Performance Learning Outcome #4

Artifacts 

• COUN6215 Applied Sport Psychology – Performance Enhancement Project 
• SPP6522 Sports & Performance Psychology Interventions – Group Case Study 

Reflection & Analysis 

Throughout  the creation of these artifacts, I was implementing mental skills and  developing interventions based on the individual or case. In my first artifact (COUN6215) it was a project early in the program where we learned about each mental skill (imagery, self-talk,  mindfulness, breathing techniques, focus and concentration, stress management etc.) and implemented it into an aspect of our life. I chose the topic of finding more motivation in the gym. By utilizing these mental skills on myself after learning research and theory, I was able to understand the significance and uniqueness of each one. For myself, I realized imagery and slow breathing techniques did not have as much impact as my self-talk and focus cues. One of the biggest takeaways was that I was able to find out when to use the mental skills, how often to use them, and which ones specifically benefited me the most. Going  forward, this project shed some light on the fact that each athlete  will respond differently with every mental skill, so as a consultant it  is crucial to treat each athlete as their own unique individual. Not  only was I able to realize the impacts of different mental skills on my  motivation levels at the gym, but I also realized the mental skills  that might benefit different sports more accurately. At the gym, you do not want to be completely relaxed, so mental skills simulating higher arousal levels will be put in place. Whereas a sport where you need to be relaxed and more levelheaded (such as golf), you will implement mindfulness and breathing exercises to bring arousal levels down.  

The  second artifact (SPP6522) I was able to collaborate with a classmate to  create an intervention for a case study we were presented with. This  assignment allowed us to communicate, brainstorm, and develop strategies from the research and mental skills we learned throughout our master's program. This not only helped us become clearer on the mental skills and their impacts in different situations, but it allowed us to develop proper intake, need analysis, and time-specific interventions for the performance struggle in the case study. We utilized sports and performance theories that helped guide our interventions, while also taking into consideration the mental skills that reflected the significance of these theories. In this artifact I and my partner used Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Beck, 1963) as our guiding principles after forming a thorough intake and need analysis for our athlete. We used CBT to help the client identify and become aware of self-defeating thoughts and using an approach to reframe them, and then SDT was used to understand their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. These  artifacts helped me become more aware of the needs of my clients and  how to properly address them depending on the context of their  situation.  

Before these artifacts I was not confident in applying sport psychology concepts since up to this point we had only learned mental skills, theories,  and ethics in sport psychology. However, this class and artifact taught  me how to put everything together and create an intervention for  an athlete. I now feel confident understanding a client's needs and  choosing the right theories, mental skills, and ethical behaviors to  lead the intervention,  

Overall, after completing these artifacts I was provided feedback from professors that allowed me  to expand my thought process and become clearer on the theories I  choose for my athletes. Every situation brings a unique perspective, so I was taught to focus attention on learning and being as curious about the athlete as possible, and the theory will follow, bringing more clarity to the intervention. My professor taught me to stay patient, and do not bring the same approach to every athlete, as they're all different in their own way.