Week 8 Response Post

EXAMPLE RESPONSE POST

ORIGINAL:

Before taking this class, I never realized how important and beneficial it would be for an athlete's  to directly work with a sport psychologist. Many athletes might be experiencing some type of anxiety before performing or depression as a result of losing games or not performing as expected. Both anxiety and depression should be addressed with the help of a professional to help them not only physically but also mentally. Moreover, according to the author, another symptom that should be treated by a professional if experienced is lethargy, which "may prevent sports participants from training" (Williams, J. & Krane, V., 2021). This symptom can lead athletes to experience negative effects on their technical and decision-making skills.

Furthermore, the book talks about many different areas that can potentially affect performance. For example, I never considered that the athlete's sexual orientation, eating disorders, or use of alcohol or other substances (for performance purposes or as a result of peer pressure and acceptance) could affect their performance. Moreover, romantic and family relationships, as well as anger and aggression control, can also affect athletes psychologically and result in chronic stress. Chronic stress can make athletes become distracted from their objectives and, as Cooks-Campbell wrote, "lead to harmful mental and physical health issues" ( Cooks-Campbell, 2022). Therefore, having a multidisciplinary team of professionals would add great value as they would help overcome any of these issues as well as assist them with their body Image, overtraining problems, and physical injuries. I look forward to seeing how the sports psychology field continues to conduct more studies.

References:

· Williams, J. & Krane, V. (2021)  Applied Sport Psychology: Personal Growth to Peak Performance (8th ed.) McGraw-Hill Education. pp. 210-223.

· Cooks-Campbell. (2022, February 7).  What Is Sports Psychology and Why Is It Important?What Is Sports Psychology and Why Is It Important? Retrieved December 13, 2022, from https://www.betterup.com/blog/sports-psychology

RESPONSE:

Hi Rosery, 

I agree that as a sport psychologist helping an athlete come up with strategies to help combat their anxiety before a competition or depression after losing a game is highly important to building up their mental toughness. Williams and Krane (2021) discussed how building a trusting relationship with their athlete is instrumental to helping them achieve peak performance and strong mentalities, as well as when issues outside of their realm of expertise arise where they may need to refer their athlete to a specialized counselor. You mentioned how having a multidisciplinary team of professional would add value by helping the athlete overcome their issues of body image, overtraining and physical injuries, but what if the athlete does not want to talk to anyone beside their sport psychologist? While I think overtraining is something a sport psychologist can help an athlete overcome and work on, the ideas of eating disorders and alcohol and/or substance abuse would warrant the need for the referral process to take place so the athlete can help the help he/she may need from a counselor/psychologist specifically trained in those areas. Often times, athletes reject the idea of speaking to someone outside of their sport psychologist because they may feel guilt or shame or even that they have failed as an individual. (Williams and Krane, 2021) Your article talked about how sport psychologists should help their athlete cultivate learned optimism, particularly when recovering from an injury, (Cooks-Campbell, 2022) therefore do you think this same technique can be applied as a way of thinking for an athlete when dealing with a health issue or injury that may require outside help, not just from their sport psychologist? This concept along with building a strong alliance will help the athlete them to realize they need more specialized help in order to become stronger and healthier in their sport, as well as life. Learned optimism, not defined in your article, would imply the concepts behind viewing each situation in an opportunistic way rather than a pessimistic or negative way, thus seeing the referral as helpful not failure.

References:

Cooks-Campbell. (2022). What Is Sports Psychology and Why Is It Important?What Is Sports Psychology and Why Is It Important?  https://www.betterup.com/blog/sports-psychology

Williams, J. M., & Krane, V. (2021). Applied Sport Psychology: Personal Growth To Peak Performance. McGraw-Hill Education.