READING REPORT 7

14 Moving toward a faithful relationship Sport psychology consultants speak about the potential of engaging with spirituality in consultation

Trevor J. Egli and Leslee A. Fisher

Introduction

During my graduate work in sport psychology, I (Trevor, first author) con- sulted with an elite, Division I (collegiate) female, freshman volleyball athlete. From my initial (‘intake’) interview with her, I knew that she was struggling with a lack of confidence stemming mainly from her coach’s negative behav- iour related to her performance in practice. The intake interview also included questions regarding spirituality and religion and assessed whether the athlete wanted to include any discussion of such issues in our work together. She was a committed Christian and said that since being a Christian was a very important part of her identity, she would like Christianity to be part of our consultation process. She also mentioned that she saw Tim Tebow as a role model. At the time, Tebow was a successful collegiate American football player and renowned (outspoken) Christian. Given that I too am a committed Christian, I occasion- ally referred to Bible verses during our discussions and related these to her sporting performance.

After working with this athlete for several sessions, I felt like we were not moving forwards. This led me to ask her, ‘What is it that you enjoy about what we have done together?’ Her response changed my approach to the way that I worked with her for the rest of our time together (and with future consult- ees). She said, ‘I loved it when you included the Bible verses.’ From then on, we discussed a Bible verse in each of our consultation sessions and also reflected on her Christian identity and its role in her performance. She believed that includ- ing a Bible verse made consultations both more effective and more enjoyable. However, my peers expressed very different reactions after watching a video of me consulting with this athlete about a month into our work together. They made comments like, ‘Why would you include direct discussions of faith in your sessions?’ ‘Tim Tebow doesn’t even play that sport!’ ‘Where are you going with this?’ ‘Are you sure this isn’t your own bias?’ Only one peer believed that the way I was approaching this work – integrating an athlete’s faith into perfor- mance consulting – made sense. He went so far as to speculate about his own

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lack of experience in this area: ‘What if that had been me (a person who did not profess the Christian faith) working with that athlete – and she could have ben- efited from the inclusion of her faith in our work together? What would I have done?’ Leslee (second author) has also encountered similar questions in her experience as an Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) certified consultant and supervisor of sport psychology postgraduate students who are working toward their AASP certification but believe that faith has absolutely no place in sport psychology consultation.

To situate our discussion of how sport psychology consultants might engage with faith and spirituality issues in consultation, we first briefly define what the field of applied sport psychology is. We then discuss how applied sport psy- chology has engaged (or not) with concepts like faith, spirituality and religion. Next, we present a series of practical steps that sport psychology consultants might undertake before they work with athletes who consider spirituality a salient component of their identity. We end with a description of how we believe sport psychology consultants and sports chaplains might work together to better facilitate the needs of athletes. We believe that these kinds of discus- sions should be included in all sport psychology graduate training programmes as well as in requirements for sport psychology consultant certification.

Definitions

What is applied sport psychology, who can practise it and what do sport psy- chology practitioners call themselves? According to its website, the AASP (founded in 1986) is the largest applied sport and exercise psychology organi- zation in the world (Association for Applied Sport Psychology, 2013). Begin- ning in 1989 AASP members developed and approved certification criteria for those who wished to consult with performers in a variety of contexts. These certification criteria include mandatory undergraduate and postgradu- ate coursework in sports science and psychology and counselling. In addition, AASP certified consultants must have at least 400 hours of supervised practi- cum to be considered for ‘provisional’ status (for example, practising with a master’s degree).

Sport psychology

Sport psychology has been defined as ‘the study of psychological principles aimed at enhancing sport performance’ and ‘the study of the psychological aspects of sport’ (Andersen, 2000: xiii). For the purposes of this chapter, we adhere to the latter definition and broaden it to include consultation in a vari- ety of sport and performance contexts (for example, children’s sport, elite-level sport, military training, music performance). We believe that the practice of ‘doing sport psychology’ is inclusive of all applied sport psychological aspects: for us, this allows for a more holistic approach when working with performers (Andersen, 2000; Egli, Fisher, and Gentner, 2014a).

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Sport psychology consultants

Weinberg and Gould (2011: 7) define a sport psychology consultant (SPC) as a psycho-educator who ‘educates athletes and exercisers about psycho- logical skills and their development’. SPCs focus their work on the kinds of performance-related issues that arise with athletes and exercisers such as per- forming under intense pressure, increasing confidence, lowering anxiety and concentrating on relevant cues. As previously noted, SPCs are required to successfully complete primary training coursework in the areas of sports sci- ence and psychology and counselling. In addition, unless they have specialized psychological licensure, they are not permitted to treat emotional and mental disorders. Sport psychology consultants may also be referred to as educational sport psychology specialists (Weinberg and Gould, 2011), mental coaches or performance enhancement consultants (Association for Applied Sport Psychol- ogy, 2013). In the US they work toward and receive certification through AASP. For the remainder of this chapter, we focus on professionals who use the title, sport psychology consultant.

Sport psychologists

The AASP defines a sport psychologist as one who is ‘trained in clinical or counselling psychology to provide individual or group therapy relative to a broad range of behavioural and emotional issues’ (Association for Applied Sport Psychology, 2013). This means that a sport psychologist can treat such issues as eating disorders and depression but also has training in sports and exercise psy- chology. In the United States, a sport psychologist – also referred to as a clinical psychologist – must pass an examination in the state in which they work in order to obtain a licence to practise (Weinberg and Gould, 2011).

Faith, spirituality, religion and sport

While not the specific focus of this chapter, it is also important for us to briefly define faith, spirituality and religion and the ways that these constructs have intersected in sporting discourse throughout history. It is worth noting at this stage that the terms ‘faith’, ‘spirituality’ and ‘religion’ have often been used interchangeably in academic literature (see Sarkar, Hill and Parker, 2014).

Faith

Finding meaning and purpose in life is a task that, it could be argued, is perti- nent to everyone. However, living life with a sense of purpose, values or com- mitment may not necessarily be a conscious process. As Fowler (1981) suggests, when understood as a general human phenomenon, faith is a process by which individuals become devoted to something greater than themselves that they believe has an impact on their being. According to Fowler, this ‘something’ can

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come in the form of material possessions, relationships, traditions or a divine being. In addition, people may not initially think of sport as a place to reflect on faith; however, sport is a place where many individuals see their faith as inex- tricably intertwined with who they are. Therefore, helping-professionals such as sport psychology consultants and practitioners should be aware of how faith, spirituality and religion intersect with sport.

Spirituality

Referring to spirituality within the context of sports performance excellence, Ravizza (2002) suggests that there is a spiritual dimension achieved by athletes when their entire sporting experience comes together. He describes this phe- nomenon as multidimensional when athletes’ mental, emotional and physical components intertwine to create an appreciation of something greater than themselves. Furthermore, Watson and Nesti (2005) state that when athletes achieve camaraderie in sport or in other success areas, such victories and indi- vidual accolades can be defined by them as spiritual experiences. Watson and Nesti accept spirituality as being individually defined suggesting that religion may or may not be included in athlete definitions of spirituality. Regardless, as Koenig (2008) argues, any definition of spirituality one chooses for oneself is positive in nature. For us, this means that spirituality – as a phenomenon which some people would like to have in their lives – may also be something that they would like to experience in their sporting lives.

Religion

In a formal sense, religion denotes social institutions that rely on specific doc- trine (Robinson, 2007). Examples include Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism. This may be both public and private and often entails religious prac- tices, such as reading scriptures or meditation (Koenig, 2008). Religion is also a place where faith and spirituality may be directed; however, faith and spirituality are ‘not exclusive to religion’ (Robinson, 2007: 34). Although faith, spirituality, religion and sport are relevant to many people in US society, they are no longer as intertwined as they once were (Mandelbaum, 2004). For example, the ancient cultures of the Central American Mayans and Aztecs as well as that of the native North Americans each blended religion and sport (Baker, 2007; Guttmann, 1992). More recently, US sport has become highly secular in nature and is more often a site of mass entertainment than anything else (Krattenmaker, 2010; Roberts and Yamane, 2012). Despite the growing disconnection between religion and North American culture, this has not stopped religious or spiritual athletes and coaches from participating in sport (Hoffman, 2010). That said, it would appear beneficial to athletes if helping- professionals could become more culturally competent and conversant about the ways that athletes incorporate faith, spirituality and religion into their sporting identities.

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Sport psychology research

Most of the sport psychology research surrounding these constructs has high- lighted the use of religion in sport, particularly Christianity. Researchers have focused on various facets of the sport–Christianity interface such as Christian athletes’ experiences within sport (Stevenson, 1991, 1997), Christian coaches’ experiences of sport (Bennett et al., 2005), the use of prayer by athletes (Czech et al., 2004) and coaches (Egli et al., 2014b). Watson and Nesti (2005) have also attempted to bring discussion of spirituality into sport psychology. They describe how spirituality can be understood within the context of sport, how it can be involved in mental-skills training and a counselling relationship and in relation to the ‘flow’ experience.

Recently, discussion of spirituality has also emerged within cultural sport psychology (Schinke and Hanrahan, 2009). Cultural sport psychology theorists place primary importance on seeing culture as an integral part of being able to understand athletes and other performers. Moreover, Schinke and Hanrahan have suggested that practitioners need to be aware of how their own experi- ences of ‘race’, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, geographic location, religion and spirituality might have an impact upon individual identity and sporting experi- ence (see also Fisher, Butryn and Roper, 2003, 2005; Fisher, Roper and Butryn, 2009; Gill and Kamphoff, 2010). However, while the AASP includes statements about cultural competency within their ethical guidelines (Watson, Etzel and Loughran, 2012), there is still no formal requirement for sport psychology con- sultants to have training in cultural competence, including in matters related to spirituality. In addition, while some scholars have addressed specific aspects of culture within sport psychology research such as ‘race’ (Butryn, 2002; Duda and Allison, 1990), sexual orientation (Krane et al., 2010) and gender (McGannon and Busanich, 2010), spirituality has yet to feature to the same degree (Egli et al., 2014a). We believe that it is imperative that the development of cultur- ally sensitive and competent sport psychology consultants should involve some consideration of how spirituality might be used in consultation settings.

Sport psychology consulting and spirituality

This brings us to a discussion of how sport psychology consultants might pre- pare themselves for a time when spirituality arises as an important component of identity for an athlete with whom they are working. In their review of spir- ituality in sport psychology consulting, Watson and Nesti (2005: 230) describe the potential of integrating spirituality into an athlete–consultant relationship through an athlete-centred model whereby ‘performance excellence and per- sonal excellence are viewed as equally important developmental outcomes’. Although some athlete-centred models do not incorporate spirituality (Miller and Kerr, 2002), we agree with Watson and Nesti that when spirituality is not incorporated sport psychology consultants may be neglecting an integral com- ponent of athlete identity. However, although the topic of spirituality has been

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addressed in sport psychology literature (Schinke and Hanrahan, 2009;Watson and Nesti, 2005), there is a lack of discussion about how applied consultants might handle spirituality when it is present in consulting relationships. One reason for this may be that within applied sport psychology spirituality is seen as something of a ‘taboo’ subject. Despite this perception, we believe that we cannot ignore the fact that spirituality may in fact be a central component of a working relationship between the athlete and consultant (Gamble, Hill and Parker, 2013; Nesti, 2007). To this end, we offer some practical steps which sport psychology consultants may consider prior to encountering spirituality in practice.

Step 1: Examining helpful theoretical frameworks

A helpful framework allowing for an athlete-centred and spiritual approach to consulting could begin with a humanistic philosophy. In this view, helping professionals are encouraged to see and understand their clients within con- text. Such a holistic approach also encourages consultants to be cognizant that each individual is unique (Hill, 2001; Patton, 2002). Corey (2008) has discussed five themes occurring within all humanistic approaches: (1) the importance of self-awareness; (2) commitment to a phenomenological approach; (3) self- actualization; (4) the belief that humans are free, self-determining beings; and (5) respect for the subjective experience of each person. Existential philosophy is one specific humanistic approach that sport psychology researchers and prac- titioners have successfully used in order to address spirituality (see e.g. Czech et al., 2004; Nesti, 2004). Egli and colleagues (2014a) have also noted how using a humanistic athlete-centred approach within applied sport psychology consulting relationships may be helpful when spirituality is relevant to athletes.

Step 2: Reflexivity

A second step that sport psychology consultants can take is to practise reflexiv- ity. This entails reflecting on one’s own personal beliefs and biases in relation to a particular topic. For the purposes of this chapter, this means reflecting on the role of faith, spirituality and religion in one’s own life (McGannon and Johnson, 2009). The kinds of questions that one may ask oneself in this respect include: ‘How do I define faith, spirituality, and religion?’ ‘How has my train- ing prepared me to consult with athletes who incorporate religion into their sport performance?’ ‘Am I competent to handle spirituality issues?’ ‘How do I view others who hold belief systems different to my own?’ Such questions and considerations appear to be absent from US sport psychology graduate training programmes. For example, in a study of practising sport psychology consultants, all participants alluded to the fact that spiritual considerations were not included in their graduate coursework (Egli et al., 2014a). We believe that consultants should regularly take time to reflect on spirituality and its potential for being a critical component of behaviour change in consulting relationships.

176 Trevor J. Egli and Leslee A. Fisher

As recommended by Koenig (2008), regardless of how one addresses the above questions, it is important for practitioners to initially maintain a broad under- standing of spirituality within consulting relationships.

Step 3: Intake interview questions

Another practical step for practitioners interested in pursuing a more holistic approach to consultation is to include questions pertaining to athletes’ faith, spirituality and religion during intake interviews (Egli et al., 2014a). This does not mean that such issues will necessarily be important to every athlete or to individual athletes all of the time. However, such questions allow athletes to include this component in their conversations. Indeed, of critical importance is that the athlete determines the frequency and regularity of discussion sur- rounding spirituality during the consulting relationship (ibid.). Like all sport psychology consultants, we believe that imposing one’s own beliefs onto one’s clients represents unethical behaviour.

Step 4: Using the athlete’s own language

When athletes bring spirituality language into consultation, sport psychology consultants should consider adopting the same language that athletes use. Egli and colleagues (2014a) found it common practice amongst their AASP certified consultant sample to incorporate the language of spirituality into mental skills training such as self-talk statements, imagery, routines and goal setting. Many participants spoke of the amalgamation of spirituality and mental-skills training as frequently occurring during times of adversity, especially in the case of injury. In using the athlete’s own language, consultants described how they were better able to connect with their clients and build enhanced rapport when such issues were considered. As Ryba (2009) states, when a ‘shared language’ is developed this can become a meaningful form of communication, especially when cul- tural differences are present. Knowledge of the language that athletes use also allows sport psychology consultants to educate themselves in relation to certain cultural components with which they may be unfamiliar. This can facilitate a better understanding of the background of the athletes in question (see also Balague, 1999; Storch et al., 2001;Watson and Nesti, 2005).

Step 5: Caveat and referral

All of the steps above are predicated on the notion that the therapeutic rela- tionship between athlete and consultant is more important than any of the techniques used: it is also vital if change is to occur (Corey, 2008). Therefore, while we believe that spirituality is a component of sport psychology prac- tice, either seen or unseen, when spirituality becomes the central component of the sport psychology consulting relationship and extends the practitioner beyond their comfort or competency level, they should consider partnering

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with or referring to other helping professionals with appropriate expertise such as sports chaplains (Egli et al., 2014a; Storch et al., 2001).

Sport psychology consultants working with sports chaplains

When it comes to academic investigations into the interaction of sport psychol- ogy consultants and sports chaplains, there is little empirical evidence available. We know that the role of a sport psychology consultant is generally to handle performance issues, while sports chaplains primarily provide spiritual and pas- toral care for athletes (Waller, Dzikus and Hardin, 2008). Yet, these two skill-sets may be more complementary than has been previously realized (Nesti, 2007).

For example, in a recent study, Gamble, Hill and Parker (2013) examined the relationship between sport psychologists and sports chaplains in English pro- fessional football (more specifically the English Premier League). The authors found that both psychologists and chaplains perceived their positions as not being fully integrated into the structure of the clubs with which they worked and described times when they felt decidedly limited in their roles. In addition, while both parties had an understanding of each other’s role, little interaction (personal or professional) occurred between them. We believe that this may also be the case in many US sporting contexts where both sport psychology consultants and sports chaplains are present. For example, at our own institution (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), a network of helping-professionals was developed and asked to create a welfare model to best serve student athletes. Hosted by the Sports Medicine Department, the Health and Wellness Team is made up of physicians, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, a clinical social worker, a nutritionist, academic personnel, head coaches, a director of mental training and a graduate student sport psychology consultant, a sports sociologist and a sports chaplain. Student athletes are encouraged to choose the services which they believe best suit their individual needs, a process which is based on the premise that this type of athlete self-selection offers the optimum chance of achieving successful outcomes. However, both the director of mental training and the sports chaplain are not considered to be part of the primary services on offer; instead, they are designated ‘support services’. Although it is generally recognized that the director of mental training and the sports chaplain are an integral part of the Health and Wellness Team, one might conclude that these professionals are less valued than the primary service providers.

One positive aspect of this team approach is that there is a sound profes- sional relationship in place between the director of mental training and the sports chaplain. Despite this, referrals in either direction have not necessarily occurred indicating a lack of professional networking (see Gamble, Hill and Parker, 2013). Although a sport psychology consultant may be aware of the existence of a sports chaplain in a particular sporting context, we believe that it would be mutually beneficial for the two parties to connect on a personal basis, regardless of the institutional structures within which they work.

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Another issue for both sport psychology consultants and sports chaplains to become familiar with is the other’s training and educational background. Sport psychology consultants may benefit from learning more about the role, creden- tials and professional associations of sports chaplains. Waller, Dzikus and Hardin (2008) have discussed the multiple titles and training programmes associated with sports chaplaincy in the United States, each of which represent differ- ent competencies. Likewise, sports chaplains may benefit from investigating the training and credentialing of sport psychology consultants (for example, in the US this may mean enquiring if they are currently a member of AASP, are AASP certified or are pursuing such certification) and the type of services which they provide for athletes. It is important to note, of course, that while credentialing can reflect the quality of service on offer, it is no guarantee of this.

Sport psychology consultants may also find it advantageous to refer athletes to sports chaplains because of their familiarity with both spirituality and the culture of sport. Like many sport psychology consultants, sports chaplains may have played sport at a similar level as the athletes with whom they are working and, as a consequence, may have spent a considerable amount of time processing the interaction between spirituality and sport. In turn, the personal experiences of sports chaplains may be especially helpful when athletes themselves struggle to make sense of sporting experience alongside their spiritual beliefs. For exam- ple, numerous scholars have suggested that the Christian ethic does not fit well with the culture of elite sport (Higgs, 1995; Higgs and Braswell, 2004; Hoffman, 2010). Indeed, Higgs and Braswell use the analogy of oil and water to represent this fit. Such tensions can cause sports performers to wrestle with their own identities both as athletes and as spiritual people (see Stevenson, 1991).

Prior to referring an athlete to a sports chaplain, sport psychology consultants should make it a priority to discuss the prospective referral with the athlete in question. In such situations, being knowledgeable about and familiar with the work of the sports chaplain may better help consultants explain why they believe that referral is the most appropriate course of action. In addition, it is possible that sport psychology consultants and sports chaplains could work together with athletes given that each has a unique perspective to bring to the table.

Conclusion

In this chapter we have primarily focused on engaging sport psychology con- sultants with notions of spirituality and with the work of sports chaplains. Ulti- mately, our goal is to better enhance athlete welfare, especially where elements of spirituality are present. We believe that spirituality is a phenomenon that can penetrate an athlete’s sporting experience and performance (Robinson, 2007). We also believe that more needs to be done to better prepare sport psychology consultants in how to engage with these constructs during con- sultation. Despite the fact that there appears to be scope for sport psychology consultants and sports chaplains to work together, as yet this is not common practice. It has been our contention throughout that if we are to move towards

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an enhancement of the holistic support services available to athletes, then the encouragement of increased interaction between sport psychology consultants and sports chaplains is a useful place to start.

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