Many sport psychology texts focus on what to do — relaxation, imagery, etc. This is the first text to focus directly on the how of doing sport psychology.
Doing Sport Psychology involves much more than the standard techniques such as goal setting and positive self-talk. Counselors’ personalities, the history of their relationships with athletes, the interaction of individual psychologists and athletes with entire teams—these factors are at least as important as the application of standard procedures. This book reveals in intimate detail the process of sport psychology at work.
The text, edited by psychologist Mark B. Andersen, includes
- details of sessions directed by professionals using a variety of models: cognitive-behavioral, rational-emotive, performance enhancement, developmental, and psychodynamic;
- transcripts of dialogue between counselors and athletes in many different sports, which clearly demonstrate what sport psychology sessions actually sound like;
- descriptive commentaries on why the psychologists chose the therapeutic path they did and what other options they might have chosen; and
- specifics on how a wide variety of people—including coaches, physical therapists, and other professionals who work with athletes and performers—administer sport psychology.
This book provides powerful and revealing insights into how sport psychology is done by the people who do it best.
Mark B. Andersen began this book for use with his own graduate students. It is the book he wishes he had when he was in graduate school. It is now available to all!
