bit of luck. I have seen and talked to enough people to know that “getting access” is always the key and often the biggest hurdle. For the mothers to talk to me, I am going to need the league to be behind this. Sighing again, I know that there are other options, but….The obvious solution for me is to use a radio station to get the interviews. My father had offered this strategy from the start. Go as media, otherwise they won’t listen to you. But what does becoming “Media” mean for academic inquiry? First, would it change the nature of the interviews and the responses that

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the athletes would give? Most likely but was giving up what might be said in anonymous interviews worth possibly losing most of my interviews? Was it really a case of quantity vs. quality or was I just afraid to do it all on air? I had worked in radio over the course of my graduate career and I knew that airing interviews, whether live or taped, carried as Langellier (2003) tells us existential risks nee personal risks. I was going to be exposed. The giggles, the bad questions and the personal anecdotes meant to relax the participant would now be public information. Would my own baby lust show in these interviews? Would my own frustration at not being good enough for the big time be obvious? Worse yet, what if the interviews tanked? It is bad enough for my dissertation but what about a listening audience? However, in the end I knew the only way to get the interviews I wanted was to take it to the radio. A radio station I had worked with in the past, agreed to air the interviews. The radio station was located outside of Tallahassee, Florida and had a strong African-American listening audience. The station is largely a gospel station with evolving sports and political programming. It carries Florida State sports and, most importantly, Florida State football which guarantees the WNBA a certain number of listeners. So after talking with Chris, the station manager, and discussing the protocol for the interviews, I now called the WNBA again, but this time with the full force of a radio station behind me. This time I call the WNBA and tell them, I’m Jennifer Metz from WTCL radio in Tallahassee, Florida, and suddenly everything is rolling. I repeat that I will be using these interviews for my dissertation, and they are enthusiastic about it and say, “We would, of course, love if this was a book.” It is suddenly a whole new ballgame. We are faxed lists of the women who are mothers in the leagues. We are given the contact information for the teams and the individual media personnel, and a memo is sent out to notify the media representatives that the WNBA is behind the Working Motherhood series. Suddenly, the job of calling each team becomes much easier. The first call is to set up an interview with Pamela McGee, a woman who had lost her children in a custody battle because she was a professional athlete. Pam is in and out of the league as I prepare to set up the interview. She is thinking about making a comeback for the Los Angeles Sparks so I call her former team, and with the irony that only happens in the movies, Pam is sitting in the rep’s office. She was involved in a lawsuit and had a gag order, so as I go about my spiel, the rep (who thinks I’m the station manager) asks me for Pam what the interviewer is like, what is her story. This concern is not surprising. They have a legitimate fear of the media from the motherhood perspective. There is, after all, the radio shock jock or the militant stay-at-home mom advocate or others who could and would criticize McGee, badger her about her court case, and so forth. The Dr. Lauras of the world are well known, and McGee was not about to walk into a media landmine. I tell the media rep that I have been working in radio on and off for three years, I have a master’s degree in communications, and I am working on my Ph.D. in sports sociology with a minor in women’s studies, and she hmms, making affirmative noises and repeating what I say to Pam as I speak. Finally, I say, “Well, of course, I’m a former Division One basketball player.” The media rep’s voice visibly brightens as she repeats this information to Pam and then she says to me, “Well, then you will understand.” What I would understand I wasn’t sure, but I had suddenly been granted access due to perceived insider status. I wonder at that moment what I, a white middle-class girl from Rockford, Illinois, will understand. Sure, I was a Division One athlete at a mid-major university, yet I don’t have

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children, and I certainly wasn’t an Olympian or even good enough to play in Europe, much less the WNBA, so what will I understand?

INTERVIEWING THE SELF I prepare to interview Tracy Henderson. Equipment is placed around the room. Microphones are checked and then re-checked. Two basketballs are laid out for her to sign. My stomach rolls ever so slightly. I recite my mantra: “Maybe she will call and cancel the interview,” only to respond to myself, “That is a stupid thought.” I am scared. There is a knock at the door and three women stand on the other side of the threshold: two white women—a tall blonde, a short brunette (who turns out to be an intern) —and a tall African American. After a two-hour delay waiting to leave Cleveland, upon arriving at the hotel, they have come straight to our room, and the exhaustion is apparent on their faces. The media spokesperson, Amanda, is a tall blonde with broad shoulders and a long mane of light hair; within seconds I have mentally nicknamed her “Stressball.” Tension leaps and crackles from her. She is focused and views this interview and interaction with an air of suspicion. I wonder why- is she merely tired or is she concerned about Tracy, the team, me, or the topic of motherhood. Tracy, the interviewee, is African American, tall and epitomizes the slang term “thick.” She has large muscular thighs, and well-conditioned arms. She is pretty and welldressed, clad in a light purple sweater that I vaguely and slightly hysterically wonder if it was from The Limited, and a long leather coat that give her a chic pulled together look. Tracy folds her tall body into an armchair and waits; it is like she is waiting for an axe to drop. I seat myself on the couch, which is perpendicular to Tracy, and turn my body so that I am facing Tracy and Amanda/Stressball is sitting next to me. Amanda and I are now sitting together, but Amanda is sitting on the edge of the couch and her posture allows her to see Tracy over my shoulder while remaining out of my line of sight. The intern has chosen a seat at the table across the room and is sitting quietly. She is just happy to be there. I begin to realize that my project is about more than motherhood and professional athletics. I realize that this process will not be simple or written up easily, but rather it will be the product of a messy web of emotion, stress, articulation, and fear. Some would say, “Welcome to dissertation writing,” but I begin to feel the birthing of another part of me, one that is afraid of myself, the researcher, and “the biases of an ocular, visual epistemology” (Denzin, 2003, p. 7). I am now desperately aware of my own position in the interview process and the knowledge of how hard it will be to “unsettle the writer’s place (my place) in the text, freeing the text and the writer to become interaction productions” (Denzin, 2003, p. 182) is upon me…

CONCLUSIONS In the recent book Cultural Sport Psychology (Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009) myself and Christina Johnson (2009) suggested that a key strength of researcher reflexivity for sport psychology lies in is its potential to explore power issues in the research process to further

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empower disempowered cultures and communities. While in the current chapter we focused upon confessional tales grounded in post-modernism as but one way to begin to realize these goals. Such goals can be realized in all research paradigms when researchers maintain an openness to variation—variation of self, variation of culture, variation of experience of research participants, and the variation of how data are collected, written up, and ultimately (re)presented. Through acknowledging their backgrounds (e.g., education, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality) and their fears and vulnerabilities researchers can become aware of the different ways their own self-related views and backgrounds influence the research process in socially and culturally specific ways (McGannon & Johnson, 2009). As we have tried to show with our confessional tales, one way that researchers may accomplish self-reflection is by using field notes and/or personal journals in conjunction with participant interview data to construct stories about their own personal experiences—good and bad-- in the research process. The use of confessional tales can also allow us to acknowledge that researcher identities influence access and gaining trust—which are also complex and multifaceted-- in the research field. Furthermore, by constructing confessional tales with a post-modern sensibility researchers can begin to attend to how their own backgrounds and associated identities are complex, layered, multifaceted and impacted by broader social, cultural and political realms within academia. Social, cultural and political influences position both researchers and participants to tell about, and relive, themselves and their experiences in specific ways at particular points in time in particular contexts. In turn, we are reminded that there are multiple ways to both experience and frame the knowledge(s) gleaned from our research; there are multiple truths and not one singular truth because knowledge is partial, local, historical, and fragmented (Richardson, 2000b). Finally, when confessional tales are constructed from a post-modern perspective the process and knowledge gained from such tails can be used to acknowledge the existence and value of viewpoints outside of the researcher’s (i.e., our own) to begin to attend to and unpack the complex power relationships in the research process. Acknowledging and unpacking power relationships is important and necessary if the goal is to find ways that empower marginalized identities and groups within sport and exercise contexts toward behavioral and social change that benefits their lives, and not just the lives of researchers.

REFERENCES Bolam, B., Gleeson, K., & Murphy, S. (2003). “Lay person” or “health expert”? Exploring theoretical and practical aspects of reflexivity in qualitative health research. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 4, 1-11. Boman, J., & Jevne, R. (2000). Ethical evaluation in qualitative research. Qualitative Health Research, 10, 547-554. Bourdieu, P., & Waquant, Loic J.D. (1992). Invitation to reflexive sociology. Cambridge: Polity. Brackenridge, C. (1999). Managing myself: Investigator survival in sensitive research. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 34, 399-410. Butryn, T. M. (2002). Critically examining white racial identity privilege in sport psychology consulting. The Sport Psychologist, 16, 316-336.

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Denzin, N. K. (2003). Performance ethnography: Critical pedagogy and the politics of culture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Foley, D. E. (2002). Critical ethnography: the reflexive turn [Special issue]. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 15, 469-490. Gergen, M., & Gergen, K. (2000). Qualitative inquiry. In N. K. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp.1025-1046). London: Sage. Gilbourne, D., & Richardson, D. (2006). Tales from the field: Personal reflections on the provision of psychological support in professional soccer. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7, 325-337. Greenleaf, C., & Collins, K. (2001). In search of our place: An experiential look at the struggles of young sport and exercise psychology feminists. The Sport Psychologist, 15, 431-437. Haraway, D. (2003). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. In Y. S. Lincoln & N. K. Denzin (Eds.), Turning points in qualitative research: Tying knots in a handkerchief (pp. 21-46). New York: AltaMira Press. (Reprinted from Feminist Studies, 14 [Fall 1998]: 575-99) Holt, N. (2003). Representation, legitimation, and autoethnography: An autoethnographic writing story. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2, 1-22. Humberstone, B. (1997). Challenging dominant ideologies in the research process. In G. Clarke & Humberstone (Eds.), Researching women and sport (pp. 199-213). London: Macmillan. Jegatheesan, B. I. (2006). I see the stars: An auto-ethnographer speaks on fieldwork and flashbacks. Qualitative Inquiry, 11, 667-688. Klein, A. (1993). Little big men. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Langellier, K. M. (2003). Personal narrative, performance, peformativity; Two or three things I know for sure. In Y. S. Lincoln & N. K. Denzin (Eds.), Turning points in qualitative research: Tying knots in a handkerchief (pp. 441-468). New York:AltaMira Press. (Reprinted from Text and Performance Quarterly, 19 [1999]: 125-44) McGannon, K. R. & Johnson, C. R. (2009). Strategies for reflective sport psychology research. In R.J. Schinke and S.J. Hanrahan (Eds.) Cultural sport psychology: From theory to practice (pp. 57-75). Champaign, IL.: Human Kinetics. Pedersen, K. (1998). Doing feminist ethnography in the “wilderness” around my hometown. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 33 (4), 393-402. Richardson, L. (2000a). New writing practices in qualitative research. Sociology of Sport Journal, 17, 5-20. Richardson, L. (2000b). Writing: A method of inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 923-948). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Saukko, P. (2002). Qualitative research in cultural studies. Unpublished manuscript. Schinke, R.J., Hanrahan, S.J., Eys, M.A., Blodgett, A., Peltier, D., Douglas Ritchie, S., Pheasant, C. & Enosse, L. (2008).  The development of cross-cultural relations with a Canadian aboriginal community through sport research. Quest, 60, 357-369.  Smith, B., & Sparkes, A. C. (2005). Analyzing talk in qualitative inquiry: Exploring possibilities, problems and tensions. Quest, 57, 213-242.

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Smyth, J., & Shacklock, G. (1998). Behind the “cleansing” of socially critical research accounts. In J. Smyth & G. Shacklock (Eds.), Being reflexive in critical educational and social research (pp. 1-12). London: Falmer. Sparkes, A. C. (1994). Life histories and the issue of voice. Qualitative Studies in Education, 7, 165-183. Sparkes, A. C. (1996). The fatal flaw: A narrative of the fragile body self. Qualitative Inquiry, 2, 463-494. Sparkes, A. C. (1998). Reciprocity in critical research. In J. Smyth & G. Shacklock (Eds.), Being reflexive in critical educational and social research (pp. 67-82). London: Falmer. Sparkes, A. C. (2002). Telling tales in sport and physical activity: A qualitative journey Champaign, IL.: Human Kinetics. Sparkes, A. C. & Douglas, K. (2007). Making the case for poetic representations: An example in action. The Sport Psychologist, 21, 170-190. Sparkes, A., Nilges, L., Swan, P., & Dowling, F. (2003). Poetic representations in sport and physical activity: Insider perspectives. Sport, Education and Society, 8, 153-177. Tierney, W. (1997). Lost in translation. In W. Tierney & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Representation and the text (pp. 22-36). Albany, NY: SUNY Press. Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the field. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Young, J. (2005). On insiders (emic) and outsiders (etic): Views of self, and othering. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 18, 151-162.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 12

USING PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS TRAINING FROM SPORT PSYCHOLOGY TO ENHANCE THE LIFE SATISFACTION OF ADOLESCENT MEXICAN ORPHANS Stephanie J. Hanrahan* Schools of Human Movement Studies and Psychology The University of Queensland, Australia

CHAPTER SUMMARY In 2005 Rob Schinke contacted me to inquire if I’d be interested in contributing to a special edition of Athletic Insight that would focus on cultural sport psychology. The invitation was based on previous work I had done with Indigenous Australians, but at the time I received the Rob’s email I was running an intervention program at Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) in Mexico, so I asked if that would be an appropriate focus for the article. Although I doubt he was expecting his Australian contact to write about an experience in Mexico, that is what happened (see Hanrahan, 2005). This chapter is based on that Athletic Insight manuscript, but has been extended with information from a qualitative analysis of participants’ responses to open-ended questions about the program and its possible effects (data that I had not yet analysed at the time of the initial submission to Athletic Insight). Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) cares for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America (see www.nphamigos.org for complete information). NPH was founded in 1954 in Mexico and currently has homes in nine Latin American countries. The main facility in Miacatlán, Mexico is home for almost 1000 children (referred to as pequeños rather than orphans) with approximately 200 additional older children attending the NPH vocational school in nearby Cuernavaca. It was with these older children that I spent the month of January, 2005.

*

Correspondence concerning this manuscript should be addressed to: Stephanie Hanrahan, School of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Queensland 4072, Australia. E-mail: [email protected]

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A number of years ago my mother visited the home in Miacatlán and she mailed me a photograph of the children playing volleyball using a piece of string with plastic bags pinned to it as the net. Having spent 18 years of my life playing volleyball at an elite level, I felt compelled to improve their sporting equipment. Donations from friends and colleagues in Brisbane, Australia were collected and sent. A year or two later I was wondering if helping a team win a few extra games each season was really making a significant difference in the grand scheme of things. As a sport psychologist I have spent years teaching psychological skills to athletes, exercisers, and performing artists. In my undergraduate classes I often mention how psychological skills were not only beneficial for enhancing performance and enjoyment of participation, but also for learning skills useful in areas of life outside of sport. The arrival of an NPH newsletter in the mail one day caused a synergy of these different cognitions and spawned the idea of teaching psychological skills to the pequeños. For more than 20 years it has been known that participating in adventure-based/active recreation programs is superior to participating in social recreation programs in terms of creating enhanced attitudes and actions regarding cooperation and trust (e.g., Witman, 1987). It has also been demonstrated that physically active games can be used to develop skills of problem solving and decision making under pressure (Howarth, 1996). Physical activity on its own has been linked with perceived life satisfaction of high school adolescents (Valois, Zullig, Huebner, & Drane, 2004). In addition, Petlichkoff (2004) has suggested that psychological skills influence psychological well-being, particularly for children and adolescents. I believed that if underpriveleged teenagers developed skills of problem solving, decision making, trust, and communication in addition to the more standard psychological skills taught in many sport psychology programs (e.g., goal setting, self talk), that their quality of life would improve. I wanted to practice what I preach to my undergraduate students by exploring the potential value of mental skills in enhancing life outside of sport. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine if the combination of physically active games and psychological skills could enhance the self-concept and life satisfaction of Mexican teenage orphans. Self concept was selected as one of the dependent variables because it has been considered to be one of the most important indicators of psychological adjustment (Byrne, 1996). I was not interested in measuring specific psychological skills because it was not clear to me how meaningful it would be to know that these individuals had improved their ability to set goals or to concentrate. I also was not interested in measuring sporting performance as not all of the participants competed in sport. I decided that even though there was probably a greater chance of obtaining statistically significant improvement in the knowledge or use of targeted psychological skills, it would be more meaningful to know if psychological skills training could influence self-concept or perceived life satisfaction. The intervention program I used was based on a program I developed while working at the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts in Australia (Hanrahan, 2004). Although the two cultures (Australian Aboriginal and Mexican) are different, both groups of participants had similarities in terms of poverty and its accompanying societal disadvantages. I did not drastically change the content of the program, but I obviously translated all handouts and ran the program in Spanish. In addition, in Mexico I ran sessions separately for boys and girls, due to the potential effects of the machismo aspects of Mexican culture affecting the openness of participants. Ojeda, Rosales, and Good (2008) found that Mexican American college men held significantly more traditional (i.e., macho) attitudes toward male roles on indicators of

Using Psychological Skills Training from Sport Psychology to Enhance the Life… 173 masculinity (e.g., men should be physically tough, self-assurance in men is admirable, men should not display traits characteristic of women, it is essential for men to gain others’ respect) compared to a normative sample of U.S. men. I must admit that my selection of questionnaires for the study was in part determined by finding ones that had already been psychometrically validated in Spanish.

METHOD Participants Thirty four of the adolescents (14 girls and 20 boys) at NPH in Cuernavaca volunteered to participate in a three week daily program advertised to teach skills that would help them with sport, work, music, or any other area of achievement. Ages ranged from 15 to 20 with a mean of 17.09 years. They had been at NPH for an average of 6.97 years (range 1.16 to 16 years). These statistics mean that some of the pequeňos had been at NPH almost their entire lives, where as others were more recent arrivals. The more recent arrivals may have been recently orphaned or may have been living on the street or with distant relatives for years before finding their way NPH. The NPH facility in Cuernavaca for older adolescents requires that they attend a vocational school to learn a trade to support themselves. Participants in my program were studying tourism (n = 10), computers (n = 10), childcare (n = 6), electronics (n = 5), or accounting (n =3)

Instruments Participants completed a demographic sheet that included sex, age, and time spent at NPH, as well as questionnaires to measure self-concept, life satisfaction, and an evaluation of the program. Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Harter’s (1988) Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) is an instrument designed to measure multiple dimensions of selfconcept in the adolescent stage of development. Based on Harter’s (1985) Self-Perception Profile for Children, the SPPA measures a variety of self-concept dimensions (e.g., physical appearance, social acceptance) as well as global self-worth. Numerous researchers (e.g., Eiser, Eiser, & Harvermans, 1995; Trent, Rusell, & Cooney, 1994; Worrell, 1997) have tested the psychometrics of the English version of the SPPA, resulting in support of slightly different subscales. Of most relevance to the present study, Pastor, Balaguer, Atienza and García-Merita (2001) tested a Spanish version of the SPPA with students aged 15 to 18 years and found support for six clearly differentiated self-concept dimensions ( i.e., Scholastic Competence, Physical Appearance, Athletic Competence, Behavioral Conduct, Close Friendship, and Social Acceptance) as well as a unidimensional subscale of Global SelfWorth. Cronbach Alphas ranged from .62 to .90. The items pertaining to Job Competence from the original SPPA were omitted as they were believed to be irrelevant to the participants. As job competence was also irrelevant to the sample in this study, the Spanish translation from the Pastor et al. study was used. Items were scored on the subscales obtained

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in the previous Spanish study, thus ignoring the items designed to measure Romantic Attraction. Satisfaction With Life Scale. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a multi-item scale developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin (1985) to measure life satisfaction without the possibly confounding factors of enthusiasm or apathy. The original English version has been found to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability (Pavot & Diener, 1993). Atienza, Pons, Balaguer, and García-Merita (2000) had the SWLS translated into Spanish, the only change being the use of a 5-point rather than the original 7-point Likert scale. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model fit was acceptable. The Spanish version of the SWLS was also found to have good internal consistency and construct validity (Atienza et al.). Relevant to the present study, Atienza et al. tested the instrument on adolescents. Qualitative questionnaire. Participants were invited to complete a one page sheet with five open-ended questions with additional space to make any additional comments. Within the questionnaire pequeňos were asked to list three things they had learned in the program, what they liked most, what they liked least, what they would be most likely to remember from the program in one year, and what they had learned that they would use in their daily lives. Responses were divided into meaning units (i.e., segments of text containing a single idea relating to specific topic) for each question. The author and a Spanish speaking research assistant independently clustered meaning units into themes. In the few instances where there was disagreement as to what a particular theme should be labeled or to which theme a particular meaning unit belonged, discussion took place until 100% agreement was reached. The themes were only translated to English after the completion of the inductive content analysis.

Procedure The program contained 15 sessions of approximately 90 minutes each, with separate sessions for girls and boys. Sessions were held on weekdays for three weeks. The first session began, and the final session ended, with the completion of the SPPA and the SWLS, using codes instead of names to ensure anonymity. The overarching theme for the program was “Control the Controllable.” Individual sessions contained discussions and activities related to optimal activation, concentration and attention, imagery, self-talk, time-management, and self-confidence. Each participant was given a folder in which to keep handouts and written exercises. Australian stickers were used as rewards for punctual attendance. Each session also contained active games, the majority or which were designed to develop teamwork, communication, and trust (see Hanrahan & Carlson, 2000). Many of the participants played soccer and/or basketball, so examples from these sports were used within the sessions. However, because not all of the participants were athletes, examples were also taken from other achievement domains in which the pequeños were involved (i.e., studying, music, dancing, and writing).

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RESULTS Attendance School examinations, dentist appointments, illness, soccer games, dance rehearsals, and apathy all contributed to absences. Participants attended an average of 8.82 of the 15 sessions (range 1 to 13). The four participants who attended fewer than 5 sessions were omitted from the analyses. An additional four participants were also omitted as they failed to complete the post-test. Missing data meant that between 24 and 26 pequeños who attended at least five sessions had complete pre-test and post-test data for the various scales.

Paired Sample Statistics The program resulted in significant increases in life satisfaction (t(24) = -2.92, p = .008), global self-worth (t(25) = -2.37, p = .026), and physical appearance self-concept (t(24) = 2.29, p = .031). See Table 1 for means and standard deviations. The mean increase in life satisfaction was .33 on a 5 point scale. For the four pequeños who only attended one or two sessions the mean increase was only .05 between pre-test and post-test. Global self-worth increased an average of .30 on a 4-point scale for those who attended five or more sessions, but decreased .33 for those who only attended one or two sessions. Table 1. Pre- and Post-test Means and Standard Deviations

3.59 (.85)

Pre-test Mean (SD) 3.92 (.62)

2.90 (.60)

3.20 (.63)

2.84 (.86)

3.22 (.88)

2.50 (.88)

2.68 (.84)

2.68 (.75)

2.81 (.81)

2.78 (.81)

2.66 (.87)

2.72 (1.06)

2.89 (.90)

Scale Life Satisfaction Global SelfWorth Physical Appearance Social Acceptance Behavioral Conduct Athletic Competence Close Friendship Scholastic Competence

2.11 (.44)

Post-test Mean (SD)

2.26 (.72)

Qualitative Data During the final session or the program, nineteen of the participants responded to the five open-ended questions about the program and its possible effects. Overall, feedback about the program was positive. The most frequently cited responses when participants were asked to list three things they had learned were controlling the controllable, patience/tolerance, and specific mental skills (e.g., goal setting, imagery). The pequeňos predicted that in one year

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they would remember goal setting, positive thoughts, how to have confidence in self and others, and the games. In their daily lives they felt they would use skills related to selfconfidence and how to work effectively in groups. The participants most liked the games, their personal successes and achievements, and sharing with the group. They least liked it when they didn’t play, when they had to write, and the negative attitudes of others.

DISCUSSION Although the program never specifically focused on life satisfaction, global self-worth, or physical appearance self-concept, it appears as though the acquisition of psychological skills commonly included in sport psychology programs effectively increased scores in these variables. The study is limited by the absence of a control group, although the minimal change or decrease in means of the four participants who did not attend at least five sessions suggest that participation in the program rather than some confounding variable was responsible for the observed results (although of course these individuals were not randomly assigned to a control group). These findings support Petlichkoff’s (2004) contention that psychological skills are beneficial for learning techniques useful in areas of life outside of sport. As physical appearance was never addressed within the program, it is not clear why physical appearance self-concept improved after the program. Possibly when people are happier with themselves and their lives, they may rate their appearances less harshly (see Neto, 2001). Although control was not specifically measured, I believe that participation in the program gave the pequeños a sense of control that may have been missing in their lives. In the institutional environment of the orphanage pequeňos have no control over what they eat, when they eat, what time they get up, what chores they are assigned, with whom they share a room (some larger rooms contain 30+ teenagers in bunk beds), or what clothes they own (dependent on donations). In the second session of the program the participants were asked to list six things they could control and six things they could not control. The majority of the participants could list a number of things they could not control (which is not particularly surprising given the institutionalized environment), but few could think of anything they could control. During a session near the end of the program almost all the pequeños could list more than 20 things they could control including thoughts, images, activation levels, what they do with time, how they respond to situations, and how much effort they put into different activities. Petlichkoff (2004) suggested that acquiring psychological skills encourages adolescents to become self-regulated learners, and that self-regulated learners develop strategies to improve performance and interact more effectively with their environment. In the qualitative data, controlling the controllable was the most frequently cited thing the participants felt they had learned in the program, perhaps supporting the issue of control for this population, although maybe just reflecting the nature of the intervention. Participant feedback underscored the value of the games, but also indicated that participants could learn things from the intervention that were not specifically targeted (e.g., patience/tolerance). An implication for program evaluators is that seemingly similar questions (e.g., list three things you learned, what are things you learned that you will use in your daily life, and in one year

Using Psychological Skills Training from Sport Psychology to Enhance the Life… 177 what (if anything) do you think you will remember from this program) can result in notably different answers.

Cultural Issues “Culture” is a difficult concept to define. Culture has been defined simply by race, religious beliefs, communal rituals, and shared traditions. On a more complex level, culture refers to the manner in which behaviors, beliefs, and knowledge “are produced through systems of meaning, through structures of power, and through the institutions in which these are deployed” (Donald & Rattansi, 1992, p. 4). I am a white American Australian who was working with a group of Latino adolescents in a Catholic based organization (I am not Catholic), where all communication occurred in Spanish. Aside from the differences in race, religion, and first language, I had grown up in a family home with two parents and one sister. Although some of the participants had experienced a traditional home environment for the initial stages of their lives, others had lived on the street or in huge rubbish dumps outside of Mexico City before arriving at NPH, an institutionalized environment with little privacy. Although I had struggled financially when I was a university student, I did not have the experience of true poverty experienced by many of the pequeños. Therefore, to consider that the only cultural difference between myself and the participants was that I was Australian and they were Mexican is naïve and misleading. The fact that I stayed at the orphanage (rather than a nearby hotel), lined up with the pequeños with a bowl and spoon for lunches and dinners, and saw them outside of my sessions helped with the development of rapport and my understanding of some of the colloquialisms. My genuine interest in Latin dance also probably broke a few barriers, with a few occasions of spontaneous salsa or merengue. My temporary immersion into life at NPH allowed me to get at least a little insight into their current environment. Punctuality was not an ingrained concept with the participants. I do not know whether this was a by-product of Mexican culture or NPH culture. When buses were organized to take all of the adolescents from Cuernavaca to Miacatlán for the day, I officially was told the buses would be leaving at 7:30. Many of the pequeños told me not to bother to show up until 7:45 or 8:00 as there was no way the buses would leave at 7:30. They were correct; we left shortly after 8:00. Similar leniency was noted for departures for soccer games, meeting times, and even dinner time. Although the director threatened to lock them out of the dining hall if they arrived more than 5 minutes late, the very next evening dinner was 45 minutes late in being ready so everyone was told to come late. Inconsistent reinforcement of punctuality by the sub-directors probably exacerbated the issue, as sometimes they lectured about the importance of being on time, and other times they were late themselves. For my first few sessions it was typical to have more than half of each group arriving more than 30 minutes late. As the time for sessions was limited by access to the hall and other activities of the participants, I needed to shorten sessions, and therefore could not cover what I had planned. I initially tried to deal with the tardiness by having the fun games at the beginning of the session, but as many of the games required a minimum number of participants, this strategy was not successful. I then enlisted the help of a sub-director to remind people what time the sessions began, and rewarded prompt arrival with stickers of Australian animals (which had earlier proved to be popular). Although I do not know whether it was the result of sticker

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rewards, reminders by the sub-director, or the participants’ desire to be involved in the program, punctuality dramatically improved. The “culture” of tardiness changed.

Applied Practice with Mexican Orphans It is difficult to provide readers with a specific protocol to follow if working with Mexican orphans or a similar population. The personalities and behaviors of specific individuals involved in such a program have greater influence than the general culture from which they come. If I were to run a program with a similar population, I would, however, keep in mind the following: •

•

•

•

• •

•

• •

•

Recognize that designated times for activities may be adhered to loosely. Many cultures have different perceptions about the relevancy and importance of punctuality. Providing bottled water or snacks may increase attendance, and also enhance attention in the late afternoon. The participants did not have opportunities for after school snacks that may be readily available to others in this age group. Stickers are not just for little children. Even boys in their late teens responded positively to receiving stickers. Poverty and a life of deprivation can result in appreciation of small things that other teenagers may consider boring. Having single-sex groups is useful. Since this study at the orphanage I have done similar programs with Mexican teenagers living in poverty in two different towns. In one town, it was not possible to have single-sex groups. I believe that having a mixed group was less effective for both the boys and the girls. Provide paper and pens or pencils. As these implements cost money, few participants within this population would have their own. The games are important, for both learning and enjoyment purposes. Particularly because the sessions were held after school (i.e., a day full of sitting), having the opportunity to move and interact would have energized some tired participants as well as allowed them to learn by doing. Encourage participants to work with each other, and allow input and discussion from them to ensure content is culturally and personally meaningful. This format may also reinforce the sense of controlling the controllable. Probably an obvious comment, but when working with orphans, avoid reference to family. Recognize that children who have grown up on the streets may not know their actual birthdays. In many cases there are no family doctors or relatives who tend to keep records of such things. Although they may not have a high level of education, internet access, parents to guide them, or books, they do have a lot of life experience. In many cases they have learned how to survive in situations that many readers of this chapter would find extremely challenging.

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Future Directions Results of this relatively small study indicate that psychological skills traditionally taught within sport psychology may enhance the global self-worth and perceived life-satisfaction of orphans in Mexico. NPH has homes in eight other Latin American countries, and I would enjoy the opportunity to extend the program to these locations. The research protocol could be improved through the involvement of control groups and preferably age-matched participants who are not orphans. Ideally local psychologists could attend an initial program in each country, modify it if needed to suit their specific clientele, and make the program an on-going enterprise.

REFERENCES Atienza, F. L., Pons, D., Balaguer, I., & García-Merita, M. (2000). Propiedades psicométricas de al Escala de Satisfacción con la Vida en adolescentes. [Psychometric properties of the satisfaction with life scale in adolescents.] Psicothema, 12(2), 314-319. Byrne, B. M. (1996). Measuring self-concept across the life span: Issues and instrumentation. Washington: APA. Diener, E., Emmons, R., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75. Donald, J. & Rattansi, A. (Eds.) (1992). ‘Race’, culture and difference. London: Sage. Eiser, C., Eiser, S., & Harvermans, T. (1995). The measurement of self-esteem: Practical theoretical considerations. Personality and Individual Differences, 18(3), 429-433. Hanrahan, S.J., & Carlson, T.B. (2000). GameSkills: A fun approach to learning sport skills. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Hanrahan, S.J. (2004). Sport psychology and indigenous performing artists. The Sport Psychologist, 18, 60-74. Hanrahan, S. J. (2005). Using psychological skills training from sport psychology to enhance the life satisfaction of Mexican orphans. Athletic Insight, 7(3). http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol7Iss3/UsingSportPsych.htm Harter, S. (1988). Manual for the Self-Perception Profile for Children. Denver, CO: University of Denver. Howarth, K. (1996). Qualitative study of the teaching of thinking skills in physical education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Temple University. Neto, F. (2001). Personality predictors of happiness. Psychological Reports, 88, 817-824. Ojeda, L., Rosales, R., & Good. G. E. (2008). Socioeconomic status and cultural predictors of male role attitudes among Mexican American men: Son más machos? Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 9(3), 133-138. Pastor, Y., Balaguer, I., Atienza, F. L., & García-Merita, M. L. (2001). Análisis de las propiedades psicométricas del Perfil de Autopercepciones para Adolescentes (Harter, 1988) en adolescentes valencianos. [Analyses of psychometric properties of the SelfPerception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988) in Valencian adolescents.] IberPsicología, 6.1.1, 1-21.

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Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). The affective and cognitive contest of self-report measures of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 28, 1-20. Petlichkoff, L. M. (2004). Self-regulation skills for children and adolescents. In M. R. Weiss (Ed.), Developmental sport and exercise psychology: A lifespan perspective (pp. 269288). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Trent, L. M. Y., Rusell, G., & Cooney, G. (1994). Assessment of self-concept in early adolescence. Australian Journal of Psychology, 46, 21-28. Valois, R. F., Zullig, K. J., Huebner, E. S., & Drane, J. W. (2004). Physical activity behaviors and perceived life satisfaction among public high school adolescents. The Journal of School Health, 74(2), 59-65. Witman, J. P. (1987). The efficacy of adventure programming in the development of cooperation and trust with adolescents in treatment. Physician & Sportsmedicine, 15(7), 22-29. Worrell, F. C. (1997). Measures of self-concept. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 13

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTING WITH LATIN AMERICAN ATHLETES Anthony P. Kontos1 and Erick Arguello2 Humboldt State University, Arcata, California1 Central Louisiana State Hospital, Alexandria, Louisiana2, USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY The overarching goal of this chapter is to provide the sport psychology consultant with information about Latin American cultural groups in relation to sport psychology consulting. In so doing, we review key multicultural terms and concepts, such as worldview (i.e., relation self to the cultural world) and acculturation (i.e., identification with dominant culture) as they relate to Latin American cultures and athletes. We also review briefly the historical context of some of the many and diverse attributes of Latin American cultural groups. Next, we discuss the importance of avoiding a universal perspective of culture when working with Latin American athletes. We then provide an overview of Latin American cultural beliefs and practices that might affect sport psychology consulting. We incorporate factors such as geography, SES, and gender into our discussion of Latin American culture and its effects on athletes. We encourage the adoption of a multicultural framework for sport psychology consulting proposed by Kontos (2009),and then apply this approach to a case involving a Latin American athlete. Finally, we advocate for increasing the number of Latin American sport psychology consultants, and enhancing the Latin American cultural competency and training of current and future sport psychology consultants. Major League Baseball (MLB) player Sammy Sosa is from the Dominican Republic. National Basketball Association (NBA) player Manu Ginóbili is from Argentina. Major League Soccer (MLS) player Jaime Moreno is from Bolivia. The list goes on. Approximately 37% of the players in MLB are from Latin America (Lapchick, 2005). Many of these players come from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and more recently, Venezuela. Currently, 14% of Major League Soccer (MLS) players are from Latin America (Lapchick, 2005). The NBA has only recently begun to see an influx of foreign athletes, and currently counts 13 of its total players from Latin America. Given the increased numbers of Latin American athletes

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training and competing in the U.S., it is surprising that there is little information in the sport psychology literature regarding the issues, cultures and provisions of sport psychology consulting services to these athletes. The few studies (e.g., Kontos, 2009; Kontos & BrelandNoble, 2002) that have examined multicultural issues related to sport psychology consulting in the U.S. have presented only limited information about Latin American cultural groups. The reality is that many sport psychology consultants in the U.S. are currently, or will in the future be working with athletes from Latin America, andtheir work would greatly benefit from an understanding of the cultures from which these athletes come. A sport psychology consultant would be remiss to assume that athletes from Ireland, Portugal, and Greece represented the same cultural group, in spite of their shared European geography. Instead, these European countries and their concomitant cultures are typically viewed individually. As a result of this perception, athletes from each country would be approached individually as Irish, Portuguese, and Greek, respectively. In the U.S. however, similarly disparate cultural groups such as Cubans, Argentines, and Mexicans are practically lumped together as Hispanic or Latino. Technically, the term Hispanic suggests Spanish heritage (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001), but more often refers to athletes from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean whose primary language is Spanish. Hispanic does have negative connotations, and its use has decreased in favor of the term Latino, which broadly refers to athletes who come from Latin America, but who do not necessarily speak Spanish, nor have Spanish heritage such as Brazilians. Although both of these cultural categorizations may be convenient, they are based on the presumption that athletes from Latin America share most of their culture. In reality, athletes from Latin America, a term that is used to loosely define the geopolitical area from Mexico in the north to Tierra del Fuego in Chile and Argentina in the south, differ widely in language (e.g., Spanish, Portuguese, French, indigenous and hybrid languages),and cultural practices and beliefs (e.g., religion, customs: Colburn, 2002). Therefore, it is important for sport psychology consultants who might work with athletes from Latin America to be aware of the unique cultural factors such as language, geography, religion and nationality that might affect their work with athletes who are conveniently categorized as Latino. Martens, Mobley and Zizzi (2000) advocated for increasing the knowledge of cultural groups among sport psychology consultants. They acknowledged the current lack of this information in sport psychology, and directed the reader to several excellent multicultural counseling resources (e.g., Atkinson, Morten, & Sue, 1998; Sue & Sue, 1999). However, in these resources, the authors do not discuss issues specific to sport or their application to sport psychology consulting per se. Moreover, they are not specific to Latin Americans. More recently, Schinke and Hanrahan (2009)have added an excellent resource for sport psychology consultants titled Cultural Sport Psychology that addresses the void in sport-specific information and contains information covering Latin American athletes. Specifically, chapters by Kontos (2009) and Moraes and Salmela (2009) address Latin American athletes in the U.S. and Brazil, respectively. The goal in the current chapter is to provide the sport psychology consultant with information about Latin American cultural groups in relation to sport psychology consulting. We approached the chapter from a multidimensional perspective and have included information from psychology, sociology, history, and other disciplines. In this contribution, we review key multicultural terms and concepts, such as worldview (i.e., relation self to the cultural world) and acculturation (i.e., identification with dominant culture). Following, an

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overview of the various historical influences on Latin American culture is provided. Next, we discuss the importance of avoiding a universal perspective of culture. Then we provide an overview of Latin American cultural beliefs and practices that might affect sport psychology consulting. Finally, we considerand apply a multicultural framework for sport psychology consulting proposed by Kontos (2009) to a case involving a Latin American athlete. In order to simplify this inherently complex discussion, we have excluded English (e.g., Jamaica) and French (e.g., Haiti) speaking cultures from our discussion. We hope that this chapter will provide the reader with an introduction to Latin American culture in relation to sport psychology, and will serve as a catalyst for further discussion and research involving Latin American athletes.

MULTICULTURAL CONCEPTS AND TERMS Before delving into the cultural characteristics of Latin American athletes it is important to discuss the two key elements that affect our cultural interpretations: worldview and acculturation. We will begin by examining the concept of worldview and how it might influence our theoretical approach to working with Latin American athletes.

Worldview The development of awareness and understanding of any cultural group must be preceded by an understanding of our selves in relation to the world around us and specifically to the athletes with which we might work. This understanding is broadly referred to as a worldview (Sue, 1981). The importance of incorporating a worldview into consulting, mental health, and related services has been advocated in the literature (e.g., Brown & Landrum-Brown, 1995). The application of a worldview to work with athletes has received little attention in the sport psychology literature with a few notable exceptions. Kontos and Breland-Noble (2002) provided the first examination of a worldview in relation to sport psychology consulting with different cultural groups in the U.S. Kontos (2009) provided a subsequent review of this information in the Schinke and Hanrahan (2009) book. Other researchers (Blodgett, Schinke, Fisher, George, Peltier, Ritchie, et al., 2008; Schinke, R., Hanrahan, S., Eys, M., Blodgett, A., Peltier, D., Ritchie, S., et al., 2008) have highlighted the importance of cultural perspective when conducting research or working with Canadian Aborginal groups.However, the focus of the worldview discussion in these articles was either purposely broad or specific to a different cultural group, and did not examine worldview in relation to specific Latin American cultures and athletes. A worldview is constructed from one’s personal history and interaction with individuals from different cultural groups, media portrayals of these groups, and institutionalized (i.e., family, education, religion) sociocultural views. Theoretical orientations also affect one’s worldview (Ivey, Ivey, & Simek-Morgan, 1997). For example, a sport psychology consultant with a cognitive behavioral theoretical orientation might adopt a worldview that focuses on short-term, action-focused, educational solutions. In contrast, a sport psychology consultant with an existential theoretical orientation might adopt a worldview that focuses more on

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listening to the athlete’s concerns and allowthe athlete to find his or her own way. Each of these orientations might provide effective consulting depending on the situation and the athlete. However, the incorporation of a multicultural worldview into these and other (e.g., psychodynamic) theoretical orientations would allow the sport psychology consultant to consider the cultural context of the athlete. A multicultural worldview encompasses group identity (i.e., cultural consciousness), individual identity (i.e., self-concept), beliefs (e.g., spirituality), values (e.g., family), and language (Dana, 1993) and should be integrated into existing sport psychology theories and approaches to consulting work with athletes. We believe that as sport psychology consultants, we must first examine our own perceptions (and in some cases, misperceptions!) about Latin American cultures before attempting to understand or work with an athlete from these cultures.

Acculturation/Enculturation Cultural context is determined by the level of enculturation and acculturation of a particular athlete. Enculturation refers to an athlete’s identification with and engagement in the cultural beliefs, values and practices of their own culture (Berry, 1993). For example, a young baseball player named Pedro who recently arrived in the U.S. from the Dominican Republic to play minor league baseball might continue to speak primarily Spanish, contact his mother via phone daily, make the ‘sign of the cross’ before he bats, and have a daily ‘cafecito’ (small coffee) after practice; all of which would indicate a high level of enculturation. Acculturation on the other hand is an athlete’s identification with and engagement in the dominant culture’s practices (Landrine & Klonoff, 1994). For example Lucia, a collegiate basketball player who was born in Brazil, has lived most of her life in Chicago. She acts and dresses like her American-born teammates, listens to the same music as them, and speaks English as her first language. Lucia is detached from the culture beliefs and values of her parents, and only speaks Portuguese during her infrequent phone calls to her Grandparents, who still live in Brazil. She shares more in common culturally with her peers than her family and Brazilian heritage. As these examples suggest, being sensitive to an athlete’s tendency towards acculturation (as in the case of Lucia) or enculturation (as in the case of Pedro)can help the sport psychology consultant avoid making erroneous cultural assumptions and stereotyping athletes and their behaviors in sport.It is important to note that an athlete’s level of enculturation/acculturation should be viewed as a sliding continuum on which an athlete might shift based between more acculturated to more enculturated based on situational and other factors. It is important to note that these processes are influenced by the length of time immersed in the dominant culture, as indicated in the examples above. Moreover, enculturation/acculturation are malleable and might change over the course of multiple consulting sessions or a competitive season. For example, the first author consulted with a female tennis player from Colombia named Marina who recently came to the U.S. to compete in NCAA Division I tennis. What follows is adiscussion of her case (see Case 1).

Case 1- Acculturation/Enculturation At the time, Marina is a 20 year old Division I women’s tennis player. She had left Colombia more than a year ago to play tennis on a scholarship at an urban Division I

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university in the Southeastern U.S. Previously, she was a member of the Colombian Junior National tennis program, and received several offers to play at universities in the U.S. She had never traveled outside of Latin America or been away from her family and culture for extended periods of time, and rarely spoke English outside of the classroom. Although she did well in the classroom during her first season, she performed poorly in tennis, and did not interact much with her teammates and mostly male coaching staff. Her coaches described her as “anxious and quiet, but determined” and “hard working” during her first year. Consequently, they referred Marina to the first author for several performance enhancement (consulting) sessions to work on her confidence. During our initial meeting, several issues related to enculturation/acculturation that affected her behavior and performance became apparent. When Marina first arrived in the U.S. she was very enculturated, particularly in regard to her concerns about letting her family down, which created performance anxiety during her first few competitions; and troubles interacting with coaches and teammates, which resulted from a lack of confidence in her English speaking ability and her perceptions of her societal role as a female. The first author incorporated Marina’s enculturation into his understanding of her case, and subsequent work with her on enhancing her confidence. Specifically, the first author facilitated an open discussion between Marina and her parents about Marina’s and their expectations, which were not as high as Marina perceived. Moreover, the first author and Marina worked on communicating openly with teammates and coaches when she was uncertain about the meaning of any conversations or instructions. As a result, Marina improved her performance, and by the end of her first competitive season had moved up to #2 singles and was playing confidently. At the beginning of her second season of competition Marina’s coaches noticed a change in her attitude and concentration level at practice and in the classroom. Both they and several teammates now described her as “arrogant and cocky” although she was no longer anxious. Her coaches referred Marina to the author again, this time for attitude and motivation issues, and they began talking to her about the possible withdrawal of her scholarship if she did not change her behavior. The author was surprised by the sudden change in her behavior and decided to confirm the coaches’ perceptions by observing her at practice. Sure enough, Marina’s behavior had changed considerably as indicated by her coaches. The author also noticed that she left practice in a car full of students who were not athletes and had not been in her social circle the year before. At the start of her second year of school and after living in the U.S. for a year, she had become more acculturated to the dominant U.S. culture. In fact, Marina indicated that she had decided not to go back to Colombia during the summer and instead had practiced English and started socializing and “clubbing” with her new American friends, and was essentially living what she called “the American life.” Behaviorally, she displayed a new found confidence in her performance (having let go of her fear of failing her parents in Colombia and minimizing the need for contact with them by spending time with her new friends), and interacted with her coaches in a more direct and challenging manner (having developed her English skills in the summer and realizing that traditional Latin American feminine roles are not the norm in the U.S.).Marina’s change in confidence and interactions with her coaches resulted in her being perceived as arrogant by her teammates and dismissive of her coaches. However, she was unaware of these effects and their relation to her new and rapid acculturation, and thought that her coaches and teammates were simply jealous of her performance. The new issues that arose from her rapid acculturation played a significant role in the author’s work with Marina. This example illustrates the need for the sport psychology consultant to continue

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to be sensitive to the dynamic processes of enculturation/acculturation among Latin American athletes, which can evolve rapidly.

Assessment of Acculturation As in the preceding case, determining a Latin American athlete’s level of acculturation should involve a combination of interviewing and observation. When appropriate, such an assessment might also involve formal written assessments conducted during the sport psychology intake and at other times during the therapeutic relationship. Acculturation scales such as the 20-item Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA: Cuellar, Harris, & Jasso, 1980) and the 8-item Cuban Behavioral Identity Questionnaire (CBIQ: Garcia & Lega, 1979) can be used with these specific adult Latin American subpopulations. Although the ARSMA and CBIQ are preferred when working with athletes from Mexican American and Cuban American subpopulations respectively, they cannot be applied to other Latin American cultural groups. Two measures that both offer a strong theoretical foundation, validity and reliability for use across Latin American cultural groups include the 20-item Multidimensional Scale of Cultural Differences (Olmedo, Martinez & Martinez, 1978) and the 57-item Multicultural Experience Inventory (Ramirez, 1984). A very concise (12 items) and practical measure for use in sport psychology consulting is the Hispanic Acculturation Scale developed by Marin et al. (1987). It is important to note that the across-group assessments are validated using primarily Mexican-American samples. Their validity with other Latin American cultural groups and with athletes specifically is unknown. We believe that because sport is a unique environment in which culture is expressed, the development of an acculturation measure in sport for Latin American athletes is warranted.

SECTION SUMMARY Sport psychology consultants should examine their own beliefs and values related to the various cultural groups from Latin America with which they might work in order to best meet the needs of athletes from these groups. The sport psychology consultant should then incorporate this worldview into their existing theoretical orientation to deliver the most culturally appropriate and effective consulting. The dynamic nature of the enculturation/acculturation of each athlete must also be considered as was evident in the Case 1.

OVERVIEW OF LATIN AMERICAN CULTURAL INFLUENCES In this section the authors review the major cultural influences that have shaped athletes from Latin America. Purposefully, indigenous Latin American groups are presented first, as they were the original Latin American cultural groups. Next, the authors review the subsequent influence of Spain and other colonizing countries, which have shaped much of today’s Latin American culture including language, religion, and values. The colonial

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influence of Spain and other nationsincluded the legacy of slavery and its concomitant importation of West African culture to Latin America. During this discussion we stress the importance of understanding the cultural as opposed to political boundaries of Latin America. Finally, a brief discussion of the issue of the mestizoization (blending of cultures) of Latin American culture is presented. To simplify the discussion, the immense and disparate geographical areas of Latin America are referred to broadly as: (a) North America (i.e., Mexico), (b) Central America, (c) the Caribbean, and (d) South America.

Historical Context for Latin American Cultural Influences In the following sections, the authors review the indigenous and colonial influences, and the lingering influence of slavery on Latin American culture. The authors also incorporate into their discussion the concomitant influence of West-African culture, which accompanied the slavery into Latin America. Indigenous populations. In North America, the indigenous groups that have influenced culture can be divided into three geographical regions: (a) the north region, which was influenced by the American Indian tribes from the southwest (e.g., Navajo) and plains (e.g., Apache); (b) the central region, which was influenced by the Aztecs; and (c) the southeast region, which was influenced by the Maya. Most prominent among these groups were the Aztecs (1420s-1520s), who had a strong cultural and political influence emanating from the geographical heart of modern-day Mexico. Among the cultural influences that can be attributed to these various North American indigenous groups include a strong sense of community values (LaFramboise, 1983), openness (Lee, 1976), generosity (Parfit & Harvey, 1994), and intrinsic motivation through self-challenge (LaFramboise, 1983; Lee, 1976). Mayan cultural influence covered much of Central America and extended into parts of the Caribbean. Mayan cultural contributions include a strong focus on education, self-knowledge and meaning in life (Ramirez, 1998). From a modern psychological perspective, one might view the Mayan culture as incorporating aspects of both existential and cognitive theory. In South America, the Inca provided the widest cultural influence covering a geographical area from Ecuador to Chile. In addition to the influences mentioned earlier, the Inca cultural influence included language (Quecha- spoken by millions of Peruvians and Bolivians today) and respect of other cultural groups. The remainder of South America was influenced by small, isolated indigenous tribal groups clustered along the interior, near the Amazon River and along the coastal regions. European colonial influences. The European nations, particularly Spain and Portugal that colonized Latin America, brought with them their cultural beliefs and practices. Most obvious among them were language (i.e., Spanish and Portuguese) and religion (i.e., Roman Catholicism). Although many indigenous languages, such as Aymara, an Incan language, which is spoken by several million inhabitants of the Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia, still exist and thrive in Latin America; the majority of Latin Americans speak some form of Spanish. Brazilians, however, speak Portuguese. Some countries such as Ecuador speak Spanish primarily, but maintain English as their official language. As such, Ecuadorans are more likely to be conversant, if not fluent, in English. Therefore, a sport psychology consultant might expect an athlete from Ecuador to have fewer language-based communication problems in the U.S. than an athlete from Peru or Bolivia, where English is

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less commonly spoken. As a result, a communication problem between an English speaking coach and an athlete from Peru of Bolivia might be rooted in the latter’s limited English speaking ability. In contrast, the same communication problem in a fluent English speaking Ecuadoran might emanate from personal conflict with the coach. However, it is important to note that as with any specific cultural characteristic that is applied to a large cultural group, there will be considerable within group variation in language ability. Hence not all Ecuadoran athletes will be fluent in English, and many Peruvian and Bolivian athletes will be fluent in English. In regard to religion, Brazil (151 million) and Mexico (93 million) are the two largest Roman Catholic countries in the world (BBC News, 2005, April). However, as is the case among religious adherents in many countries, the influence of the church (and religion in general) is decreasing, particularly among younger generations. Religious symbols, however, are displayed prominently in homes and by individuals. In fact, many Latin American athletes can be seen ‘crossing’ themselves before or after a performance. The inhabitants of many Caribbean and coastal sections of South American nations have fused Roman Catholicism with West African and other indigenous religions. Similarly, in Peru, Catholicism has been merged with Incan religious practices to create a hybrid form of Catholicism. More recently, there has been an increase in religious missionaries (primarily from the U.S.) resulting in the conversion of many Latin Americans to Evangelical Christian (e.g., Baptist) and other religions such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (i.e., Mormons: BBC News, April, 2005). The legacy of slavery and influence of West African culture. West African culture was imported to Latin America by colonial European countries via slavery. The influence of these forceably relocated cultures is most prominent in the Caribbean, northern South America (e.g., Venezuela) and coastal regions of Brazil. In addition to bringing a unique blend of cultural beliefs and practices to Latin America, West African slaves represented a distinct appearance that was unlike the indigenous or European groups already in Latin America. Consequently, their social status was often marginalized. West African culture has persevered in Latin America, and its influences include language, religion, and music. For example, samba music, the lively, beat-driven dance music associated with Brazilian culture infused West African drum beats with the sounds and instruments of Portuguese music.

Cultural Versus Political Boundaries The preceding historical discussion must be qualified with an understanding that cultural boundaries and political boundaries are not necessarily synonymous in Latin America. One should consider also the geographic region from which an athlete comes in addition to the country. This is particularly true in South America, where countries such as Argentina, Chile and Peru encompass large geographic and cultural distances. Geographical barriers such as the Andes and Amazonian basin that have created many of the political borders share common cultures, which span several modern countries. Moreover, cultural regions in Latin America are often more effectively defined in terms of their association with either European (i.e., Spanish) or indigenous culture. To illustrate, two young professional soccer players from Argentina playing for the same professional team and who are having trouble getting along with each other might be assumed by a sport psychology consultant to share many cultural

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traits. Their problems are likely a result of where in Argentina the two athletes are from. One player might be a Porteños (i.e., European ancestry and acculturation- meaning literally, ‘from the port’) from Buenos Aires, whereas, the other player might be from the Northwest of Argentina and associate more with the cultural beliefs of the indigenous groups of the Andean region (Foster, Fitch Lockhart, & Lockhart, 1998). Hence, they might harbor stereotypes (Porteños- rude, loud, aggressive; interior Argentines- superstitious and ignorant: Foster et al., 1998) about each other (similar to stereotypes between blacks and whites in the U.S.) that would hinder their ability to get along in sport.

The Mestizoization of Latin American Culture Mestizoization refers to the confluence or merging of both peoples and cultures from two or more continents (Ramirez, 1998). In Latin America, mestizoization involves various combinations of indigenous groups, Europeans, and West Africans. The resulting mix of cultures, religions, lifestyles and worldviews has created a unique amalgamated culture combining many of the cultural influences discussed above. Working with mestizo athletes can be challenging, as their beliefs and values might reflect multiple cultural influences to varying degrees. Other mestizo athletes might also experience cultural isolationand limited enculturation because of their lack of a ‘home culture’. Again, this information reinforces the need to consider the individual athlete as well as their level of acculturation.

SECTION SUMMARY The result of the myriad cultural influences on Latin American culture discussed above has created both distinct cultural groups; and groups that represent an amalgamation of indigenous, European and West African cultural systems, or mestizos as they are commonly called. This Latin American ‘melting pot’ presents a formidable challenge to sport psychology professionals who might work with Latin American athletes. This challenge is made more difficult by the U.S.-centric view of Latin American cultures as a singular cultural group referred to collectively as Hispanics or Latinos.

AWARENESS, NOT UNIVERSALITY Earlier, we mentioned that a sport psychology consultant might expect an Ecuadorian athlete to have fewer communication issues in the U.S. than an athlete from Peru or Bolivia because English is more commonly spoken in Ecuador than the other countries. This ‘universal’ statement, however, is not necessarily true of each athlete from these countries. Further, certain geographic regions within each country might be more or less likely to speak a certain language. Therefore, as indicated in the applied sport psychology literature (e.g., Hill, 1993), each athlete should be approached as a culturally unique individual, and subsequent services should be tailored to meet the individual athlete’s needs. Andersen (1993) and Kontos and colleagues (2002; 2009) cautioned against relying on universalities or

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‘sensitive stereotyping’ when working with culturally different athletes. In contrast, an awareness of an athlete’s likely cultural beliefs and practices and their relation to the provision of sport psychology services is useful in fostering the cross-cultural relationship between an athlete and a sport psychology consultant.

Factors Moderating the Influence of Culture Many factors including socioeconomic status (SES), geography, and gender might affect the generalizability of ‘universal’ traits and should be considered as moderator factors for cultural expression (Dana, 1993). Olmedo (1979) identified three dimensions that moderate any ‘universal’ cultural tendencies among Latin Americans: (a) language [both proficiency and preference] and knowledge/identification with customs, (b) cultural value orientations, and (c) SES. We believe that gender should also be included in this list, as males and females are often socialized differently within a culture. The importance of gender’s influence on culture can be seen in the fact that only 36% of female Latinas compared to 52% of nonLatinas participate in sport in the U.S. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2003). The effects of moderating factors such as gender and SES on the influence of culture among athletes include acculturative stress, identity issues, isolation, and double standards (see Kontos, 2009 for specific information about these moderating effects). The consequences of these outcomes might include limited and stereotyped opportunities in sport (e.g., Latin Americans participating only in soccer, baseball, and boxing), stress associated with cultural isolation (e.g., being the ‘token’ representative of their culture in a sport), and potential withdrawal from sport. Therefore, in order to truly understand a Latin American athlete, the sport psychology consultant must consider these moderating dimensions of Latin American culture. A good example illustrating the importance of these dimensions to sport psychology consulting pertains to athlete assessment. Much of sport psychology assessment (apart from the intake interview) is based on paper and pencil measures. However, as Montgomery and Orozco (1985) demonstrated, use of English-based psychological assessments such as the MMPI can erroneously pathologize Latin Americans who speak English as a second language. Moreover, very few sport psychology measures have been translated or validated in Spanish or other languages spoken by Latin Americans. Clearly, the need for such assessments in sport psychology in the U.S. will increase as the Spanish (and other languages)-speaking segment of the population continues to expand.

An Incomplete Review of Latin American Culture in Relation to Sport Psychology Consulting The word “incomplete” in the title of this section refers to the fact that this review does not cover all Latin American cultures or characteristics. Such a chapter would require an entire book of its own! For the sake of brevity, we presented only the cultural similarities among Latin American cultural groups that are most salient to sport psychology consulting. In doing so, we admit that this information can only loosely be applied to an individual athlete representing a specific Latin American culture, as there are both tremendous across

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and within Latin American cultural group differences in cultural expression. Therefore, we encourage sport psychology consultants who might work with any of these cultural groups to refer to the sources used for each section to develop a keener understanding of each culture, and avoid retreating to the default Eurocentric approach to sport psychology discussed by Fisher and colleagues (2009).

Cultural Similarities Broadly, Latin Americans groups share several key cultural attributes. With the exception of Brazil and some indigenous regions of Latin America, most Latin Americans speak Spanish. From a spiritual standpoint, an amalgamation of Roman Catholic and indigenous, West African or folk religions are the predominant norm. From a cultural values perspective, Latin Americans, in general, focus on the family (i.e., ‘famalismo’, ‘la familia’…), community (which includes both family and friends), and sense of respect (i.e., ‘respeto’). The focus on family lends itself to a family systems approach to sport psychology, which is not commonly used by sport psychology consultants. Respeto creates a dual set of expectations, as it is determined in part by age, gender, SES and authority (Dana, 1993). By virtue of the sport psychology consultant’s legitimate or official (as part of the sports medicine team) position of authority on the mental side of sport performance, all consultants would be respected by Latin American athletes. An older or male sport psychology consultant might command more initial ‘respeto’ from a Latin American athlete than a younger or female consultant. Much of the Latin American belief system and social standing reflect male-dominated (i.e., ‘machismo’) sex roles and values (Dana). This value system might create a host of issues for a female sport psychology consultant working with a male Latin American athlete, and could even help to explain an athlete’s unwillingness to meet with a consultant. The concept of ‘fuerza de espíritu’, which refers to strength in toughness and the ability to endure stress (Castro, Furth, & Karlow, 1985), presents a conundrum for Latin Americans in regard to sport psychology services. Specifically, Latin American athletes who ascribe to ‘fuerza de espiritu’ are less likely to seek help for their problems or performance because it would be viewed as a sign of weakness. Hence, they may attempt to solve their issues on their own and be reticent to see a consultant. Latin American athletes may also rely on family (i.e., ‘famalismo’) resources for performance issues rather than a sport psychology consultant. Several factors related to fostering communication and therapeutic relationships among Latin American athletes are of particular relevance to sport psychology consulting. One such factor is ‘confianza en confianza’ or mutual trust. This level of trust is difficult to develop with any athlete, but can be facilitated with Latin American athletes via generosity and attention to personal issues (Vélez, 1982). ‘Simpatia’ refers to a preferred manner of interaction among Latin Americans. In order to promote ‘simpatia’ with Latin American athletes the sport psychology consultant should employ affiliative and affect-based non-verbal strategies including hand gestures, eye contact, physical contact and other communication regulators; and verbal communication strategies such as paraphrase and emotional reflection and summary (Triandis, Marín, Lisansky, &Betancourt, 1984).

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An Integrated Multicultural Approach for Working with Latin American Athletes Ideally, sport psychology consultants would adopt a multicultural (across cultures) theoretical approach or focused culture-specific (cultures one might expect to encounter) approach to their work with all athletes (Kontos & Breland-Noble, 2002). In other words, the effects of culture on the individual athlete should be considered in conjunction with any presenting concerns an athlete might have. However, given the current state of multicultural training in sport psychology programs as indicated by Martens and colleagues(2000) it is likely that many current sport psychology consultants are not properly prepared to incorporate culture into their work with athletes. It is more likely that they will attempt to address cultural issues within their already existing theoretical framework. This approach is fine as long as the sport psychology consultant employs their existing theoretical approach in a meaningful and culturally sensitive manner (Ivey, Ivey & Simek-Morgan, 1997). Moreover, as Schinke and Watson (in-press) suggest, the sport psychology consultant should be forthright with athletes regarding the approach (e.g., mainstream nuanced vs. culturally safe) that they plan to use in their work with athletes. Kontos (2009) recently proposed the Integrated Model for Multicultural Competency in Sport Psychology, which offers a more comprehensive and sport-related approach to working with Latin American and other athletes of color. The model centers on the sport psychology consultants developing awareness of their cultural self as it relates to their theoretical orientation, competencies, development, and cultural sensitivity (see Kontos, 2009 for more information). These internal factors serve as the framework from which the sport psychology consultant works with athletes and interacts with external factors including cultural context, the athlete, and demographics factors. Case 2 provides an example of a sport psychology consultant using the model in her work with a Latin American athlete.

Case 2-Applying the Integrated Model of Multicultural Competency in Sport Psychology Julio is a 19 year old, rookie MLS player from Mexico who was recently drafted in the first round to play for a Midwestern MLS team. He was a talented young forward from whom much was expected by coaches and teammates. However, by the sixth game of the season, Julio had only scored one goal on a penalty kick and had become frustrated with his coaches and teammates. His coaches indicated that he was neither listening to them nor trying very hard in practice, played with minimal effort in games, and was having some trouble getting along with some of his teammates. He was subsequently referred by his coaches to a female sport psychology consultant who had worked for the team for several years. During the initial meeting, it became apparent that Julio was not comfortable talking about his issues with a female, as he indicated repeatedly that she would “not understand (his) situation,” and asked why there was not also a male consultant who would better understand soccer. Julio also blamed his coaches, teammates, and bad luck for his lack of scoring and relational issues on the field. As a result, he believed that there was nothing he could do to improve the situation. During their first session, Julio often reverted back to Spanish when talking and seemed to struggle to find certain words to express his thoughts. He also repeatedly indicated to the sport psychology consultant that he did not think that she would be of any help to him either,

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and that the sessions were a waste of his time. The sport psychology consultant decided to use the Integrated Model of Multicultural Competency in Sport Psychology (Kontos,2009) to frame her work with Julio. From an internal perspective, she began by examining her own worldview, which included limited direct experience with Latin American male culture, but extensive experience coaching and playing soccer. She then acknowledged that she had considerable multicultural counseling training and thought that a brief, outcome-centered, behavioral approach might work best with Julio. From an external perspective, she realized that language and gender might be barriers to her work with Julio, and decided to ask the coach if they could hire for their sessions a male counselor whom she knew spoke Spanish. The consultant believed that having the Spanish-speaking male counselor would increase Julio’s ‘confianza’ in their relationship and help to examine the potential relationship issues with teammates and coaches, which she believed were related to his limited ability to speak English. She also believed that exploring Julio’s externalizing of his performances in relation to his ‘fuerza de espíritu’ might play an important role in giving him ownership for his behavior. Finally, she thought that she would be able to incorporate Julio’s strong sense of ‘respeto’ and ‘machismo’ to motivate him to change his behavior and thinking. As a result of her decision to use the Integrated Model of Multicultural Competency in Sport Psychology, the sport psychology consultant was able to better incorporate Julio’s cultural barriers and enablers with a traditional cognitive-behavioral approach to facilitate positive change in his behavior and performance.Through a combination of goal setting that focused on process and performance goals, and cognitive restructuring to deal with the negativity when Julio did not score, he began to take pride and maintain motivation in his play regardless of whether or not he scored. Paradoxically, he alleviated his self-imposed, culturally derived pressure to score and began to score more frequently, thus reinforcing his work with the consultant and restoring a sense of pride in his performance. As was evident in Case 2, there are several key multicultural issues that are important for providing quality and culturally sensitive sport psychology services to Latin American athletes. In general, Latin American athletes perceive that their psychological problems related to sport are external to themselves and are likely to shift responsibility to someone else (e.g., family, coach) to solve them (Evans, Acosta, Yamamoto & Hurcwicz, 1986). On the surface this might appear to create an opportunity for the psychology consultant to be the person to solve the athlete’s problem using directed techniques such as cognitive behavioral strategies. However, this perception also tends to minimize the ownership of the problem and potential for self-improvement in the athlete. Rogerian and Existentialist approaches might also prove unsuccessful given the focus away from self-ownership. Another important issue is spirituality. Latin American athletes are likely to involve spiritual beliefs in their approach to their problems (Dana, 1993). It is, therefore, important for the sport psychology consultant to attempt to incorporate these beliefs, and be careful not to minimize the relevance of spiritual meaning to the athlete’s problem. The provision of services to Latin American athletes might also be influenced by an underlying suspicion of white North American or European sport psychology consultants, as Julio demonstrated in Case 2. This suspicion may hinder the development of ‘confianza’ (confidence) and limit self-disclosure in the relationship, and minimize the impact of any services provided to the athlete (Dana, 1993). Language is another cultural concern. Although a bilingual sport psychology consultant was not available for Julio, whenever possible, Latin American athletes should be provided with a sport psychology consultant who speaks their

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primary language. However, as Martens et al. (2000) suggested, this would be difficult given the paucity of diversity, and specifically of Latin Americans, within sport psychology. This point further highlights the need for current sport psychology consultants to be culturally aware and sensitive, and for a conscious effort to recruit and train more culturally different sport psychology consultants. Further, it would be beneficial for sport psychology students to complete cultural sport psychology training as part of their education to better prepare them to employ culturally safe strategies.

CONCLUSION There is an increased need for culturally knowledgeable and sensitive sport psychology consulting for Latin American athletes, as they constitute a growing group within many sports in North America that is juxtaposed with sport psychology consultants who are predominately Caucasian(Butryn, 2002). The role of both the athlete’s and sport psychology consultant’s worldview as well as the athlete’s enculturation/acculturation level must be considered in the provisions of sport psychology services. From an understanding and awareness perspective it is important to also consider the historical context of the cultural attributes among Latin Americans. Understanding common traits among cultural groups is important, but should not lead to a ‘universal’ approach to working with all athletes from Latin America. Many factors such as geography, SES, and gender can affect culture and its effects on athletes. We encourage sport psychology consultants to adopt the framework from the Integrated Model for Multicultural Competency in Sport Psychology when working with athletes from Latin America and other cultures. Hopefully, this chapter will spurn other sport psychology researchers and consultants to expand the literature on Latin American athletes and its application to sport psychology consulting work with these athletes. Moreover, sport psychology consultants working with Latin American athletes should consider expanding their repertoire to include Spanish language skills to help built rapport and trust; a nuanced approach to athletes that incorporates cultural beliefs and the athlete’s acculturation level; and the involvement of cultural resources such as ‘famalismo’ for social support, and ‘fuerza de espíritu’ for mental toughness. Finally, we believe that the field of sport psychology and Latin American athletes specifically, would benefit from both an increase in the number of Latin American sport psychology consultants, and a focus on enhancing the Latin American cultural competency and training of current and future sport psychology consultants.

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Landrine, H., & Klonoff, E. A. (1994). The African American Acculturation Scale: Development,reliability, and validity. Journal of Black Psychology, 20, 104-127. Lee, D. (1976). Valuing the self: What we can learn from other cultures. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Marin, G., Sabogal, F., VanOss Marin, B., Otero-Sabogal, R., & Perez-Stable, E. J. (1987). Development of a short acculturation scale for Hispanics. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 9, 183-205. Martens, M. P., Mobley, M., & Zizzi, S. J. (2000). Multicultural training in applied sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 14, 81-97. Montgomery, G. T., & Orozco, S. (1985). Mexican Americans’ performance on the MMPI as a function of level of acculturation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 203-212. Moraes, L. C., & Salmela, J. H. (2009). Working with Brazilian athletes. In R. J. Schinke & S. J. Hanrahan (Eds.), Cultural sport psychology (pp. 117-124). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. National Center for Education Statistics (2005, March). A profile of the America high school sophomore in 2002. U.S. Department of Education: Washington, DC: Author. Olmedo, E. L. (1979). Acculturation: A psychometric perspective. American Psychologist, 34, 1061-1070. Olmedo, E. L., Martinez, J. L., Jr. & Martinez, S. R. (1978). Measure acculturation for Chicano adolescents. Psychological Reports, 42, 159-170. Parfit, M., & Harvey, A. D. (1994). Powwow. National Geographic, June, pp. 88-113. Ramirez, M., III. (1998). Multicultural/multiracial psychology: Mestizo perspectives in personality and mental health. Northvale, NJ: Aronson. Ramirez, M., III. (1984). Assessing and understanding biculturalism-multiculturalism in Mexican-American adults. In J. L. Martinez, Jr., & R. H. Mendoza (Eds.), Chicano psychology (pp. 77-94). Orlando, FL: Academic Press. Schinke, R. J., & Hanrahan, S. J. (2009), Cultural sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Schinke, R., Hanrahan, S., Eys, M., Blodgett, A., Peltier, D., Ritchie, S., et al. (2008). The development of cross-cultural relations with a Canadian Aboriginal community through sport research. Quest, 60, 357-369. Schinke, R. J., & Watson, J. (in-press). An invitation to consider AASP’s ethics general principles through a CSP lens. AASP Newsletter. Sue, D. (1981). Counseling the culturally different. New York: Wiley. Sue, D., & Sue, D. W. (1999). Counseling the culturally different: Theory and practice (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley. Triandis, H.C., Marín, G., Lisansky, J., & Betancourt, H. (1984). Simpatia as a cultural script for Hispanics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1363-1375. U.S. Census Bureau (2001). An overview of race and Hispanic origin: A census brief. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Redistricting (Public Law 94-171) Summary. Vélez, C. G. (1982). Mexicano/Hispano support systems and confianza: Theoretical issues of cultural adaptation. In R. Valle & W. Vega (Eds.), Hispanic natural support systems: Mental health promotion perspectives (pp. 45-54). Sacremento, CA: State of California, Department of Mental Health.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 14

A MODEL FOR SUPERVISION OF APPLIED SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTATIONS IN DIVISION I COLLEGE SPORTS Linda A. Keeler and Sam Zizzi California State University-Chico, California, USA

SUMMARY The number of certified consultants within the Association of Applied Sport Psychology has grown to approximately 300 by time this book has gone to press. In order to receive certification status, a consultant must accumulate 400 hours of applied experience and 20 hours of supervision. To obtain licensure in psychology, even more internship and supervision hours are necessary. Until the past 15-20 years, there was a lack of information regarding how to establish internship programs and provide effective supervision for consultants-in-training (CITs) seeking internship experience. Now that there are guidelines on supervision models and structure, we can expand the discussion on supervision to unique or specific situations that may warrant special considerations. The following chapter will cover one specific situation with a discussion of special concerns and issues related to supervising consultants working within NCAA Division I athletic departments. A brief snapshot of the need and models of supervision that are relevant to graduate programs in Division I institutions will be outlined and suggestions for the structure of individual and group supervision are provided. The remainder of this chapter captures special considerations of which supervisors in Division I programs should be aware. Specific topics that will be discussed include relevant NCAA rules and regulations that may affect sport psychology services and the stigma surrounding sport psychology among certain sports. Issues related to multiple roles and boundaries have been applied to CITs including a discussion on potential concerns relating to the emergence of social networking sites. It is our intention that at the end of this chapter, supervisors for Division I consultants will have a better understanding of special concerns when working in a NCAA Division I setting and will have an outline of discussion topics that should be addressed with CITs in supervision.

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THE NEED FOR SUPERVISION In the American graduate school model, students are expected to fill many roles during their tenure at a given university. They are obviously students first, but they take on roles as course instructors and teaching assistants, coaches, researchers, and performance consultants. In many of these roles, they may receive substantial amounts of critical feedback on their skills and performance to help them develop as young professionals. As they begin their training in applied sport psychology, the importance of clinical supervision will become evident during a team, coach, or individual client meeting. The guidance provided during individual and group supervision sessions lays the foundation for both ethical and content skill development for all novice consultants in training (CITs). To further illustrate the need for supervision, the two most popular credentials in the field (Association of Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant [CC-AASP] and Licensure as a Psychologist/Counselor) require various amounts of supervision from a “qualified” professional. To be eligible for AASP Certification, young professionals must accumulate 400 hours in sport and exercise settings including at least 20 hours of supervision. Counseling and psychological licensure requirements exceed these hourly requirements at both the master’s and doctoral levels. Fortunately, over the past 15-20 years, there has been much written about how and why to integrate supervision into applied training programs in sport and exercise psychology. These improved practices and more consultants in training are assumed to be two important reasons behind the growth in the number of programs providing supervision as a required part of their curriculums. As evidence of this trend, in early surveys (i.e., during the 1990s) of ethical and supervisory behavior in sport psychology it was suggested that 50% or less of supervisors had received any supervision in their own training (Andersen, VanRaalte, & Brewer, 1996) and very few current supervisors had received any training in supervision (Petitpas, Brewer, Rivera, & VanRaalte, 1994). A lack of supervision among CITs created a problem in graduate schools, and may have slowed the growth of applied sport psychology in the US during this time period. Because most sport psychology graduate programs are housed in kinesiology/physical education departments (Burke, Sachs, Fry, & Schweighardt, 2008), it can be difficult for graduate students to a) obtain the necessary counseling skills to be competent young professionals and b) find adequate supervision for their applied work. However, more recent surveys modeled after the early work by Andersen, Petitpas and their colleagues suggest that there have been improvements in training patterns. For example, data from a 2004 survey indicated that of students currently doing applied work, 67% and 91% of physical education and psychology students, respectively, reported receiving supervision in their current work (Watson, Zizzi, Etzel, & Lubker, 2004). Additionally, approximately 51% of students in this sample received supervision on a weekly basis while nearly 50% of their supervisors reported receiving some training in supervision (e.g., part of a course, workshops, independent study, or formal course). To the informed consumer, the literature provides ample material to justify and develop supervised experiences for young professionals in our field. Within this chapter, the authors will attempt to accomplish two narrow goals. We will provide a model for supervising students in a university setting that outlines the structure of supervision, phases of consultant development, and critical ethical considerations. Next, we will highlight unique issues that may be encountered when young professionals work with National Collegiate Athletic

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Association (NCAA) Division I athletes while they are graduate students or independent consultants. Our perspective on supervision in Division I sports has been informed by our own experiences and training in a doctoral program in sport and exercise psychology within a Division I setting. The first author completed an applied sport psychology practicum and internship experience and received supervision as both a CIT and as a supervisor-in-training in a Division I setting. The second author has helped trained over a dozen doctoral students in applied sport and exercise psychology, providing supervision across a variety of sport and exercise consultations over the last nine years. Both of our doctoral training paths included substantial coursework (and in one case, practical experiences) in counseling, and both authors are AASP Certified Consultants. Because there has been substantial work done in the area of supervision in psychology, it is not within the scope of this chapter to explore all possible models of supervision. For more comprehensive sources, the reader is encouraged to review excellent works on clinical supervision in psychotherapy (Bernard & Goodyear, 2008; Feasey, 2002) and early work by Andersen and colleagues on sport psychology supervision (Andersen, 1994; Andersen & Williams-Rice, 1996, VanRaalte & Andersen, 2000). It is our hope to offer an extension of this previous work in sport psychology supervision while highlighting the unique context of Division I sports.

A MODEL OF SUPERVISION The first section of the chapter will introduce you to a model of supervision that has been effective in developing CITs within a Division I setting. The content includes how to structure the supervision experience and how to use individual and group supervision in a complementary fashion. Finally, this section will address how to match supervision needs along the continuum of consultant skill development. Structuring the supervision experience. There are many models of supervision to choose from including a variety of specific theory-based, social role, and developmental models (Bernard & Goodyear, 2008). Most supervision training sources in sport psychology suggest that faculty or others in a supervisory role adopt one of the developmental models of supervision. In these approaches to supervision, the level of teaching/involvement of the supervisor is inversely related to the CITs’ skill level. In structuring their supervision experience for performance consultations, faculty should consider adopting a practicum/internship model as suggested by Barney, Andersen, and Riggs (1996). In this model, students begin applied sport psychology coursework only after first completing theoretical coursework in sport sciences, physiology, physical education, and psychology. These background readings provide content and context for upcoming consultations. In the next phase, students spend two semesters as “interns,” then graduate to “supervisors in training” for two additional semesters where they receive formal training (and perhaps even practical experience) in the art of supervision. The general structure of this model is sound, although it may be hard for some one or two-year master’s programs to emulate the threeyear model in its full form. We concur with the recommendation of a minimum of one year of coursework prior to allowing students to begin consulting. However, we also suggest that

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students be required to take at least two counseling theories and techniques courses (focused on individual and group counseling) during this first-year period. Individual and group supervision. Barney and colleagues (1996) and other professionals within the field of sport psychology (e.g., Andersen, 2005) have recommended the use of both individual and group supervision (when feasible) while collecting a combination of direct (i.e., observation) and indirect (i.e., audiotapes, case notes, post-session discussions) evidence of student performance. We highly recommend that programs create required internship or supervision courses for any students engaging in applied work within the context of their graduate program. Not only does this course force time into the busy student’s schedule, it ensures that students are registered for credits and thereby covered by university liability insurance while consulting with sport teams. Requiring students to be registered for internship or supervision courses can serve as an extra level of protection for supervisors (who are professors) who are teaching CITs as part of their faculty jobs. For professionals who supervise CITs outside of this “protected” context, you will want to be aware of the legal ramifications of doing so (based on your license or certification) and be keenly aware of the scope of practice issues. Within the context of a graduate program, group supervision is a logical required course within the sport psychology curriculum. The group experience may be ideal with 4-10 students who are actively engaged in the process of learning how to be an effective sport psychology professional. It is useful to have students of different skill levels in each supervision group to facilitate peer supervision and sharing of relevant lessons and information between CITs. Supervision groups can be held as frequently as weekly, however in our experience one to two meetings per month for one hour in combination with regular individual supervision is more than adequate to oversee multiple consultations. Group supervision is the perfect context for exploring case studies, and for CITs to share productive or unproductive team/individual activities conducted in their internships. Depending on the needs of the group, however, group supervision can also be a useful place to teach CITs core applied skills and explore relevant readings related to supervision or ethics. Individual supervision can be scheduled “as needed” if team consultations are slow or inactive, however, we recommend weekly individual supervision for 30-60 minutes for any new CIT and for any CIT engaged in an active consultation involving both team and individual meetings. Individual meetings allow the supervisor to match the experience to the skill level of the CIT using the developmental model. As an aside, it is most useful if there can be multiple qualified supervisors available to CITs over the course of their graduate training so they can experience different feedback styles along the way. If faculty resources are not available to provide individual supervision to all students on a weekly basis, pairing up students to work with a team can be an effective use of resources and naturally fosters some peer supervision. The overall goal of outlining a specific structure is to build an effective model of supervision that can work for all students across all skill levels. Next, let’s spend some time reviewing suggestions for how to tailor your supervision based on the skills of CITs. Consultant skill development. To help novice students who are preparing to become CITs (i.e., during their first year of coursework), one assignment we have found effective is requiring the use of “shadowing.” In one of the introductory sport psychology graduate level theory courses, it can be very useful to have new graduate students spend 5-10 hours observing several CITs and/or faculty who are engaged with team consultations. We typically

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do not have new students observe individual meetings with clients due to confidentiality issues, but coaches and athletes are usually open to having a new student sit in on a team presentation or meeting (after giving consent to the CIT). This shadowing assignment can include some written reflections to help them accurately shape their expectations for their own upcoming experiences and to identify any key lessons learned from the more “expert” consultants. One additional suggestion is to invite the students who shadowed into a group supervision session to share their reactions with the group. Based on most developmental models of supervision, CITs will pass through several phases of skill on their way to competence and one of the critical roles of supervision is to help students develop self-awareness (VanRaalte & Andersen, 2000). The names of the phases or levels that CITs pass through change depending on the source you consult, but they generally agree that CITs will move from novice to expert at varying speeds depending on their own skills, effort, comfort level and the quality of their training. Novice CITs should share one consistent affective experience – performance anxiety. In fact, as their supervisor, you might want to be concerned if they are not nervous! Early on, CITs are often eager to seek out supervision to help them deal with the impending event(s) that are the source of their anxiety. If managed well, this early anxiety with help the CIT develop a good resource library of materials and a strong emphasis on pre-session preparation. Novice CITs often lack self-awareness, general counseling skills, and experience with one-on-one or group counseling. Obviously, new students may need to meet more frequently than more experienced CITs, and you will need to provide more direct instruction and supervision. One helpful method of direct supervision is to engage in co-consulting with a new student until they are comfortable leading a team presentation or individual session. Although the co-consulting model is resource heavy and may not be realistic in all supervisory situations, the extra time spent in person (and the high quality of those interactions) on the front end may result in needing less time over the course of the CIT’s career. Another method that has worked for us with new CITs is to require comprehensive outlines of upcoming sessions to be presented in individual supervision the week prior to implementing with a team so there is ample time to discuss alternatives. Not to mention, this preparation helps reduce the new CIT’s anxiety. Regardless of the skill level of the student, the quality of CIT – supervisor relationship is one of the strongest predictors of a successful training experience for the student. Early on in the training process, it may be very helpful to clearly outline both CIT and supervisor responsibilities in a group or individual supervision session, perhaps even in the form of a contract (Falender & Shafranske, 2004). Supervisors should not make the erroneous assumption that CITs innately understand their responsibilities and how the supervision process should play out. Thus, with novice CITs, the supervisor takes on a role closer to a teacher by providing more direction, suggestions, and resources to students at this skill level. Transitioning students into further developmental phases takes awareness and trust on the part of the supervisor. After their first experience, some CITs may know just enough to be dangerous (!) and may feel they do not need to seek out supervision for some issues. Until the supervisor feels the CIT has moved out of this tenuous phase, the supervisor will want to periodically ask the CIT, “Sometimes in consulting we may feel an issue is just big enough to cause us to make a decision, but small enough that we feel we do not need to run our decisions by others, how has this occurred in your consulting process?” During this transition, it is helpful to continue having regularly scheduled individual supervision sessions, but

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perhaps only twice per month. CITs at this level are capable of managing a higher client load and more complex issues without adverse reactions. For CITs who fail to perform at this more independent level of supervision, supervisors can always choose to meet with them more frequently, schedule more regular observations, or review their work (audio or video files). When CITs earn independence through the demonstration of competence in their preparation, in-session performance, and documentation, these students can begin to take on a new role as a supervisor-in-training (within the context of a graduate program). These “veteran” CITs can either be enrolled in a supervision course or complete assigned readings with their supervisor with the end goal of providing supervision to a novice CIT in the coming year, thus completing the developmental model within their graduate training. To help veteran CITs process their experience as supervisors, they would receive “supervision of supervision” from their initial faculty supervisor. These meta-supervision sessions are designed to help them develop the necessary skills to transfer their competencies to a new generation of CITs once they make the transition to young, employed professionals.

GENERAL ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS At the most basic level, supervision is designed to protect clients from harm and ensure quality of service in sport psychology. Thus, setting up supervision experiences in applied sport psychology requires some forethought but is likely to result in substantially improved student experiences, less risk for the supervisor, and less harm for clients. Taken together, choosing an effective model of supervision for your work with consultants in training is an important step in ensuring that quality services are provided to clients “under your watch” and helps to pass down the legacy of training to a new generation of sport psychology professionals. By outlining a model of supervision and helping students develop skills in applied practice, we are all ensuring the growth and value of applied sport psychology.

Relevant Issues in Division I Supervision The format of and issues with supervision outlined in the previous section will apply across a variety of contexts, so let’s take time to explore one of these contexts in greater detail – working within a Division I athletic department. The following section will first review the prevalence and opportunities for consulting at this level. Next, an overview of key NCAA rules and regulations will be discussed to help supervisors be aware of potential pitfalls in having their supervisees work in this setting. Subsequently, several issues that may impede the development of consultations are reviewed with the hope of preventing barriers before they occur.

Type, Prevalence and Potential of Division I Sport Psychology Consulting A survey of 115 Division I universities revealed that 53% of the schools used some form of sport psychology consulting including full-time consultants employed by the athletic

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department, part-time consultants (often faculty in sport psychology), individual team consultants, and interns (Voight & Callaghan, 2001). The number one reason schools tend to stop using services was that the sport psychology consultant (SPC) was no longer available. Of those schools reporting never having used an SPC, the number one reason for not utilizing services was lack of funding. Further, only a few athletic departments thought that services would not be beneficial. These statistics are important since it can be inferred that there may be great potential for consulting work in Division I intercollegiate athletics for graduate students. The consulting potential at Division I universities stem from the facts that 1) graduate students may offer their services at no cost in return for internship experience, 2) graduate students may receive academic credit for such pursuits and thus, have time to devote to consultations, and 3) graduate student intern status may break down some reluctance reported from individual stigma against sport psychology (Martin, 2005). However, it is also possible that some coaches and athletes may have the perception that using a student sport psychology intern would not be an effective use of time given graduate students are in training and not completely polished or professional. Given the potential for graduate student consulting opportunities in Division I sports, supervisors will want to be proactive in addressing potential issues that occur in these athletic and academic settings. The following will cover a few key issues that may be present when working in a NCAA Division I environment that supervisors at this level will want to be aware of before starting in or creating an internship experience for students. Although some of the issues that will be addressed are not unique to Division I athletics, we felt they were more likely to occur or be affected by the high profile status or highly competitive nature of some Division I programs.

Relevant NCAA Division I Rules and Regulations The NCAA is the national governing body for Division I, II and III intercollegiate athletics. There are currently 342 schools with Division I status, yielding at least 14 NCAA sports per institution. It is impossible to review all of the rules and regulations regarding those working with NCAA sanctioned teams and athletic programs in the constraints of this chapter as the manual for Division I alone is over 400 pages (NCAA, 2008). However, there are a few basics rules and regulations that are pertinent to CITs and supervisors. The regulations outlined here are meant to help guide supervisors to think of areas in which they may have to consult with their residential athletics department compliance officer and not meant to be an exhaustive guide to practices. One of the first considerations for supervisors at the Division I level is how their CITs represent themselves in title and services to the athletic programs on campus. The title a consultant assumes may affect preferences for athletes to seek services. Titles that are more sport oriented (e.g. performance enhancement specialist, sport counselor) may be preferred by Division I athletes than clinical titles (e.g. counselor, psychologist; Maniar, Curry, SommersFlanagan, & Walsh, 2001). A CIT may not have the credentials for clinical titles at their stage of education, so titles such as “mental skills trainer” or “mental coach” may be utilized instead. However, supervisors need to be aware that there are rules and limitations to the number of coaches allowed per team (varies by sport) by the NCAA, thus using a title with “coach” may not be prudent. In most sports, coach allowances range from a maximum of two to four coaches (with the exception of 11 for football; NCAA, 2008). According to the NCAA

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manual, the definition of coach is one who “… participates (in any manner) in the coaching of the intercollegiate team in practice, games or organized activities directly related to that sport, including any organized staff activity directly related to the sport” (p. 54). Certainly it can be argued that sport psychology services may be “directly related to that sport” and many teams will organize regular team and individual meetings as part of their regular practice schedule. All coaches need to be designated as such and once identified are bound by additional rules regarding type and amount of contact with athletes, presence at functions with prospective athletes, and compensation (NCAA, 2008). Regardless of coach or consultant status, the NCAA limits the amount of sport-related activities that student-athletes are required to attend to 20 hours per week while in season (NCAA, 2008). Team related activities (e.g. practice, video sessions, team meals) that count towards the 20 hours limitation are activities in which at least one coach is present and the limitation is meant to help support the student-athlete in balancing academic and personal goals. Even if the CIT is not classified as a coach, and in one of the best circumstances when a coach grants weekly required mental skills sessions, this may be above and beyond the 20 hours a week in team activities required of the athletes. A consultant must consider if she is ethically serving the team or student-athletes by running required team or individual sessions. When meetings are scheduled outside of the bounds of the 20-hour practice schedule (which is often put on an official calendar and put out by the coaching staff), CITs may want to make it clear to athletes that sport psychology sessions are voluntary or ask the coach to find another time on the calendar. Additionally, when coaches do not prioritize the sport psychology meetings within the regular calendar, the decision can send the implicit message to very busy athletes that this should not be one of their top priorities. Other considerations for possible NCAA compliance violations include extending special benefits to student-athletes and gambling (NCAA, 2008). NCAA sanctioned athletes are not allowed to receive special gifts, services or awards based on their athletic performance or status. Whether or not sport psychology services in general is a special service based on athletic status fitting for a NCAA violation is beyond the scope of this chapter. However, a supervisor should be aware and discuss with CITs how service “gifts” (e.g. relaxation mp3s or compact discs, lending of sport psychology books, custom video analysis) may be construed in the eyes of the NCAA. Again, checking with the university’s compliance officer before giving these mental skills training tools, or “gifts” or even establishing an internship program may be fitting. Another consideration for CITs who work with NCAA athletes is sports wagering. Any athletic department staff member or non-athletics staff member who has responsibility within a program is prohibited from sports wagering (NCAA, 2008). CITs may be aware of basic legalities related to gambling within their states, but may not be aware that it includes entering tournament pools and participating in fantasy leagues at all levels (e.g. collegiate, professional sports) when there is a potential to win a prize or monetary award. Supervisors will want to discuss this topic with CITs as it may result in an interesting debate on the appropriateness of these activities. Further, participation in pools or fantasy leagues when there is no chance of award as a result is allowed and may be a satisfactory alternative to no participation for those students and professional involved with intercollegiate athletics.

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STIGMA OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY Sport psychology professionals battling the stigma associated with athletes or coaches seeking services is not a new revelation (Martin, 2005; Zakrajsek & Zizzi, 2007) and the stigma is not immune among Division I athletics. Slightly less than half of Division I athletic officials from schools in the 10 largest conferences reported they did not employ sport psychology consultants and were not looking to in the near future (Voight & Callaghan, 2001). Reasons for not using sport psychology services were more often related to funding than negative perceptions of services. However, reasons for forgoing use may lay within in the individual sport coaches’ attitude and confidence in sport psychology. Zakrajsek and Zizzi surveyed college swimming and track and field coaches regarding their intentions to use sport psychology services, with the largest division representation from Division I schools. The authors found small differences in gender with female coaches more open to and reporting less stigma towards using sport psychology services. Interestingly, they also found that openness to using services was an indirect influence on coaches’ intentions to use services by the mediating factors of confidence in sport psychology, stigma tolerance, and expectations. However, the differences in divisions were not analyzed and the study was limited to collegiate, non-contact sports. Martin (2005) found that male athletes and contact sport athletes reported more negative attitudes toward sport psychology compared to other groups. However, overall, college athletes reported more positive attitudes in general compared to high school athletes. One of the only surveys available on football coaches’ attitudes toward sport psychology (Zakrajsek, Martin, & Zizzi, 2009) included a sample of high school coaches in Texas. Interestingly, out of 22 coaches, only 1.3% had any experience with sport psychology. Supporting previous research with coaches and athletes, these coaches’ attitudes were slightly more negative toward sport psychology compared to their peers in college settings in non-contact sports. However, older and more experienced coaches in the sample reported more positive attitudes than their younger counterparts. Zakrajsek and colleagues’ research also supported previous findings that coaches’ attitudes toward sport psychology services are predictive of their intentions to use services in the future. Supervisors and CITs should be aware that they may hit more resistance to services in larger, revenue-producing sports and football programs. There is the need for research to confirm implications and the suggestion that contact and revenue-producing sport coaches may have more stigma attached to using sport psychology services at the Division I level. In particular, football and basketball coaches are very well compensated employees of the university who are primarily measured in terms of wins and losses (and in media attention brought to their school). Thus, it is likely that coaches of larger, revenue producing sports will only choose to expose their athletes to proven methods to increase performance. Research lends strong support for the notion that athletes and coaches’ confidence that the sport psychology intervention will produce results is probably the strongest predictor of whether or not they use services. Coaches’ confidence along with their personal evaluation of and trust in the specific CIT will probably determine use and maintenance of sport psychology services. Supervisors will want to advise incoming students who have aspirations of working with specific big-time sport programs which of these internships are already established, which have been successful, and which have not. If there are enough graduate students to employ a consultant mentor process with more than one CIT

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per team, this may at least ensure continuation of services and specific sport programs may be more likely to continue services. Larger or revenue-producing programs and coaches who receive media attention and operate on large budgets may be the hardest sports with whom to establish internships and thus, CITs and supervisors may have better opportunities establishing consulting relationships with Olympic sports (i.e. non-revenue producing). When working with a CIT to attempt to establish a consulting relationship with a particular sport program, there may be more success in reaching and establishing rapport with assistant coaches. With coaching and media demands of more successful programs, chances of establishing contacts with head coaches may be very difficult. If a coaching staff member cannot be reached successfully, or an offer for team services has been declined, there are “backdoor” opportunities that may be used to establish consulting relationship with individual athletes in that sport. Supervisors may want to establish connections and a referral service through other supplemental service staff members, namely athletic academic advisors, student athlete advisory committee (SAAC) advisors and presidents, and/or CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinators. Larger athletic departments often employ these supplemental services and opportunities for their athletes and sport psychology supervisors can help CITs establish rapport with them and encourage referrals for services. Another strong possibility for referral and work with athletes from a variety of sports is to help CITs establish an internship in one or all of the university athletic training rooms. Sports medicine facilities are common places to find athletes before or after practice for pre-treatment or injury rehabilitation. Unfortunately, supervisors should prepare CITs for the possibility that the coach or coaches of their preferred sport will never be open to the possibility of sport psychology services to their athletes. However, once established, how a CIT conducts him/herself will affect the effectiveness and satisfaction of services which can be passed on to other programs by coaches’ word of mouth. An evaluation of a CIT’s internship with a Division I Women’s basketball team revealed that the head coach preferred that the CIT held clear boundaries in his role as a sport psychology consultant and did not veer into the technical coaching role territory (Weigand, Richardson, & Weinberg, 1999). Supervisors will want to stress the importance of professionalism and roles with CITs throughout the internship process.

Multiple Roles It is not uncommon in a graduate program in sport psychology at a Division I university for graduate students and faculty to encounter student-athletes in more situations than the consultant role. Some graduate students may teach academic courses, be part of the university orientation staff, work in academic advising, or be hired as a volunteer or assistant coach in athletic programs. Encountering an athlete with whom one is consulting while serving in another role can cross the ethical line of multiple roles (for more detailed ethical decision making regarding multiple roles in sport psychology, see Etzel & Watson, 2007; Watson & Clement, 2008; Watson, Clement, Harris, Leffingwell, & Hurst, 2006). One challenge in a Division I athletic setting with both supervisors and graduate students who consult is handling common potential multiple role occurrences in an ethical and professional manner. The following will outline possible situations in which CITs may be exposed and situations that a supervisor will need to be prepared to respond to or proactively intervene. Ideally, CITs and

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supervisors should sit down at the start of each internship experience and use the following section to identify problems before they occur and develop a game plan for minimizing risk for each client that could be exposed to the dual roles. When consultants-in-training teach. At larger, research-orientated universities, graduate students are often hired as graduate assistants, part-time lecturers, or awarded teaching fellowships that help offset the cost of graduate school education. In our field, graduate students may be hired to teach physical activity, sport psychology or other non-sport specific academic or orientation classes. The chances are high that at the beginning of one semester, a CIT who is teaching a university course may find an athlete on her teaching roster. This issue has been found to be a common experience as 71.4% of AASP certified consultants surveyed reported experiencing the teacher-consultant dual role (Watson et al., 2006). The potential concerns identified by consultants in teacher-consultant multiple relationships ranged from clients questioning grading policies to a fear that athletes might not be honest in consultations (Watson et al., 2006). Another concern would be the level of trust or willingness the client may have to continue sport consultation after a final grade is given in the class. If the studentclient earned a poor grade in the course, but perceived it to be an unfair grade given to them by the CIT, resentment may build and reluctance to continue services may result. If this occurs, CITs may be left with self-doubt in their abilities as effective consultants or teachers and may internalize the reason for the termination of the relationship. Overall, the majority of consultants believed that the teacher-consultant dual role relationship can be appropriate if handled ethically and discretely (Waston et al., 2006). Thus, a supervisor will want to consider either prepping students ahead of time for this possibility or be prepared with a list of questions, suggestions, and on-going evaluations of the graduate student’s relationship with the student-client. It has been suggested that a consultant pro-actively address clear boundaries with a student-client (Etzel & Watson, 2007). Thus, supervisors may want to model this conversation for their trainees. Supervisors may need to encourage CITs to initiate this conversation with their student-clients. In addition, CITs may be reluctant in approaching a client to address a new concern and may choose to avoid speaking about it before an issue arises from the multiple roles that intersect within the relationship. New consultants in this situation should be guided to broach the subject with their client at the first appropriate moment so that they do not miss the opportunity window. If a problem arises as a result of the multiple role relationship, it would be more awkward to discuss the problem after the fact and the client may be left wondering why it was proactively addressed by the CIT. If a CIT encounters a client in the classroom, approaching the client can be done at the next scheduled client meeting or done discretely after class by a quick, “Hi Tyson, now that you are in my classroom, I quickly wanted to touch base with you about keeping our consulting work together separate than our classroom work so we can avoid any potential issues as a result. Do you have a minute to talk about that?” A more discrete approach may be appropriate given the amount of privacy needed for the discussion so the confidentiality of the consultation can be preserved. Additional recommendations that can help a CIT in a potentially anxietyproducing situation have been recommended including assertiveness training, reinforcing self-use of stress management techniques and reflective note taking (Tod, 2007). Consultant and coach. Given the common athletic background of CITs and perhaps a desire to pursue a coaching career, there may be cases in which a CIT is also a volunteer, graduate assistant coach or even a head coach at the school in which they are attending. The

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percentage of CITs who have held or currently hold coaching positions is unknown, but 20% of AASP CCs surveyed by Watson et al. (2006) had experienced the consultant-coach multiple role. Interestingly, despite some benefits stated to having coaches deliver sport psychology services (Watson, et al., 2006; Weinberg & Gould, 2007), only 37.1% of those surveyed thought that the consultant-coach multiple relationship was appropriate (Watson et al, 2006). Supervisors should be prepared to encounter CITs who coach and may want to establish some basic policies and limitations in the internship process as it relates to these cases. Although there can be potential benefits for a CIT who is also a coach to deliver sport psychology services to his or her team (e.g. established rapport, decreased outsider stigma), a supervisor may want to limit or prohibit this opportunity during the professional development process for a variety of reasons. The first of which is that through the graduate training process, the CIT will most likely experience professional growing pains (Barney, Andersen, & Riggs, 1996). The CIT should be allowed to experience this development process without being pulled in multiple directions of coach and consultant to aid in the successful completion of development stages. Similar to consultants who teach, a major concern from those who hold these multiple roles is if the professional will be able to fulfill both roles without compromising the value or effectiveness of one or both duties (Watson et al, 2006). This may be especially true for CITs who are also trying to negotiate the responsibilities that go along with coaching. An additional issue that may arise if a CIT is allowed to consult with his or her own team is administration pressure to provide information about an athlete related to their mental status or readiness to perform. Since athletes sign waivers regarding their physical and academic information, administration may feel entitled to information regarding mental health and capabilities (Etzel & Watson, 2007), especially if the consultant-coach is employed by the administration. Even though a professional sport psychology-trained coach can be a valuable resource for an athlete, a sport psychology intern who is experiencing natural developmental pitfalls while coaching may not be prepared or fully competent to deal with the complexity of this dual role. Thus, there is plenty of support to back up a supervisor’s decision to prohibit a CIT from completing a sport psychology internship with the team with whom they currently coach. If coaching and consulting for the same team concurrently are prohibited within a graduate program, it would be wise for a supervisor to explain the logic and ethics behind such a policy before the student accepts admission to the program. A supervisor may want to brainstorm other academic pursuits that can merge the student’s academic and career coaching goals, such as creating a sport specific mental skills training manual or conducting research specific to that sport’s population. Another option for CITs who coach is to consult within their sports, but at another level (i.e. high school) or with the opposite gender. In these cases, rules regarding how much contact a Division I coach can have with other teams even while acting in the role of a sport psychology consultant should be reviewed with the universities’ compliance officer before any consultations are started. There may be situations in which career coaches pursue graduate degrees in sport psychology with the aspirations of enhancing their coaching prowess. It would make sense in these cases for a supervisor to work with the CIT-coach to develop methods of consulting and coaching with the same team where the CIT can act ethically in both roles and where the supervisor can maintain proper supervision. Perhaps the supervisor will require the CIT to successfully complete ethics training and substantial coursework before pursuing this multiple

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role. There may also be ways to seamlessly integrate mental skills training exercises within the team’s practice schedule. Regardless, a detailed discussion and education on proper documentation and case notes is imperative before a CIT-coach begins implementing sport psychology principles. Since a coach has a considerable amount of encounters with athletes during the course of the week, the CIT and the supervisor will want to be clear about what requires proper sport psychology documentation. Since intercollegiate coaching is often a year-round occupation, CIT-coaches may have contact with athletes during school and summer breaks when not receiving supervision. Clear limitations, boundaries and referral processes should be clarified in these cases with the CIT and liability legalities should be reviewed through the supervisor’s credentialing or licensure organization. A thorough meeting with the athletic compliance officer would also be prudent as there are many NCAA rules regarding amount and type of contact with athletes and prospective athletes for coaches (see above) and varies according to coach type (NCAA, 2008).

Establishing Boundaries Among Peers With the increase of successful graduate programs in sport psychology, there may be an influx of students seeking graduate school admission fresh from undergraduate training. In many cases, some of the students admitted may only be months out of the termination of their own intercollegiate athletic careers. Recent, personal experience in sport may certainly be a positive asset for these CITs, as they can use their own sport experiences to relate to their student-athlete clients while establishing rapport and credibility. Further, having a young consultant working with an athlete or team may cut down on some of the reservations or intimidation that athletes may feel towards sport psychology consultants (Martin, 2005). However, supervisors will want to be aware of the potential issues that could result of CITs having such a similar demographic to their clientele. Students entering graduate programs straight from undergraduate careers are essentially being asked to convert from peer to professional overnight. While attending undergraduate schools, these students may have been dating, cheering for, studying, living, or socializing with the very type of athletes with whom they are now consulting. In some instances when undergraduates are admitted to graduate programs within the same institution these peer relationships may be literal situations. In other cases, the new CITs were Division I athletes. It is very important that all new CITs have a chance to discuss the challenges of their athletic career ending transition in an open setting with a supervisor and upper level graduate students. Establishing boundaries among peers may be one of the first topics addressed in a graduate seminar or CIT supervision meeting. There are specific issues that should be addressed in this discussion: unintended social interactions with athletes, social networking websites, and fandom. Unintended social interactions. Any consultant living in proximity to clients has the chance of running into a client outside of the consultation setting. Given the chance that traditional student CITs may be close in demographics, proximity and interests to their clients, there are many chances that they will encounter their athletes in unintended social interactions. Unintended social interactions may happen at sporting events, coffee houses, bars, parties, or community events. Supervision topics should cover how CITs can maintain confidentiality in unintended social interactions with clients, which should include advising

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CITs to not even initiate contact with their clients in public as that may inform others present that there is a consulting relationship and break confidentiality. However, even if a CIT heeds the avoidance advice and does not initiate contact with clients in public settings, a client may noticeably greet the consultant and may even want to discuss performance issues in earshot of others forcing the CIT into an ethical dilemma of how to best serve the client while maintaining confidentiality. For example, a CIT should be prepared to handle a situation in which an athlete surrounded by some of her friends sees the consultant and runs up to her, hugs her and says to her friends, “Hey, this is my sports shrink!” Understandably, this would put the new CIT in a compromising position. This uncomfortable position of being “outed” as a consultant by a client can be exponentially more awkward and potentially damaging if the situation involves alcohol. Both individuals’ inhibitions can be loosened increasing the likelihood of crossing boundaries or breaking confidentiality. Further, many Division I athletes are required to sign a no-substance use policy and may damage their perceptions of the CIT if the athlete is “caught” drinking or if the CIT is drinking herself. Even if the CIT is able to avoid the athlete in this situation and no harm is done to the consultation relationship, this may prove to be a critical error if the coaching staff or administration learn that the sport psychology consultant was seen consuming alcohol in the same establishment with or even just in the vicinity of an athlete who is bound by a no-tolerance policy. In addition, unless the athlete is over the legal age limit, any alcohol or substance use by athletes would be an illegal act. Supervisors should cover these topics early on in the CITs supervision education and may want to include role-play situations in which CITs are surprised by these social encounters and how to handle them ethically without harm to the client. Perhaps more importantly, CITs may need education on how to increase their chances at avoiding unintended and potentially sticky interactions with their clients in the first place. It may not be as clear to young CITs why they will want to limit or vary their own personal social activities to ensure that these potentially damaging situations do not occur in the first place. Altering one’s behaviors may prove especially hard for less mature consultants or those individuals who are continuing their graduate education at the same institution as their undergraduate careers. Graduate students may have to consider changing their living situations if living near or with athletes as undergraduates, stopping or limiting their patronage of certain bars or restaurants, and carefully considering who may be at parties in which they attend. Utilizing relevant recounts of these unintended situations and lessons learned by upper level CITs may be a poignant message to new CITs. Social networking websites. The use of social networking sites are exponentially rising and for the first time in the world wide web’s history, social networking websites are now a more popular reason why people log onto the internet than email (Nielsen Online, 2009). Although there has been a history of sport psychology consultants using professional websites to market their services and offer electronic-based consultations (Abildso, Keeler, Clement, & Etzel, 2006; Zizzi & Perna, 2002), there is no known set precedent with the use of social networking websites between sport psychology consultant and client. Social networking websites offer both advantages and disadvantages to the consultant and athlete. One advantage to the consultant of establishing a personal page on a social networking site is that it is a free and convenient way to establish and maintain a personal website that otherwise may be costly and require either specialty programming knowledge or the hiring of a web design expert. Another advantage to using social networking websites to maintain links between consultants and athletes is that it may give an athlete a less intimidating way to

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contact the consultant when individual sessions are desired. Athletes in college now have grown up with technology and may feel more at ease contacting consultants through the use of the internet as it may not be as intimidating in an in-person contact or phone call (Zizzi & Perna, 2002). Athletes may be connected on social networking sites to their consultant and when the time arises when they desire individual sessions, there is an already established oneon-one rapport, albeit electronically. Further, when there is still a stigma involved with seeking sport psychology consulting, it may be beneficial to the consultant to reveal some of their personal side to athletes in order to appear more human and accessible. However, clearly there needs to be careful consideration of the amount and type of information revealed on social networking sites. Many sites offer different privacy settings in which consultants can control who is able to view their personal information and, perhaps more importantly, which social connections can post information about them. Thus, there may be potential gains in establishing social networking sites and allowing athletes access to that site. However, there are potential issues that may arise from this situation and CITs should be educated on them prior to establishing their consultations. Given the advantages of social networking sites for consultants, their use may lead to potential concerns. Social networking websites are distinct from other professional online marketing tools based on the informality and potential intimacy of the content on these sites. The difference in these personal pages – versus a professional website – is that many people post very personal information from relationship status to likes and dislikes and people within one’s social network are often called “friends”. The title “friend” may be used loosely within these sites as the title simply represents granted access to view a person’s individual page or implies that the two people are somehow connected through a class, a mutual friend, a job, etc. A potential problem may occur from the title itself as the title “friend” may give the improper impression to athletes that their consultants are their friends and vice-versa. This perception of friendship has the potential to damage the consulting relationship as it would go against the professional distance and objectivity that traditional counselors should maintain with their clients and may not prove fruitful for the consulting relationship (Van Raalte & Andersen; 2000). Also important to note is that once someone is granted access to a consultant’s personal page, that person can view the consultant’s social network in entirety. Thus, any “friend” of a consultant would be able to view the social connections between consultants and athletes. Given the large media exposure in some Division I revenue producing athletic programs, high profile athletes may be easily recognized and therefore, confidentiality of the consulting relationship may be compromised. Further, one characteristic of these sites is that messages posted by friends can be viewed by anyone with access to a person’s page. Thus, athletes may choose to post consultation-related messages for others to see. A CIT may not have the ethical education and experience to handle this situation so as not to further expose the athlete. Chances are that new graduate students entering programs will already have accounts on one or more social networking sites that may include non-professional photos, information, or activity. Access to this information by athletes or coaches with whom CITs work may compromise the CIT’s quest to establish a professional working relationship. Clearly, supervisors need to address the potential harm that may occur to the athlete if allowed to join a CIT’s social network, in addition to, the damage that may occur to the CIT’s own reputation. Perhaps a CIT will want to establish a standard “thank you for the request, but I like to keep sport psychology connections separate because of …” response if one of his

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athletes request a “friendship” on his page or create a second page that is geared towards professional connections. Overall, sport psychology consultants are often asked to work with athletes in nontraditional locations such as on the sideline, in hotels, on buses and in hallways (Etzel & Watson, 2007). Despite potential hazards in utilizing social networking sites to supplement consultations, banning such practices may not be the clear answer in these technological times. Rather, supervisors will want to discuss any established policies on the use of socialnetworking sites with CITs while in graduate school and use it as a teaching moment in the potential advantages and disadvantages to their clients as well as the CITs’ own personal reputations. Specifically, this may be a good opportunity for the CITs to learn how to communicate specific boundaries to their clients. Lastly, there is a definite need for research in use of social networking sites in sport psychology as new technology establishes new methods for athletes to stay in contact with consultants. In summary, chances are great that student-athletes as well as CITs entering graduate programs will have experience with and/or will be currently using a social networking site and the issue will arise. Supervisors who choose to ignore this practice will be neglecting an important topic in their supervision duty. Fandom. As this chapter was being written, the media hype surrounding the NCAA college basketball March Madness was coming to a climax. A time of the year when schools, students and athletes get to show off their school’s prowess in highly publicized and televised games in both men’s and women’s basketball. Media coverage of students’ school pride, rampant basketball bracketology (picking, following and/or wagering on tournament bracket winners) and entire city celebrations abound. CITs may find it difficult in these celebratory times regardless if their consultations involve high profile basketball, football or other programs, to negotiate between the role of consultant, university student, and fan. Any sport psychology professional connected with universities during high stakes competitions (e.g. national championships, BCS football games) may get caught up in the excitement of the competition; after all, a love for sport was probably a major factor in our career choice. The difficulty lies in the investment of personal emotions regarding fandom and the outcome of the teams with which you work. Fandom and wanting to be apart of the team may occur while watching teams with whom CITs are working (Tonn & Harmison, 2004) or not working. When does a CIT cross the line of being an objective, impartial professional there for the benefit of the athlete and between the hard-worked graduate student feeling school pride as his team is about to win a berth into a national championship game? This topic would make an excellent subject in a group supervision class and can precede the matter of relevant NCAA rules regarding sport wagering discussed earlier in this chapter. Supervisors may want to encourage the use of reflective writing to increase self-awareness of CITs’ motivations and help them turn the consultation focus from a self-centered one to a more client-focus (Holt & Strean, 2001). Erotic attraction among consultants-in-training and athletes. A survey of AASP members revealed that a small percentage of members have engaged in sexual relationships with their clients (Petipas, Brewer, Rivera, & Van Raalte, 1994) and there have been documented cases of erotic attraction boundary crossing (Stevens & Andersen, 2007b). It is unclear what percentage of CITs engage in sexual relationships with their clients or do not handle their erotic attraction to their clients professionally, but erotic attraction in sport psychology exists and CITs should be prepared when it arises. Unfortunately, it has been suggested that students are either not exposed to this issue in supervision or are not being adequately prepared to

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handle it (Stevens & Andersen, 2007a). This neglect is concerning considering that the neophyte or peer status of some CITs to their clients may increase the chances of feelings or erotic attraction in one or both parties. The concept of feelings developed by a client towards a clinician, or transference, and vice versa, known as countertransference, has been explored in sport psychology literature. Supervisors are encouraged to read Stevens and Andersen’s (2007a, 2007b) review of theoretical approaches to transference and countertransference and examples of both repressed and manifested behaviors of consultants. The authors provide a rationale that, despite the prohibition of sexual behavior between consultant and client in professional organizations, the simple supervisory message of “don’t do it” is not adequate in addressing the complexities of this phenomenon (Stevens & Andersen, 2007a). Thus, CITs need specific and detailed education, discussion and encouragement to explore erotic feelings and possible consequences when they arise. It is clear that observation alone is not enough for a supervisor to evaluate CITs thoughts and behaviors regarding erotic attraction towards clients. Consultants are human, and although some may not act or consciously allow themselves to think of such thoughts, there may be repressed or latent erotic attraction towards clients which can alter the consultants’ behavior and subsequent care given to the athlete (Stevens & Andersen, 2007b). Yambor and Connelly (1991) discussed the additional challenges that female consultants may have in setting boundaries with their male clients, however, these feelings may occur regardless of gender differences or sexual orientation. Further, many CITs may struggle with stressors such as large work loads, financial concerns, and terminations of their own athletic careers that may put them at risk for individual impairment that could negatively affect consultations and increase mishandling of erotic attractions (Andersen, Van Raalte, & Brewer, 2000). Andersen and colleagues (2000) suggested that supervisors encourage CITs to seek individual counseling when impaired or require it as part of their internship experience as it will not only help them with personal issues, but can be beneficial to their development as a consultant. Given the possible lack of supervision that supervisors received when working with athletes themselves, supervisors may want to seek additional coursework to increase their supervisory skill set to include addressing erotic attraction and impairment (Andersen, Van Raalte, & Brewer, 1994). Further, supervisors will want to monitor their own feelings and erotic attraction towards their CITs as it can be detrimental to the development of the student (Andersen, 1994) and manifest in projection onto the CIT of feelings towards the client (Stevens & Andersen, 2007a).

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESEARCHERS AND PRACTITIONERS • •

It is critical that supervisors choose an effective model of supervision that will fit their training and the institution (or practice) where they work. Balancing individual and group supervision requires substantial effort on the part of supervisors but will likely result in better outcomes including reduced risk or adverse outcomes, improved case management, enhanced consultant development, and improved service delivery.

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•

•

•

• •

Developmental models of supervision provide an excellent context for supervision in applied sport psychology by helping to match the level and type of supervision to the CIT’s skill level. There are potentially unique and/or heightened issues when superivising or consulting in a NCAA Division I setting and additional research is needed on the experiences of CIT’s working within Division I (and other levels) to confirm and extend some of the suggestions provided within this chapter. Supervisors and practitioners in Division I athletic programs will want to consult with and have a working relationship with the campus NCAA compliance coordinator to ensure that sport psychology services are within rules and regulations. Consultants-in-training entering graduate programs may have similar demographic, background, or interest as their clientele that may leave them open to boundary issues between clients who are peers. Examination in use of technology in sport psychology consulting needs to be expanded to include investigations into the effectiveness of social networking sites. Internship and supervisory experiences in Division I settings have great potential if supervisors proactively address specific concerns related to Division I programs.

REFERENCES Abildso, C. G., Keeler, L. A., Clement, D., & Etzel, E. (2006, September). Online marketing: How AAASP certified consultants are presenting their credentials. Paper presented at the 2006 Annual Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Miami, FL. Andersen, M. B. (1994). Ethical considerations in the supervision of applied sport psychology graduate students. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 6, 152 -167. Andersen, M. B. (2005). Sport psychology in practice. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Andersen, M. B., & Williams-Rice, B. (1996, September). Supervision in the education and training of sport psychology service providers. Sport Psychologist, 10, 278-290. Andersen, M. B., Van Raalte, J. L., & Brewer, B. W. (2000). When sport psychology consultants and graduate students are impaired: Ethical and legal issues in training and supervision. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 12, 134-150. Andersen, M. B., Van Raalte, J. L., & Brewer, B. W. (1994). Assessing the skills of sport psychology supervisors. The Sport Psychologist, 8, 238-247. Barney, S. T., Andersen, M. B., & Riggs, C. A. (1996). Supervision in sport psychology: Some recommendations for practicum training. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 8, 200-217. Bernard, J. M., & Goodyear, R. K. (2008). Fundamentals of clinical supervision. (4th Ed). Allyn & Bacon: New York. Burke, K. L., Sachs, M. L., Fry, S. J., & Schweighardt, S.L. (2008). Directory of graduate programs in applied sport psychology. Fitness Information Technologies: Morgantown, WV.

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Clement, D., Abildso, C., & Etzel, E. (2007). Online marketing: How AASP-CCs are presenting their credentials. Paper presented at the 2007 AASP Conference, Louisville, KY. Etzel, E. F., & Watson II, J. C. (2007). Ethical challenges for psychological consultations in intercollegiate athletics. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 1, 304-317. Falender, C. A., & Shafranske, E. P. (2004). Clinical supervision: A competency-based approach. American Psychological Association: Washington, DC. Feasey, D. (2002). Good practices in supervision with psychotherapists and counselors. London: Whirr Publishers. Holt, N. L., & Strean, W. B. (2001). Reflecting on initiating sport psychology consultations: A self-narrative of neophyte practice. The Sport Psychologist, 15, 188-204. Knowles, Z., Gilbourne, D., & Tomlinson, V. & Anderson, A. G. (2007). Reflections on the application of reflective practice for supervision in applied sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 21, 109-122. Koocher, G. P. & Keith-Speigel, P. (1998). Ethics in psychology. New York: Oxford. Maniar, S. D., Curry, L. A., Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Walsh, J. A. (2001). Student-athlete preferences in seeking help when confronted with sport psychology performance problems. The Sport Psychologist, 15, 205-223. Martin, S. B., Wrisberg, C. A., Beitel, P. A., Lounsbury J. (1997). NCAA Division I athletes’ attitudes toward seeking sport psychology consultation: The development of an objective instrument. The Sport Psychologist, 11, 201-218. National Collegiate Athletics Association. (2008). 2008-2009 NCAA Division I manual. Indianapolis, IN: National collegiate Athletics Association. Retrieved April 5, 2009 from http://www.ncaapublications.com/Uploads/PDF/Division_1_Manual_2008-09e9e568a1c269-4423-9ca5-16d6827c16bc.pdf. Stevens, L. M., & Andersen, M. B. (2007a). Transference and countertransference in sport psychology service delivery: Part I. A review of erotic attraction. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 19, 253-269. Stevens, L. M., & Andersen, M. B. (2007b). Transference and countertransference in sport psychology service delivery; Part II. Two cases studies on the erotic. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 19, 270-288. Nielsen Online. (2009, March). Social networks & blogs now 4th most popular online activity, ahead of personal email, nielsen reports. Retreived April 5, 2009 from http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/pr_090309.pdf Tod, D. (2007). The long and winding road: Professional development in sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 21, 94-108. Tonn, E., & Harmison, R. J. (2004). Thrown to the wolves: A student’s account of her practicum experience. The Sport Psychologist, 18, 324-340. Van Raalte, J. L., & Andersen, M. B. (2000). Supervision I: From models to doing. In M. B. Andersen (Ed.), Doing sport psychology (pp. 153-165). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Voight, M., & Callaghan, J. (2001). The use of sport psychology services at NCAA Division I universities from 1998-1999. The Sport Psychologist, 15, 91-102. Watson II, J. C., Zizzi, S. J., Etzel, E. F., & Lubker, J. R. (2004). Applied sport psychology supervision: a survey of students and professionals. The Sport Psychologist, 18, 415-429. Weigand, D. A., Richardson, P. A., & Weinberg, R. S. (1999). A two-stage evaluation of a sport psychology internship. Journal of Sport Behavior, 22, 83-104.

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Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2007). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology (4th Ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Yambor, J., & Connelly, D. (1991). Issues confronting female sport psychology consultants working with male student-athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 5, 304-312. Zakrajsek, R. A., & Zizzi, S. J. (2007). Factors influencing track and swimming coaches’ intentions to use sport psychology services. Athletic Insight: The Online Journal of Sport Psychology, 9(2), 1-22. Retreived April 5, 2009 from http://www.athletic insight.com/Vol9Iss2/CoachesIntentions.htm. Zizzi, S. J., & Perna, F. (2002). Integrating webpages and email into sport psychology consultations. The Sport Psychologist, 16, 416-431.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 15

ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING IN SPORT PSYCHOLOGY: ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE Brandonn S. Harris*1, Amanda J. Visek2 and Jack C. Watson3 Kansas State University1, The George Washington University2 West Virginia University3, USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY A code of ethics specific to sport psychology has been noted to be of substantial importance to the autonomy and professionalization of the field (Whelan, Meyers, & Elkins, 2002; Zeigler, 1987). In an effort to protect the welfare of those individuals being served and to convey the values of the organization and profession to the community, the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) previously established its own code of ethics. While the principles and standards within codes of ethics provide support and guidance for professionals navigating a variety of ethical issues, they oftentimes contain gaps, contradictions, and grey areas that limit their utility in specific circumstances and complicate the process of ethical decision-making (Kitchener, 1984; Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 1998). To help combat these concerns, ethical decision-making models can serve as a practical framework that professionals can use to resolve these situations. Although the AASP has yet to adopt a decision-making model or guidelines for ethical decision-making in sport psychology, several models found within other helping professions are presently available. The following chapter will review the various ethical philosophies that have the potential to influence ethical decision-making in sport psychology, in addition to examining several theoretical and practice-based ethical decision-making models. A case study is also provided to illustrate the use of a decision-making model to cope with an ethical situation that has increasingly become

*

All correspondence should be directed to:Brandonn S. Harris, Ph.D., Kansas State University, 329 Bluemont Hall, 1100 Mid-Campus Drive, Manhattan, KS 66506, Phone: 785.532.5784, Fax: 785.532.7304, E-mail: [email protected]

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germane to sport psychology. Lastly, specific recommendations for professional practice in sport psychology are also forwarded.

INTRODUCTION A profession’s quest to ensure that its professionals “do no harm” often requires the acting professional organization to develop, adopt, and enforce a set of guidelines that regulate their members’ professional conduct (Whelan et al., 2002). By doing so, the profession is protecting not only the welfare of those they serve, but it is also a method of communicating the values of the organization and/or profession to the community it serves, as well as society at large. Ethics in sport psychology has been, and continues to be, an area of great concern as this unique discipline and profession grows in research, education, and practical application. It has been stated that a code of ethics tailored specifically for sport psychology is a “vital aspect of the overall professionalization of the field” (Ziegler, 1987, p. 138). Established in 1986 out of a need to focus on the challenges confronting sport psychology in the applied and professional domains (Silva, 1989), Dr. John M. Silva founded the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP; presently known as the Association of Applied Sport Psychology [AASP]), which has become the largest applied sport, exercise, and health psychology organization in the world (AASP, 2009). By 1986, the AASP had established an ethics committee to address the need for organizational and professional ethical guidelines. Soon afterward, the American Psychological Association’s (APA) ethical standards were temporarily adopted due to the APA’s tradition for holding high standards for the practice of psychological service delivery among psychologists (Whelan, 1993). By 1994, the AASP had adopted a set of six general principles. These six principles include: (1) Competence, (2) Integrity, (3) Professional and Scientific Responsibility, (4) Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity, (5) Concern for Others’ Welfare, and (6) Social Responsibility. In 1996, the AASP added to the previously adopted principles by adopting a set of standards by which to provide guidance and regulate members’ behavior. These more specific standards were based, in large, on the 1992 APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Ethics Code). Today, the AASP Ethics Code includes an introduction, a preamble, the six aforementioned general principles, and 25 ethical standards, which are intended to inform and guide the professional roles, interaction, and communications of AASP members. Many professionals within the field have steadfastly fought for the professionalization of sport psychology by: (a) gaining recognition by the APA as a division of psychology (i.e., Division 47), (b) establishing certification (i.e., Certified Consultant – Association for Applied Sport Psychology) for those members that have exhibited a common standard of preparation and practice within the field (Zizzi, Zaichowsky, & Perna, 2002), and (c) adopting a set of ethical principles and standards by which to hold its members accountable. These advancements towards the professionalization of sport psychology have been pivotal in grounding and providing a professional structure to this unique discipline and professional practice. However, despite its growth, sport psychology remains a relatively young field that due to its distinctiveness has been, and will continue to be, faced with idiosyncratic issues and

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circumstances not typically faced by other fields of practice (for a review see Etzel & Watson, 2007; Etzel, Watson, & Zizzi, 2004; Watson & Etzel, 2004). For example, while the provision of sport psychology services often mimics a similar structure to that of traditional psychotherapy, applied sport psychology services often take place outside the conventional office and on the training and playing fields of sport. It is not uncommon for a sport psychology practitioner to observe an athlete or team during practices, to be on-call during a competitive event, or to travel domestically or even internationally with an athlete/team-client. Additionally, sport psychology practitioners may find themselves in complex situations in which both the coaching staff and team members confide in the sport psychology practitioner about separate or similar issues involving one another, which can place the practitioner in a sensitive and precarious situation of which he/she must carefully navigate in the best interest of all parties. Sport psychology practitioners providing services to collegiate athletes and teams may also find themselves in situations in which there are conflicts with confidentiality when an athlete confides in them about various National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) violations. Due to the increased presence of sport psychology on college and university campuses, practitioners can also be faced with multiplerole relationships. For instance, more and more practitioners find their athlete-clients as students in their classrooms because practitioners often have full-time or part-time faculty appointments where they teach a variety of sport psychology courses in departments of kinesiology/exercise science and psychology (Watson, Clement, Harris, Leffingwell, & Hurst, 2006). Therefore, because of the unique nature of sport psychology service provision, practitioners often find themselves in quandaries of which standards of practice in traditional psychotherapy do not adequately apply.

ADVANTAGES OF DECISION-MAKING MODELS The AASP Ethic’s Code was adopted to help guide the professional conduct of its members with the intent of protecting the welfare of clients and the profession as a whole. While codes of ethics serve as directional beacons to help guide member professional practice, they do have inherent gaps and contradictions that can be inadequate when assessing what action to take when one has found themselves in a potential ethical dilemma (Kitchener, 1984). Unfortunately, as Kitchener attests, despite a thorough knowledge of pertinent professional codes and the sincerest intentions to adhere to them, codes of ethics are not a fool-proof means of shielding practitioners from questionable professional conduct. Therefore, because of the generality that is characteristic of codes of ethics, professional bodies and their members should develop decision-making strategies which can assist in facilitating the management of ethical situations as they arise (Koocher & Kieth-Spiegel, 1998). Various models of ethical decision-making are found in the psychology, counseling, and counseling psychology literature; however, interestingly they have yet to be popularly applied to issues germane to sport psychology. The purpose of the processes characteristic of ethical decision models is to maximize the probability of an ethically sound outcome being reached (Koocher & Kieth-Spiegel, 1998). Thus, the use of decision-making models provides a systematic framework for evaluating questionable situations and the various elements that

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could potentially influence the outcome of a particular decision (Tymchuk, 1981). Given the relative infancy of sport psychology as both a discipline and professional service, its continued growth will be determined in part, by the sound ethical decisions of its practitioners. Additionally, given the unique nature of applied sport psychology, the adoption and application of ethical decision-making models would no doubt augment the provision of services, but would also concurrently increase the likelihood of sport psychology practitioners reaching the most ethically sound outcome that is in the best interests of all parties involved.

ETHICAL THEORIES AND DECISION-MAKING MODELS Currently, sport psychology professionals do not have a decision-making model available that is specific to their field. Fortunately, several alternative models to ethical decisionmaking can be found within other mental health professions and appear to have great utility for sport psychology educators, researchers, and practitioners. Before reviewing these models, it is helpful to first examine the philosophical frameworks that have guided ethical behavior and thus serve as the foundation for ethical conduct and the interpretation and utilization of decision-making models (Cottone & Claus, 2000).

Ethical Theory and Philosophy While much has been written about moral philosophy and ethical theory, Hadjistavropoulos and Malloy (2000) noted that Teleology and Deontology have emerged as the two general philosophical perspectives primarily influencing ethical decision-making models. Further, O’Donohue and Mangold (1996) have suggested these two schools of thought to be of considerable importance within the field of psychology and of potential influence to the code of ethics for the APA. As such, these two perspectives are also important within sport psychology. Teleology/Consequentialism. Sometimes referred to as Consequentialism, Teleology represents an outcome-oriented philosophy suggesting that ethical or moral behaviors be evaluated based upon the consequences of those behaviors, regardless of the intention or means used to achieve such ends (Beekun, Hamdy, Westerman, & HassabElnaby, 2008; Whelan et al., 2002). Stemming from the work of Mills and Bentham, Utilitarianism has been noted to be the most prominent form of the Consequentialist perspective (Regis, 1980) and has been suggested to be of particular influence to the process of ethical decision-making (Hadjistavropoulos & Malloy, 2000). According to this framework, actions that result in the most positive consequences for the greatest number of individuals are deemed to be ethical, with the opposite holding true for immoral or unethical behaviors (Beekun et al., 2008). Researchers have commonly characterized this perspective as “the greatest good for the greatest number” (Tymchuk, 1986, p.37; also see Whelan et al., 2002, p. 510). Hadjistavropoulos and Malloy (2000) further suggested Utilitarianism to include both Act (focus of behavior is specifically on outcome achieved) and Rule forms (using prescribed rules to achieve the greatest good). In addition to Utilitarianism, there are other theoretical frameworks that each provides its own deviation of the basic Consequentialist premise. When

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good moral or ethical behaviors are defined as those actions attempting to achieve the greatest happiness or pleasure for oneself, it is commonly referred to as Hedonism (Hadjistavropoulos & Malloy, 2000; Rachels, 1999). Additionally, the Hedonistic perspective recognizes happiness and pleasure to be responses to the attainment of something we previously have accepted as being good, rather than resulting from the pursuit of happiness and pleasure in their own right and for their own sake (Rachels, 1999). Egoism has also been forwarded as a branch of Consequentialism and suggests that ethical behaviors are those that best serve the interests of the individual (Beekun et al., 2008). When making ethical decisions an individual may take into account the interests of others; however, they will only act accordingly if accounting for others’ interests also serves the well-being of that individual making the decision (Rachels, 1999). This perspective has further been sectioned into Ethical and Psychological Egoism. Traditionally, the former proposes that human behavior should or ought to be carried out to further one’s own best interests (Price, 2008; Regis, 1980; Van Hoose & Kottler, 1985). The notion that human behavior does occur to promote one’s own best interest or welfare represents the Psychological Egoist perspective (Lemos, 1960; Price, 2008). In these two latter Consequentialist perspectives, the greatest good that results from one’s actions regards the well-being of the individual, rather than the interests of most as demonstrated in the Utilitarianism framework. Deontology. Deontology, sometimes described as Absolutism (rule-based ethics), proposes that the ethicality or morality of behaviors should be evaluated based on the intentions and quality of actions, rather than the outcomes of such behaviors as promoted by Consequentialists (Frame & Williams, 2005; Price, 2008). Additionally, this perspective suggests that ethical behavior should be grounded in principles that would be accepted as universal and applicable to different scenarios (Frame & Williams, 2005; Whelan et al., 2002). Similar to the Consequentialist approach, Deontology also has theoretical derivatives that provide their own variation of the philosophy’s basic premise. Well known for his influence on the Deontological philosophy, Immanuel Kant suggested that humans had a moral obligation or duty to behave in a manner that rational individuals would be expected to demonstrate and condone given their intuition (Price, 2008; Whelan et al., 2002). Not surprisingly, this form of Deontology has been described as Intuitive Deontology (Hadjistavropoulos & Malloy, 2000). In establishing his approach to ethics and morality, Kant forwarded what he termed the Categorical Imperative that defined moral behavior as that which could be universally and consistently demonstrated without exception, across circumstances (Price, 2008). Divine Command Theory is another form of the general Deontological school of thought and suggests that the ethicality and morality of behavior should be weighed against the will of God (Rachels, 1999; Rooney, 1995). Moral and ethical behaviors are those that fulfill the will or rules of God; that is, immoral behaviors are those that God would deem to be forbidden. Hadjistavropoulos and Malloy (2000) added that the will of a divine authority varies according to religious affiliation and the rules for behavior would likely be linked to one’s religious text and associated doctrine. Originating from the work of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, the Social Contract Theory is also recognized as a Deontological approach to ethics and morality. This perspective adopts a practical approach to morality by suggesting that ethical behaviors be understood as solutions to problems stemming from the self-interests of individuals (Rachels, 1999). In

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order for a society to function morally and avoid what Hobbes referred to as the state of nature (i.e., a chaotic state resulting from the absence of rules coupled with the nature of human existence), it needed to adopt a collective agreement that governed the interactions of people with one another, in addition to an agency or leader(s) that would enforce the regulations associated with such an agreement (Price, 2008).

Integrating Ethical Theory into Sport Psychology There is little doubt that the aforementioned frameworks on ethical and moral behavior have made a significant contribution to several professional fields involving mental health service provision (i.e., counseling, counseling psychology, clinical psychology, social work, and sport psychology). However, professionals may find integrating such philosophies into their respective work a challenge given the occasional nebulous nature of ethical philosophy. For example, O’Donohue and Mangold (1996) noted the uncertainty associated with the specific theories the APA’s Ethics Code is grounded in. Additionally, Van Hoose and Kottler (1985) suggested that when searching for appropriate principles to guide ethical decisionmaking, philosophy “can be a very intellectual, abstract, and theoretically dry approach to dealing with conflicts, with little practical value and almost no relevance to the real world” (p. 21). However, these authors also noted that the same philosophies can be quite supportive in developing one’s own theory on ethical behavior. Therefore, it seems appropriate to identify the practical implications ethical and moral philosophy can have on ethical guidelines and the decision-making behaviors of sport psychology professionals. In fact, sport psychology researchers have previously examined how general ethical philosophies may be reflected in the ethics code of the American Psychology Association. For example, Whelan and colleagues (2002) suggested that the premises of Consequentialism and Deontology were exemplified by the standards and principles contained in the APA Ethics Code, respectively. Given that the current code of ethics for the AASP was largely predicated on that of the APA, the present authors find it appropriate to extend this application to the ethical guidelines governing the profession of sport psychology. Similar to those contentions forwarded by Whelan and colleagues, it can be argued that the six principles contained within the AASP Ethics Code (i.e., Competence, Integrity, Professional and Scientific Responsibility, Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity, Concern for Others’ Welfare, and Social Responsibility) serve to represent ethical generalizations that should remain universal in guiding a variety of ethical behaviors in settings germane to sport psychology. As the Ethics Code suggests, these principles serve to guide members “toward the highest ideals of the profession” (Meyers, 1995, p. 15). Although the AASP Ethics Code notes these principles are not specific enforceable rules, they should be considered by members when attempting to decide an appropriate ethical course of action. When viewing the principles from this perspective, the parallels between these principles’ purpose and the Deontological school of thought become more salient. Conversely, the 25 standards found within the AASP Ethics Code (Professional and Scientific Relationship, Boundaries of Competence, Human Differences, etc.) serve to “more precisely specify the boundaries of ethical conduct” (AASP, 1994). Whelan and colleagues (2002) suggest that such standards represent the Consequentialist perspective in that they provide proscribed rules of ethical behavior regarding a variety of specific roles sport

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psychology professionals may find themselves occupying. Given that these delineated rules are put forth to guide behavior that ideally serves the best interests of those receiving services (e.g., students, clients, research participants), the community, the practitioner/professional, and the profession of sport psychology, it seems apparent that the Consequentialist framework may also be manifested within the AASP Ethics Code. Although the AASP code of ethics provides great guidance and utility to sport psychology professionals working within a variety of professional capacities, the standards are not exhaustive and do not address every potential ethical dilemma individuals may encounter in their work (Tarvydas, 1998; Whelan et al., 2002). Additionally, there may be circumstances where conflicts between ethical standards exist, or between an ethical code and one’s legal obligations. Fortunately, ethical decision-making models can serve as a practical framework by which sport psychology professionals can resolve these types of situations that are not addressed in the Ethics Code. Such models can also provide guidance for these circumstances, as well as for those scenarios that remain challenging and not easily resolved at first glance (Tarvydas, 1998). The importance of these models may also be underscored by the fact that it is ultimately the responsibility of the professional to determine what course of action is ethically appropriate when an ethical dilemma surfaces (Corey, Corey, & Callanan, 1998).

Ethical Decision-Making Models Relatively little empirical research has specifically examined the decision-making process or models within mental health professions, and even fewer studies have addressed the effectiveness of the models currently available (Cottone & Claus, 2000). Nonetheless, the use of ethical decision-making models can help augment the process of appropriately resolving ethical dilemmas proactively or reactively, in addition to recognizing the ethical principles associated with particular scenarios and identifying when such principles may conflict with one another (Tarvydas, 1998; Tymchuk, 1986). Despite the utility of such models, a void in the code of ethics for both the APA and the AASP involves the absence of a decision-making model or guidelines for ethical decision-making (Whelan et al., 2002). Further, sport psychology practitioners may find themselves facing ethical challenges atypical to other areas of psychology given the unique nature of their field and the variety of work professionals are involved in (see Etzel & Watson, 2007; Etzel, et al., 2004; Watson & Etzel, 2004). Therefore, it is apparent that the sport psychology profession would greatly benefit from the inclusion of decision-making models or guidelines to help facilitate continued ethical practice in all facets of the field. Until a decision-making model emerges that is exclusive to sport psychology, it is helpful to examine the current models of decision-making forwarded by other mental health professions (e.g., psychology, counseling, and counseling psychology). Such models have previously been identified as being grounded in either theoretical or practical frameworks (Cottone & Claus, 2000). Following this examination, a case study is presented to illustrate the applicability of these decision-making models to the sport psychology profession. Theoretically-based decision-making models. One avenue to help guide professionals in navigating potential ethical dilemmas involves a series of decision-making models grounded in theory. Two influential models emphasized moral reasoning as a necessary step for

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resolving ethical predicaments. The first is considered a seminal publication in this area and came from the work of Kitchener (1984), who proposed a model of ethical justification. Kitchener suggested that when faced with an ethical dilemma, a professional’s first response occurred at the intuitive level and consisted of immediate actions and judgments that were based on the facts of the situation in addition to their natural sense of morality. Noting that this level of moral reasoning may not suffice in resolving ethically problematic situations, Kitchener also proposed that a level of critical-evaluative reasoning occurred following the intuitive level of reasoning. At this stage of reasoning, the professional may incorporate three different frameworks, in a hierarchical manner, to aid in resolving the conflict and justify the professional’s actions. These three tiers included: (1) consulting relevant rules (e.g., professional codes or ethics and laws), (2) consulting ethical principles originally forwarded by Beauchamp and Childress (2009; i.e., autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity), and (3) referring to relevant ethical theories (e.g., Deontology or Consequentialism). Similar to the work of Kitchener (1984), another decision-making model placed an emphasis on the moral reasoning of professionals in resolving ethical dilemmas. Rest (1984, 1994) proposed a four-component model for determining moral behavior. The first component involved assessing the scenario to determine how the professional’s action might impact the welfare of others (moral sensitivity). The second component, referred to as moral judgment, included an examination of which actions would be considered morally appropriate or inappropriate. In his third component, Rest suggested that individuals should prioritize the courses of action and moral values to help determine, of those values in competition with one another, which value the professional should uphold (moral motivation). Using the term moral character to describe the fourth and final component, the author highlighted the importance of the individuals maintaining conviction and perseverance as they carry out their decisions. In doing so, individuals are likely to act appropriately given their analysis of the ethical dilemma according to the first three components. Responding to the fact that despite professional ethics codes and training, professionals continue to display unethical behaviors, Betan (1997) proposed a hermeneutic model of decision-making. This theoretical perspective supplemented the work of Kitchener (1984) and Rest (1984, 1994) by proposing a shift away from the traditional method of using rationality, objectivity, and concrete principles and rules as the sole determinant for ethical behavior. Rather than dismissing such logical and objective perspectives, the author suggested moving toward a balanced approach that also incorporated the professional’s subjective view and personal attributes on the “interpretation of and commitment to ethical practice” (Betan, 1993, p. 348). Recently, Cottone (2004) forwarded a decision-making model grounded in social constructivism. Cottone suggested that ethical decision-making should include less of an emphasis on a psychological process and more importance placed on the “context of social interaction” (p. 7). With his model, the author presents four basic assumptions of social constructivism which included: (1) all decisions being placed in a social context, (2) ethical and unethical actions being rooted in biologically and sociologically factors, (3) decisions being based on information obtained through social interaction, a process known as “consensualizing” (Cottone, 2004, p. 7), and (4) professionals being encouraged to utilize arbitration and negotiation to aid in resolving the ethical dilemma should consensualizing fail to work appropriately.

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A final theoretically-based decision-making model comes from Chang (1994) who presented a five-step hierarchical process that incorporated Eric Berne’s (1972) Transactional Analysis (TA). This process included an identification of the problem and its professional relevance, a differentiation of personal and professional ideals and values, and a consideration of both legal and ethical obligations. Infusing certain tenants of TA into these steps, Chang (1994) suggested that three assumptions influenced the process of ethical decision-making. These included the notion that people are born into this world as acceptable, that clients are able to conceptualize their own concerns and should remain active participants in the problem solving process and therapy, and individuals are capable of taking control over their own lives and have the capacity to make appropriate changes. Chang also incorporates elements of TA into the consultation of relevant codes of ethics for practitioners who incorporate TA into their professional work. Practice-based decision-making models. In addition to those models with frameworks rooted in a theory or philosophy, mental health professionals have also witnessed the creation of practice-based decision-making models. Cottone and Claus (2000) suggested that these models generally do not represent specific theories or philosophies and are intended to be more pragmatic in nature. Generally speaking, these practice-based models include a series of step-by-step guidelines for the resolution of ethical dilemmas. Such models have been forwarded by Keith-Spiegel and Koocher (1998), Tymchuck (1986), Corey, Corey, and Callanan (1998), Steinman, Richardson, and McEnroe (1998), Hadjistavropoulos and Malloy (2000), and Bush, Connell, and Denney (2006). Although practice-based, other models have also incorporated the previously identified theoretically-based decision-making models in the development of their own stage processes. For example, the work of Kitchener (1984) has been quite influential in the development of many of these pragmatic models. Welfel (2006) presented a nine-step practice-based model for the deliberation of ethical issues that incorporated the two levels of moral reasoning proposed by Kitchener (e.g. intuitive and critical evaluations). Her model included steps ranging from the development of ethical sensitivity to a reflection on the decision-making experience once a decision has been made and executed. Similarly, Tarvydas (1998) integrated the work of Kitchener (1984) and Rest (1984, 1994) in her integrative model for ethical decision-making. This particular model proposed four general stages and also incorporated specific pragmatic components into each stage to help guide professionals along the decision-making process. Generally speaking, most of these practice-based decision-making models have steps ranging in number from seven to 10, with certain steps having a consistent presence in many models. For example, most of the previously mentioned models include steps involving: (1) identification of the problem and its parameters, (2) assessing the relevant ethical issues present, (3) consulting the appropriate codes of ethics and legal guidelines, (4) generating alternative courses of action and consequences of each, and (5) selecting and executing the appropriate action. Steps that appear to be somewhat inconsistent with some models’ guidelines include the consultation of trusted colleagues, in addition to an evaluation of the selected action and its consequences once such action has been taken. Similar to these practice-based models, researchers have also forwarded pragmatic guidelines tailored for specialty practice in mental health service provision. For example, Gottlieb (1993) and Pope and Keith-Spiegel (2008) constructed decision-making models for practitioners confronted with potential multiple-role relationships. Other decision-making models have been developed for professionals engaged in multicultural counseling (Frame &

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Wlliams, 2005), family therapy (Woody, 1990; Zygmond & Boorhem, 1989), and rehabilitation counseling (Tarvydas, 1987). Sport psychology practitioners with these additional specializations or interests are encouraged to refer to the respective literature for guidelines related to solving ethical dilemmas within each context. An application of ethical decision-making in sport psychology. To help illustrate the incorporation of ethical decision-making models in sport psychology, a case study has been provided regarding multiple-role relationships. This particular ethical dilemma has been noted to be of considerable importance in the sport psychology profession (Watson et al., 2006), despite the fact that such an ethical conflict is addressed in the codes of ethics for the APA and AASP. The multi-stage process for resolving ethical decision-making forwarded by Hadjistavropoulos and Malloy (2000) was utilized to illustrate the resolution of such a dilemma within a sport psychology setting. These authors presented the following seven steps to aid in resolving ethical dilemmas: (1) identify the ethically relevant issues and practices germane to the case, (2) develop alternative courses of action, (3) examine the probably shortterm, continuing, and long-term risks and benefits for each identified course of action, (4) select the appropriate course of action following an application of relevant ethical principles and standards, (5) carry out the selected action and remain committed to assume responsibilities associated with such action, (6) evaluate the consequences of the selected action, and (7) assume responsibility for action and take necessary measures to correct action or initiate the decision-making process again to appropriately resolve the ethical issue. A derivative of the models proposed by the Canadian Psychological Association (1991) and Tymchuck (1986), this particular decision-making model was selected for its practicality and comprehensiveness in resolving ethical dilemmas applicable to sport psychology. Further, the present authors believe this decision-making model represents the most relevant components incorporated in the various theoretically- and practice-based models previously described.

Ethical Decision-Making Case Study Application As the only faculty member at a university who is trained in the area of applied sport psychology, Dr. Dual teaches an undergraduate course in sport psychology. Dr. Dual, a licensed psychologist, also consults with several of the University’s varsity athletic teams. While these consultations are often sporadic, Dr. Dual works most closely with the varsity softball team. The coach of the softball team has thoroughly “bought into” sport psychology and has set aside 30 minutes each week for Dr. Dual to work with her team. Dr. Dual has developed excellent rapport with the athletes, many of whom have set up individual appointments to meet with him to work mostly on individual performance issues. During the spring semester, Kathy, the senior starting pitcher with whom Dr. Dual has been working individually on issues of performance anxiety, maintaining concentration, and to a lesser extent relationship-related issues for the last two years registered for his undergraduate sport psychology class as an elective course to be used towards her graduation requirements. She believed that taking this class would give her further insight towards her own performance, and it would be a fun class to take, especially with a professor that she knows and likes. When Dr. Dual reads his course roster just before classes start, he becomes concerned when he sees Kathy’s name on the list because of multiple role issues that he will need to deal

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with. How should Dr. Dual proceed in determining how to deal with this perceived ethical dilemma? To help with this process, the previously described ethical decision-making model forwarded by Hadjistavropoulos and Malloy (2000) is applied. Further, it should be noted that Dr. Dual is encouraged to follow the below decision making model in consultation with a colleague – such consultation helps to ensure that a broader perspective is being considered and that Dr. Dual is developing a community standard of practice. Additionally, Dr. Dual should document this decision making process in his case notes. 1. Identify the ethically relevant issues and practices: Dr. Dual has an uneasy feeling about this arrangement. This implies that Dr. Dual feels as if there could be an ethical situation that he needs to deal with. The relevant ethical issues include: (1) multiple role issues (APA Standard 3.05; AASP Standard 9) (not always unethical) where the client may feel as if her performance/involvement in one setting may influence her involvement in the other, or could influence Dr. Dual’s impartiality in either or both of his roles; (2) possible conflict between an organization that allows students to register for classes as they choose and an ethical code that encourages professionals to avoid multiple role relationships when possible (APA Standard 1.03); (3) nonmaleficence concerns (APA Principle A; AASP Principle E) about the possibility of a multiple role relationship resulting in harm to the client, and therefore a need to resolve conflicts; and (4) Responsibility issues (APA Principle B; AASP Principle C) imply that Dr. Dual must clearly articulate his roles and responsibilities in each setting to the client, and should make known any concerns about this situation. 2. Development of alternative courses of action: Based upon the ethical issues discussed above, if Dr. Dual perceives the potential for an unhealthy multiple role relationship, he may want to consider alternative options such as those listed below. a) Have another instructor teach this course (i.e., course swap). b) Have another person help with grading in this course so that Dr. Dual is not specifically grading Kathy’s work. c) Termination of individual and/or group work with Kathy. d) Encourage Kathy to take a different course or section of this course. e) Working with Kathy to understand the issues related to this situation, the roles and responsibilities of each person in the different settings and developing a plan for dealing with potential problems via open communication and periodic discussions. f) Dropping Kathy from the course roster. 3. Analyze the short- and long-term risks and benefits of each action on the involved groups: Each of the aforementioned alternatives comes with its own short- and longterm risks and benefits, and a detailed discussion of these is beyond the scope of the present chapter. However, common risks and benefits for the abovementioned options may include lack of resources to pay another person to teach or grade papers, consistency with grading if done by two people, client feeling abandoned, lack of integrity if client was dropped, inability of program to offer multiple course sections, competence of others to teach course, effect upon responsibilities of the faculty member, concerns about Kathy understanding the multiple role responsibilities of

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4.

5.

6.

7.

both person’s, potential harm to the client, and the influence of power that Dr. Dual has within both roles. Choose course of action after application of existing principles, values and standards: When choosing the course of action, given an evaluation of the ethics code, it is important for Dr. Dual to not only be compliant with the ethical standards, but to be in line with the spirit of the code based upon the ethical principles and the values of the organization. While several of the potential options may appear appropriate to Dr. Dual, he should attempt to choose the option with the highest likelihood of helping the client and lowest likelihood of harming the client. Act, with a commitment to assume responsibility for consequences: In this case, Dr. Dual chose to continue teaching the course, but to talk with Kathy before the start of the semester to express his concerns with her being in his class. In so doing, he encouraged her to understand the multiple-roles and the potential problems with the roles, and he outlined the processes that he would want to put in place to deal with these issues if she were to stay in this class. He encouraged her to consider if she still wanted to be in this course, but made it clear to her that this was her decision. When she chose to stay, Dr. Dual set up periodic meetings with Kathy in an attempt to continue discussions about discomfort, role clarity, expectations and behaviors. He encouraged her to talk with him about any concerns that she may have. Furthermore, Dr. Dual made his Department Chair aware of this arrangement just in case any situations arose. Evaluation of the results: Dr. Dual kept an eye on Kathy during classes and sessions to make sure that her behavior was not changing as a result of this arrangement. Further, he used the periodic meetings with Kathy to evaluate if any adverse effects were occurring as a result of this relationship, and kept his Department Chair up to date on this arrangement. Assume responsibility for consequences of action. That is, correct negative consequences or restart the decision making process: If problems were to arise, Dr. Dual was committed to working to solve them, putting the best interests of the client first. He also had the commitment of the Department Chair to assist, and had the support of a colleague to help him determine possible solutions to any problems, should they arise.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS It has been suggested that a code of ethics specific to sport psychology is critical to the autonomy and professionalization of the field (Whelan et al., 2002; Zeigler, 1987). By not practicing within the ethical parameters of the profession, sport psychology professionals risk harming those they come into contact with in all areas of the profession (i.e., teaching, research, consultation; Etzel & Watson, 2007). Fortunately, the AASP developed its own respective Ethics Code to protect not only the welfare of those individuals being served, but also to convey the values of the organization and profession as a whole to the community. While the principles and standards within such codes provide support and guidance for professionals navigating a variety of ethical issues, they oftentimes contain gaps and

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contradictions which may limit its utility in certain circumstances and complicate the process of ethical decision-making (Kitchener, 1984; Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 1998). To help combat these concerns, ethical decision-making models can serve as a practical framework by which professionals can resolve these situations. The use of these models can also help augment the process of appropriately resolving ethical dilemmas proactively or reactively, in addition to recognizing underlying the ethical principles associated with particular ethical scenarios (Tarvydas, 1998; Tymchuk, 1986). To date, the APA and the AASP have yet to adopt a decision-making model or guidelines for ethical decision-making in sport psychology (Whelan et al., 2002). However, several other models found within counseling, psychology, and counseling psychology are presently available for implementation and involve both theoretically- and practice-based frameworks. Regardless of which model sport psychology practitioners gravitate towards, they are encouraged to utilize these models as a valuable, systematic resource to help increase the likelihood that an ethically-sound decision is made (Koocher & Keith-Spiegel, 1998). Further, with sport psychology being a dynamic and unique field in which idiosyncratic challenges may surface (Etzel & Watson, 2007), the profession would do well to eventually work towards the development and adoption of its own decision-making model to further guide professional practice. Doing so would also likely support the continued professionalization and advancement of the field.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ETHICAL PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE IN SPORT PSYCHOLOGY •

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Sport psychology professionals are encouraged to: (a) locate, (b) conveniently store for future reference, and (c) systematically review their relevant codes of ethical conduct periodically so that they are continually cognizant of the guidelines for appropriate professional behavior. Should an ethical dilemma present itself, it is critical that sport psychology professionals consult their appropriate ethical code to obtain the necessary guidance and information for navigating the various elements to a dilemma. Given that many theoretically- and practice-based models of ethical decision-making are available, sport psychology professionals are encouraged to select a model that serves their professional needs and to utilize the model to help resolve ethical dilemmas both proactively and reactively when necessary. Sport psychology professionals are strongly encouraged to engage in consultation with trusted colleagues to assist in resolving potential ethical dilemmas, and to document such consultation when it occurs. To help accomplish this, professionals would be wise to develop a network of trusted colleagues who can help provide support and guidance for a variety of ethical dilemmas pertaining to sport psychology roles. Not only can consulting with trusted colleagues aid in the resolution of ethical dilemmas, it also can help establish an ethically-sound community standard of practice for the field of sport psychology.

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Sport psychology professionals are further encouraged to have the contact information of individuals on their organizations’ ethics committees readily available for consultation or questions regarding ethical dilemmas. Sport psychology professionals are also encouraged to attend to and trust their ethical intuition that is often a product of their education, training, and previous experiences. For example, sport psychology professionals may encounter an ethically questionable scenario in which despite not being able to immediately identify all of the relevant ethical issues or how to go about resolving such concerns, their intuition may sense potential cause for concern. Recognizing and acting upon this intuition can help ensure the sport psychology professional engages in the appropriate decision-making process to eliminate or reduce the potential for ethical wrongdoing to occur. Sport psychology professionals are strongly recommended to seek continuing education and information through educational opportunities such as courses, quality published literature and workshops/seminars to maintain current and proficient with ethical professional practice.

REFERENCES AASP. (2009). AASP: Our history. Retrieved March 21, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/about/history. AASP. (1994). Ethics Code: AASP Ethical principles and standards. Retrieved April 1, 2009 from the World Wide Web: http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/about/ethics/code. Beauchamp, T. L., & Childress, J. F. (2009). Principles of biomedical ethics (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. Beekun, R. I., Hamdy, R., Westerman, J. W., & HassabElnaby, H. R. (2008). An exploration of ethical decision-making processes in the United States and Egypt. Journal of Business Ethics, 82, 587-605. Berne, E. (1972). What do you say after you say hello? They psychology of human destiny. New York: Grove Press. Betan, E. J. (1997). Toward a hermeneutic model of ethical decision making in clinical practice. Ethics & Behavior, 7, 347-365. Bush, S. S., Connell, M. A., & Denney, R. L. (2006). Ethical practice in forensic psychology: A systematic model for decision making. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Canadian Psychological Association. (1991). Canadian code of ethics for psychologists. Ottawa, ON: Author. Chang, V. N. (1994). A transactional analysis decision-making model and ethical hierarchy. Transactional Analysis Journal, 24, 15-20. Corey, G., Corey, M., & Callanan, P. (1998). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (5th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Inc. Cottone, R. R. (2004). Displacing the psychology of the individual in ethical decisionmaking: The social constructivism model. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 38, 5-13. Cottone, R. R., & Claus, R.E. (2000). Ethical decision-making models: A review of the literature. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78, 275-283.

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Tymchuk, A. J. (1986). Guidelines for ethical decision making. Canadian Psychology, 27, 3643. Van Hoose, W. H., & Kottler, J. A. (1985). Ethical and legal issues in counseling and psychotherapy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Watson, J., Clement, D., Harris, B., Leffingwell, T., & Hurst, J. (2006). Teacher-practitioner dual role issues in sport psychology. Ethics and Behavior, 16, 41-59. Watson, J. C., & Etzel, E. F. (2004). Ethical issues affecting psychologists, counselors and sport psychology consultants’ work with collegiate student athletes. Professional Studies Review, 1, 49-60. Welfel, E. R. (2006). Ethics in counseling and psychotherapy: Standards, research, & emerging issues. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Whelan, J. (1993, Summer). Considering Ethics. AAASP Newsletter, 8, 24. Whelan, J. P., Meyers, A. W., & Elkin, T. D. (2002). Ethics in sport and exercise psychology. In J. L. VanRaalte & B. W. Brewer (Eds.), Exploring sport and exercise psychology (pp. 503-523). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Woody, J. D. (1990). Resolving ethical concerns in clinical practice: Toward a pragmatic model. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 16, 133-150. Zeigler, E. F. (1987). Rational and suggested dimensions for a ethics code for sport psychologists. The Sport Psychologist, 1, 138-150. Zizzi, S., Zaichowsky, L., & Perna, F. (2002). Certification in sport and exercise psychology. In J. L. VanRaalte & B. W. Brewer (Eds.), Exploring sport and exercise psychology (pp. 459-477). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Zygmond, M. J., & Boorhem, H. (1989). Ethical decision making in family therapy. Family Process, 28, 269-280.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 16

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTING WITH CANADIAN OLYMPIC ATHLETES AND COACHES: VALUES AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Penny Werthner and John Coleman Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Human Kinetics University of Ottawa, 125 University Pr., Ottawa, Canada K1N 6N5 E-mail: [email protected] Key Words: Values, ethics, sport psychology, Olympic Games

CHAPTER SUMMARY What are some of the ethical issues facing sport psychology consultants working alongside athletes and coaches preparing for the Olympic Games? What role do values play in recognizing, understanding, and resolving those issues? The purpose of this chapter is to examine, from the perspective of two consultants working with Olympic athletes and coaches, the nature of that consulting work, and the relationship between one’s core values, one’s professional philosophy, and ethical behavior. Hodgkinson’s (1991, 1996) hierarchy of values is presented, the consultants core values are articulated, and specific ethical issues are explored, such as navigating confidentiality, understanding emotions, managing professional boundaries, and the relationship between taking care of oneself within the process of consulting at an Olympic Games and the ability to effectively manage ethical dilemmas as they arise. Strategies are presented for resolving the ethical challenges. As a sport psychology consultant, it is productive to take time to reflect on one’s philosophy and values, and the behaviors, ethical or not, that flow out of that philosophy. Sport at all levels presents potential ethical challenges but the pressure and magnitude of the Olympic Games creates some unique challenges. At the time of writing this, winter sport athletes and coaches are in their final year of preparation for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. The pressures on the athletes and coaches to conform, perform, and win medals are significant, and with those pressures come potential ethical dilemmas.

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The purpose of this chapter is to share our collective thoughts, as consultants with Olympic teams, on the concept of values and various ethical dilemmas that exist at the Olympic level of sport. Somerville (2006) suggested that any talk of ethics should begin with a discussion of values, but often that is easier said than done. The values we hold as individuals, and as professionals, are often more implicit than explicit. Our values are often passed down to us by our family and community, and it is important, at some point in each of our lives, to critically examine those values and decide how they fit. By taking time to critically examine who we are, what we believe in and what core values we hold, and who we want to become, we will be better able to make decisions that are ethical when dilemmas arise. The two questions that will be addressed in this chapter are (a) how do we go about making our values explicit, first for ourselves and then for the athletes and coaches we work with? and (b) what are some of the critical ethical issues we face as consultants, and how are they negotiated? Before attempting to answer these two questions (above), we will briefly look at the current state of sport psychology consulting in Canada.

CURRENT STATE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTING IN CANADA Within the Canadian sport system the number of sport psychology consultants working directly with athletes, coaches, and teams has increased considerably. At the Olympic level of sport, Canada had 13 consultants, many fully accredited, working with various teams at the 2006 winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. At the 2008 summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China there were four fully accredited sport psychology consultants, other consultants working off site, and others consulting via Skype and e-mail from Canada. It is anticipated that at the 2010 winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, more than 15 mental trainers and sport psychology consultants will be working with Canadian athletes and coaches. At the provincial and local levels of sport in Canada, there are many more sport psychology consultants working with athletes, coaches, teams and parents. These consultants are working with young children who are just beginning their competitive sport experience, as well as their parents, to help create joyful experiences where the tensions and challenges of competitive sport are managed with specific psychological skills, such as setting small goals to ensure growth and development. They are working with adolescent athletes who are part of more intensive competitive experiences, and ensuring development of not only the psychological skills necessary to compete well, but also a healthy perspective toward competition that includes values such as fair play, respect for one’s competitors, and honoring the game. There is also a newly-formed Canadian Sport Psychology Association (www.cspaapsc.ca ) with a well-developed mission statement, code of ethics, and, as of March 2009, 56 professional members. The mission statement of CSPA follows: The Canadian Sport Psychology Association (CSPA) is an organization devoted to promoting and developing the professional practice of sport psychology in Canada. "Sport Psychology" is a term used to refer to the psychological aspects of sport, exercise, health, physical education, physical recreation, and related physical activities. The practice of sport psychology involves facilitating the development of psychological and emotional skills,

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techniques, attitudes, perspectives, and processes that lead to performance enhancement and positive personal development. The CSPA logo embodies the yin-yang symbol to reflect our vision and appreciation of the physical and psychological dimensions of well-being of performance as well as the holistic development of individuals who are not just "athletes" performing in sport but "persons" performing in life (www.cspa-apsc.ca). We can see that the field is in a state of dynamic growth, while still finding its way among the other support professions of medicine and physiotherapy. Sport has always been a world that relies heavily on the visible, the tangible, and the measurable elements of performance, and only recently has sport begun to embrace the importance of what is, while more invisible and ineffable, often a key to unlocking great performances. Consulting in sport psychology is about enabling athletes and coaches to develop specific, concrete psychological skills that will help them in the stressful, competitive environment. It is also about building close, trusting relationships with coaches and athletes, which is much less tangible, but can be crucial to ensuring the athlete or team has the confidence and right level of intensity to perform well. We would argue that such close relationships must be guided by clearly articulated core values.

UNDERSTANDING VALUES AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOR In attempting to answer the first question - How do we go about making our personal values, as sport psychology consultants, explicit? - it is useful to look briefly at the broader research literature on ethics and values, and then more specifically at the sport and ethics literature. Hodgkinson (1991, 1996) defined “value as a concept of the desirable” (p.36) and developed a paradigmatic typology of four levels of values. Such a typology creates a way for us to think clearly about our own personal values, to better understand the values of others, and to reflect on why something is desirable, good or right. The four levels of values, according to Hodgkinson (1996), from the lowest to highest, are preference, consensus, consequence, and principle. Values that we might hold at a level of preference are based on what we, as individuals, might prefer at any point in time, as in ‘I like to listen to music before I compete, and you like to be quiet and visualize’ or ‘I write in my journal everyday and you only write in your journal after competitions’. These preferences may change often, and we do not usually discuss serious ethical issues at the level of preference. Moving upwards in Hodgkinson’s hierarchy, the second and third levels of values are held at a level of consensus or at a level of consequence and involve more of a cognitive process by the individual or group, in terms of thinking and rationalizing. When we argue for something as a value at the level of consensus, it is understood that there has been some process based on the opinions or actions of a group. For example, most provincial sport organizations feel it is important in competitive sport to play by the rules so every child has a good experience. When we argue at the level of consequence, it is an ‘if…then’ argument. For example, if we all play by the rules, then it will be a better sport environment and we will increase the numbers of children staying physically active. Another example to illustrate a value that we may hold at the two levels of consensus and consequence is the Dubin Inquiry. In the 1980s, during the hearings of the Commission of Inquiry Into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance, commonly known as the Dubin

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Inquiry, runner Ben Johnson’s coach, Charlie Francis, supported the use of steroids ‘because everyone was doing it’. Francis’ perspective reflected a value at the level of consensus everyone is doing it so it must be ok. In addition to the argument that everyone was doing it thus it must be ok, Francis also argued that by taking steroids Johnson had a better chance of winning an Olympic gold medal. It is interesting to reflect upon the potential malleability of our values depending on the context of the moment, how creating a purpose such as winning a gold medal might be strong enough to compromise our core values. Finally, at the top level of this hierarchy of values are the values that we choose to hold at the level of principle (Hodgkinson, 1996). They are the values that are personally decided on after great struggle and reflection, and upon which, ideally, we will not compromise. Examples of values at the level of principle might include respect for others, honesty, and from an organizational perspective, CSPA’s holistic development of an athlete and or team. If we have articulated our own values at the level of principle, they then help guide us in everything we do and how we act. We might ask what values Charlie Francis held at the level of principle that led him to decide it was acceptable to provide steroids to at least one athlete? According to Hodgkinson (1996), values held at the level of principle guide organizations in creating codes of ethics. The created codes of ethics provide members with the clearly stated perspective of the organization of how members should act in certain situations. But Hodgkinson also noted that we can state values at this level clearly and explicitly, personally or as an organization, but not operationalize them. For example, we may state that respect is a value we hold at the level of principle, but we are not always respectful. We may be quite respectful of athletes and coaches who participate in the Olympic Games, but less respectful of athletes and coaches who participate in the Paralympic Games. Individually, we may not act consistently with our stated values, and this incongruence is what often occurs with organizations’ mission statements. They are wonderful statements ideally, but if not integrated by the members, then they are meaningless. In a recent examination of the effectiveness of sport mission statements it was found that many students, teachers, and parents of students were unaware of the content of the mission statement of their school, and were sometimes unaware that such a mission statement even existed (Camire, Werthner, & Trudel, in press). CSPA’s mission statement is clear and promotes, we would certainly argue, wonderful core values such as competence, integrity, professional, social, and scientific responsibility, and holistic development of athletes as important for its members. But what does, for example, holistic development mean? It is important for the leadership of CSPA to clearly state what it means by this value, and it is important that the underlying value be effectively communicated to the membership of CSPA. Returning to the Ben Johnson example, if we hold, for example, personal ambition at the level of principle, and we believe steroids will help us realize our ambition, we would conclude there is nothing wrong with taking steroids. On the other hand, if we hold playing fairly and by the rules (knowing taking drugs is cheating and against the existing rules) as a value at the level of principle, then the ‘right’ or ethical decision is straightforward, and taking steroids is not an option. In this light values, particularly at the level of principle, are ultimately what we, as individuals and as members of a group or organization, choose them to be, although if we choose to be a member of an organization with clearly-stated values and a code of ethics, then it is understood that we agree to adhere to the stated values. However, we may state what the right things are to do and, for example, create rules pertaining to fair play and respect for competitors, but we may not always act consistently or congruently with the stated values.

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Values can be perplexing. It can be difficult to understand and articulate our core values, and at times even more difficult to live our core values. It takes on-going reflection, and a great deal of commitment to articulate our core values and act consistently on those values. It is however, a worthwhile and important activity for us as individuals and as members of various sport organizations. Somerville (2006), in her book, The Ethical Imagination, wrote of core values of caring for others, sanctity of life, authenticity, and community. Killinger (2007), in her book, Integrity, considered the key components of the core value of integrity: empathy, sympathy, honesty and compassion. Birrell (2006), in writing of being ethical in psychotherapy, promoted an ethic of care, of empathetic listening, and of compassion. What is important to note is that words such as integrity or compassion can mean different things to different individuals and even hold different meanings for an individual within two or more different contexts. So we would suggest that stating values is only the first step in an on-going process of discussion, reflection, perhaps argument, and, hopefully at some point, agreement on what we mean and how we will act. Moving to the literature in sport on values and ethics, numerous articles have been written on professional philosophy and sport psychology delivery as well as ethical behavior within the profession. Poczwardowski, Sherman, and Ravizza (2004) have discussed the importance of a consultant’s core beliefs and values as an internal force driving subsequent behaviors and choices of interventions, and name values such as respect for truth, respect for human life, concern for growth and development, concern for dignity, and freedom of choice, among others. Lindsay, Breckon, Thomas, and Maynard (2007) have explored one consultant’s journey toward congruence with his professional philosophy, framed by values such as client independence and responsibility as well as respect and curiosity. Specific ethical issues have been raised by numerous researchers, such as confidentiality and billing practices (Brown & Cogan, 2006); defining the client (Biddle, Bull, & Seheult, 1994); uses of the Internet (Watson, Tenenbaum, Lidor, & Alferman, 2001); boundaries and multiple relationships (Moore, 2003); and integration of cultural issues into the current AASP Code of Ethics General Principles (Schinke & Watson, 2009). Schinke and Hanrahan (2009) have begun a dialogue about consulting with different cultural groups and developing a cultural awareness that contributes to the well being of all athletes. A number of Australian and American sport psychology consultants have written specifically of ethical issues at the Olympic level (Bond, 2001; Gould, 2001; Haberl & Peterson, 2006; McCann, 2000), but little exists from a Canadian perspective. With the creation of a new national organization, the Canadian Sport Psychology Association, and a growing number of individuals consulting at all levels of sport, it is timely that consulting and ethical issues be discussed from a Canadian perspective.

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTING IN THE OLYMPIC ENVIRONMENT The Olympic Games are unlike any other competition (Botterill, 1996, 2005; Gould, Guinan, Greenleaf & Chung, 2002; Gould, Guinan, Greenleaf, Medbury, & Peterson, 1999; Jones, Hanton, & Connaughton, 2007; Orlick & Partington, 1988; Schinke, Battochio, Dubuc, Swords, Apolloni, & Tenenbaum, 2008). They have become global sporting and cultural

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events, where the number of athletes and support staff continues to grow, as do the number of media. While World Championships, Pan American Games, and Commonwealth Games are all important competitions for Canadian athletes and teams, most national sport organizations, and indeed most athletes and coaches gear their planning, training, and competing in relation to the Olympic four-year cycle. Most Canadian athletes are unaccustomed to the intense media coverage that surrounds the Olympics. They compete and win World Championships with barely a note in a newspaper, and then are inundated for six months leading up to an Olympics with questions like “Do you think you can win?” From an athlete and coach perspective, competing successfully at an Olympic Games is not an easy task. The pressure on athletes to perform is varied and enormous, coming from friends and family, sponsors, the national sport organization, the country, and the athletes’ own expectations. The pressure to perform to and beyond one’s potential is one of the reasons that many athletes, coaches, and teams have turned to sport scientists to help ensure a high-quality performance on the day it counts. Sport psychology consultants are contracted, as are medical doctors and other sport science experts in exercise physiology, biomechanical analysis, physiotherapy, and strength and conditioning. In Canada, all these experts supporting the coach and athlete form what is now called an Integrated Sport Science Team (IST). What is it we as sport psychology consultants do, how do we do it, what are the values that guide us in our work, and what are the ethical dilemmas we face?

What we do as Sport Psychology Consultants Consulting at the Olympic level often involves a long-term working relationship, where we may travel with a team to training camps, World Cups, and World Championships over the course of a quadrennial (a four year period from the end of one Olympics to the completion of the subsequent Olympics, four years later). Within this relationship we meet with athletes individually, with their coaches, and with the entire team, including support staff, in preparation for the particular Olympics. Specifically, one-on-one conversations with athletes and coaches are scheduled, exploring past and present performances, to discover together what does and does not work for each athlete. With the information generated from ongoing conversations, performance plans are created to turn future goals into eventual realities. It is a gentle but firm, ongoing process, fraught sometimes with emotions of fear and frustration, elation and joy. This is the very essence of what we do in this field at the Olympic level – the athletes and coaches have so much knowledge and experience that the sport psychology consultant’s role is often one of facilitation – facilitating awareness and deep understanding of the athlete’s performance, and then facilitating skill development to enhance future performance. Skill development involves creating individual performance plans for the years leading up to the Games, the year of the Games, the month of the Games, in the two weeks of the Games, in the day(s) of competition at the Games, and in the final moments before competing. Such chronological plans are designed to help each athlete or team know, and have the ability to focus on specific elements that will contribute to a successful performance. The skills being developed are about knowing when it is time to be calm and relaxed, and when it is time to be excited and activated. Through enhanced awareness athletes are better able to deal effectively with distractions that can take them away from a relevant

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focus. This is a continuous learning process between consultant and athlete, working towards developing a ‘mental toughness’ and an attitude of ‘no matter what, I will execute well’.

Professional Philosophy and Core Values As sport psychology consultants our professional philosophy is guided by a humanistic philosophy, genuinely caring about and listening to each individual with compassion (Cain, 2002; Halliwell, Orlick, Ravizza, & Rotella, 2003; Rogers, 1980). Our consulting is about facilitating a self-discovery process for an athlete, and often for a coach, creating an environment where they can reflect on what works for them in both training and in competition. It is about creating an environment where athletes understand they have a choice in what they think and how they feel. Indeed, they have a choice in deciding how committed they want to be in sport. We see it as a long-term learning process for most athletes, where one of the goals is enabling athletes to become self-reliant, and take responsibility for their training and performance. In fact, we have been part of teams where the coach, along with the sport psychology consultant and other support team members, were able to create an environment where it was ensured that athletes became reflective and self-reliant competitors. Osterman (1990) defined reflective practice as “challenging, focused, and critical assessment of one’s own behavior as a means toward developing one’s own craft” (p.134). The created relationship and environment took place over a number of years, with the athletes moving from being young and dependent, and doing what they are told, to a more collegial relationship with the coaches, with decisions about training and competing being made together, although, in most cases, the coach was still leading. A collegial team relationship has produced good international results and Olympic medals, but equally important, it has produced mature, independent individuals outside of sport. While what we note here is from personal experiences in consulting there is a great deal of literature to support this notion of performance being positively affected by an environment that encourages collegial discussion, self-responsibility and cohesion (Kozub & McDonnell, 2000; Mickan & Rodger, 2000; Stevens & Bloom, 2003; Turman, 2003). While a humanistic philosophy underlies everything we do, so does a more cognitivebehavioral approach (Ellis, 1996), and a kinesthetic consciousness (Smith, 2006, 2007) primarily because we are consulting at the Olympic level. We want to help athletes, who have chosen to try to excel at the Olympic level, appreciate the intertwining of the physical and mental elements of performance, and to learn specific psychological skills. These psychological skills will primarily help the athletes (a) know what the critical factors are to focus on for training and competition, (b) train that focus, and (c) develop an understanding of their emotions and learn how to create for themselves the correct level of intensity for a high-quality performance. Ultimately, the role of the sport psychology consultant, we would argue, is to work herself or himself out of a job. For if we succeed, the athlete enters the race hut, approaches the starting line, steps on the ice, not seeking reassurance from anyone, fully confident in her or his abilities and is so well prepared that the immense energy of the Olympics creates feelings of excitement to be starting the performance, rather than feelings of fear or dread. To be explicit, the core value, or value at the level of principle, that guides us in our work as consultants, and in resolving ethical dilemmas, is the concept of integrity. Within the New

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Illustrated Webster’s Dictionary (1992) integrity was defined as “uprightness of character; probity; honesty” (p. 507). Somerville (2006) stated that integrity is at the heart of ethics and Killinger (2007) indicated that integrity is a personal choice that is “an uncompromising and predictably consistent commitment to honour moral, ethical, spiritual, and artistic values and principles” (p. 12). Killinger suggested that living with integrity requires us to be aware of and incorporate the values of empathy, sympathy, compassion, and honesty into our daily behaviours. As consultants we live with integrity by reflecting on our thoughts and actions with daily meditation, regular journaling, and by creating an intention for each day and each session with the athletes and coaches. Our main intention is to be present and to listen, and breathing is our connection to presence and our ability to listen. It’s simultaneously simple and complex, but breath connects us, to ourselves, and to others. The first dimension of integrity, as defined by Killinger (2007) is empathy which is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. It is a matter of heartfelt listening that goes beyond hearing words. Listening with empathy is listening to verbal and non-verbal messages shared by the individual. The experience of empathetic listening is not thinking about what we are going to say next or simply waiting for our turn to talk: rather, it requires patience and presence. The second dimension of integrity is sympathy which is about developing understanding between two people (Killinger, 2007). Gaining understanding of an individual’s experience can be quite difficult because as humans we mainly communicate through words (either verbally or textually) and words are subjective and often ambiguous. The same word may carry a completely different meaning from one person to the next even if the two people theoretically hold the same principle values and have shared similar life experiences (i.e. have both been to the Olympics). To gain some understanding of an athlete’s experience we must first listen (with empathy) and then try to avoid making assumptions or judgments of what was meant by asking for clarification. The third dimension of integrity, compassion, is defined as being concerned or wanting to help (Killinger, 2007). Being compassionate of the moment (yourself, the athlete and the environment) is to be aware, and interested in the possible effects of what we do and say and viewing our role in the moment as being important. In our experience it is compassion that athletes (and people in general) are clearly aware of. If we, as sport psychology consultants (and human beings in general), enter a conversation uninterested and focused elsewhere, we may lose the respect of the athlete or coach and in a way we have already demonstrated a lack of respect for them and oneself for not being present with where we are, who we are with, and what we are doing. The fourth dimension of integrity, honesty, is being sincere, morally correct, and virtuous (Killinger, 2007). After listening well, the moment to talk, as a consultant, will arrive. What will we say and how will we say it? What is said will vary depending on the situation and what the moment requires. What is honesty? Is it the act of sharing every element of an experience with ourselves and another person or group? Is it possible to be aware of every element of an experience? Is it possible to share that awareness of every element with another in language? One person’s perception of an experience is different from another’s. In our experience there are times when sharing of certain information about a particular experience may actually be detrimental for the performer. For example, if we are on the day of a competition we will likely focus on the present moment and ensuring the athlete’s confidence, and leave the critique of a particular behavior for a training session later in the week or

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month. This is where the intertwining of compassion and honesty surfaces as it may be more compassionate to filter some information for the time being. The aforementioned dimensions of integrity are not mutually exclusive. We have simply presented the four dimensions of integrity in their own space for clarity and depth. Living with integrity is not experienced separately, where one moment we are living honestly, and another with compassion, and another with empathy and another with sympathy. The dimensions of integrity intertwine and seamlessly weave in and out of every experience. When one is operating from a space of integrity it is just that, integrity with no separation. The key is living this value of integrity on a daily basis, and in all our interactions with athletes, coaches, teams, and sport organizations.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS WITHIN THE OLYMPIC ENVIRONMENT In the applied sport setting, where we work affects how we work and at times poses what we consider to be ethical challenges. For the purposes of this paper, we will discuss three key areas of potential ethical challenges: confidentiality, emotions, and boundaries. We will also discuss a fourth area of taking care of yourself while serving as a consultant, which may not pose an ethical dilemma in and of itself, but may impact our ability to act ethically and effectively within the high energy demands of the Olympic environment.

Navigating Confidentiality As consultants we work in a variety of ways: with individual athletes; with an individual athlete and her/his coach; with an individual athlete, contracted by the athlete’s parent; and with a team of athletes and coaches, contracted by the national sport organization. These multiple relationships can be problematic from the perspective of confidentiality. If we are working with an individual athlete, and contracted by that athlete, the issue of confidentiality is reasonably simple in the sense that it is clear who our client is. However, an ethical issue may arise if we are asked to speak to the media about the athlete, which is not uncommon in the case of high-profile athletes. If, in fact, anything is to be said publicly about the athlete by the consultant, it is imperative that it be discussed with the athlete prior to any public comments being made. If we are contracted by the athlete and coach, solely by the coach, by the athlete’s parents, or by the national sport organization, then problems of confidentiality almost inevitably arise, as we work to clarify who exactly is the client. If the consultant is doing her or his job well, a good working relationship of comfort and rapport is developed between the consultant and the athlete, and personal issues and private experiences are shared in an unguarded and open way. Developing comfort and rapport is necessary because personal issues certainly have the potential to affect performance. However, because we were hired by the coach, or the parents, or the organization, they often feel they have a right to know what is going on with the athlete. Therefore determining what is confidential and what needs to be shared is one of the most important things the consultant has to clarify. For example, consider that we are working with an athlete who asks that everything discussed is confidential. We

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agree to this and so, simply put, it must remain so. However, often it is not that simple. What if something comes up in our conversations about an issue with the coach, perhaps some issue with training, perhaps potential physical or psychological burnout? We are then faced with the ethical dilemma of maintaining confidentiality, as we promised we would, or going to talk with the coach about the athlete’s issue. We would first talk with the athlete about sharing with others the information that we are concerned about. If the athlete persists in wanting to keep all information confidential then we are faced with a challenge. If we hold honesty and keeping our promise as a value at the level of principle and we also hold the health and wellbeing of the athlete at the level of principle as well, we do face an ethical dilemma. What is the right thing to do? It is not easy, but we will have to make a decision. If it is not a life-threatening situation, then we would argue that the choice must still remain with the athlete. Why do we argue in favor of the athlete having the choice? Because the core value and philosophy that directs us, from our perspective, is one of respect. It is not that honesty is unimportant as a value to hold, but respect for an athlete’s ability to make their own choices is more important. An example that demonstrates how respect has become a guiding value for us is as follows: an athlete one of the authors had worked with asked that specific information be shared with certain staff members and withheld from others. This request was not respected by certain staff and the ensuing stress for the athlete negatively affected his health and wellbeing and subsequently his performance. Consider a second example, where we are contracted by the national sport organization and they want to know what we are working on with the athletes, and how each athlete is functioning. This kind of request from the national sport organization often happens and it is understandable. They are paying for our expertise, and they want to know what we are doing, and if it is effective. We would negotiate the degree of confidentiality when we are initially contacted, and in doing that, two aspects would be considered. We would first explain the nature of trust and rapport that needs to be developed in order to work effectively with the athlete, with confidentiality as a key component, and also explain that we will be able to share, in general, the skills we are working on with the athletes or team. A third example, related to confidentiality, is a situation where the consultant meets individually with the athlete, and also meets on a regular basis with the athlete and the coach together. When the coach-athlete relationship is a good one, meeting with the coach and athlete together is a very effective way to help an athlete develop and excel. The one-on-one individual meetings between the athlete and the consultant offer an environment for discussion that remains confidential. The meetings where the coach is present create a small team – athlete-coach-sport psychology consultant - working toward the same goal. The small team approach offers the athlete a safe environment (with the presence of the consultant) to divulge private information if she or he feels comfortable doing so. When it is possible, this approach of confidential meetings with the athlete alone, and the small team approach with the coach and athlete together are a very effective means of establishing and maintaining communication on two levels. A final example where confidentiality may become problematic is related to the Integrated Sport Science Team (IST) that now exists in the Canadian sport system. The purpose of the IST is to support the performance of a group of athletes and coaches with specific expertise. The IST specialists may gather several times a year to discuss athletes from a physical, medical, strength, biomechanical, and psychological perspective. Due to the nature

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of the information that the sport psychology consultant works with, we would argue that the consultant must be very careful with what is said in these meetings regarding each athlete. Any information shared would need to be discussed with the athlete prior to revealing any issues or concerns.

Working with Emotions Birrell (2006) wrote eloquently of being ethical in psychotherapy and the importance of understanding what it means to be with another human being. She suggested that we “dare to let every moment be alive with care and compassion” (p.112), and we must consider this care and compassion when working with athletes and coaches in any competitive sport environment. However, the Olympic environment is fraught with emotion, particularly anxiety and stress. Athletes and their coaches work for many years for one moment in time at the Olympics, and it is a difficult environment in which to excel. Fear is often present in the preparation for the Olympics and is manifested in various degrees. In high-risk sports such as alpine or freestyle skiing, the athlete may be primordially fearful for her or his life, because one lapse in focus can lead to serious injury or death. Most often however, fear is manifested in less intense forms such as performance anxiety with concerns about not performing well. With good rapport and a level of comfort and trust between athlete and consultant, an athlete may confide fears. The consultant then has an amazing opportunity to help the athlete direct the energy present in fear to a focus that contributes to a successful performance. A discussion of fear is a very special exchange between two people, which if handled with a lack of respect or care - for example, if we casually dismiss the fear, saying ‘you have nothing to worry about’ - can lead to increased fear and poor performance. On the other hand, when handled with compassion, respect, and skill, a discussion of fear can lead to a very successful performance and personal self-growth. In reflecting on fear in the form of performance anxiety we can illustrate with an example from approximately six months before an Olympic Games, when an athlete burst into tears and revealed to one of the authors that she was filled with terror that she would not meet her own expectations and those of her coach, her club, her association, and her country. This is not a situation that, as a consultant, we ever want to create, but when it occurs (and it will only occur if there is a strong and trusting relationship built between athlete and consultant), it is possible for a great deal of self-growth to happen. In this case, the consultant was compassionate and cared about this individual not only as an athlete, but as an individual outside of the sport. The compassion the consultant had for the athlete and the situation enabled her to listen ethically, which according to Birrell (2006) means that the consultant was able to allow her own ideas and indeed her very self, to be brought into question and was able to see the athlete as a unique individual. As a result, the athlete was able to talk about and then work through her fears, and in the end, competed very well at the Olympic Games. In thinking of primordial fear, we are reminded of a situation in the past season, when one of the authors was working with an athlete who had previously injured himself quite severely.

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One Consultant’s Lived Experience with an Athlete: Fear and Ethics The intention of this narrative below is to illustrate a recent lived experience of one of the authors. This lived experience was steeped in fear, my fear for an athlete’s wellbeing and his fear of injury. It is about compassion and caring and it is also about my own personal values and ethics – whether I should be working with athletes and coaches in such a dangerous sport. The athlete has given his permission to write about his story – a story and a performance he is proud of. I work with athletes and their two coaches in the high-risk sport of Freestyle Skiing. Due to the risks of the sport, each time they step on the hill to train or compete they are facing the possibility of severe injury. The high-risk nature of the sport is one of the reasons that the athletes and coaches embrace the skills and strategies of sport psychology. They know it is crucial that they are able to effectively focus and manage their very real fears and high levels of anxiety, and we are continuously refining their skills. However, many times I have questioned whether I should be working in this sport. Should I really be helping these individual women and men who, as athletes, are risking their lives? Is it the right thing to do? As one of the coaches has said to me, “It is a crazy sport”. However, I do continue. I argue with myself that the skills provided by sport psychology can help the athletes direct the immense energy in fear to a specific focus that will contribute to a successful performance. Turning fear into a focus helps the athletes manage risk by ensuring they are capable of focusing effectively every time they train and compete. I know there are reasonable rules in place to help ensure their physical safety on site. I do ask the athletes and coaches to reflect, particularly when they face a set back, and the fears rise up, on whether they want to continue competing. With a few exceptions, most athletes have chosen to continue. I am not so naïve to think that because a few athletes have chosen to continue makes it all right for all athletes to continue in the face of fear and potential injury, but I choose to continue to help the athletes develop their skills. One of the athletes on the national team broke his back five years ago. Working with him, and his coach, we have been slowly re-building his confidence and working through his fears since that accident. The coach and I have helped him begin to believe again that he can consistently be one of the best in the world. With a trusting relationship between the three of us it was possible to engage him in a conversation about fear. It was possible to remind him that fear is almost always a fear of something that is not the present situation, but rather of something that could happen in the future. Fear is a primal emotion that can be turned into something wonderful, using it is a sign that something important is happening and that we can be ready to engage with it. From that shift in perspective we can then create a plan with which we can direct that intense energy of fear, a simple plan of taking a few breaths, going through a pre-performance routine that works, getting ready at the top, and focusing on a few cues. In the 2009 World Cup season, one year away from the 2010 winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, competing is going well. After three World Cups, he already has two third place finishes. At the fourth World Cup competition, he miscalculates his speed on his most difficult jump – one that he plans to perform at the Olympics - and lands on his neck. He is knocked out for several minutes, and leaves the venue in an ambulance. At that point I am worried only for his health and his life. His sport performance is far from my mind. He is diagnosed with a concussion, but fortunately, there are no broken bones. He takes a month to rehabilitate, and is medically cleared to compete at the World Championships.

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With only two training sessions completed at home, we leave for the World Championships, and due to weather conditions, he only has two training sessions prior to the start of competition. In meeting with the athlete, despite everything that has happened, he says that while he is still sore physically, he is feeling confident, and is looking forward to competing. I am surprised, relieved, but still feel nervous, as I wonder about his confidence. However, I know that we have done good work together over the last five years. I know that he has worked diligently on the psychological skills. I know he has matured. I know he has trained well physically. However, I still worry about him because of the recent accident. The coach and I meet prior to the competition and we discuss whether he should be asking the athlete to compete the jump he crashed on a month ago. Ultimately this is the coach’s decision with the athlete, but I argue that he should not. I still believe the fear is there at a level that he might not be able to manage. If the worst was to happen, and he crashed again on that jump, the re-building would be very difficult, personally and in terms of sport performance. The jump is included as a possibility, but the coach agrees it would be better to not compete it. The first day of competition arrives. In the World Championships in Freestyle Ski, each athlete competes two jumps in preliminaries, and the top 12 athletes go on to two jumps in the finals. The weather conditions for preliminaries are good, and with great work on breathing and focus, the athlete lands two excellent jumps, and finds himself in first going into the final the next day. It is unbelievable after all that has happened. We have a brief conversation at the end of this day about ensuring he does his physical recovery, and we talk about mentally relaxing and not thinking about the finals until it is time to do so the next day. The next day is finals, and in finals it is two jumps, and the athletes compete in reverse order on the first jump, with the best athlete from preliminaries competing last. It is a scenario that creates incredible tension. As I am walking up the hill for finals, I am thinking I should be talking to the coach on the radio and ensuring the athlete will not compete the particular jump he crashed on. Despite the good result yesterday, I am still worried about him, and I am worried about his performance. However, I have never initiated talking on the radio to the coaches, so I manage to control my own anxiety, and remain calm. The coach knows what he is doing, and I know he will make a good decision because he cares first about the athlete as a person. On his first jump, the athlete lands but it is not as good as hoped and he finds himself in eighth place going into the second and final round. Now, with no possibility to win without executing his most difficult jump, he and his coach decide that he will compete the very jump that he crashed on less than a month ago. I knew it was a possibility but I hoped it would not happen. I talk with him briefly, and he appears calm and focused. I am calm on the outside, but very concerned on the inside. A myriad of thoughts are crashing around my head as he heads up for the final round. Can he land this jump after such little training in the last month? Is he really fit enough to execute it? What if he questions his speed again, and makes the same mistake? I wonder again if I should be part of helping athletes in this sport? Yet, at this moment there is nothing I can do except pace at the bottom of the hill and wait. As the final progresses, many of the athletes are executing their jumps well. Then, it is his turn. He is ready at the top. I can hardly watch. He comes down the in-run, goes high off the jump, executes his jump, which is called a lay, triple full, full, flawlessly, lands perfectly, and is ecstatic! I am incredibly relieved. I am sure his coach is relieved. We have to wait for other competitors, but his score is so high that he has risen from eighth place to third. An incredible

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performance at the World Championships, made all the more exceptional by the earlier accident. In debriefing later that day, it is clear that this result gives the athlete great confidence going into the Olympic Games. The fear is less. He says “I am proud of myself. I stepped up when I needed to. All that hard work, technically and mentally has paid off”. And yet I know that as we get back to training in a month, and step back on the hill, the fear will be back…and so we will continue to work. The previous narrative demonstrates, through a lived experience of one of the authors, several ethical dilemmas that can surface within the realm of sport psychology consulting. The consultant had to negotiate differing levels of confidentiality, one level of confidentiality in working one-on-one with the athlete, and another when working together, as a small team, with the coach and athlete. The consultant also had to confront the dilemma of living with integrity – was she being honest with herself as she struggled to reconcile working in this high risk sport? Was the consultant compassionate and sympathetic to the real fears that the athlete experienced? Finally, the consultant was faced with the dilemma of working within a high risk sport, where fear is always present, and a small mistake can lead to serious injury. This dilemma perhaps goes beyond the realm of sport, into the broader context of being human. Do we simply do what we are hired to do, which is to help athletes perform consistently within their performance context, even when the athlete, every day that they train and compete, faces the potential of severe injury and even death? This is an ethical dilemma with unique significance to the sport psychology consultant because of the very nature of consulting and the knowledge he or she may have of the athlete’s overall physical and mental condition.

Maintaining Professional Boundaries Traveling with a team or group of athletes is an experience with certain benefits as well as potential challenges. Being at training camps, spending time at practices, traveling together to competitions, living in hotels with the athletes and coaches, eating meals together, spending three weeks together at the Olympic Games, and celebrating after a competition are all examples of where shared time and space create great opportunities for understanding the context within which the athletes and coaches train and compete. It can give the consultant a sense of the pressure and emotions that exist in this environment, and a better understanding of how to intervene effectively. It also provides the athletes and coaches with greater opportunities to interact with the consultant and increases their comfort level in setting up meetings. However, at the same time, potential ethical dilemmas exist regarding professional boundaries. Haberl and Peterson (2006) discussed late-evening meetings and consulting sessions in public and private spaces as examples of where boundaries can become blurred. Where do we meet with an athlete when it is hard to find a quiet space? When invited, do we go out for drinks with the coaches? Certainly there are always solutions. We can usually find a space to sit and meet with an athlete, in a corner of the cafeteria in the Olympic Village, on a bench away from the team living area, or at the far end of the warm-up track. We can certainly debrief with coaches in a casual setting, and share a drink at the end of a competition. Nevertheless, it is critical that while we do enjoy the athletes’ and coaches’ company while on the road, we recognize that we are always on the job. We want those we work with to be comfortable with us, but it is a highly charged, emotional environment we

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work in, and as we develop our working relationships with athletes, they may become dependent on us for emotional help. This dependency can develop into a blurred understanding of the professional/personal relationship. Our approach is to be always aware of our intentions with the work we are doing, and expressing those intentions clearly with the athletes and coaches, as well as the national sport organization.

Taking Care of Yourself While there are advantages to traveling and living with a team or group of athletes in terms of building trust and a good working relationship, there also exists the challenge related to personal fatigue. Because of the long hours of essentially always being on call, and the energy required to listen with empathy and deliver on-the-spot meaningful help, it is essential to have a personal plan to factor in exercise and relaxation. Being well-rested ensures we remain clear and focused, with an awareness of subtle shifts in voice or body language which may be the difference in recognizing a change (for the better or worse) in an athlete’s performance state. Most of us do not function well when fatigued, and it is certainly very difficult to listen and care when exhausted. One of the more effective meetings we facilitated was with a support team of medical doctors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, and strength and conditioning coaches going to an Olympic Winter Games and asking them simply to reflect on how they planned to be at their best from the first day of the Games to the last day. The group was part of a team with legitimate chances for medals on many days of the Games, and the discussion led, in part, to ensuring that everyone had time for exercise each day and that enough sleep was planned. Being aware of rest, recovery, and overall health is not only important for athletes. It is crucial that coaches and support staff are well rested as well, so that there is the energy to focus well, to make effective decisions when called upon, and to contribute to a positive and healthy team energy. Much of what we have discussed in this chapter about values and ethics has to do with being present to the possibilities in the consulting moment. Self-care is important because when we are fatigued or distracted it is difficult to listen effectively to an athlete’s question, concern, fear, anxiety, etc. The inability to listen effectively may lead to missing a comment or different behavior by an athlete or coach which may be a key to an important intervention. Identifying and acting on the intervention opportunity is the essence of what we do as sport psychology consultants.

CONCLUSION As the number of sport psychology consultants in Canada continues to grow, it is important to reflect on the values we choose to guide us in our work alongside athletes, coaches, sport organizations, and other sport science staff. We have argued in this paper that it is essential, at both an individual and organizational level, to be explicit about naming our core values, and doing one’s best to act in a manner that is congruent with those core values. From our perspective, guided by our stated values of integrity, compassion, and empathy, we work toward enabling consistent and high-quality performance, while simultaneously helping

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each athlete develop into a self-reliant and reflective sport performer and human being. While at the Olympic level sport is about winning, it is not only about winning, and certainly not about winning at any cost. We acknowledge that reflecting on and articulating our core values may not be easy. However, with awareness of our values, it is much easier to navigate the ethical challenges faced by sport psychology consultants such as confidentiality, emotions, boundaries, and taking care of yourself in order to be an effective and ethical consultant.

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Revisit and reflect on your own core values o We suggest frequent journaling to regularly reflect on your values and to see if you are living those values as consistently as possible. Observe what other’s core values might be, particularly when an ethical decision is being discussed o Being explicit in your communication will create a better understanding between yourself and those you are trying to communicate with. Ask the person what she or he values in the situation being discussed. With that knowledge be respectful and compassionate with the athlete or coach and engage in deeper discussions. When consulting, be present with the athletes and coaches: o With presence, one can listen with respect and integrity (sympathy, empathy, compassion, and honesty), which are the building blocks for effective communication. o One of the most effective ways of being present is through breathing because as we slow our breathing it connects us in the moment and offers a chance to refocus. With presence, listen to create an understanding: o It is imperative to have extensive understanding of a situation before exploring possible solutions. Understanding comes from asking questions and listening intently. Become comfortable with silence: o Time can be a powerful counselor. Give the athlete or coach time by and being comfortable with silence. Silence gives the athlete or coach time to reflect. Be patient, because often just as the silence begins to feel awkward is the time when the athlete or coach will share something very profound. o A great way to be comfortable with silence is to focus on your breathing, trying to slow it down. By calming your breathe you will calm yourself. The athlete or coach will pick up on this and that calmness will be the invitation she or he needs to share something. When the moment comes to speak, do so from a space of integrity and knowledge. How does one develop knowledge? Read and reflect often. Talk with experienced consultants and read their work. Engage with athletes, coaches and teams at all levels of sport to apply the theory you have learned. Ask questions. Observe. Work on the psychological skills yourself, implement them in your own pursuits, so you experience the learning and application of the skills.

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Listen to yourself. Respect your energy. Schedule some time in each day for you. It can be a ten minute walk or stretch or book read or music or nap.....whatever you find joyful.

REFERENCES Biddle, S. J., Bull, S. J., & Scheult, C. L. (1992). Ethical and professional issues in contemporary British sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 6, 66-76. Birrell, P. J. (2006). An ethic of possibility: Relationship, risk, and presence. Ethics & Behavior, 16, 95-115. Bond, J. W. (2001). The provision of sport psychology services during competition tours. In G. Tenenbaum (Ed.), The practice of sport psychology (pp. 217-229). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Botterill, C. (1996). Emotional preparation for the Olympic Games. Coaches Report, 3, 2630. Botterill, C. (2005). Olympic reflections and implications. Coaches Report, 11, 26-29. Brown, J. L., & Cogan, K. D. (2006). Ethical clinical practice and sport psychology: When two worlds collide. Ethics & Behavior, 16, 15-23. Bull, S. J. (1995). Reflections on a 5-year consultancy program with the England women’s cricket team. The Sport Psychologist, 9, 148-163. Cain, D. J. (2002). Defining characteristics, history, and evolution of humanistic psychotherapies. In D J. Cain, & J. Seeman (Eds.), Humanistic psychotherapies: Handbook of research and practice (pp.3-54). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Camire, M., Werthner, P., & Trudel, P. (in press). Mission statements in sport and their ethical messages: Are they being communicated to practitioners? Athletic Insight. Dalla Costa, J. (1998). The ethical imperative: Why moral leadership is good business. Toronto: HarperCollins. Ellis, A. (1996). Better, deeper, and more enduring brief therapy: The rational emotive behavior therapy approach. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Etzel, E. F., Watson, J. C., & Zizzi, S. (2004). A Web-based survey of AAASP members’ ethical beliefs and behaviors in the new millennium. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 16, 236-250. Gould, D. (2001). Sport psychology and the Nagano Olympic Games: The case of the US freestyle ski team. In G. Tenenbaum (Ed.), The practice of sport psychology (pp. 49-76). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Gould, D., Guinan, D., Greenleaf, C., & Chung, Y. (2002). A survey of U.S. Olympic coaches: variables perceived to have influenced athlete performances and coach effectiveness. The Sport Psychologist, 16, 229-250. Gould, D., Guinan, D., Greenleaf, C., Medbury, R., & Peterson, K. (1999). Factors affecting Olympic performance: Perceptions of athletes and coaches from more and less successful teams. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 371-394.

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Haberl, P., & Peterson, K. (2006). Olympic-size ethical dilemmas: Issues and challenges for sport psychology consultants on the road and at the Olympic Games. Ethics & Behavior, 16, 25-40. Halliwell, W., Orlick, T., Ravizza, K., & Rotella, B. (2003). Consultant’s guide to excellence. Chelsea, Quebec: Zone of Excellence. Hodgkinson, C. (1996). Administrative philosophy: Values and motives in administrative life. New York: State University of New York Press. Hodgkinson, C. (1991). Educational leadership: The moral art. New York: State University of New York Press. Jones, G., Hanton, S., & Connaughton, D. (2007). A framework of mental toughness in the world’s best performers. The Sport Psychologist, 21, 243-264. Kozub, S. A., & McDonnell, J. F. (2000). Exploring the relationship between cohesion and collective efficacy in rugby teams. Journal of Sport Behavior, 23, 120-129. McCann, S. C. (2000). Doing sport psychology at the really big show. In M. B. Anderson (Ed.), Doing sport psychology (pp. 209-222). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Mickan, S., & Rodger, S. (2000). Characteristics of effective teams: a literature review. Australian Health Review, 23, 210-208. Moore, Z. E. (2003). Ethical dilemmas in sport psychology; Discussion and recommendations for practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 601-610. Orlick, T., & Partington, J. (1988). Mental links to excellence. The Sport Psychologist, 2, 105-130. Osterman, K. F. (1990). Reflective practice: A new agenda for education. Education and urban society, 2, 133-152. Poczwardowski, A., Sherman, C. P., & Ravizza, K. (2004). Professional philosophy in the sport psychology delivery: Building on theory and practice. The Sport Psychologist, 18, 445-463. Rogers, C. (1980). A way of being. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Schinke, R. J., & Hanrahan, S. J. (Eds). (2009). Cultural sport psychology. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics. Schinke, R. J., & Watson, K. (2009). An invitation to consider AASP’s ethics general principles through a CSP lens. AASPNews, 23(1), 17-19. Schinke, R. J., Battochio, R. C., Dubuc, N. G., Swords, S., Apolloni, G., & Tenebaum, G. (2008). Understanding the adaptation strategies of Canadian Olympic athletes using archival data. Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 2, 337-356. Somerville, M. (2006). The ethical imagination. Toronto: Ananasi. Smith, S. J. (2006). Gesture, landscape and embrace: A phenomenological analysis of elemental motions. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 6, 1-10. Smith, S. J. (2007). The first rush of movement: A phenomenological preface to movement education. Phenomenology & Practice, 1, 47-75. Stevens, D. E., & Bloom, G. A. (2003). The effect of team building on cohesion. Avante, 9, 43-54. Turman, P. D. (2003). Coaches and cohesion: The impact of coaching techniques on team cohesion in the small group sport setting. Journal of Sport Behavior, 26, 86-104. Trudel, P., Lemyre F., Werthner, P., & Camire, M. (2007). Character development in youth sport: The perspectives of ice hockey and baseball coaches. International Journal of Coaching Science, 1, 21-35.

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Watson, J. C., Tenenbaum, G., Lidor, R., & Alferman, D. (2001). Ethical uses of the Internet in sport psychology: A position stand. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 31, 201-222.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 17

A PROFESSION OF VIOLENCE OR A HIGH CONTACT SPORT? ETHICAL ISSUES WORKING IN PROFESSIONAL BOXING Andrew M. Lane* School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure, Wolverhampton University, UK

CHAPTER SUMMARY Boxing can be a brutal sport. At face value, the intention is to win contests by injuring your opponent. The intent of boxers coupled with the serious medical effects of participation suggest it contravenes a number of ethical guidelines for an applied psychologist, including social responsibility, respect of the welfare of people’s right and dignity and avoiding harm (American Psychological Association, 2002, see http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html#3_04). With this in mind, applied practitioners mish wish to avoid opportunities to work in professional boxing based on it being ethically unsound. This article explores some of these issues, drawing on my personal experiences as a consultant working with professional boxers. Case study data is presented on the psychological preparation of boxers. “I try to catch them right on the tip of his nose, because I try to punch the bone into the brain” (http://www.best-quotes-poems.com/Mike-Tyson.html). Mike Tyson, Former World Heavyweight boxing champion.

If each boxer gave comments similar to Mike Tyson’s, then sport psychologists have an ethical dilemma to face if asked to work with boxers. Working with a boxer who portrays such an attitude would seem to be in contravention of ethical guidelines from the American Psychological Association guidelines that indicate that “Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants, *

Address all correspondence to: Professor Andrew Lane, PhD., School of Sport, Performing Arts and Leisure, Gorway road, Walsall, WS1-3GB, Phone - + 01902 323234, E-mail: [email protected]

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organizational clients, and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable” (see http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html#3_04). At face value, boxing contravenes these ethical principles in terms of the very nature of the sport: one boxer inflicts injury on the other. In addition, the effects of positively reinforcing a belief that intending to cause injury, as quotations from Mike Tyson illustrate, is acceptable, when ethically, it is not. If these arguments are accepted, then it is unethical for psychologists to work with professional boxers who display such attitudes. Within this article I discuss ethical issues associated with providing psychological support to boxers. I does so from the insider’s view (Douglas & Carless, 2008) in that my experience in boxing might provide insight into the mindset of boxers. I have worked as sport psychology consultant for professional (Lane, 2006) and amateur boxers, whilst previously having competed as a boxer. Through self-reflection, I have challenged the notion that I might well be seeking a positive explanation for my involvement in the sport. I do not seek to provide an objective account, but one that details my beliefs on these experiences. I argue that through my applied experiences I can provide a unique insight into the mindset of a boxer, which in turn have helped me address the ethical question on whether I should continue involvement in professional boxing and raise similar questions in the mind of the reader.

BOXING – AN INTENT TO INJURE? 1

At face value, the aim of boxing is to inflict blows on your opponent and avoid injury yourself by landing more punches than you receive (Donnelly, 1988). Ostensibly other sports such as fencing and the martial arts share the aim to injury your opponent (Zazryn, McCrory, & Cameron, 2008), but do not lead to injury. For example, in fencing, the aim is to land a blow on the target area that would be highly likely to be fatal if protective equipment was not used. In boxing, the direct aim is to land blows on the target area, which in turn means that you inflict as much damage on your opponent as possible through successive punching, with a knockout epitomizing a clinical victory. Professional boxers are more likely to build a successful career if they can win contests by knockout or stoppages. Most disturbingly, a boxer can legitimately kill his/her opponent as part of competition (Herrera, 2004). For example, if a boxer has the intention to cause injury and competes with this intention and his opponent dies, the boxer has intentionally murdered his opponent. Such a mindset is difficult to defend. For many reasons, it seems difficult to justify involvement in boxing from ethical perspective (Wildes, 1995). Proponents who propose that working in boxing is unethical should consider separating the issue of intent to injure from injury figures. If intent and injury rates are considered independently, and I focus on the issue of intent, the aim of fencing is land the point of a 1 At this point it is worth distinguishing professional boxing from amateur boxing. Amateur boxers wear head guards and compete in larger gloves. The scoring system between the two codes also effects competition. In amateur boxing, judges sitting at ringside score blows that land on the target area, If 3 out of the 5 judges agree, then a boxer receives a score. In professional boxing, the winner of a round receives 10 points and the loser 9, 8 and so on depending on how the judges perceived the round. The judges assess the winner at the end of the round rather than on a blow-by-blow basis and therefore, the boxer how appears to dominate the round is more likely to receive 10 points. In amateur boxing, a boxer could win the round by scoring one or two points and defend the remainder of the round. In professional boxer, a knockout is scored a 10-9 round and could be 10-8 if the boxer wins the round also.

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sword (a lethal weapon) on the target area (chest) of the opponent. The intent of fencing, is arguably to produce a potentially lethal strike on your opponent. This logic is of course hypothetical as fencing has developed sufficient safeguards to reduce injury rates to minimal risks. My point here is to see the injury and intent as separate arguments, and in terms of intention to injury, I would propose both boxing and fencing are equally unethical. When injury is the focus of discussion, boxing rates higher than fencing. However, boxing is not at the top of injury-rate list for sports, and much lower than a number of combat sports. Irrefutable evidence points to the potential harm associated competing in boxing (Herrera, 2004; McCrory, Zazryn, & Cameron, 2007), and not surprisingly, reduced injury is associated with participation in amateur boxing which has more safety checks including larger gloves, head guards and shorter rounds (Loosemore, Knowles, & Whyte, 2007). As a consultant, I have sought to separate the issues of intent from issues of injury. In terms of intent, in my experiences of working as an applied practitioner, I have not experienced athletes who aim to injure their opponent. Boxers who express such statements typically do so for media attention. Boxers are encouraged to say statements that capture the media attention. In my experience, boxer’s make such statements in the belief that it helps promote the contest. However, it is important to recognize that there will be boxers who compete with intentions to injure as consultants must be prepared to consider whether they would work with an individual who expressed such ideas. In my experiences, comments of this nature have not been expressed to me when speaking to boxers privately. If a boxer expressed such a view, I would encourage him to question whether he needed to hold such a view in order to be successful. A great deal of this article describes and evaluates work with boxers, and what should be evident is that boxers share many characteristics of serious athletes. As Loosemore et al. indicate boxing is not necessarily a high-risk sport in terms of injury rates. It is difficult to sustain an argument that boxing is unethical on injury-rates alone. A key question typically posed to boxers is whether a boxer intends to injure his or her opponent. Autobiographical accounts of boxers consider their sport to be a type of physical chess (Hatton, 2007) - a battle that is as much psychological and tactical, as it is physical. Most people accept the notion that boxers need to be mentally tough to compete. While few boxers use sport psychologists, most boxers recognize the importance of sport psychology (i.e., mental preparation) to performance. The late and legendary boxing trainer Cus D’Amato, who steered Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson to world heavyweight titles once said that “fights are won and lost in the head”, a statement that bears testament to the importance of psychological factors for performance. There will of course be cases of boxers who express an intention to injure. Violent individuals form part of all societies and such individuals are likely to be drawn to sports such as boxing, which would appear to legitimize such actions. Authors that explore beliefs on what boxers think and feel during competition reveal few indicators of aggression, even among unlicensed professional boxers (Jones, 1997). Interviews with boxers indicate that they identify aspects of skill, emotional control and physical fitness and key factors in determining performance (Devonport, 2006; Hall & Lane, 2001; Lane, 2002). A number of researchers have explored personal constructs boxers believe are associated with success (Butler & Hardy, 1992; Butler, Smith, & Irwin, 1993; Lane, 2009). If an intention to injury was a prevailing reason for motivation for participating, then it might be reasonable to assume that such a construct might emerge from open-ended interviews. I have used performance profiling with boxers and have not found indicators of an intention to commit injury that is beyond the rules of the sport (Lane, 2006; Lane & Lane,

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2008). However, I recognize that this might be a consequence of how I work and my beliefs that such intentions are not necessary for success. It might also be a cultural issue specific to the UK. It is important to recognize the limitations of this statement and the array of factors that could influence it. In my work with boxers, they report participation motives similar to other high-achieving athletes whose aim to win, and injuring the opponent may be a necessary part of that process, but it is not an intention, or one that is conscious. There is, however, no getting away from the potential brutality of the sport; other sportsmen and women may ‘play’ matches but boxers ‘fight’ them. In a sport where there is only one winner, seeing an opponent struggling physiologically during a contest provides a huge source of encouragement, and boxers look to exploit every weakness or frailty in their opponent. A boxer therefore has to be willing to inflict injury on his opponent and show no mercy in doing so - a mindset that is subtlety different to intending to injure. The boxer places all duty of care of the welfare of his opponent in the referee. An example of a boxer who struggled with this issue is described in case study 1 (forthcoming).

USING ANGER TO BE AGGRESSIVE IN THE RING: EMOTIONS AND PERFORMANCE A great deal of evidence indicates significant relationships between anger and violent behavior (Baumeister & Butz, 2005; Goldstein & Iso, 2008). An example of this is the growing number of incidences of road rage and ensuing violent consequences. Individuals enter their vehicles ostensibly showing few symptoms of intense anger, and as a consequence of believing another driver’s actions become angry and in some cases violent. Whilst road rage and boxing seem to be different entities, the argument that a boxer’s mental preparation involves regulatory strategies to raise anger is widely held in the UK media. With this point in mind, it is worth investigating emotional profiles associated with success. Researchers indicate that successful fighters demonstrate positive emotional profiles before competition (Chapman, Lane, Brierley, & Terry, 1997; Lane, Terry, Karageorghis, & Lawson, 1999). Such studies typically assess emotions an hour before competition and then compare winners and losers by emotional profiles. The accuracy of these predictions of winners from pre-contest emotions is remarkably high. In one study, it was possible to predict winners with 95% accuracy, albeit in karate (Terry & Slade, 1995). Terry and Slade found anger was associated with winning performance, and Lane et al. found that anger was associated with winning kickboxing performance when it was associated with vigour. Anger experienced with depression was associated with losing performance. In my work with boxers, I have found that emotional states associated with optimal performance vary between athletes. The notion that emotion-performance links are highly individualized is not new (Lane, 2007). I have found success is associated with high scores for vigor coupled with low scores for anger, tension, depression, fatigue, and confusion (see Figure 1). Autobiographical accounts identify emotional control, confidence and mental toughness in being able to give and receive punishment as important factors for success (Hatton, 2007). In a study that interviewed elite kick boxers, athletes reported the relationship between aggression and emotion. The following quote illustrates the importance of emotional control:

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"…if you can't control you're anger or you're aggression everything goes out the window… you tense up, body tenses up and then the whole fight goes out the window, as soon as you tense up you lose, especially in what I do because it's so fast and technical and precise, it's so fast that you only have to be off the ball just a little, half a degree and that's it you get caught" (Devonport, 2006).

The above quote illustrates the importance of down regulating feelings of anger. In comparison to an individual causing violence in an anger rage, the kickboxer is minded by the deleterious effects of anger on concentration. If one accepts that this quote is typical of such athletes, then the notion that they use anger to injure opponents lacks evidence. 67 62 57 Optimal performance Moderate performance

52

Poor performance

47 42 37 Anger

Confusion

Depression

Fatigue

Tension

Vigour

Figure 1. Optimal emotional states associated with success.

Case Study 1: A Boxer who Would let his Opponent Recover One amateur boxer I worked with came to me suggesting that he did not feel his was fulfilling his potential. He indicated that his coach and a number of people closely associated with boxing believed he had huge potential. His win-loss record indicated he had lost more contests that he had won. He further elaborated that he rarely pressed home advantage and that if he hurt his opponent he would back off rather than seek to finish the contest. He indicated that he had a counter-puncher style. He felt that the reason he lost contests because his opponent won each round marginally. On one hand, it could be argued that the boxer needed to develop an inner sense of toughness, that he should desensitize himself to the effects of boxing, or in short, learn to be able to inflict punishment on his opponent. An alternative approach, and ethically more acceptable is to suggest that he was letting his opponent control the tempo of the contest. When he hurt his opponent, where there was an opportunity to take the initiative, he would wait, allowing his opponent to recover. Rather than learn to become aggressive and seek to injure his opponent, he needed to learn how to control the pace of the contest. The mindset behind the two approaches differs hugely. The work we did was to explore strategies he needed to employ to compete to be successful. Using the performance profile method, we identified personal constructs

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associated with success. My approach in developing performance profiles with boxers is to start the conversation of what constitutes an elite or ideal boxer by identifying a past or current boxer and then asking the athlete to describe why the boxer is good (Lane, 2009). I also ask the boxer to identify a boxer who is quite good (National Championship level rather than World Championship level) and ask them to contrast the two boxers. What occurs is that the constructs that the boxer believes separate the two boxers are key as to how he evaluates his performance. By starting this process with real boxers rather than fictional standards, the process is less abstract and hence becomes more meaningful to the client. Once the boxers and performance constructs were identified, the next step was to develop strategies to enhance these, whilst being conscious of addressing the original reason for the consultation. This led to identifying behavioral plans on how to box differently. In essence, his goal was to raise his work rate attending to improving aspects of his own performance, rather than being reactionary to what his opponent was doing. Through analysis of the counterpunching styles of elite boxers, both amateur and professional, he identified that they do not wait for opportunity, but are looking to make opportunities. The difference was subtle but important as he waited for opportunities. I used a combination of psychological skills (Thelwell, 2008) to develop a more consistent pacing strategy to contests so that he competed the entire round. The first approach was to develop goals for the number of punches he threw in a round. The number of punches set as a goal was identified by watching video of the elite boxers used in the development of the performance profile. Whilst it is more difficult to enact this in sparring and competition, it is much more straightforward to do when shadowboxing, or punch-pad work, or punch bag work. To further support these goals, I videotaped him training, allowing him to count the number of punches thrown and thereby evaluate his goals. Videotaping is preferred to asking the boxer to count the punches thrown, as punch counting is arguably an unhelpful way of approaching sparring and competition. It also allows him to develop a third person perspective of how he looks. By supporting him to develop an image of how he looks during training, I asked the athlete to construct image sessions performing and achieving the pre-set goals. Positive self-talk was added to parts of the session where he felt he might revert back to his former style. I worked with the boxer for several months, re-assessing his confidence on performance profile constructs, along with his general confidence on how he felt he was boxing. Results indicated he felt more confident, and importantly, felt he had a more integrated training schedule in that he was more aware of the relationship between self-paced training sessions such as shadow boxing and bag work and interactive sessions such as sparring. Whilst this led to an improvement in performance and subsequently, he started winning contest, a key part of the issue that took much longer to address was his belief that he would be a successful boxer because he did not feel he had the sufficient mental toughness in terms of being able to give punishment to his opponent. We worked on these core beliefs, but not in terms of wishing to injure his opponent, but on why they occurred in the first place. Through lengthy discussion, it appeared that the notion he was not tough was something that stemmed from coach-athletes interactions, from discussions between other coaches, and with information he gleaned from other boxers, family and friends. As a sport psychologist, it is important to be aware of the multiple sources of information that an athlete obtains information from. Importantly, in this instance, his relatively fragile self-esteem was sensitive to critical comments and he internalized negative information on his capability as a fighter

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rather than challenging it, and rationalizing it, thereby protecting his self-esteem. In this example, mental toughness to finish of an opponent is highly influenced by low selfconfidence. Increased confidence led to improved performance in areas that could be construed as mental toughness by people surrounding the boxer. The two are different; the boxer displayed behaviors that others conceptualized as mental toughness and required for boxing success; the boxer interpreted the behaviors as being confident to perform a set of actions. Whilst the above example might provide tentative evidence to show that boxers do need to develop an intention to injure even if ostensibly that is the underlining mindset needed, it is possible to interpret this information differently. An issue here is the interaction between sport psychologist and client. Conscious of ethical guidelines, I would be uncomfortable working with a boxer who outwardly expressed an intention to injure. Given I believe that a boxer does not need to hold such beliefs in order to be successful, it is possible that I transmit this message to boxers. It is possible that boxers who work with me learn to respond in a way that is desirable to me, therefore masking their true beliefs. My experiences of the athlete in this case study suggest that this answer is not the case, but I am open to the possibility that it could be an explanation. It might be that I operate a self-serving bias in order to justify to myself that working is boxing is ethically acceptable.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS My concluding comments are that boxing represents a challenging environment in which to work (Lane, 2006) and identifies difficulties working in the sport in terms of developing a solid relation footing. I would recommend that if consultants are assured of their attitude on the potentiality ethical dilemma of the care of the athlete, that they reflect on the reasons why they are ensure before offering their services. Working with boxers should be about providing support for a person about to undertake a deeply personal challenge. Boxers share many of the frailties of other athletes, and for professional fighters, a livelihood earned by boxing, where defeat can be career and health threatening often involves competing in a pressurecooker environment. With the above in mind, I suggest considering the following points for sport psychologists working boxing: •

•

Explore your attitudes to boxing; what are your thoughts and feelings on a sport where people get injured as a direct cause of the opponent. If you feel that the injury and intent argument cannot be separated, you will find it difficult to work in professional boxing. Explore your boxers motives for boxing; are they competing to fulfill sadistic needs, or are they competing to fulfill a need for achievement, presenting issues similar to athletes in other sports. Boxers who present motives based on a desire to injure their opponent will be difficult to work with from an ethical perspective. This process is worth doing in some detail as boxers can outwardly present sentiments of wishing to injure their opponent as a reaction to a perceived need to help promote the contest.

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•

The same boxer might inwardly not hold such sentiments, though perhaps they might. Investigate emotional states associated with optimal performance. In particular, investigate beliefs on the functionality of anger. Boxers need to be able to control high intense unpleasant emotions such as anger and anxiety.

REFERENCES Baumeister, R. F., & Butz, D. A. (2005). Roots of Hate, Violence, and Evil: American Psychological Association. Butler, R. J., & Hardy, L. (1992). The performance profile: theory and application. The Sport Psychologist, 6, 253-264. Butler, R. J., Smith, M., & Irwin, I. (1993). The Performance Profile in practice. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 5, 48-63. Chapman, C., Lane, A. M., Brierley, J. H., & Terry, P. C. (1997). Anxiety, self-confidence and performance in tae kwon-do. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 85, 1275-1278. Devonport, T. J. (2006). Perceptions of the contribution of psychology to success in elite kickboxing. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 5, 99-107. Donnelly, P. (1988). On boxing: notes on the past, present and future of a sport in transition. Current Psychology: Research & Reviews, 7, 331-346. Douglas, K., & Carless, D. (2008). Using Stories in Coach Education. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 3, 33-49. Goldstein, J. D., & Iso, A. S. E. (2008). Determinants of parents' sideline-rage emotions and behaviors at youth soccer games. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38, 1442-1462. Hall, C. J., & Lane, A. M. (2001). Effects of rapid weight loss on mood and performance among amateur boxers. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 35, 390-395. Hatton, R. (2007). The Hitman: My Story. UK: Ebury Press. Herrera, C. (2004). The search for meaningful comparisons in boxing and medical ethics. Journal of Medical Ethics, 30, 513-514. Jones, R. L. (1997). A deviant sports career: toward a sociology of unlicensed boxing. Journal of Sport & Social Issues, 21, 37-52. Lane, A. M. (2002). Relationships between performance toward accomplishment and selfefficacy in amateur boxing. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 94, 1056-1056. Lane, A. M. (2006). Reflections of professional boxing consultancy: A response to Schinke (2004). Athletic Insight, 8, 1-7. Lane, A. M. (2007). The rise and fall of the iceberg: development of a conceptual model of mood-performance relationships. In A. M. Lane (Ed.), Mood and human performance: Conceptual, measurement, and applied issues (pp. 1-34.). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science. Lane, A. M. (2009). Consultancy in the ring: Psychological support to a world champion professional boxer. In B. Hemmings & T. Holder (Eds.), Applied Sport Psychology (pp. 51-63). London: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Lane, A. M., & Lane, R. J. (2008). Profiling optimal performance: A case study of peak performance in foreign exchange dealing and boxing environments. International Journal of Psychology, 43, 148.

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Lane, A. M., Terry, P. C., Karageorghis, C. I., & Lawson, J. (1999). Mood states as predictors of kickboxing performance: A test of a conceptual model. Journal of Sports Sciences, 17, 61-62. Loosemore, M., Knowles, C. H., & Whyte, G. P. (2007). Amateur boxing and risk of chronic traumatic brain injury: Systematic review of observational studies. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 335, 809. McCrory, P., Zazryn, T., & Cameron, P. (2007). The evidence for chronic traumatic encephalopathy in boxing. Sports Medicine, 37, 467-476. Terry, P. C., & Slade, A. (1995). Discriminant effectiveness of psychological state measures in predicting performance outcome in karate competition. Perceptual & Motor Skills, 81, 275-286. Thelwell, R. (2008). Applied sport psychology: Enhancing performance using psychological skills training. In A. M. Lane (Ed.), Sport and exercise psychology: Topics in applied psychology (pp 1-6). UK: Hodder-Stoughton, UK. Wildes, K. W. (1995). Is boxing ethically supportable? In R. C. Cantu (Ed.), Boxing and medicine (pp 117-128). Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. Zazryn, T. R., McCrory, P. R., & Cameron, P. A. (2008). Neurologic injuries in boxing and other combat sports. Neurologic Clinics, 26, 257-270.

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology Editor: Robert Schinke

ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 ©2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 18

COMMENTARY Mary Pritchard1 and Sandy Kimbrough2 Boise State University, Boise, Idaho1 Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX, USA2 “there is nothing new under the sun…” (Ecclesiastes 1:9 New International Version). When it comes to the study of sport psychology, the above adage is arguable for a variety of reasons. Although humans have been competing in sport and participating in physical activity for as long as history has been recorded, the world has changed significantly. Much has changed from the days when baseball players were paid meager wages to travel for days on buses to compete in front of small crowds, to now, when practically any sporting event around the world can be viewed via satellite television or the internet. The structure of organized sport, the importance of sport in society, and motivations for participation have shifted dramatically. By working as reviewers and associate editors for Athletic Insight over the past several years, we (this chapter’s authors) have had the pleasure of being at the forefront of exciting research and progress in the study of the psychology of sport around the world. Scholars from New Zealand, India, Scotland, Mexico, and the United States, to name just a few countries, are not only presenting work in the field from their own specific areas of interest, they are collaborating in fantastic ways with colleagues from around the globe like never before. This exciting development is just one of the aspects of this book that we found so intriguing. Robert Schinke conceived the idea for this book a few years ago and with the support of leading sport psychologists from around the world, created an extraordinary compilation of work with a focus on three contemporary issues in sport psychology: (1) sport psychology in practice, (2) cultural sport psychology, and (3) sport psychology and ethics.

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY IN PRACTICE Perhaps one of the most simultaneously exciting and daunting tasks faced by sport psychologists involves providing training and guidance to elite athletes. As Haberl (Chapter Four) and Hodge and Hermansson (Chapter Five) pointed out, such athletes face unique challenges not faced by nationally competitive, semi-professional, collegiate, or lower level

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athletes. Although some of the challenges may not be surprising to fans (e.g., the headaches of Olympians traveling to Beijing, staying in The Village, dealing with other athletes from competing countries, dealing with pre-event injuries, conflicts with teammates and coaches, etc. – see Chapters Five and Six), others might be quite surprising. As Hodge and Hermansson indicated, the increased media coverage alone can be quite stressful as athletes become celebrities for the duration of the event. As Haberl explained in Chapter Four, many fans place unknowing pressures and stress on their favorite athletes to bring home the Gold. Although many athletes may dream of Olympic Gold and the ‘favorites’ may certainly possess more confidence in their abilities to successfully do so or believe they have referees or judges ‘in their corner,’ those expected to win face added pressures of letting down their teammates, coaches, and fans. Thus, although social facilitation theorist Zajonc (1965) might have suggested that favored athletes should in fact perform better, too much stress and pressure on the favored athletes can serve as a distraction and actually hinder their performance. As Haberl pointed out, many favored athletes feel like they are walking targets with everything to lose or end up being overconfident and allow a win to slip from their fingers because they thought they had it made. Regardless of whether the athlete is favored to win or not, dealing with failure or subpar performance at the elite level can be very disappointing and stressful. In Chapter Five, Hodge and Hermansson explained that many athletes fear the future and wonder what will happen to them after the ‘main event’ (e.g., Olympic Games) is over. What can a sport psychologist do to help in these situations? As Lidor and Blumenstein (Chapter Six) suggested, preparation is key – for both the sport psychologist and the athletes. The Chapters in Section One provided a variety of suggestions for sport psychologists dealing with elite athletes. [1] Focus on what you do best – sport psychology – and maintain professionalism at all times (Lidor & Blumenstein, Chapter Six). [2] Be willing to listen to the athlete’s and coaches’ concerns and be willing to make changes accordingly (Lidor & Blumenstein, Chapter Six). [3] Realize that not all athletes and coaches look forward to working with a sport psychologist. As Schinke attested (Chapter One), just as many individuals fear being stereotyped for seeing a ‘shrink,’ many athletes have similar stereotypes (of their own or from teammates, family, coaches, etc.) about working with a sport psychologist. Schinke suggested initially focusing on analyses of previous performances. As the sport psychologist gains the athletes’ trust, he or she can then begin to gradually focus on more emotional issues that may have led to previous defeats or subpar performances. In fact, Lidor and Blumenstein (Chapter Six) suggested spending the first full year in a four-year plan concentrating on such preparatory work and analysis of past performances utilizing their five-step approach (see Chapter Six) to introduce sport psychology techniques to athletes. Finally, Zaichkowsky (Chapter Three) indicated that sport psychologists might be better received if they come equipped with a way to ‘prove’ their techniques are effective and can work for the athletes in question. Zaichkowsky outlined a variety of uses for biofeedback, neurofeedback, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that will help assess athletes’ baseline performance as well as any changes over time resulting from their work with the sport psychologist.

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[4] Be around from the beginning, consistently and in a variety of settings. As Lidor and Blumenstein (Chapter Six) suggested, the sport psychologist must be involved from the outset as part of the professional staff so that athletes get used to being around them and conversing with them and the coaches. [5] Although each sport has its own unique culture (Halliwell, Chapter Two), sport psychologists must realize that athletes are more than individuals and they are more than just their sport; thus sport psychologists must recognize the ‘power of the overall collective’ (Chapter Five – Hodge & Hermansson) of the team and of the country in the case of the Olympics. Hodge and Hermansson recommended providing athletes with a ‘One Team-One Spirit’ focus so that athletes have something positive to focus on and to fall back upon win or lose. [6] Have a specific step-by-step game plan for working with the athletes not only leading up to the main event but during the main event and after the event is over as well (see Lidor & Blumenstein – Chapter Six). As distractions mount, be prepared to help athletes focus or refocus on their performance before and during the event (see Haberl, Chapter Four). Biofeedback (Zaichkowsky, Chapter Three) might be an effective tool for helping athletes stay ‘in the zone.’ Even the athlete’s own MP3 / IPOD player can be adapted for these purposes. [7] Realize that there may be differences between experienced and non-experienced players and be prepared to deal separately with each type of player (Halliwell, Chapter Two). [8] Keep it simple and refrain from using sport psychology lingo for which the athletes may have no background (Halliwell, Chapter Two).

CULTURAL SPORT PSYCHOLOGY Culture is generally considered to be a subset of society, the collection of specific attitudes, behaviors and products that characterize an identifiable group of people. Every thought developed, every action taken, and every decision made takes place within multiple layers of culture, including time and place, plus so many more layers that are relevant to behavior generally and performance in any endeavor, specifically. Viewing sport performance in a vacuum that eliminates culture would be like reading a comic book without pictures. Blodgett, Yungblut, and Schinke (Chapter Seven) stated that cultural sport psychology (CSP) has developed from social psychology; Fisher, Roper, and Butryn (Chapter Eight) posited that CSP researchers and practitioners should focus on postmodern theories in approaching the following emphases: athlete identities, power dynamics, academic methods and theories, the influence of the institution of sport, race and class, and politics in sport related to well-being. For a sport psychologist to be successful, he/she must approach consultation with more than just the performance needs of the athlete in mind. The CSP practitioner should consider the culture of the athlete (geographical location, race, ethnicity, and religion), the identity of the athlete (Ryba, Chapter Nine), and the cultural perspective from which he/she is approaching the athlete. Cultural praxis is “an active and reflexive process that links theory, lived culture, and social action in a dialectical reciprocity” (Ryba, 2009). As McGannon and Metz (Chapter Eleven) pointed out, the sport psychologist cannot be viewed as just a hammer

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that can be applied to a nail, as each psychologist is different and brings to the “workbench” a different set of expectations and perspectives, a unique worldview, and a particular paradigm. To illustrate a few of these points, one of the authors (Sandy) will digress briefly to the impact this section is presently having on her own research. During the week when the chapter was being authored she visited an assisted living apartment complex with a group of seniors with whom she is completing a study, she was forced to examine how her own worldview and preconceived ideas have affected her research there. The seniors were playing a video driving game on the Wii platform and she was measuring changes that occur in their mental health over a period of time as a result of the activity. As she read the work by McGannon and Metz (Chapter Eleven), she began to formulate her own confessional tale about how she had gained access to these residents (like Metz gained access to WNBA players). She also realized that she brought with her a set of assumptions: 1) that the residents were not experienced with technology, 2) that the residents would be honest and forthcoming about their own feelings of depression (and that they were depressed), 3) that they could not hear or see very well, 4) that they would be happy for any additional attention they would receive as a result of participating, and 5) that the level of educational attainment of the residents was relatively low (i.e. that most of them were not college graduates). The more Sandy reflected on these assumptions, the more she realized how foolish she would be to not include in her research more than the just the quantitative data resulting from measurements taken. Her reaction to the participants, their reactions toward her and each other, and how their collective perceptions of each other changed over time are just as important a puzzle piece as the measured changes in depression as a result of participation. It would have been remiss of Sandy to not consider both a) their own stories (their culture: geography, past experiences, race), and b) her own perceptions that she brought to the table. Sandy made assumptions about their memory (that their working and long-term memory abilities are diminished), their abilities (that they cannot see or hear well and have limited manual dexterity), and their reasons for participating (that they want to be in the company of me and my graduate assistant). In retrospect she needed to be reflective and reflexive in her approach and not view herself as just a data-collector. Chapters Seven and Eight reminded the reader that the “monocultural” approach that has for so many years been dominant in the sport psychology field, reflective of White male values, is not only inappropriate, but ineffective when the spectrum of cultures from which athletes hail is so diverse. Kontos (Chapter Thirteen) identified Latin American athletes as just one example of a group where issues like acculturation and enculturation must be taken into account for effective sport psychology interaction and intervention. He also clearly made the point that awareness, not universality, is the rule for any “cultural” group. For example, the authors may fail to recognize that two Latin American athletes come from different political and geographical backgrounds just as someone from California may assume that one of us (Sandy) rides a horse because she lives in Texas. Kontos presented enlightening information about certain aspects of the Latin American culture, while impressing upon the reader that every individual’s ecological system is unique, within the same country, city, and even family. Sport psychology consultants must learn as much as possible about the specific culture of the athlete and not make assumptions based on vague knowledge about their heritage or country of origin through an overarching grouping strategy. Catina’s exposition of theoretical approaches to CSP addressed perceptions of success and failure, evaluation of self, and individualistic versus collectivistic cultures (Chapter Ten).

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Collectivistic cultures foster the needs, wishes, and desires of the group (or team) over those of individuals. They value harmony, cohesion, and cooperation. Individualistic people value their own needs and desires as more important than others’, and they make clear boundaries between one’s self and others. Identifying and understanding the values and worldview of the sport participant will increase the effectiveness of the consultant. Kontos also recognized that some cultures have more distinguished gender roles and may be resistant to a female consultant working with a male athlete. Hanrahan’s work with Mexican orphans (Chapter Twelve) reminded us that sport psychology is not just about a ‘win at all costs’ mentality, and exists for greater purposes than performance enhancement of elite athletes. Her focused work with Mexican orphans resulted in gains in life satisfaction, global self-worth, and physical appearance self-concept. She identified challenges she faced in a service situation, some due to cultural nuances around which she worked, such as a different understanding of what constitutes time (i.e., clock versus event based time). Her suggestions for working with young people in difficult situations are practical and should encourage others to use their time and efforts in cultures where life is not so easy. In so doing, Hanrahan inadvertently proposed a broader view of sport psychology, one that can be accessible for example, to non-competitive youth contexts. Ryba also identified the need to see the importance of the social and cultural context of sport and not see the measured outcome (win or loss) as the only indicator of the quality of the sport experience (see Chapter Nine). The Western performance ethic emphasizes winning above everything else and overlooks the importance of social and cultural context. Accompanying this emphasis is the possibility that the athlete is no longer viewed as a person but as an instrument for victory and a means to glory for his/her team, club, and/or country. Adopting such a perspective dehumanizes sport and has dangerous implications for children whose reasons for participation in sport are fun and skill development. Along the same lines, Fisher and her colleagues Roper and Butryn acknowledged that although the CSP approach is relatively new, two new texts and many scholars have begun to study power, privilege, and oppression within sport from a cultural perspective (see Chapter Eight). Athletes must be viewed as not only a way to achieve victory, but as citizens of a global society and participants in a complex sociological system where sport sometimes opens the doors to individuals, giving them power and privilege, while at the same time (possibly) oppressing others. Viewing the researcher as an integral component of any sport psychology research is a self-reflexive approach that is explored nicely by McGannon and Metz (Chapter 13); their own experiences with data collection, gaining access to athletes, and interviewing athletes showed once again that the sport psychologist-as-researcher cannot be viewed as just a sanitized collector of data. As each psychologist brings his/her own life story to everything he or she does, the impact of culture on the research itself is revealed. For example, if a Western researcher investigates sport psychology in a non-Western culture and fails to take into account his/her own assumptions about the best way to “do” sport psychology within the context of that culture, his/her research findings may be tainted to support his/her own ideas about sport, success, and performance. One major shortcoming in cross-cultural sport psychology has been the failure to replicate Western lab findings in non-Western settings. Therefore, a major goal of cultural sport psychology is to have divergent cultures refine and/or expand basic theories so that they become more relevant to the predictions and explanations of the intended group’s behaviors,

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not just Western mainstream ones, generally. As the authors in this section so eloquently describe, cultural sport psychology is not only an exciting area of study itself, but provides a backdrop for broader cultural sport studies.

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY AND ETHICS From charges of doping to accusations about judges being bribed, sport psychologists and the public alike are well-versed in ethical charges and allegations against athletes, coaches, and judges. After all, as Werthner and Coleman pointed out in Chapter Sixteen, athletes are under tremendous pressure to win. However, one job of the sport psychologist is to assure that athletes learn how to maximize their performance while foregoing the attitude that they must ‘win at any cost,’ which may encourage less than ethical behavior. Werthner and Coleman suggested that sport psychologists must first make their professional philosophy and personal values (e.g., integrity, compassion, and empathy) explicit to athletes and coaches. Relationships will be far less murky if athletes and coaches understand where the sport psychologist is coming from. If the practitioner has far different philosophies and values than the athlete and his/her coach, this would be the time to either clear the air or to decide that a practitioner with philosophies and values more similar to the athlete might serve the athlete better. It is also important that the athletes and coaches have realistic expectations about what sport psychologists can and cannot do so there are no misunderstandings of expectations. As practitioners are there to provide both education and support for the athlete, guidelines of what the athlete can expect to accomplish with the help of the practitioner should be made clear from the outset. For example, athletes must understand that the sport psychologist is not a miracle worker; rather, the practitioner is there to help the athlete achieve consistent, highquality performance, but ultimately the athletes must rely on themselves to accomplish this goal. In addition, sport psychologists should be aware of and enforce all ethical considerations within a professional sporting event (e.g., confidentiality, managing athletes when their anger or anxiety gets out of hand, and acting in a professional capacity that is consistent with their professional philosophy and personal values at all times). Finally, sport psychologists must take care of themselves. If the practitioner is ‘burning the candle at both ends,’ his or her job performance (i.e., services the practitioner is providing to the athlete) will likely suffer. The practitioner’s job performance hinges on giving the athlete his or her best. How can one expect an athlete to perform his/her best if the practitioner is ‘falling down on the job?’ A sport psychologist is no use to anyone if he/she is too tired, sick, etc., to effectively do his/her job. This is unfair to both the practitioner and to the athlete and coaching staff and could have devastating consequences for the client (e.g., injury, losing a game, decline in performance). Learning how to achieve the values and professional goals suggested by Werthner and Coleman in Chapter Sixteen is not an easy task. In fact, the quality of student intern– supervisor relationship is one of the best predictors of success as a sport psychology intern (Keeler & Zizzi – Chapter 14). Thus, in Chapter Fourteen, Keeler and Zizzi explained how to effectively train sport psychologists via classroom and internship experience. Keeler and Zizzi recommended that students begin their training with at least one year of theoretical coursework in sport sciences, physiology, physical education, and psychology, followed by 5-

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10 hours of observation of team consultation. Only then should students begin their internship as consultants in training (CITs). The authors further advised that CITs be trained both individually with a supervising professor to learn technique as well as in groups of 4-10 CITs to allow students of different skill levels to share personal experiences and relevant information. Keeler and Zizzi argued that such a model is imperative because at first, like many first year psychology or medical students, some CITs know just enough to be dangerous, but not enough to realize that they are. In particular it is important that CITs be schooled in NCAA rules and regulations as well as more practical issues such as stereotypes/stigmas of sport psychologists, how to establish relationships with coaches, what title to use, how to handle multiple/conflicting roles, establishing boundaries, marketing their services, etc. This model makes intuitive sense as it combines both the necessary curriculum as well as the necessary practical experience. Just as lawyers report that all of the cases they read in law school in no way prepares them to defend a client or prosecute an individual in court, how can we expect CITs to be effective sport psychologists upon graduation if they have no practical experience? Using a model similar to the ‘intern/rotation’ practices of medical students, allowing students on-one-on observations with professionals as well as practice work in groups will allow them to encounter a variety of athletes, coaches, and settings to better prepare them for life as a practitioner. Harris, Visek, and Watson (Chapter 15) argued that when making curricular decisions or when facing a difficult decision, sport psychologists should be familiar with both the American Psychological Association’s (APA) ethical guidelines as well as those of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). In addition, Harris et al. suggested that it is important to consider (and teach students) how to use ethical decision-making models for those instances where ethical guidelines are not enough (e.g., handling multiple-role conflicts, confidentiality issues, cross-complaints by coaching staff). They present several theoretically based decision-making models as well as several practice based decision-making models sport psychologists can utilize to help resolve tough ethical dilemmas. After all, knowing the ethical principles and being able to apply those principles to real life situations are two entirely different matters. Thus, similar to the model of combining textbooks and real life experiences when training CITs (Keeler & Zizzi – Chapter 14), providing students with models and case studies to use when they encounter sticky situations in the field will prepare them in a comprehensive way that transcends knowledge disconnected from practicality. I would go one step further to suggest that training programs have class sessions where they have students portray athletes, coaches, and practitioners and act out ethically questionable scenarios. This would help students get an even better feel for situations they may encounter in practice. Although sport psychologists may have been trained in how to deal with ethical issues faced by top-level athletes, many may be unfamiliar with the issues they may face themselves. In Chapter 17, Lane discussed the potential conflict of working with athletes in violent sports and the ethical standards presented by the APA to avoid or minimize harm. Lane recommended that before sport psychologists agree to work with athletes in violent sports such as boxing, they should first explore their own attitudes to sports where people get injured as a main goal of the sport. Once a sport psychologist has decided that he or she can ethically consult with an athlete in a violent sport, he or she must then investigate the athlete’s motives - is the athlete focusing on the thrill of injuring their opponent, in which case he/she will not necessarily benefit from your help, or is he/she focusing on personal performance and

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potential for achievement? If the athlete appears to be acting out of aggressive motives, the practitioner must decide if it will be possible to help the athlete modify his or her motives or whether working with the practitioner would somehow only enhance the athlete’s ability to carry out their advertent aggressive motives. If the latter is true, the practitioner will need to decide if continuing to work with the athlete is ethically in the best interest of all parties involved. Finally, the sport psychologist should work with athletes in violent sports to enable them to control and better channel any negative emotions (i.e., anger, anxiety) they may face during the event. If the athlete is not amenable to this type of mental training, again the practitioner must decide whether it is ethical to keep working with the athlete.

CONCLUDING REMARKS As this text comes to a close, the AI editorship and authors wish to express the many athletes, consultants, coaches, administrators, spectators, officials, and others whose eagerness to share their stories of success and struggle made it possible to learn what we have learned about contemporary issues in sport psychology. Without their willingness to be transparent and available, the research and reflection represented in each section would be incomplete at best and invalid at worst. The title of this text, Contemporary Sport Psychology, reminds us that as we learn more and more about the practical, cultural, and ethical issues related to sport psychology, the need for an updated compilation reflecting burgeoning trajectories from future special editions will become obvious. We hope that you have not only read this text to increase your knowledge, but that you will contribute to the growing field of sport psychology by sharing your own experiences with others through collaborative investigation. To the readers, thank you for reading what has become an integral part of all of our lives (editors and authors); it is our hope that this text has shifted your paradigms and peaked your interest in the practical, cultural, and ethical aspects of Contemporary Sport Psychology.

REFERENCES Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149, 269-274.

BIOGRAPHIES EDITOR Robert Schinke: Robert Schinke an Associate Tenured Professor, holds a doctorate in Education and a post-doctoral year in Positive Psychology. His research interests span cultural sport psychology, resilience, and adaptation and his methodological preferences span the qualitative methodologies, employing mainstream and culturally sensitive approaches dependent on population. A former Canadian Equestrian Team Member and Pan American Games medalist, Schinke has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Canadian Institute for Health Research. His work, the most recent, for which he has just been awarded the 2008 Canadian Sport Science Research Award for Community Research, has been published in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, The Sport Psychologist, the Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Quest, and the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, among other publishing outlets. He has published two applied sport psychology books, each released in multiple languages, and now three edited compilations. Schinke is the Editor of Athletic Insight and he has guest co-Edited an installment of the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology devoted to the intersection of culture and sport and exercise psychology. Schinke is also the Chair of his university's research ethics board as well as the Chair of Ethics and Qualifications for the Canadian Sport Psychology Association, He is married to his wife Erin and has a new son named "Harrison".

AUTHORS Eric Arguello: Erick Arguello, PsyD is currently completing his doctoral internship in clinical psychology at the Louisiana State Hospital in Alexandria, LA. He received his PsyD from the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, IL, and his MA in sport and exercise psychology from the Health and Human Performance Department at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Arguello’s research interests include the use of hypnosis in sport, flow, and applied and multicultural sport psychology issues.

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Amy Blodgett: Amy T. Blodgett, MHK, is a graduate student at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Canada. Her research and practical interests pertain to culturally reflexive approaches in sport psychology and social justice issues within marginalized sport populations. Presently, she is part of a multicultural research team working to develop culturally-sensitive leadership training programs in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve in order to inspire active lifestyles among Aboriginal youth. Amy has presented her research at national and international conferences, including the Eastern Canada Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium, the annual congress of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, and the North American Indigenous Games Education Symposium. Boris Blumenstein: Dr. Boris Blumenstein is the director of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Methodology at the Ribstein Center for Sport Medicine Sciences and Research, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel. He was a sport psychology consultant and advisor to the Soviet national and Olympic teams, and since 1990 has served as head of psychological services in the Elite Sports Unit of the Israel Olympic Committee (including the delegations to the last four summer Olympic Games – 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008). He has authored over 100 refereed journal articles and book chapters, and was senior editor of two books. Ted M. Butryn: Ted M. Butryn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at San Jose State University. Ted holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies with a concentration in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of Tennessee and an MA in Human Performance from San Jose State University. He is currently serving as SJSU’s Department of Kinesiology’s Graduate Coordinator. Ted’s primary research interests focus on the intersection between cultural studies and sport, particularly the relationship between "natural" and "artificial" aspects of contemporary societies and bodies using cyborg theory as well as on how issues of social difference manifest themselves within the applied sport setting. Peter Catina: Dr. Peter Catina earned his Ph.D. in Human Performance Psychology in 2000 at the University of Maryland, USA. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University. He is a world-class athlete and has been competing and coaching in the sport of powerlifting for 28 years. He is an 18 time National Champion and has won the World Championship title 7 times. Dr. Catina combines his academic and athletic backgrounds to direct his research toward the collectivistic and individualistic components of human performance and to develop a taxonomy that can be used to construct methods for maximizing athletic potential in a multiplicity of paradigms and cultures. John Coleman: John Colemanis presently gathering data and entering the writing phase for his PhD at the University of Ottawa, inquiring into the possibilities of human movement within the context of freeskiing. John is a sport psychology consultant presently working with the Canadian National Paralpine ski team and he also works with a number of big mountain freeskiers. Much of John’s work is geared towards helping performers create tools to be aware of the possibilities present in the moment. To do so John uses various breathwork

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techniques to connect with the moment and other sport psychology tools to help athletes successfully perform with high quality and consistency. Leslee A. Fisher: Leslee A. Fisher is an Associate Professor in the Department of Exercise, Sport & Leisure Studies at the University of Tennessee. Leslee holds a Ph.D. in Sport Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and a MS in Counselor Education from the University of Virginia. She is currently serving as Secretary/Treasurer of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). Leslee's primary research interests focus on the social psychological experiences of female athletes including the intersectional identities of gender/race/class/sexual/moral orientation, body issues, and the ways in which a cultural sport psychology can be used to enhance research and applied work within sport and exercise psychology. Peter Haberl: Peter Haberl, Ed. D. works as a senior sport psychologist for the United States Olympic Committee. Through the USOC, he provides individual and team consultations and counseling sessions to various resident and national teams and athletes at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Before joining the USOC in 1998, Peter served as the sport psychology consultant for the 1998 U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey Olympic Team. He has worked with the U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team from 1996 to 2006, providing sport psychology services at four International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2005) and three Olympic Games (1998, 2002, 2006). He served as the sports psychology consultant for USA Triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. During the 2000 to 2004 Olympic summer quad leading up to the Athens Olympic Games Peter has worked mainly with US Diving, US Synchronized Swimming, USA Triathlon and the US Women’s Volleyball team. Peter also coordinated the sport psychology component of the USOC Athlete SUMMIT program until 2004. The goal of the SUMMIT program was to inspire Olympic Hopefuls and provide a cohesive sense of team USA across the different sports. With the restructuring of the Performance Services Division of the USOC in 2006, Peter moved into in the Team and Technical Sportfolio with a focus of providing services to team (USA Water Polo, USA Women’s Indoor Volleyball)) and technical (USA Shooting, USA Archery) sports in their preparation for the Beijing Games. Born in Austria, he received his undergraduate degree in sports science from the University of Vienna, Austria, and earned a master's degree in counseling and his Ed. D. in counseling psychology at Boston University. He is a licensed psychologist in Colorado. Peter played professional hockey in Europe for 10 years, also representing Austria at two World Championships. Peter and his wife, Corinne, reside in Colorado Springs and have a daughter, MeiLan and a son, Alexander. Wayne Halliwell: Dr. Halliwell is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology where he has been teaching and conducting in the area of applied sport psychology for over 30 years. Wayne is also involved as a sport psychology consultant with Hockey Canada’s highly successful Program of Excellence and has worked with Canadian Teams at World Championships and Olympic Games for the past 25 years. As a result of his ongoing work, Wayne was recently awarded the Gordon Juckes Award which recognizes “outstanding contribution by an individual to the development of amateur hockey in Canada”. Wayne has

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also worked with a number of NHL teams and Canadian and U.S. University teams and is an internationally recognized authority in the field of applied sport psychology. Stephanie Hanrahan: Dr. Stephanie Hanrahan is an Associate Professor in the Schools of Human Movement Studies and Psychology at The University of Queensland in Australia where she is currently the director of the sport and exercise psychology program. Stephanie has published 6 books, 21 book chapters, 42 refereed research articles, and over 40 applied articles. She has obtained 18 grants and made hundreds of presentations at professional meetings and to community clubs and organisations. As a registered psychologist her clients have included individuals and teams from all levels of sport (able-bodied and disabled), Aboriginal performing artists, Mexican orphans, and teenagers living in poverty. Brendan S. Harris: Brandonn S. Harris, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs at Kansas State University. He teaches courses in intercollegiate athletics, college student-athletes, and research methods/statistics. He also supervises graduate student internships in intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Harris is a current member of AASP, APA, and N4A. He is a Certified Consultant with AASP and is listed on the USOC Sport Psychology Registry. His research interests include youth sport, burnout, professional practice issues in sport psychology, and intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Harris has consulted with a variety of athletes, parents, coaches, and physical activity participants on several sport and exercise psychology topics. Gary Hermansson: Gary is a former Professor in Counseling Psychology at Massey University, New Zealand. Gary is now a full‑ time Sport Psychologist working with range of sports and athletes; for example, NZ Cricket and NZ Rugby. He has served as the Team Psychologist for the NZ Summer Olympic Team at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympics. In addition, he was the Team Psychologist for the NZ Commonwealth Games Team at the 1998, 2002, and 2006 Games. Ken Hodge: Ken is an Associate Professor in sport and exercise psychology at the School of Physical Education, University of Otago, New Zealand (NZ). He has worked for a number of sports as a Mental Skills Trainer. For example, he has worked for the NZ Academy of Sport, the NZ Rugby Union, Netball NZ, NZ Swimming and NZ Golf. In 2006 he was the Mental Skills Trainer for the NZ Winter Olympic Team at the Torino Games. Similarly, in 1992 he was the Mental Skills Trainer for the NZ Summer Olympic Team at the Barcelona Games and in 1990 and 1994 he worked as Mental Skills Trainer for the NZ Commonwealth Games Team. Linda Keeler: Linda A. Keeler, Ed.D, CC-AASP, NCC is an Assistant Professor in Sport and Exercise Psychology in the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, Chico teaching classes in sport psychology, exercise psychology and sport sociology and mentoring graduate students. She is an AASP Certified Consultant and is a national boardcertified counselor, consulting in areas of performance psychology and exercise adherence. Her research interests center on athletes’ attitudes and behaviors in mental skills use and

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physical activity patterns in college students. Linda enjoys the west coast sunshine by participating in hobbies of rock climbing, hiking and gardening. Sandy Kimrough: Dr. Sandy Kimbrough received her Ph.D. in Motor Behavior from Texas A&M University and has been teaching at the university level since 1995.She is currently the assistant department head of Health and HumanPerformance at Texas A&M University ‑ Commerce. Her focus is on trainingleaders in the fields of sport, physical education, and recreation, andshe enjoys presenting at state and national conferences. She is currently an associate editor for Athletic Insight and the TAHPERDJournal. Sandy enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family and competing in the Great Urban Race. Anthony Kontos: Anthony P. Kontos, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at Humboldt State University, where he teaches courses in sport and exercise psychology, motor development/learning, research methods, and sport concussion; works as a sport and exercise psychology consultant; and is the director of the Behavioral Performance Lab and North Coast Sport Concussion program. Dr. Kontos received his Ph.D. in kinesiology/sport psychology from Michigan State University where he also received master’s degrees in counseling and exercise science. He completed his B.A. in psychology at Adrian College. His research includes sport concussion, psychology of injury, risk taking, and multicultural sport an exercise psychology. Dr. Kontos has published over 30 articles/chapters and delivered over 55 professional presentations, and is a member of APA Division 47 and AASP. Andrew Lane: Andrew Lane is a Professor of Sport Psychology at the University of Wolverhampton. He is accredited from the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) for scientific support and research, and Chartered by the British Psychological Society. He has authored more than 100 peer refereed journal articles and edited two books. He is the editor of The Sport and Exercise Scientist, and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine and Journal of Hospitality, Sport, Tourism, Education, and advisory boards for the Journal of Sports Sciences and Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise. His applied work has involved a number of clients including the English Institute of Sport and the London Boxing Association working with an athlete preparing for World Championship contests. A former amateur boxer, he remains active in sport as a runner and duathlete and after shedding 20 kilos is enjoying competition again. Ronnie Lidor: Dr. Ronnie Lidoris an Associate Professor at the Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences at the Wingate Institute, and in the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa (Israel). His main areas of research are cognitive strategies, talent detection, and early development in sport. Dr. Lidor has published over 90 articles, book chapters, and proceedings chapters, in English and in Hebrew. He is the senior editor of several books, among them Sport Psychology: Linking Theory and Practice (1999) and The Psychology of Team Sports (2003) published by Fitness Information Technology (USA). A former basketball coach, Dr. Lidor now provides psychological consultation to young and adult elite basketball players. He focuses mainly on attentional techniques used before the execution of free-throw shots.

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Kerry McGannon: Dr. Kerry McGannon received her PhD (Health and Exercise Psychology) from the University of Alberta after receiving a B.A. (psychology) and an M.A. (Sport and Exercise Psychology) from the University of Victoria. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Sport Studies, at the University of Iowa. Her research provides a “bridge” between traditional epidemiological approaches and cultural studies approaches, to understand physical activity participation. Her specific interest is in the social construction of the self and critical interpretations of physical activity and fitness using Social Theory and qualitative methodologies (e.g., narrative, discourse analysis). The journals where her work is published such as Qwest, Sociology of Sport Journal and Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, underscores the interdisciplinary nature of her research. Jennifer Metz: Dr. Jennifer L. Metz received her PhD (Socio-cultural Kinesiology) from the University of Illinois- Urbana-Champaign after receiving a M.A. (Communications) at Northern Illinois University and an B.A. (Organizational Communications) from the Loyola University of Chicago. While at Loyola of Chicago, Jennifer was a scholarship basketball athlete for the women’s basketball team. Jennifer is a lecturer in the Department of Health and Sport Studies, at the University of Iowa. Her work critically examines the cultural politics of race, gender, and nationalism in the modern era. It is interdisciplinary in nature, located at the intersections of popular culture, marketing/advertising, and cultural studies. It is motivated by the recognition that such "everyday practices” as sport, television, and recreational pursuits are crucial to understanding the production of power, knowledge, and identity in a globalizing world. More specifically, her research focuses on issues related to the study of sport, feminism, and popular media. It interrogates the racializiation and sexualization of "motherhood" in late-capitalist sport, particularly women's basketball. Mary Pritchard: Mary Pritchard is as Associate Editor for Athletic Insight. Dr. Pritchard received her Ph.D. in experimental psychology with an emphasis in cognitive/social from the University of Denver, in 1999, and joined the Boise State University Psychology Department in 2004. She has engaged in research pertaining to high school and university students and holds an interest in matters of holistic health and its intersection with physical education. Dr. Pritchard has research interests in health psychology, including health behaviors of college students and adolescents, obesity, eating disordered behaviors, body image, self-esteem, how personality impacts health, athlete stress and health, risky health behaviors, health in at-risk populations (e.g., Native Americans). Emily A. Roper: Emily A. Roper is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Kinesiology at Sam Houston State University. Emily holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies with a concentration in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of Tennessee. She is currently serving as Associate Editor for Athletic Insight and Chair of the ASP Diversity Committee. Emily's primary research interests focus on the experiences of women working in sport and exercise psychology, psychosocial barriers to physical activity among women and girls, and the ways in which a cultural studies framework can be used to enhance research and applied work within sport and exercise psychology. Tatiana Ryba: Tatiana V. Ryba holds a PhD in Sport Studies with a double emphasis on Sport Psychology and Cultural Studies from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is

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currently a Senior Lecturer of Sport Psychology in the European Master’s Programme in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Dr. Ryba’s research has appeared in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Review of Education, Pedagogy and Cultural Studies, and the collections such as Contemporary Youth Culture; and Cultural Sport Psychology. Her latest projects include the special issue “Decolonizing Methodologies: Approaches to Sport and Exercise Psychology from the Margins” (2009), guest edited with Dr. Schinke for the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Dr. Ryba is also the co-editor of a forthcoming book with Fitness Information Technology, entitled The Cultural Turn in Sport and Exercise Psychology. In addition to her research and teaching contributions, Dr. Ryba is a member of the editorial board of the Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, and serves as Chair of the International Relations Committee, Association for Applied Sport Psychology. For her innovative work in the field, Dr. Ryba has received the Developing Scholar Award from the International Society of Sport Psychology in 2009. Amanda J. Visek: Dr. Amanda J. Visek is an Assistant Professor at The George Washington University Medical Center in the School of Public Health and Health Services and the Department of Exercise Science in Washington, D.C. She is a Certified Consultant of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology, a National Certified Counselor, and is listed on the USOC Sport Psychology Registry. As an academician, she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in sport and exercise psychology, chairs masters' theses research, and collaborates domestically and internationally with colleagues. As an entrepreneur and practitioner, she founded and directs the Mental Training Center for Optimal Performance, Inc. Jack Watson: Dr. Jack Watson is an Associate Proffessor of Sport and Exercise Psychology and Chair of the Department of Sport Sciences at West Virginia University. Dr. Watson is a licensed psychologist in West Virginia, and currently has a small private practice where he works specifially with athletes. He is the Chair of the Association of Applied Sport Psychology, Ethics Committee, and has written extensively about ethics. Penny Werthner: Penny Werthner is an assistant professor in the School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Her research includes exploring the learning processes of coaches and athletes, performance psychology, in particular within the environment of World Championships and Olympic Games, stress and burnout in Olympic level coaches, issues facing women coaches, values and ethics in sport and physical activity, and the use of bioneurofeedback for enhancing the performance of athletes and coaches. Penny is a former Olympic athlete in the sport of Athletics and has worked with athletes and coaches at seven winter and summer Olympic Games. She is also a member of the Review Committee for the Canadian Sport Psychology Association (www.cspa-acps.ca). Hope Yungblut: Hope Yungblut, PhD candidate, is a graduate student in the Human Studies program at Laurentian University. She holds a MASP (Masters of Applied Social Psychology) from Memorial University and a BA (Psychology) from Laurentian University. Her research interests include youth engagement in physical activity and reflexive qualitative

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research methods. She is currently a part of a bi-cultural team working with aboriginal youth and community programming in Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve. She is currently the editorial assistant for Athletic Insight and the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) graduate representative for Laurentian University. Leonard Zaichkowsky: Dr. Zaichkowsky is a licensed psychologist who specializes in sport and performance psychology. He has a joint appointment in the Boston University School of Education and School of Medicine, Division of Psychiatry, and Division of Graduate Medical Sciences where he directs a joint graduate specialization in sport and exercise psychology. He is a past-president of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (1997-99), a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, and currently section editor on psychology for the International Journal of Health & Sport Science. He has authored or edited six books with the most recent being, “Medical and Psychological Aspects of Sport & Exercise”, FIT Publishing (2002). He has published over 90 papers on sport psychology, research design, and related topics in scholarly journals or books as well as numerous magazine and newspaper columns. His current research interests are in psychophysiological self-regulation of performance stress and the development of “expert” performance across domains. He has consulted with the U. S., Canadian, and Australian Olympic Organizations, the NBA (Boston Celtics), Major League Baseball Players Association, NFL, NHL Players Association and Calgary Flames, and most recently with the Spanish World Cup Soccer Team (2006) and Real Madrid. Sam Zizzi: When I'm not slaving away on academic pursuits, I prefer to roam the planet with my friends and family. It turns out that roaming is a little slower with two small children, but that is just fine with me. When we are not traveling, I prefer to play guitar for my ladies and spend some quality time outdoors. When I am working, I teach courses in sport and exercise psychology, statistics, and research methods. My primary research interests include lifetime physical activity and applied sport psychology. I also supervise graduate students, work with WVU athletes on performance enhancement and I'm a Certified Consultant (AASP).

AUTHORS’ ADDRESSES Ted M. Butryn, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Sport Sociology & Sport Psychology Department of Kinesiology, San Jose State University One Washington Square San Jose, CA 95192-0054 [email protected] John Coleman 133-13 Aspen Glen Canmore, Alberta, T1W 1A6 [email protected] Leslee A. Fisher, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Sport Psychology Department of Exercise, Sport & Leisure Studies The University of Tennessee 336 HPER Building, 1914 Andy Holt Drive Knoxville, TN 37996-2700 [email protected] (865) 974-9973 Peter Haberl, Ed. D. Senior Sport Psychologist USOC Performance Services 1 Olympic Plaza Colorado Springs, CO 80909 719 866 4956 [email protected] Dr. Wayne Halliwell Department of Kinesiology University of Montreal 2100 EdouardMontpetit Montreal, Quebec

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Robert Schinke Canada H3C3J7 Telephone : 514-343-7008 (0ffice) E-mail : [email protected] Stephanie J. Hanrahan Schools of Human Movement Studies and Psychology The University of Queensland Queensland 4072 Australia 61 7 3365 6453 (phone) 61 7 3365 6877 (fax) [email protected] Brandonn S. Harris, Ph.D. Kansas State University 329 Bluemont Hall 1100 Mid-Campus Drive Manhattan, KS 66506 Phone: 785.532.5784, Fax: 785.532.7304 E-mail: [email protected] Gary Hermansson Ph.D. Hermansson‑ Webb Associates Ltd 61 Marne Street (P.O. Box 8050) Palmerston North New Zealand 4410 64212466689 Ken Hodge, Ph.D. Assoc. Prof. Ken Hodge School of Physical Education University of Otago PO Box 56 Dunedin New Zealand Ph. 64‑ 03‑ 479‑ 8991 FAX 64‑ 03‑ 479‑ 8309 [email protected] Dr. Sandy Kimbrough Dept of Health and Human Performance Texas A&M University‑ Commerce PO Box 3011 Commerce, TX 75429 [email protected]

Authors’ Addresses 903‑ 886‑ 5555 Prof Andy Lane CPsychol University of Wolverhampton Gorway Road, Walsall, WS13BD 07855 779457 [email protected] Linda A. Keeler, Ed.D., CC-AASP, NCC Assistant Professor Department of Kinesiology California State University, Chico 256 Yolo Hall Chico, CA 95929-0330 Office: 530.898.4072 [email protected] Dr. Sandy Kimbrough Assistant Department Head Health and Human Performance Texas A&M University-Commerce 903-886-5555 [email protected] Anthony P. Kontos, Ph.D. Associate Professor Sport and Exercise Psychology Specialist Kinesiology and Recreation Administration Humboldt State University 1 Harpst Street Arcata, California 95521‑ 8299 707.826.3533 phone/707.826.5451 fax [email protected] Kerry R. McGannon, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Health Promotion E‑ 124 Field House Department of Health and Sport Studies University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242 Ph: 319‑ 335‑ 8455 Fax: 319‑ 335‑ 6669 [email protected] Mary Pritchard, Ph.D. Boise State University

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Robert Schinke Psychology Department 1910 University Drive Boise, Idaho USA 83725-1715 Ph: (208) 426-1901 FAX (208) 426-4386 [email protected] Emily A. Roper, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Health and Kinesiology Department of Health and Kinesiology Sam Houston State University PO Box 2176 Huntsville, TX 77341 [email protected] (936) 294-1169 Amanda J. Visek, Ph.D., CC‑ AASP, NCC The George Washington University Medical Center School of Public Health and Health Services Department of Exercise Science 817 23rd St., NW Washington, DC 20052 E‑ mail: [email protected] Phone: 202.994.3997 Fax: 202.994.1420 Jack C. Watson II, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Department Chair Sport and Exercise Psychology West Virginia University College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences 1-304‑ 293‑ 0873 [email protected] Penny Werthner, Ph.D. Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Human Kinetics University of Ottawa 125 University Pr., Ottawa, Canada K1N 6N5 E-mail: [email protected] Leonard Zaichkowsky, Ph.D. Professor

Authors’ Addresses School of Education & Graduate Medical Science Phone: (617) 353-3378 e-mail: [email protected] Sam Zizzi, Ph.D. College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Coliseum Room 255A Box 6116, Morgantown, WV 26506-6116 Tel: 304.293.0874 [email protected]

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INDEX A Aboriginal, 90, 92, 94, 96, 97, 102, 103, 104, 106, 111, 112, 117, 118, 119, 127, 133, 141, 150, 151, 172, 195, 196, 272, 274 academic, 4, 95, 96, 101, 107, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 122, 124, 126, 127, 132, 154, 158, 159, 160, 164, 203, 204, 206, 207, 208, 265, 272, 278 academic settings, 114, 203 academics, ix, 95, 112, 157 accommodation, 57 accounting, 173, 221 acculturation, 97, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 189, 194, 195, 196, 266 acculturation level, 194 accuracy, 256 achievement, 1, 9, 35, 41, 42, 69, 90, 142, 149, 173, 174, 259, 270 activation, 24, 56, 148, 174, 176 adaptation, 4, 9, 104, 111, 127, 196, 250, 271 addiction, 41, 42 ADHD, 24 adjustment, 145, 146, 149, 172 administration, 94, 208, 210 administrative, 250 administrators, 21, 30, 270 adolescence, 180 adolescents, 124, 172, 173, 174, 176, 177, 179, 180, 196, 276 adult, 186, 196, 275 adverse event, 145 advertising, 276 aerobics, 161, 163 affect intensity, 150 affective experience, 201 Afghanistan, 93, 148 African American, 91, 93, 96, 166, 196 African culture, 187, 188

African-American, 113, 165 afternoon, 178 age, 9, 13, 30, 90, 130, 153, 155, 173, 178, 179, 191, 210 agent, 39, 124, 156, 164 agents, 7, 43, 46, 109, 117, 119, 131, 141 aggression, 95, 126, 143, 144, 255, 256, 257 aggressive behavior, 149 aid, 99, 208, 224, 226, 229 air, 27, 165, 166, 268 Alberta, 29, 276, 279 alcohol, 106, 210 alcohol abuse, 106 alertness, 131 alpha activity, 31 altered state, 50 alternative, 130, 132, 154, 204, 220, 225, 226, 227, 257 alternatives, 135, 201, 227 Amazon, 187 Amazon River, 187 Amazonian, 188 ambiguity, 91, 121 ambivalent, 129 ambulance, 244 amelioration, 96 American culture, 92, 181, 183, 186, 189, 190, 266 American Indian, 187, 195 American Psychological Association, 50, 51, 99, 102, 111, 215, 218, 230, 232, 249, 253, 260, 269 amplitude, 24, 25 analysts, 147 Andes, 188 anger, 24, 26, 30, 92, 256, 257, 260, 268, 270 anger management, 24, 30 animals, 177 anorexia, 126 anthropology, 89, 93

286

Index

anxiety, 24, 30, 31, 32, 50, 57, 58, 59, 61, 129, 145, 146, 160, 185, 201, 207, 226, 243, 244, 245, 247, 260, 268, 270 anxiety disorder, 24, 50 APA, 51, 99, 179, 218, 220, 222, 223, 226, 227, 229, 269, 274, 275 apathy, 174, 175 application, x, 22, 23, 24, 29, 32, 60, 68, 77, 126, 129, 151, 182, 183, 194, 215, 218, 220, 222, 226, 228, 248, 260 applied psychology, 261 applied research, 96 appraisals, 159 arbitration, 224 Argentina, 181, 182, 188, 195 argument, 21, 27, 113, 235, 237, 255, 256, 259 arousal, 56 arrhythmia, 27 articulation, 122, 123, 124, 133, 166 artistic, 129, 240 Asian, 91, 97, 144 Asian American, 91, 97 Asian Americans, 91, 97 assertiveness, 207 assessment, 22, 23, 25, 27, 51, 75, 85, 129, 138, 145, 150, 186, 190, 195, 239 assignment, 200 assumptions, 93, 98, 124, 126, 128, 184, 224, 225, 240, 266, 267 asthma, 24 Athens, 36, 38, 52, 56, 61, 62, 63, 67, 75, 77, 81, 273 Athletic Competence, 173, 175 atmosphere, 14, 60, 81, 83, 85 attachment, 47 attacks, 82, 127 attitudes, 93, 145, 148, 150, 172, 179, 205, 215, 235, 254, 259, 265, 269, 274 attribution, 4, 9 attribution theory, 9 atypical, 55, 223 Australia, 91, 141, 171, 172, 273, 274, 280 Austria, 273 authenticity, 237 authority, 110, 191, 221, 274 autonomic nervous system, 22, 25 autonomy, 140, 217, 224, 228 avoidance, 39, 210 awareness, 24, 37, 39, 41, 43, 47, 48, 91, 94, 99, 106, 107, 129, 131, 137, 139, 154, 155, 183, 190, 192, 194, 201, 212, 237, 238, 240, 247, 248, 266

B babies, 159 Barack Obama, 113 Barbados, 93 barrier, 144 barriers, 1, 36, 44, 51, 74, 82, 83, 110, 177, 188, 193, 202, 276 basketball, 18, 65, 74, 75, 87, 164, 165, 174, 184, 205, 206, 212, 275, 276 behavior, 21, 27, 36, 50, 66, 109, 111, 124, 125, 127, 130, 133, 137, 138, 141, 145, 147, 148, 185, 193, 198, 213, 218, 220, 221, 222, 224, 228, 229, 233, 237, 239, 240, 247, 249, 256, 265, 268 behavior therapy, 249 behavioral effects, 155 behavioral variation, 138 behaviours, 96, 240 Beijing, ix, 27, 36, 43, 56, 61, 62, 63, 67, 69, 71, 72, 73, 75, 81, 234, 264, 273 belief systems, 129 beliefs, 40, 41, 43, 49, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 128, 130, 145, 177, 181, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 193, 194, 195, 231, 237, 249, 254, 255, 258, 259, 260 benchmark, 127 benefits, 34, 63, 67, 115, 153, 157, 167, 204, 208, 226, 227, 246 Berlin Wall, 126 bias, 259 bilingual, 193 biofeedback, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 76, 86, 264 biofeedback training, 32 birth, 133 blends, 123, 132 blind spot, 112 blood, 22, 25, 28 blood flow, 25, 28 blood pressure, 22 body image, 133, 276 body language, 247 BOLD, 28, 29, 31 Bolivia, 181, 187, 189 bonding, 63, 117, 162 boredom, 35 Boston, 17, 21, 26, 29, 51, 113, 118, 133, 194, 231, 250, 273, 278 bounds, 204 boxer, 3, 5, 6, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 275 boys, 172, 173, 174, 178 brain, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 52, 253

Index brain activity, 23, 24, 29, 30 brain injury, 261 brain structure, 28 Brazil, 182, 184, 188, 191 Brazilian, 118, 184, 188, 196 breakdown, 131 breathing, 14, 25, 27, 31, 240, 245, 248 British Columbia, 31, 50, 51, 134 broad spectrum, 41 brutality, 256 Buddhist, 36 budding, 127 Buenos Aires, 189 buffer, 141, 142, 147 building blocks, 248 burning, 268 burnout, 242, 274, 277 buses, 42, 177, 212, 263

C campaigns, 56 Canada, 1, 8, 11, 26, 29, 47, 50, 51, 89, 91, 93, 102, 104, 233, 234, 238, 247, 271, 272, 273, 280, 282 cancer, 40, 145, 149 capacity, 100, 130, 154, 225, 268 capitalism, 155 capitalist, 276 Caribbean, 182, 187, 188 case study, 31, 51, 68, 217, 223, 226, 256, 259, 260 catalyst, 42, 131, 183 Catholic, 177, 188, 191 Caucasian, 155, 194, 195 cement, 63 Census Bureau, 182, 196 Central America, 187 Central Asia, 144 central nervous system, 22, 29 certification, 197, 200, 218 Chad, 41, 42 chaos, 144 cheating, 236 childcare, 173 children, 144, 160, 165, 166, 171, 172, 178, 180, 234, 235, 267, 278 Chile, 182, 187, 188 China, 234 Christianity, 91 chronic pain, 24 cingulated, 29 citizens, 82, 105, 113, 116, 267 classes, 115, 127, 157, 172, 207, 226, 227, 228, 274 classification, 14

287

classroom, 185, 207, 268 classrooms, 219 claustrophobic, 59 clients, 3, 90, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99, 108, 130, 131, 201, 202, 207, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 219, 223, 225, 253, 274, 275 clinical psychology, 222, 271 clinician, 213 close relationships, 235 closure, xi clubbing, 185 coaches, ix, 7, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 30, 35, 41, 46, 51, 55, 57, 58, 64, 66, 67, 72, 73, 75, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 92, 93, 95, 100, 101, 109, 110, 121, 137, 141, 185, 192, 198, 201, 203, 204, 205, 208, 211, 233, 234, 235, 236, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 258, 264, 265, 268, 269, 270, 274, 277 coaching staff, 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 73, 74, 80, 81, 85, 92, 185, 204, 206, 210, 219, 268, 269 codes, 174, 217, 219, 224, 225, 226, 229, 236, 254 coffee, 184, 209 cognition, 9, 51, 130 cognitive, 25, 29, 34, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47, 48, 93, 138, 147, 150, 161, 180, 183, 187, 193, 235, 239, 275, 276 cognitive abilities, 46 cognitive perspective, 40, 41, 46 cognitive process, 147, 235 cognitive test, 138 cognitive testing, 138 cohesion, 35, 42, 55, 60, 61, 63, 64, 68, 92, 140, 239, 250, 267 cohesiveness, 60, 67, 144 cohort, 90, 115 collaboration, 1, 3, 26, 96, 99, 100, 127 collectivism, 90, 137, 149, 150, 151 college students, 275, 276 Colombia, 184 Colorado, 14, 17, 33, 51, 273, 279 commerce, 280, 281 communication, 26, 58, 60, 63, 67, 81, 85, 91, 92, 101, 130, 172, 174, 177, 187, 189, 191, 227, 242, 248 communication skills, 58 communication strategies, 191 communities, 91, 94, 95, 98, 99, 101, 113, 157, 167 community, 63, 64, 91, 92, 94, 96, 97, 100, 101, 102, 104, 106, 108, 111, 112, 116, 117, 119, 127, 129, 133, 141, 150, 157, 168, 187, 191, 196, 209, 217, 218, 223, 227, 228, 229, 234, 237, 274, 278 compassion, 237, 239, 240, 241, 243, 244, 247, 248, 268

288

Index

compensation, 204 competence, 98, 173, 201, 202, 228, 236 competency, 181, 194, 215 competition, 2, 4, 12, 22, 23, 29, 34, 35, 36, 38, 41, 44, 45, 49, 50, 51, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 64, 66, 68, 73, 74, 76, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 104, 117, 124, 138, 140, 143, 144, 149, 185, 212, 224, 234, 237, 238, 239, 240, 244, 245, 246, 249, 254, 255, 256, 258, 261, 275 competitive anxiety, 31 competitive sport, 96, 131, 147, 234, 235, 243 compilation, 107, 263, 270 complexity, 121, 137, 141, 142, 150, 208 compliance, 203, 204, 208, 209, 214 components, 41, 52, 64, 114, 138, 145, 224, 225, 226, 237, 272 composition, 94 concentration, 12, 25, 44, 56, 74, 87, 131, 174, 185, 226, 257, 272, 276 conception, 124, 141, 143 conceptual model, 132, 260, 261 concrete, 65, 66, 155, 157, 160, 224, 235 concussion, 244, 275 conditioning, 22, 24, 30, 73, 85, 238, 247 conductance, 25 conductivity, 25 confidence, 12, 13, 14, 16, 39, 47, 56, 57, 93, 145, 176, 185, 193, 205, 235, 240, 244, 245, 246, 256, 258, 259, 264 confidentiality, 34, 201, 207, 209, 211, 219, 233, 237, 241, 242, 246, 248, 268, 269 confirmatory factor analysis, 174 conflict, 58, 69, 143, 151, 188, 223, 224, 226, 227, 269 conformity, 61, 140 confusion, 69, 159, 256 congress, 272 congruence, 237 consciousness, 31, 50, 61, 98, 184, 239 consensus, 95, 97, 100, 112, 141, 235 consent, 201 constraints, 114, 123, 203 construct validity, 174 construction, 89, 91, 99, 130, 149, 154, 159 constructionism, 128, 134 constructivist, 147 consultants, 2, 3, 8, 18, 22, 33, 48, 52, 71, 72, 75, 77, 84, 85, 86, 87, 90, 92, 97, 98, 100, 107, 108, 110, 113, 114, 157, 181, 182, 184, 186, 191, 192, 193, 194, 197, 198, 199, 201, 202, 205, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 231, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 247, 248, 250, 255, 259, 266, 269, 270

consulting, 11, 12, 17, 18, 21, 29, 34, 51, 81, 99, 103, 108, 114, 119, 122, 141, 150, 155, 167, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 190, 191, 194, 195, 199, 200, 201, 202, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 214, 224, 225, 229, 233, 234, 237, 239, 246, 247, 248, 274 consumption, 126 content analysis, 174 contingency, 49 continuity, 125, 127 contradictory experiences, 160 control, 2, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 22, 23, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 43, 57, 86, 111, 124, 125, 140, 144, 145, 146, 147, 176, 179, 211, 225, 245, 255, 256, 257, 260, 270 control group, 176, 179 conversion, 188 conviction, 107, 224 coping strategies, 81 corporations, 126 cortex, 29 cost-benefit analysis, 39, 48, 49 costs, 127 counsel, 98 counseling, 36, 115, 122, 125, 138, 182, 193, 195, 198, 199, 200, 201, 213, 219, 222, 223, 225, 229, 231, 232, 273, 275 counseling psychology, 219, 222, 223, 229, 231, 273 country of origin, 266 course work, 161 coverage, 17, 42, 56, 57, 212, 238, 264 covering, 182, 187 CPA, 278 creativity, 31, 143 credentialing, 209 credentials, 198, 203, 214, 215 credibility, 111, 157, 209 credit, 203 critical thinking, 29, 89 criticism, 36, 140, 150 Croatia, 140 cross-cultural, x, 94, 96, 104, 111, 119, 137, 140, 147, 148, 149, 151, 168, 190, 196, 267 cross-cultural comparison, 96 cross-cultural differences, 148 cross-cultural psychology, 147 crystallization, 159 cues, 66, 244 cultivation, 43, 52 cultural beliefs, 181, 183, 184, 187, 188, 189, 190, 194 cultural character, 183, 188 cultural differences, 91, 92, 99, 101, 137

Index cultural factors, 12, 138, 142, 182 cultural identities, 94, 142 cultural influence, 90, 91, 95, 137, 138, 143, 147, 148, 186, 187, 189 cultural norms, 94, 130 cultural practices, 116, 125, 127, 128, 182 cultural psychology, 89, 97, 103, 125, 134 cultural values, 191 culture, x, 11, 55, 56, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 103, 104, 109, 114, 116, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 140, 141, 142, 144, 146, 148, 150, 154, 156, 159, 167, 168, 172, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 265, 266, 267, 271, 276 curiosity, 7, 237 curriculum, 105, 114, 115, 116, 117, 200, 269 cycling, 61

D data analysis, 97, 114, 154 data collection, 96, 154, 160, 267 dating, 209 death, 13, 47, 243, 246 decision making, 66, 144, 172, 206, 227, 228, 230, 231, 232 decision-making process, 223, 225, 226, 230, 231 decisions, 3, 4, 5, 13, 111, 130, 201, 220, 221, 224, 231, 234, 239, 247, 269 defense, 143 defense mechanisms, 143 deficit, 121 definition, 24, 36, 204 delivery, 12, 13, 33, 106, 130, 132, 213, 215, 218, 237, 250 demographics, 112, 192, 209 denial, 143 dentist, 175 Department of Education, 196 dependent variable, 172 depressed, 266 depression, 29, 256, 266 deprivation, 178 derivatives, 221 detection, 275 developmental change, 30 developmental process, 94 deviation, 220 diabetes, 92, 102, 112 differentiation, 139, 142, 151, 225 diffusion, 29 diffusion tensor imaging, 29

289

diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), 29 dignity, 237, 253 disabled, 274 disappointment, 29, 57, 81, 82, 145 discipline, 17, 28, 29, 34, 46, 55, 57, 106, 107, 121, 122, 123, 128, 132, 218, 220 disclosure, 69, 158, 193 discomfort, 42, 228 discourse, 101, 121, 123, 124, 126, 127, 132, 134, 141, 158, 276 discrimination, 149 discriminatory, 110 discs, 204 diseases, 142 disequilibrium, 23 dissatisfaction, 84 distraction, 18, 35, 38, 43, 45, 49, 56, 82, 264 divergence, 122 diversity, 93, 101, 102, 103, 106, 109, 118, 129, 132, 141, 142, 150, 194, 195 diving, 38 division, 205, 218 doctors, 178, 238, 247 Dominican Republic, 93, 181, 184 donations, 176 doping, 35, 268 download, 7 draft, 66 drinking, 210 drugs, 236 dual identities, 91 duration, 264 duties, 208

E eating, 43, 49, 106, 246, 276 eating disorders, 106 ecological, 266 economic status, 97 Ecuador, 187, 189 educational attainment, 266 educational practices, 116 educators, 95, 105, 220 EEG, 24, 25, 28, 31 effective use of time, 203 ego, 46, 144 egoism, 231 Egypt, 230 EKG, 24, 27 elderly, 127 elders, 112 election, 113

290

Index

electrodes, 23, 24, 25 electromyography, 22, 24 email, 171, 210, 215, 216 emerging issues, 232 EMG, 22, 24, 25, 27 emotion, 9, 49, 68, 92, 102, 148, 149, 150, 166, 243, 244, 256 emotional, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 24, 26, 27, 29, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 48, 49, 50, 92, 146, 147, 150, 191, 234, 246, 255, 256, 257, 260, 264 emotional experience, 36, 39, 41, 50 emotional reactions, 29, 39 emotional responses, 6, 8, 40 emotional state, 256, 257, 260 emotions, 13, 14, 23, 24, 29, 31, 33, 36, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 52, 58, 68, 84, 89, 92, 139, 149, 212, 233, 238, 239, 241, 246, 248, 256, 260 empathy, 58, 237, 240, 241, 247, 248, 268 employees, 205 empowered, 62 empowerment, 94, 101, 125, 131, 132, 153 encephalopathy, 261 encouragement, 213, 256 enculturation, 97, 184, 185, 186, 189, 194, 266 endurance, 151 energy, 42, 239, 241, 243, 244, 247, 249 engagement, x, 59, 114, 122, 125, 127, 130, 184, 277 England, 133, 249 enterprise, 179 enthusiasm, 174 environment, 34, 35, 36, 37, 41, 42, 43, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 66, 67, 74, 91, 94, 110, 122, 131, 138, 139, 140, 145, 146, 147, 176, 177, 186, 203, 235, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 246, 259, 277 environmental factors, 11, 84 epistemological, 127, 128, 129, 130, 134 epistemology, 129, 166 ERIC, 195 ethical concerns, 232 ethical issues, 33, 156, 157, 217, 225, 227, 229, 230, 233, 234, 235, 237, 254, 269, 270 ethical principles, 218, 223, 224, 226, 228, 229, 231, 254, 269 ethical standards, 218, 223, 228, 269 ethics, ix, xi, 153, 196, 200, 208, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 228, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 240, 244, 247, 250, 253, 254, 260, 263, 271, 277 ethnic diversity, 103, 150, 195 ethnic groups, 91 ethnic minority, 139 ethnicity, 91, 101, 118, 129, 130, 167, 265 Eurocentric, 100, 131, 191

Europe, 26, 31, 90, 126, 166, 273 Europeans, 189 evening, 83, 177, 246 evolution, 4, 8, 122, 134, 137, 231, 249 examinations, 175 excuse, 47 execution, 37, 40, 47, 275 exercise, 8, 24, 25, 26, 30, 32, 39, 55, 65, 66, 68, 84, 86, 87, 90, 102, 118, 119, 122, 125, 126, 128, 134, 135, 149, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 167, 168, 180, 198, 199, 216, 218, 219, 232, 234, 238, 247, 261, 271, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278 exercise participation, 160 exercisers, 160, 162, 163, 172 expert, iv, 31, 32, 131, 167, 201, 210, 278 expertise, 29, 31, 51, 84, 111, 114, 127, 242 exploitation, 108, 109, 110, 117 exposure, 28, 35, 116, 140, 147, 211 externalizing, 5, 193 eye contact, 191 eyes, 16, 25, 204

F facial expression, 92, 102 factor analysis, 174 failure, 29, 31, 34, 41, 47, 81, 90, 98, 133, 139, 141, 142, 144, 148, 159, 264, 266, 267 family, v, 4, 6, 18, 29, 40, 42, 46, 49, 90, 177, 178, 183, 184, 185, 191, 193, 226, 232, 234, 238, 258, 264, 266, 275, 278 family system, 90, 191 family therapy, 226, 232 Fasting, 109, 116, 117 fatigue, 13, 23, 24, 74, 247, 256 fax, 280, 281 fear, 24, 29, 82, 92, 106, 108, 112, 119, 160, 161, 163, 165, 166, 185, 207, 238, 239, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 264 fears, 4, 159, 167, 243, 244, 246 February, 31, 41, 52, 53, 78, 79 feedback, 6, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 30, 111, 118, 139, 141, 143, 146, 148, 175, 176, 198, 200 feelings, 3, 21, 23, 28, 61, 81, 112, 142, 146, 159, 160, 162, 213, 239, 240, 257, 259, 266 feet, 16 females, 190 femininity, 90, 97, 134 feminism, 168, 276 feminist, 95, 103, 115, 116, 117, 119, 122, 125, 132, 168 fencing, 73, 254

Index fern, 62 fidelity, 224 fighters, 256, 259 film, 62 financial support, 73 Finland, 121, 277 fire, 24, 52 first dimension, 240 first language, 177, 184 fitness, 57, 66, 161, 162, 163, 255, 276 fixation, 121 FL, 51, 196, 214 flashbacks, 168 flexibility, 112 flight, 53, 83 flow, 25, 28, 46, 50, 52, 233, 271 fluid, 16, 124, 131 fMRI, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30, 31, 264 FMRI, 28 focusing, 14, 15, 16, 37, 45, 56, 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 83, 84, 98, 106, 129, 244, 264, 269 food, 59 football, x, 23, 26, 124, 148, 165, 203, 205, 212 foreign exchange, 260 forensic, 230 forensic psychology, 230 Foucault, 124, 133, 134, 162 fragmentation, 59, 124 framing, xi, 129 France, 23 freedom, 29, 237 freedom of choice, 237 friendship, 94, 211, 212 frontal cortex, 29 frontal lobe, 29 frustration, 14, 15, 41, 42, 160, 165, 238 functional magnetic resonance imaging, 21, 22, 29, 264 funding, 58, 203, 205 futures, 134

G galvanic skin response, 25 galvanic skin response (GSR), 25 gambling, 204 games, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 32, 47, 62, 144, 151, 172, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 192, 204, 212, 260 gas, 40 gauge, 25 gel, 47 gender, 90, 92, 95, 97, 101, 108, 110, 119, 122, 124, 125, 129, 130, 132, 141, 143, 149, 153, 158, 159,

291

167, 181, 190, 191, 193, 194, 195, 205, 208, 213, 267, 273, 276 gender differences, 141, 213 gender role, 92, 267 gene, 98, 100, 222 genealogy, 122 generalizations, 98, 100, 222 generation, 202 genetics, 21, 147 genre, 153, 155, 156, 157, 158 geography, 97, 101, 141, 181, 182, 190, 194, 266 gestalt, 139 gestures, 191 gifts, 204 girls, 172, 173, 174, 178, 276 gland, 23, 25 glass, 39, 138 global mobility, 130 globalization, 93, 126 gloves, 254, 255 goal setting, 44, 60, 150, 172, 176, 193 goal-directed, 90, 144, 146 goal-directed behavior, 144, 146 goals, 45, 49, 50, 65, 76, 82, 99, 100, 101, 138, 141, 142, 157, 167, 172, 193, 198, 204, 208, 234, 238, 239, 258, 268 goal-setting, 34, 45 God, 221 gold, 27, 31, 36, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 47, 52, 53, 68, 236 grading, 207, 227 graduate education, 115, 210 graduate students, 105, 114, 116, 161, 164, 198, 199, 200, 203, 205, 206, 207, 209, 211, 214, 274, 278 grants, 108, 204, 274 Greece, 139, 182 grief, 37 grounding, 218 group identity, 184 group processes, 90 group work, 227 grouping, 96, 266 groups, 6, 7, 13, 56, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 82, 91, 95, 98, 106, 124, 125, 129, 132, 138, 140, 143, 145, 147, 149, 153, 167, 172, 176, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 194, 200, 205, 227, 237, 269 growth, 52, 69, 107, 122, 135, 139, 148, 198, 202, 218, 220, 234, 235, 237, 243 Guatemala, 93 guidance, 138, 198, 217, 218, 223, 229, 263 guidelines, 91, 98, 99, 111, 197, 217, 218, 222, 223, 225, 229, 253, 259, 268, 269

292

Index

guilt, 6, 149, 163 guilty, 162 gymnasts, 32 gyrus, 29

H habitation, 83 habituation, 71, 83 Haifa, 71, 275 Haiti, 183 handling, 49, 206, 269 hands, 25, 60 hanging, 42 happiness, 6, 47, 51, 92, 179, 221 harm, 92, 140, 142, 202, 210, 211, 218, 227, 228, 253, 254, 255, 267, 269 harmony, 92, 140, 142, 267 Harvard, 149 Hawaii, 141 hazards, 212 healing, 92, 147 health, 57, 58, 107, 112, 127, 128, 143, 148, 167, 195, 196, 218, 223, 234, 242, 244, 247, 259, 276 health psychology, 218, 276 hearing, 140, 240 heart, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 53, 112, 141, 148, 164, 187, 240 heart rate, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 Heart rate variability, 30 heat, 57 Hebrew, 275 Hedonism, 221 height, 80 helplessness, 160 hemoglobin, 28 heterogeneity, 150 heterosexuality, 155 heuristic, 123 high risk, 246 high school, 68, 172, 180, 196, 205, 208, 276 high scores, 256 high-risk, 243, 244, 255 hip, 32, 61 hips, 153, 167 hiring, 210 Hispanic, 142, 182, 186, 195, 196 HIV, 106 hockey, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 47, 61, 65, 250, 273 holistic, 58, 235, 236, 276 home culture, 189 honesty, 236, 237, 240, 242, 248

honey, 163 horse, 144, 266 host, 47, 90, 91, 145, 191 hotels, 17, 212, 246 housing, 35 HRV, 24, 25, 27 human, 21, 24, 28, 29, 30, 51, 52, 92, 101, 126, 129, 130, 131, 137, 138, 145, 147, 148, 151, 156, 211, 213, 221, 222, 230, 237, 240, 243, 246, 248, 260, 272 human behavior, 28, 129, 137, 145, 147, 148, 221 human development, 147 human experience, 92, 126 Human Kinetics, 1, 19, 50, 51, 52, 69, 87, 89, 102, 103, 104, 117, 118, 119, 132, 133, 134, 135, 150, 151, 168, 169, 179, 195, 196, 214, 215, 216, 233, 250, 261, 277, 282 humans, 22, 221, 240, 263 humorous, 65 husband, 40, 52, 163 hybrid, 182, 188 hybrid language, 182 hybridity, 130 hypnosis, 271 hypothesis, 50, 139, 151

I ice, 17, 18, 47, 239, 250 Idaho, 282 identification, 77, 91, 121, 181, 182, 184, 190, 225 identity, 18, 60, 61, 63, 67, 89, 91, 97, 99, 102, 106, 107, 114, 116, 121, 123, 124, 137, 140, 141, 143, 145, 147, 148, 150, 153, 155, 159, 160, 163, 167, 184, 190, 195, 265, 276 identity politics, 116 ideology, 123 idiosyncratic, 218, 229 Illinois, 164, 165, 261, 276 illusion, 43, 44, 47, 126, 140, 145, 146, 147, 149 illusions, 145, 151 imagery, 24, 32, 34, 44, 45, 46, 50, 57, 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 83, 84, 86, 87, 174, 176 images, 7, 16, 28, 142, 176 imagination, 250 imaging, 21, 22, 28, 29, 264 imbalances, 96, 131 Immanuel Kant, 221 immersion, 177 immigrants, 138 implementation, 26, 100, 145, 229 in situ, 64, 178, 219 in transition, 260

Index inactive, 200 incidence, 109 inclusion, 93, 94, 109, 117, 158, 223 independence, 202, 237 India, 263 Indian, 272, 278 indication, 6, 48 indicators, 67, 172, 255 indigenous, 9, 61, 94, 103, 119, 121, 127, 149, 150, 179, 182, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191 Indigenous, 93, 104, 134, 171, 187, 272 individual differences, 138 individual personality, 5 individualism, 90, 137, 149, 150 individuality, 141 Indo-Pacific, 250 inequity, 95 infancy, 96, 101, 220 inferences, 40, 41, 163 infinite, 158 information sharing, 63, 64 Information Technology, 51, 68, 69, 86, 87, 119, 180, 249, 275, 277 inhalation, 25 injuries, 13, 18, 58, 90, 261, 264 injury, iv, xi, 24, 36, 57, 58, 74, 106, 112, 129, 140, 147, 206, 243, 244, 246, 254, 255, 259, 268, 275 innovation, 154, 271 insane, 163 insecurity, 161 insight, 18, 24, 29, 96, 100, 128, 131, 137, 138, 145, 177, 226, 254 institutions, 94, 125, 138, 155, 177, 197 instruction, 201 instructors, 198 instruments, 188 insurance, 200 intangible, 3 integration, 89, 97, 99, 103, 104, 106, 111, 112, 117, 128, 134, 142, 151, 237 integrity, 129, 227, 236, 237, 239, 240, 241, 246, 247, 248, 268 intensity, 12, 13, 58, 235, 239 intentions, 99, 205, 216, 219, 221, 247, 255, 256 interaction, 12, 67, 141, 144, 145, 166, 183, 191, 218, 224, 259, 266 interactions, 60, 67, 98, 139, 154, 155, 185, 201, 209, 210, 222, 241, 258 intercollegiate athletics, 203, 204, 215, 231, 274 interdisciplinary, 93, 107, 109, 114, 115, 121, 122, 123, 128, 132, 276 interface, 150 internal barriers, 44

293

internal consistency, 174 internet, 64, 178, 210, 211, 263 Internet, 237, 251 internship, 197, 199, 200, 203, 204, 206, 207, 208, 213, 215, 268, 271 interpersonal conflict, 57 interpersonal factors, 145, 149 interpersonal relations, 2, 150 interpersonal relationships, 150 interpretation, 40, 58, 96, 125, 130, 145, 220, 224 interval, 24 intervention, 5, 21, 29, 45, 80, 81, 85, 97, 131, 138, 149, 171, 172, 176, 205, 247, 266 intervention strategies, 97 interview, 14, 15, 114, 133, 161, 162, 164, 165, 166, 167, 190 interviews, 6, 7, 12, 15, 97, 114, 155, 159, 160, 164, 165, 255 intimacy, 156, 211 intimidating, 13, 161, 210 intimidation, 209 intrinsic, 90, 145, 187 intrinsic motivation, 145, 187 introspection, 91, 98 intuition, 221, 230 inventories, 124 investment, 212 invitation to participate, 119 Iran, 93 Ireland, 182 isolation, 190 Israel, x, 30, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 83, 84, 87, 118, 272, 275 Italy, 23, 140, 234

J Jamaica, 93, 183 Japan, 118, 141, 150 Japanese, 91, 92, 140, 151 jet lag, 83 job performance, 268 jobs, 200 Jordan, 132 journalists, 43, 111 judge, 39 judges, 254, 264, 268 judgment, 36, 37 justice, 96, 100, 121, 123, 125, 131, 132, 135, 224, 272 justification, 224

294

Index

K Kant, 221 Kenya, 93 kinesthetic, 239 knockout, 6, 254 knots, 168 Korea, 141 Korean, 90, 91, 103 Kuwait, 118

L lack of confidence, 185 land, 245, 254 language, 6, 24, 90, 93, 97, 101, 130, 131, 132, 141, 154, 161, 177, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 193, 194, 240, 247 language proficiency, 141 language skills, 97, 194 Latin America, viii, x, 90, 93, 97, 103, 150, 171, 179, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 266 Latin American countries, 171, 179 Latino, 90, 177, 182 Latinos, 189 law, 37, 44, 224, 269 lawyers, 269 laxatives, 65 leadership, 19, 61, 62, 96, 144, 236, 249, 250, 272 leadership training programs, 272 learners, 176 learning, xi, 5, 23, 63, 76, 114, 131, 132, 135, 148, 156, 172, 176, 178, 179, 200, 239, 248, 275, 277 learning process, 156, 239, 277 learning skills, 172 leather, 166 legal issues, 214, 232 leisure, 140 lending, 204 lens, 47, 107, 142, 147, 196, 250 liability insurance, 200 liberal, 124 liberation, 133 life experiences, 240, 269 life satisfaction, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 179, 180, 267 life span, 179 life style, 127 lifespan, 5, 180 lifestyles, 189, 272 life-threatening, 142, 242

lifetime, 19, 35, 46, 278 light conditions, 42 likelihood, 93, 142, 146, 210, 220, 228, 229 Likert scale, 174 limitation, 204 limitations, 84, 203, 208, 209, 256 Lincoln, 134, 168, 169, 180 linear, 96, 126 linguistically, 130 linkage, 123 links, 122, 123, 125, 210, 250, 256, 265 listening, 84, 164, 165, 184, 192, 237, 239, 240, 248 living arrangements, 57, 61 location, 27, 35, 59, 62, 83, 91, 101, 107, 108, 130, 265 locus, 32, 145 London, 9, 61, 67, 69, 87, 117, 133, 134, 168, 169, 179, 215, 260, 275 long period, 85 long-term memory, 266 Los Angeles, 165 losses, 13, 113, 205 Louisiana, 181, 271 love, 14, 47, 162, 165, 212

M magazines, 15 magnetic, 22, 28 magnetic field, 28 magnetic resonance imaging, 21, 22, 29, 264 Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 28 mainstream, 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 111, 112, 114, 116, 117, 122, 125, 127, 128, 129, 137, 144, 147, 192, 268, 271 mainstream psychology, 114, 122, 125, 137 mainstream society, 90, 99, 112 maintenance, 109, 205 Major League Baseball, 93, 181, 278 maladaptive, 41 males, 94, 157, 190 management, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 17, 24, 30, 32, 48, 57, 58, 60, 61, 64, 65, 66, 92, 174, 207, 213, 219 Manhattan, 217, 280 mantle, 62 manufacturer, 25 manufacturing, 23 manufacturing companies, 23 Maori, 61, 62, 63 mapping, 28, 130 marginalization, 107 market, 210 marketing, 43, 211, 214, 215, 269, 276

Index Maryland, 272 masculinity, 90, 97, 109, 125, 173 mask, 139 masking, 259 Massachusetts, 21, 26 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 26 mastery, 46, 50, 138, 145, 162 Maya, 187 meals, 17, 82, 204, 246 meaning systems, 147 meanings, 91, 93, 125, 132, 163, 237 measurement, 24, 150, 179, 260 measures, 24, 25, 30, 55, 144, 145, 173, 180, 186, 190, 226, 261 media, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 26, 34, 35, 42, 43, 46, 49, 56, 57, 58, 82, 109, 132, 134, 141, 145, 159, 164, 165, 166, 183, 205, 211, 212, 238, 241, 255, 256, 264, 276 medical student, 269 medicine, 191, 206, 235, 261 meditation, 32, 43, 46, 49, 52, 240 melting, 189 membership, 91, 143, 236 memory, 52, 134, 266 men, 94, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 119, 168, 172, 179, 244 mental health, 143, 151, 183, 196, 208, 220, 222, 223, 225, 266 mental health professionals, 225 mental load, 24 mental state, 31 mental states, 31 mentor, 205 mentoring, 274 messages, 7, 211, 240, 249 meta analysis, 68 metaphor, 144 metaphors, 141 metric, 140 Mexican, viii, x, 171, 172, 177, 178, 179, 186, 195, 196, 267, 274 Mexican Americans, 186, 196 Mexico, 171, 172, 177, 179, 182, 187, 188, 192, 263 Mexico City, 177 Miami, 51, 214 mid-career, 13 middle class, 123 migration, 126 militant, 165 mind-body, 23, 31 Ministry of Education, 73 minorities, 93, 141, 147, 194, 195 minority, 90, 94, 97, 99, 131, 139, 155

295

minority groups, 90 mirror, 144, 154 miscommunication, 130 misinterpretation, 7 misleading, 177 Missouri, 109 MIT, 26 mixing, 64 mobility, 130, 143 modalities, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27 modality, 24, 26, 77 models, 43, 97, 112, 132, 197, 199, 201, 214, 215, 217, 219, 220, 223, 225, 226, 229, 230, 231, 269 moderating factors, 190 modernism, 155, 158, 159, 167 modernity, 125, 126 modules, 125 mold, 125 momentum, 137 money, 57, 178 mood, 260 moral behavior, 220, 221, 222, 224 moral development, 231 moral judgment, 224 moral reasoning, 223, 224, 225 morality, 221, 224 morning, 39 Moscow, 87 motherhood, 159, 164, 165, 166, 276 mothers, 159, 164, 165 motivation, 9, 15, 19, 56, 58, 59, 60, 68, 74, 89, 93, 95, 137, 144, 145, 147, 149, 150, 162, 185, 187, 193, 224, 255 motives, 90, 92, 96, 157, 250, 256, 259, 269 motor coordination, 25 motor skills, 26 motor system, 29 movement, 95, 97, 100, 101, 116, 250, 272 MRI, 21, 264 multicultural, 9, 67, 97, 99, 102, 103, 111, 117, 122, 123, 126, 128, 138, 181, 182, 184, 192, 193, 195, 225, 231, 271, 272, 275 multicultural education, 102 multiculturalism, 196 multidimensional, 41, 138, 145, 153, 155, 182 multidisciplinary, 55, 123 multiple factors, 100 multiplicity, 124, 126, 272 murder, 37 muscle, 23, 24, 32 muscles, 24, 27 music, 17, 84, 173, 174, 184, 188, 235, 249 mutual respect, 99

296

Index

N narcissistic, 116, 162 narratives, 96, 124, 126, 132, 141, 153, 156 nation, x, 61 National Basketball Association, 93, 159, 181 National Center for Education Statistics, 190, 196 National Collegiate Athletic Association, 199, 219 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), 199, 219 National Football League, 26, 93 National Football League (NFL), 93 national identity, 61, 67 nationalism, 276 nationality, 3, 91, 182 Native American, 97, 276 Native Americans, 97, 276 natural, 16, 44, 112, 126, 158, 196, 208, 224, 272 natural laws, 44 natural science, 126 natural sciences, 126 NBA, 46, 93, 113, 159, 181, 278 NCAA, 184, 197, 199, 202, 203, 204, 209, 212, 214, 215, 269 neck, 244 negative attitudes, 176, 205 negative consequences, 228 negative emotions, 7, 29, 39, 42, 92, 270 negative experiences, 3, 5, 8 negative outcomes, 5, 6, 145 negativity, 193 neglect, 213 negotiating, 115 negotiation, 96, 100, 224 nerve, 36 nerves, 38, 39 network, 60, 109, 211, 229 networking, 210, 211, 212 neuroanatomy, 50 neurofeedback, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 264 neuroscience, 21, 22, 29, 30, 46 neuroscientists, 29 New Jersey, 14, 15 New Orleans, 51, 271 New York, 8, 16, 18, 31, 32, 50, 51, 52, 53, 132, 133, 134, 148, 149, 150, 151, 168, 195, 196, 214, 215, 230, 231, 249, 250 New Zealand, x, 55, 56, 61, 62, 67, 68, 69, 96, 263, 274, 280 newspapers, 6, 15 NFL, ii, 93, 278 NHL, x, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 274, 278 Nielsen, 210, 215

Nigeria, 93 noise, 57, 77, 82 normal, 17, 46, 56, 57, 59, 143, 146, 161, 162, 195 norms, 61, 67, 91, 92, 94, 130, 155 North America, 12, 90, 91, 111, 121, 132, 143, 144, 187, 193, 194, 272 North Carolina, 52 Norway, 140 nutrition, 22

O obesity, 112, 276 objectification, 109, 129 objectivity, 124, 126, 159, 211, 224 obligation, 221 obligations, 143, 223, 225 observations, 3, 19, 101, 202, 269 Olympic Games, 18, 33, 34, 35, 37, 41, 44, 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 61, 62, 68, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 81, 83, 85, 87, 233, 234, 236, 237, 243, 244, 246, 249, 250, 264, 272, 273, 277 olympics, 50 omission, 154 online, 211, 215 on-line, 64 openness, 115, 167, 172, 187, 205 operant conditioning, 22 opposition, 13, 15, 17, 114 oppression, 107, 108, 267 optimal performance, 22, 37, 44, 256, 260 optimism, 9, 138, 140, 144, 145, 147, 151 optimists, 144 organism, 139 organization, 82, 114, 177, 209, 217, 218, 227, 228, 234, 236, 237, 238, 241, 242, 247 organizations, 109, 213, 235, 236, 238, 241, 247 orientation, 58, 60, 63, 64, 67, 71, 76, 80, 90, 92, 107, 138, 183, 186, 192, 206, 207, 273 orthodox, 126 orthopedic surgeon, 73 oscillation, 37 overtime, 13, 53 overtraining, 48 ownership, 127, 193 oxygen, 12, 28

P Pacific, 91, 151, 231, 250 pacing, 258 packaging, 15

Index pain, 24, 52, 129, 140 paints, 44 pairing, 200 panic attack, 40 paradigm shift, 115 parents, 109, 110, 143, 177, 178, 184, 185, 234, 236, 241, 274 partnership, ix, 4, 61, 94 passive, 156 password, 64 patients, 145, 195, 253 pay off, 57 pedagogical, 131 pedagogy, 114, 133, 168 peer, 109, 114, 200, 209, 213, 275 peer relationship, 209 peer review, 114 peers, 184, 205, 209, 214 penalty, 192 Pennsylvania, 112, 137, 148, 272 perceived control, 146 perception, 36, 38, 40, 41, 44, 139, 143, 145, 147, 182, 193, 203, 211, 240 perceptions, 38, 40, 48, 68, 90, 110, 114, 115, 139, 147, 148, 178, 184, 185, 205, 210, 266 perfectionism, 41, 50 performance, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, performers, 14, 52, 106, 250, 272 periodic, 64, 227, 228 perseverance, 224 personal, 3, 6, 12, 26, 31, 33, 35, 46, 57, 63, 64, 81, 95, 99, 100, 103, 117, 128, 129, 133, 142, 143, 145, 151, 154, 156, 157, 159, 160, 164, 165, 167, 176, 183, 188, 191, 204, 205, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 215, 224, 225, 235, 236, 239, 240, 241, 243, 244, 247, 253, 255, 257, 259, 268, 269 personal communication, 26 personal control, 143, 145 personal goals, 204 personal history, 183 personal relations, 247 personal relationship, 247 personal values, 235, 244, 268 personality, 107, 124, 125, 132, 138, 139, 144, 145, 146, 147, 150, 196, 276 personality constructs, 146 personality dimensions, 138, 145 personality measures, 144 personality research, 107 Peru, 187, 188, 189 pessimists, 146 PET, 28 phenomenology, 115

297

Philadelphia, 53, 112, 148 philosophical, 121, 128, 220 philosophy, 34, 35, 36, 37, 45, 56, 60, 64, 67, 72, 74, 110, 123, 220, 221, 222, 225, 231, 233, 237, 239, 242, 250, 268 phone, 2, 164, 184, 211, 280, 281 photographs, 63 physical activity, 29, 74, 90, 96, 104, 117, 153, 155, 156, 157, 159, 162, 163, 169, 207, 263, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278 physical aggression, 144 Physical Appearance, 173, 175 physical education, 95, 102, 117, 119, 127, 158, 179, 198, 199, 234, 268, 275, 276 physical environment, 11, 89 physical fitness, 255 physical therapist, 73 physicians, 85 physiological, 22, 23, 25, 147, 148 physiology, 25, 199, 238, 268 physiotherapists, 58, 247 physiotherapy, 235, 238 pitch, 52, 144 planning, 2, 4, 24, 29, 35, 37, 48, 49, 61, 64, 67, 85, 86, 87, 238 planning decisions, 4 plastic, 172 play, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 24, 39, 41, 109, 127, 144, 163, 166, 176, 184, 192, 201, 210, 233, 234, 235, 236, 278 pleasure, 221, 263 plethysmography, 24 pluralism, 129 pluralistic, 90 PO, 280, 282 police, 112 politicians, 127 politics, 95, 107, 108, 113, 115, 116, 123, 125, 126, 133, 144, 158, 159, 160, 168, 195, 265, 276 Polynesian, 62 pools, 204 poor, 4, 29, 207, 243 poor performance, 29, 243 population, 21, 90, 91, 93, 96, 98, 99, 100, 112, 113, 176, 178, 190, 208, 271 Portugal, 182, 187 positive attitudes, 205 positive relation, 145 positive relationship, 145 positivism, 128 positivist, 128, 129 postmodernism, 133 poststructuralism, 133

298

Index

posture, 166 poverty, 172, 177, 178, 274 power, 67, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 100, 101, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 116, 118, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 129, 131, 132, 133, 144, 148, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159, 166, 167, 177, 228, 265, 267, 276 power relations, 111, 123, 129, 131, 153, 167 pragmatic, 225, 232 praxis, x, 89, 95, 96, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 111, 112, 116, 117, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 155, 195, 265 pre-competition, 2, 104 predictors, 38, 179, 201, 261, 268 preference, 45, 144, 190, 235 prefrontal cortex, 46 pre-game, 16 president, 127, 278 presidential elections, 113 press conferences, 7 pressure, 13, 14, 15, 17, 22, 23, 25, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 47, 58, 129, 138, 146, 172, 193, 208, 233, 238, 246, 259, 264, 268 priming, 29 privacy, 57, 59, 82, 177, 207, 211 private, 59, 139, 145, 241, 242, 246, 277 private practice, 277 proactive, 59, 67, 98, 203 probability, 219 problem solving, 129, 130, 172, 225 problem-solving, 24, 49, 142 production, 24, 27, 126, 158, 276 professional development, 208 professionalism, 6, 12, 206, 264 professionalization, 217, 218, 228, 229 professions, 217, 220, 223, 230, 231, 235 program, 16, 25, 26, 29, 56, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 109, 133, 161, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 178, 179, 185, 199, 200, 202, 204, 206, 208, 227, 249, 273, 274, 275, 277 programming, 102, 112, 117, 133, 165, 180, 210, 278 promote, 64, 92, 99, 110, 143, 191, 221, 255, 259 property, iv protection, 62, 200 protocol, 25, 26, 165, 178, 179 protocols, 22, 75, 77, 83 psychological assessments, 190 psychological development, 22 psychological distress, 25 psychological problems, 193 psychological processes, 138 psychological states, 77

psychological stress, 25, 141, 151 psychological tools, 37 psychological well-being, 149, 172 psychologist, 21, 23, 26, 27, 29, 33, 36, 47, 75, 80, 101, 118, 138, 172, 203, 226, 253, 258, 259, 264, 265, 267, 268, 269, 273, 274, 277, 278 psychometric properties, 179 psychophysiology, 21, 22, 27, 31 psychotherapy, 195, 199, 219, 231, 232, 237, 243 public, 56, 80, 113, 139, 162, 165, 180, 210, 241, 246, 268 public domain, 113 Puerto Rico, 93, 181 punishment, 16, 256, 257, 258

Q qualifications, 81, 91 qualitative research, 122, 123, 125, 128, 132, 133, 134, 153, 154, 155, 167, 168, 278 quality of life, 115, 147, 172 quality of service, 202 quantitative research, 122 Quebec, 11, 250, 279 queer theory, 108 questioning, 38, 91, 99, 207 questionnaire, 174 questionnaires, 173 Qwest, 276

R race, 40, 41, 42, 55, 56, 57, 90, 91, 95, 98, 101, 107, 108, 110, 115, 116, 124, 125, 130, 153, 159, 177, 196, 239, 265, 266, 273, 276 racial minorities, 91 radiation, 28 radical, 82, 115, 126 radio, 12, 28, 159, 164, 165, 245 radio station, 164, 165 random, 41, 47 range, 7, 13, 27, 40, 59, 98, 101, 158, 173, 175, 203, 274 rat, 235, 259 rationality, 124, 224 rats, 22 reactivity, 25, 30 readership, ix, 7 reading, 29, 91, 139, 161, 265, 270 real time, 22, 23, 30 realist, 154, 156, 158 reality, 40, 44, 46, 124, 126, 128, 131, 182

Index reasoning, 151, 224, 225 reciprocity, 123, 153, 157, 265 recognition, 35, 62, 64, 99, 102, 218, 276 recollection, 40 reconcile, 94, 101, 246 reconstruction, 107 recovery, 23, 25, 71, 83, 84, 245, 247 recreation, 172, 234, 275 recreational, 112, 276 reduction, 38 reductionism, 96 referees, 39, 42, 264 refining, 244 reflection, 5, 130, 131, 148, 191, 225, 236, 237, 270 reflective practice, 215, 239 reflexivity, 96, 99, 129, 153, 154, 155, 158, 166, 167 regular, 18, 55, 56, 59, 64, 74, 160, 163, 200, 202, 204, 240, 242 regulation, 13, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 76, 79, 138, 180, 278 regulations, 197, 202, 203, 214, 222, 269 regulators, 191 rehabilitate, 244 rehabilitation, 24, 58, 69, 206, 226 rehabilitation program, 24 reinforcement, 177 relationship, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 44, 47, 58, 61, 86, 95, 110, 114, 126, 140, 145, 150, 157, 186, 190, 193, 201, 206, 207, 208, 210, 211, 214, 226, 227, 228, 233, 238, 239, 241, 242, 243, 244, 247, 250, 256, 258, 268, 272 relationships, 33, 51, 58, 98, 99, 100, 101, 107, 108, 140, 141, 144, 150, 153, 155, 158, 167, 191, 206, 207, 209, 212, 219, 225, 226, 227, 231, 235, 237, 241, 247, 256, 260, 269 relatives, 173, 178 relaxation, 24, 25, 32, 57, 74, 77, 79, 80, 82, 204, 247 relevance, 41, 89, 114, 173, 191, 193, 222, 225 reliability, 174, 186, 196 religion, 91, 101, 177, 182, 183, 186, 187, 188, 265 religions, 188, 189, 191 religious belief, 177 religious beliefs, 177 replication, 151 repression, 143 reproduction, 118 reputation, 211 research design, 278 researchers, x, 21, 24, 28, 29, 41, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 105, 107, 109, 111, 112, 113, 127, 128, 130, 146, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158,

299

159, 167, 173, 183, 194, 198, 220, 222, 225, 237, 255, 265 resentment, 207 residential, 61, 203 resilience, 5, 6, 7, 8, 271 resistance, 90, 99, 107, 108, 114, 118, 124, 147, 151, 205 resolution, 225, 226, 229 resources, 8, 64, 74, 127, 129, 141, 182, 191, 194, 200, 201, 227 respiration, 23, 25, 26, 27 respiratory, 27 Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, 25 responsibilities, 61, 67, 201, 208, 226, 227, 228 responsiveness, 95 restaurants, 17, 210 restructuring, 193, 273 revenue, 205, 211 rewards, 35, 174, 178 rhythm, 146 rings, 164 risk, 4, 69, 164, 202, 207, 213, 228, 243, 244, 246, 249, 255, 261, 275, 276 risks, 113, 127, 165, 226, 227, 244, 255 role conflict, 269 role relationship, 207, 219, 225, 226, 227 Roman Catholics, 194 routines, 35, 43, 56, 57, 83 rugby, 69, 148, 250 rumination, 5 Russia, 119 Russian, 96, 102

S sabotage, 65 sacrifice, 45 sadness, 92 safeguards, 255 safety, 81, 112, 119, 244, 255 sample, 106, 150, 173, 198, 205 satellite, 263 satisfaction, 35, 59, 60, 61, 67, 84, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 179, 180, 206, 267 scalp, 27 scandal, 42 scholarship, 126, 127, 184, 276 Scholastic Competence, 173, 175 school, 68, 127, 163, 171, 172, 173, 178, 180, 185, 196, 198, 202, 203, 205, 207, 208, 209, 212, 220, 221, 222, 236, 269, 276 scientific method, 128 scientists, 25, 26, 28, 30, 109, 128, 238

300

Index

scores, 176, 256 search, 5, 122, 131, 145, 168, 260 searches, 126 searching, 222 second language, 190 secret, 50 security, 38, 42, 57, 59, 61, 67, 81, 82, 128 sedentary, 127 selecting, 85, 225 self-awareness, 201, 212 self-concept, 90, 137, 138, 139, 141, 142, 143, 148, 150, 172, 173, 175, 176, 179, 180, 184, 267 self-concept dimension, 173 self-conception, 141, 143 self-confidence, 6, 86, 145, 174, 176, 259, 260 self-consciousness, 36, 46, 145 self-consistency, 139 self-control, 31 self-determination theory, 68 self-discovery, 239 self-doubt, 29, 207 self-efficacy, 87, 90, 260 self-enhancement, 140 self-esteem, 61, 141, 143, 145, 148, 179, 258, 276 self-identity, 140, 141 self-improvement, 193 self-interest, 221 self-knowledge, 187 Self-Perception Profile, 173, 179 self-reflection, 157, 167, 254 self-regard, 139 self-regulation, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 76, 138, 278 self-report, 27, 150, 180 self-understanding, 91, 99 self-worth, 173, 175, 176, 179, 267 semantic, 45 sensitivity, 99, 102, 112, 127, 192, 194, 224, 225 sensors, 23 sentences, 80 separation, 241 series, x, 12, 17, 29, 35, 49, 77, 165, 223, 225 service provider, 214 services, iv, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12, 18, 33, 52, 73, 74, 75, 86, 87, 94, 132, 182, 183, 189, 191, 193, 194, 197, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210, 214, 215, 216, 219, 220, 223, 249, 259, 268, 269, 272, 273 SES, 181, 190, 191, 194 settlers, 61 sex, 173, 178, 191 sex role, 191 sexual abuse, 109 sexual behavior, 213

sexual harassment, 117 sexual orientation, 90, 95, 118, 213 sexuality, 110, 124, 125, 129, 130, 144, 153, 158, 159, 167 shame, 149 shape, 18, 65, 91, 99, 130, 137, 138, 139, 140, 148, 162, 201 shaping, 60, 138, 154 shares, 184 sharing, 61, 63, 64, 69, 97, 176, 200, 240, 242, 270 shock, 109, 117, 165 short period, 12, 77 short-term, 11, 29, 183, 226 shoulder, 16, 160, 166 shoulders, 62, 166 sign, 117, 166, 184, 191, 208, 210, 244 signals, 26, 29 silver, 34, 40, 47, 62 similarity, 130, 140 simulation, 77 Singapore, 91 singular, 100, 123, 124, 126, 132, 167, 189 sinus, 27 sinus arrhythmia, 27 sites, 6, 27, 197, 210, 211, 212, 214 skilled performance, 29 skills, 5, 12, 13, 16, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 37, 44, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 64, 76, 86, 87, 93, 97, 110, 172, 173, 176, 179, 180, 185, 194, 198, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 208, 209, 214, 234, 235, 238, 239, 242, 244, 245, 248, 258, 261, 274 skills training, 55, 56, 172, 179, 204, 208, 209, 261 skin, 22, 23, 25, 89, 90, 91, 98 skin conductance, 23, 25 slavery, 187, 188 smoking, 163 SOC, 51 soccer, x, 26, 75, 92, 139, 150, 158, 168, 174, 175, 177, 188, 190, 192, 260 social acceptance, 173 Social Acceptance, 173, 175 social activities, 66, 210 social change, 95, 100, 107, 119, 121, 128, 131, 153, 167 social class, 155 social cognition, x social comparison, 143 social construct, 128, 134, 147, 224, 230, 276 social constructivism, 224, 230 social context, 92, 138, 140, 224 social environment, 139, 145 social events, 64, 81 social group, 143

Index social hierarchy, 94 social identity, 114, 143 social identity theory, 143 social interests, 124 social justice, 96, 100, 121, 123, 131, 132, 135, 272 social network, 197, 209, 210, 211, 212, 214 social norms, 92, 155 social problems, 96 social psychology, 92, 93, 102, 151, 161, 265 social responsibility, 253 social sciences, 129 social standing, 191 social status, 143, 188 social stress, 149 social support, 6, 59, 138, 141, 145, 149, 150, 194 social support network, 145, 149 social systems, 148 social theory, 160, 161 social work, 222 sociocultural, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 132, 183 socioeconomic, 141, 190 socioeconomic status, 141, 190 sociological, 137, 159, 163, 267 sociologists, 111 sociology, 109, 123, 151, 162, 165, 167, 182, 260, 274 software, 23, 25 soil, 33 solidarity, 157 sounds, 188 South Africa, 27 South America, 143, 182, 187, 188 Soviet Union, 126 Spain, 186, 187 spatial, 24 specialization, 278 specificity, 128, 151 SPECT, 28 spectrum, 39, 40, 113, 266 speculation, 36, 38 speech, 65, 113 speed, 164, 244, 245 spiritual, 62, 191, 193, 240 spirituality, 46, 130, 184, 193 sponsor, 43, 56 sporadic, 226 sport psychologists, 21, 25, 27, 34, 35, 48, 90, 97, 98, 99, 100, 121, 122, 124, 157, 232, 253, 255, 259, 263, 264, 265, 268, 269 sports, 14, 15, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 47, 51, 53, 56, 60, 64, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 82, 87, 91, 103, 108, 110, 127, 133, 140, 144, 147, 148, 163, 165, 174,

301

191, 194, 197, 199, 203, 204, 205, 208, 210, 243, 254, 255, 259, 260, 261, 269, 273, 274 St. Louis, 109, 117 stability, 27, 67 stages, 45, 76, 111, 139, 177, 208, 225 stakeholders, 109 standard deviation, 175 standards, 41, 190, 217, 218, 219, 222, 223, 226, 228, 229, 230, 258, 269 Standards, 232 stars, 168 statistics, 173, 203, 274, 278 stereotypes, 3, 96, 189, 264, 269 stereotyping, 98, 184 sterile, 74, 76, 77, 79 sternum, 164 steroids, 236 stigma, 197, 203, 205, 208, 211 stomach, 166 strain, 25 strategies, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 50, 56, 63, 64, 65, 68, 81, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 112, 117, 122, 127, 128, 132, 133, 139, 141, 143, 176, 191, 193, 194, 195, 219, 244, 250, 256, 257, 258, 275 strength, 22, 24, 30, 56, 61, 62, 63, 73, 85, 87, 115, 143, 166, 191, 238, 242, 247 stress, 24, 25, 32, 48, 52, 57, 58, 77, 80, 81, 82, 91, 92, 141, 147, 149, 151, 166, 187, 190, 191, 206, 207, 242, 243, 264, 276, 277, 278 stress reactions, 24 stressors, 59, 68, 213 structuralism, 133, 160 structuring, 199 students, 113, 114, 115, 116, 138, 161, 162, 164, 172, 173, 185, 194, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 209, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 219, 223, 227, 236, 253, 268, 269, 274, 276, 278 subjective, 180, 224, 240 subjective well-being, 180 subjectivity, 121, 124 substance abuse, 112 substance use, 210 summer, 36, 185, 209, 234, 272, 273, 277 superstitious, 189 supervision, xi, 195, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 208, 209, 210, 212, 213, 214, 215 supervisor, 199, 200, 201, 202, 204, 206, 207, 208, 209, 213, 268 supervisors, 197, 198, 199, 200, 202, 203, 206, 207, 209, 211, 212, 213, 214 supplemental, 206 supply, 17 support staff, 17, 42, 58, 61, 64, 238, 247

302

Index

surfing, 73 surprise, 33, 36, 38, 92 survival, 147, 167 sweat, 23, 25 Sweden, 119, 133 swimmers, 29, 30, 31 symbiotic, 156 symbolic, 63 symbols, 141, 188 sympathetic, 246 sympathy, 237, 240, 241, 248 symptoms, 256 syndrome, 41, 42 systematic desensitization, 32 systems, x, 2, 97, 107, 108, 129, 130, 131, 138, 148, 151, 177, 189, 196

T tactics, 13 talent, 15, 21, 126, 138, 275 tangible, 2, 61, 235 targets, 264 task demands, 12 taxonomy, 272 teachers, 109, 207, 236 teaching, 23, 24, 114, 115, 124, 131, 157, 163, 172, 179, 198, 199, 200, 207, 212, 228, 273, 274, 275, 277 teaching experience, 115 team leaders, 111 team members, 61, 64, 65, 94, 219, 239 team sports, 33, 51, 72, 74, 75, 87, 140, 148 technology, 22, 23, 26, 30, 64, 211, 212, 214, 266 teenagers, 172, 176, 178, 274 teens, 178 Tel Aviv, 30 telephone, 15 television, 12, 15, 263, 276 temperature, 22, 23, 25 tenants, 225 Tennessee, 135, 272, 273, 276, 279 tension, 23, 32, 38, 59, 125, 142, 245, 256 tenure, 198 territory, 41, 206 test data, 175 testimony, 122 test-retest reliability, 174 Texas, 205, 263, 266, 275, 280, 281 textbooks, 95, 116, 269 theft, 112 theory, 23, 68, 87, 95, 106, 107, 108, 111, 112, 115, 122, 123, 127, 128, 129, 132, 134, 139, 143, 145,

150, 151, 155, 158, 160, 161, 168, 187, 199, 200, 220, 222, 223, 225, 248, 250, 260, 265, 272 therapeutic interventions, 124 therapeutic relationship, 186, 191 therapists, 35, 58, 247 therapy, 50, 133, 150, 161, 164, 225, 249 theta, 27 thinking, ix, 7, 29, 30, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 46, 47, 49, 57, 80, 90, 124, 125, 128, 134, 137, 157, 163, 164, 165, 179, 193, 235, 240, 243, 245 thoracic, 25 threatened, 143, 177 threatening, 143, 146, 151, 259 timing, 113 title, 3, 4, 42, 109, 190, 203, 211, 269, 270, 272 tokenism, 61 Tokyo, 32 tolerance, 41, 42, 58, 175, 176, 205, 210 top-down, 141 toughness, 13, 191, 194, 250, 256, 257, 258, 259 tourism, 173 tourist, 33 tracking, 6 traction, 23 tradition, 90, 100, 155, 157, 218 traditional practices, 93 traffic, 42 trainees, 207 training, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 14, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, 32, 34, 37, 39, 43, 45, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 66, 71, 72, 74, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 99, 102, 103, 114, 115, 116, 138, 143, 146, 172, 179, 181, 182, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 207, 208, 209, 212, 213, 214, 219, 224, 230, 231, 238, 239, 240, 242, 245, 246, 258, 261, 263, 268, 269, 270, 272 training programs, 30, 85, 198, 269 traits, 151, 173, 189, 190, 194 trajectory, 7, 95, 96, 101, 125 transfer, 76, 143, 202 transference, 106, 213 transformation, 77, 94, 96, 101, 124, 128, 131 transformations, 130, 131 transition, 74, 93, 101, 111, 143, 201, 202, 209 translation, 62, 169, 173 transmission, 195 transnational, 122, 126 transparent, 270 transport, 57, 65 trauma, 92 traumatic brain injury, 261 travel, 7, 12, 17, 219, 238, 263

Index trend, 95, 113, 114, 198 tribal, 62, 187 tribes, 62, 187 true belief, 259 trust, 3, 5, 57, 61, 67, 94, 97, 113, 157, 167, 172, 174, 180, 191, 194, 201, 205, 207, 230, 242, 243, 247, 264 typology, 235

U uncertainty, 42, 121, 222 undergraduate, 116, 157, 172, 209, 210, 226, 273, 277 undergraduates, 209, 210 underlying mechanisms, 141 unfolded, 4 unhappiness, 92 uniform, 60, 61 United States, x, 33, 90, 93, 118, 124, 140, 141, 143, 149, 195, 230, 263, 273 universality, 266 universities, 115, 185, 202, 207, 212, 215 university students, 276

V vacuum, 6, 265 valence, 146 validation, 26, 149 validity, 126, 128, 133, 147, 153, 174, 186, 196 values, 25, 46, 50, 61, 65, 66, 90, 91, 93, 94, 97, 98, 101, 125, 130, 141, 143, 153, 184, 186, 187, 189, 191, 217, 218, 224, 225, 228, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 240, 244, 247, 248, 266, 267, 268, 277 variability, 24, 26, 30, 31 variable, 145, 147, 176 variables, 96, 141, 176, 249 variance, 98, 147, 148 variation, 56, 90, 167, 188, 221 vasoconstriction, 25 vasodilation, 25 vegetation, 112 vehicles, 256 vein, 123 Venezuela, 93, 181, 188 venue, 29, 35, 59, 244 victims, 110 Victoria, 31, 276 video clips, 14, 15, 23, 29 village, 35, 42, 57, 59 violence, 106, 109, 118, 126, 257

303

violent, 256, 269 violent behavior, 256 visible, 89, 235 vision, 56, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 158, 235 visualization, 16 vocational, 171, 173 voice, 15, 101, 103, 110, 113, 121, 153, 155, 156, 157, 161, 164, 165, 169, 247 volleyball, 37, 172 voters, 113 vulnerability, 151

W wages, 263 walking, 43, 49, 245, 264 warrants, 130, 154 water, 39, 178 weakness, 191, 256 wear, 18, 62, 139, 254 web, 6, 64, 107, 108, 166, 210, 231 weight loss, 162, 260 Weinberg, 96, 104, 122, 124, 132, 134, 135, 146, 151, 206, 208, 215, 216 welfare, 109, 110, 117, 217, 218, 219, 221, 224, 228, 253, 256 wellbeing, 242, 244 well-being, 52, 128, 138, 142, 149, 151, 172, 180, 221, 235, 242 well-being, 265 wells, 100 West Africa, 187, 188, 189, 191 western culture, 141, 149 Western culture, 93, 148, 267 white women, 166 wilderness, 168 wind, 42, 45 winning, 16, 17, 18, 26, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 65, 68, 72, 82, 144, 149, 236, 248, 256, 258, 267 winter, 233, 234, 244, 277 Wisconsin, 25, 50, 151 wisdom, 16, 40, 52, 231 withdrawal, 185, 190 women, 40, 90, 91, 103, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 117, 125, 132, 143, 161, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168, 173, 195, 244, 256, 276, 277 word of mouth, 206 World Wide Web, 9, 230 worldview, 99, 100, 130, 158, 181, 182, 183, 186, 193, 194, 266, 267 worry, 42, 57, 58, 91, 243, 245

304

Index

writing, 1, 65, 96, 154, 155, 156, 158, 166, 168, 174, 212, 233, 237, 272 wrongdoing, 230

yin, 235

Y

Zen, 52

yang, 235

Z