“I Wouldn’t Want to Operate without It”: The Ethical Challenges Faced by Experienced Sport Psychology Consultant’s and Their Engagement with Supervision

Abstract

The first aim of this investigation was to explore the ethical challenges Sport Psychology Consultant's (SPCs) have experienced in their applied practice in elite sport. The second aim was to examine the engagement of experienced SPCs with monitoring and supervision of their applied practice. Ten experienced accredited SPCs (8 male and 2 female; M years consulting experience = 21.67 years) were purposefully sampled to participate in individual semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Following inductive thematic content analysis (Weber, 1990), two categories emerged regarding the ethical challenges these SPCs faced, these included; (a) challenges to boundaries; and (b) communication issues. Additionally, SPCs perceived supervision as being essential for applied practice as it enabled SPCs to monitor their practice, get to know themselves and care for themselves. Four sub-categories emerged regarding the exploration of SPC engagement in monitoring and supervision of their practice: (a) supervision is an essential component of applied practice; (b) supervision enabled SPCs to monitor boundaries of applied practice; (c) supervision helped SPCs to feel supported in their applied practice; and (d) supervision aided SPCs to get to know themselves and care for themselves. The place of supervision and peer support should be considered by practitioners working within applied sport psychology.

Exploring the processes of evidence-informed decision-making in applied sport psychology

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La psicología de la actividad física y del deporte Avances en Colombia entre 2008 y 2020

“…En esa misma línea, la supervisión no es solo para los estudiantes de psicología. La supervisión ética es un elemento importante en la educación continua de todos los psicólogos deportivos, que permite mejorar la responsabilidad ética, la respetabilidad y el control de calidad efectivo del servicio en el campo del deporte (Aoyagi et al, 2012;Sharp et al, 2019).…”

Practitioners’ Use of Motivational Interviewing in Sport: A Qualitative Enquiry

“…Novel themes which were constructed were labelled accordingly with new terminology. In keeping with previous articles (e.g., Sharp, Hodge, & Danish, 2019) themes and sub-themes are presented briefly in Tables 1-4, in conjunction with thick descriptive quotes from participants to provide detail and context for the reader. Quotes were chosen based on how accurately they captured the shared meaning of the theme or sub-theme they represent, and those which would provide the most meaning, context and clarity for the reader.…”