Better Preparing Sports Psychologists for the Demands of Applied Practice: The Emotional Labor Training Gap

Abstract

The aim of this manuscript was to investigate the emotional educational-training-practice gap in the professional formation of sport and exercise psychologists in the United Kingdom through the theoretical lens of emotional labor. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with four participant groups: master's students (n = 5), trainee (n = 5), neophyte (n = 5) and experienced sport and exercise psychologists (n = 5). Adopting an interpretive epistemology, an abductive thematic analysis was conducted in relation to the participant groups recruited. Several overarching themes were identified in each participant group: (a) master's students (emotional labor as theory, practice), (b) trainees (emotional labor to survive, a professional development tool), (c) neophytes (emotional labor as a new professional, self-care) and (d) experienced sport and exercise psychologists (emotional labor as a professional resource, lifelong learning). A synthesized list of applied recommendations to improve the professional formation of sport and exercise psychologists was developed based on the analysis. The themes extend sport and exercise psychology professional development literature and we make recommendations for educators, professional associations and regulatory bodies with regard to: (a) bridging the emotional labor and experiential gap when transitioning between development phases via collaborative and innovative educational provision; (b) supporting the development of skills relating to the enactment of emotional labor, and; (c) considering support mechanisms for student/trainee/neophyte safeguarding and welfare issues as a result of the emotion-laden transactions in professional practice. The implications for future pedagogy, andragogy and research are discussed.

Good practice in sport science and medicine support: practitioners’ perspectives on quality, pressure and support

“…The gaps identified both in this paper and previous research (e.g. Arnold & Sarker, 2015;Hings et al, 2018Hings et al, , 2020 suggest there are forms of training which could support and fast track the development of these non-technical skills including; gaining experience and exposure (through volunteering or shadowing), role play or practice with relevant pressure simulation, and having a supervisor and/or mentor to share thought processes, reflect and refine delivery with.…”

“…Research into SSMP roles, mostly in the psychology discipline, also emphasise the importance of interpersonal skills and the findings could arguably be extended and relevant to all SSMPs. Hings et al (2018Hings et al ( , 2020 for example suggested there is a level of emotional labour that SSMPs take on in a role; donning a "professional mask" they are required to demonstrate emotional control and manage themselves during interactions in order to build trust, rapport and ultimately relationships and engagement. Whilst Woolway and Harwood (2018) suggested the importance of developing interpersonal qualities, alongside an understanding of how to interact with clients and the positive and negative effects their interactions could have.…”

A thematic analysis of social identity and injury in CrossFit®.

“…A focus of these steps was on internal homogeneity (i.e., each code/theme had adequate evidence) and external homogeneity (i.e., no overlap between evidence supporting two codes/themes). A final step, as employed by other sport/exercise psychology researchers (e.g., Chan et al, 2014; Hings et al, 2020; Long et al, 2014), involved relating the higher order themes to the research questions and theoretical constructs. For the first research question, social identity content were determined by higher order themes which spanned all four social identity constructs (i.e., positive distinctiveness; in-group status; prototypicality; in-group homogeneity).…”

A systematic review of professional identity in sport psychology

“…SPORT PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY 4 The exploration of the characteristics of professionals delivering sport psychology services has a long history (e.g., Orlick & Partington, 1987), with researchers delineating the characteristics and qualities of an effective sport psychology practitioner from the perspectives of coaches, athletes and support staff (e.g., Chandler et al, 2014) as well as from the perspective of practitioners themselves (e.g., Cropley et al, 2010). Further, researchers have explored the career maturation process of SPPs with regards to changes in service delivery (e.g., McEwan et al, 2019;Tod et al, 2011), their engagement in learning activities facilitating professional growth (e.g., Hutter et al, 2017;Stambulova & Johnson, 2010), their professional philosophy and orientation (e.g., Collins et al, 2013;Poczwardowski et al, 2014) as well as the positive and effective long lasting career (e.g., Hings et al, 2019;Quartiroli et al, 2019a). While this body of work has helped to advance the identification of professional characteristics, as well as development and training knowledge, one topic that has received little research attention is that professional identity of these SPPs (Tod et al, 2017).…”