Louise Byrne, @LBPerformPsych

I began my QSEP Stage 2 in March 2019 and aim to finish in early 2021 and while I have gained a lot experience (particularly evident reading back over early first year reflections) I still find it extremely difficult not to compare my own success to the levels others have achieved. When I reviewed my first portfolio and the completed work piled up in one Zip file, I saw how much time and effort had gone into it. I won’t list out my achievements for two reasons, firstly, because I think deep down I still find it difficult to accept them as successes, even writing the word ‘achievement’ makes me feel uncomfortable, and secondly, because I do not want others to see them as something to compare themselves to either.

It was during my Key Role 3 research, which involves an investigation into COVID-19 and the impact it has had on psychological support provided and received by Sport and Exercise Psychologists and elite athletes, I was privileged enough to have frank and honest discussions with many practitioners who had much more experience than myself. It was during these conversations I noticed that self-doubt was still, at times, an element that needed to be addressed and managed. I gained two things from these conversations; comfort and hope. Comfort knowing that regardless of experience, questioning one’s ability was a natural challenge that arose, and it was not a direct reflection of my abilities when I was doubtful. The second more important emotion I felt was hope; a hope that even though practitioners may feel insecure of their value and what purpose they serve it is still possible to have a successful career.

Upon reflection I realise of course a certain amount of doubt is normal however when I began to notice it impeding my progression, I knew then was the time to make a conscious effort to focus on my own accomplishments and upcoming goals. This over-whelming self-doubt occurred in month 8 of Year 1 when I began to feel paralysed as I assessed what task or Key Role to tackle next. I found I was faced with so many options I could not choose anything without highlighting the expertise I lacked to effectively execute the work required. I looked around at fellow Trainees and all the contacts they were making and work they were acquiring and felt inferior in just about every area of QSEP.

9 months on from that time there have definitely been some changes in how I review my work. Firstly, setting a timer on social media on my phone of a half hour each day has helped tremendously. This was the source of promotion I was affected most by. I took control of how much exposure I had to others. It may seem small and counterproductive when trying to self-promote but now I have an allotted time, while being so short prevents me from dwelling so much on others. Secondly, I broke down my Key Roles into sections each month. For example, writing one good quality reflection for each meant I gradually created my next submission. I also set writing targets for the case study meaning I could review them at a later stage through more experienced eyes. Thirdly, I re-assessed whether this was something I truly wanted to do, putting aside the financial commitment, did I actually want to do this knowing the challenges associated? I did; however, this was not a light decision and was now made without the naivety I began QSEP with.

This is not an article of strategic advice but rather a very honest account that sometimes needs to be read by others to highlight the variety and range of insecurities felt by the majority at some point in their career regardless of wealth or scope of experience. We will each experience training routes differently, and it is paramount we only compare to where we started, rather than another’s perceived successes.  

Contribute to the Inaugural Virtual Conference of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology!

Submit a pre-recorded 5-minute presentation showcasing your research or practice in Sport and Exercise Psychology

All submissions will be reviewed before being uploaded to the DSEP YouTube channel before the conference

The best presentation will be announced live during the conference and will receive an amazon voucher prize

Open to:

• Early Career Researchers
• PhD Students
• Prof Doc students
• BPS Stage 2 trainees
• Masters students
• Undergraduate students

Criteria:

• Your presentation can feature a piece of research or an applied case study
• Your video can feature slides with a narration, or just yourself speaking to camera
• Your presentation should be no longer than five minutes long
• If using slides, you should use no more than five slides
• Presentations must be submitted before Monday 23^rd November

Please use the instructions below to record your presentation. Please save your presentation as a video

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/record-a-presentation-2570dff5-f81c-40bc-b404-e04e95ffab33

Once you have created your video presentation, please share it using a cloud-based storage system (such as OneDrive or Dropbox) with darren.britton@solent.ac.uk and  Vaithehy.Shanmuganathan-Felton@roehampton.ac.uk

Can you please also complete the attached google form to confirm that you are happy for your presentations to be shared on YouTube using a private link for conference attendees:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSczckj_LsPH3tUVOqFJ_SQWdGASpcIvfAFOowlhzH_pMV_jMw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Lloyd Emeka, @nathan78

After completing a master’s degree in marketing nearly eighteen years ago, I started my career as an intern in marketing communications and subsequently progressed to various roles with leadership responsibilities. 

I have had the opportunity to work on advertising campaigns for some fantastic global brands and worked with some great people.  However, in recent years and also through experiencing a major life changing event, I realised that I wanted to take my career in a different direction and opted to return back to academia. 

The big question of course was what would I return back to academia to study?  This required a significant amount of reflection and with some support from a career coach, I was able to identify psychology as a subject area that I would like to study and hopefully pursue as a career.

With hindsight, I have always had an interest in psychology, which was sparked by studying consumer behaviour during my master’s degree in marketing.  It was a fascinating module and I was fortunate enough to continue applying various aspects of psychology during my marketing communications career.

After further reflection, I decided to continue working full-time and study on a part-time basis.  The process of researching and applying for BPS accredited psychology courses was a relatively straightforward experience and resulted in accepting an offer to study at Birkbeck, where I completed a three-year postgraduate diploma (conversion) degree. 

The memory of my first lecture at Birkbeck remains vivid.  I walked into the lecture theatre for the first time in fourteen years with excitement and trepidation.  I was relieved to discover that there were other mature students on the course and quickly formed new friendships. 

The first year of my degree was a particularly challenging year.  Every research paper I read seemed to take ages and would require several re-reads to work out the key themes and messages that the researchers were trying to portray.  I felt completely out of my depth as I had become so accustomed to working within a corporate environment, where the method and delivery of communication to an audience is very different.  However, I really enjoyed the feeling of studying again and felt that I had made the right decision. 

Finding an effective balance between full-time work, part-time study and other life commitments can be challenging but I was acutely aware that having a high level of structure, self-discipline and being reliant on my support network would be helpful in achieving this.  I was also fortunate that upon joining Birkbeck, I already had significant experience of working in fast-paced, pressurised environments where managing multiple deadlines (both internally and for clients) was the order of the day.  Having project plans and being structured with managing deadlines was an already acquired skill that would be heavily utilised in the subsequent years of study.

An aspect of the course that I found slightly less challenging was the preparation and delivery of presentations.  In the marketing communications world, you are taught fundamental presentation skills at an early stage with the expectation that these skills will be frequently adopted when recommending campaign strategies and ideas to marketing clients. I have often thought that presentation skills should be taught at undergraduate and Stage 1 level in some capacity to complement the practical experience that is gained through delivering presentations for various subject modules.  

Although there were various subject areas that I enjoyed studying during my generalist psychology degree, combining my passion for sport with psychology was an appealing option for me to pursue as an area of specialism.  I was keen to progress with further study immediately after graduating and proceeded to start an MSc in Applied Sport Psychology at St Mary’s University, where I opted again to complete on a part-time basis. 

My first year of the master’s degree has been a fantastic learning experience and I have really enjoyed the broad methods of assessment ranging from essays, intake-interview, educational workshop and poster presentation.  Throughout the last four years of study, I have continued working within marketing communications on a freelance/fixed term contract basis and this has also presented some valuable learnings for the future. 

Whilst being self-employed has provided me with flexibility, it has also created the need to proactively network and identify opportunities to secure a steady stream of projects to undertake on fixed term contracts. 

As a consequence of studying sport psychology, it has given me an alternative perspective when approaching various tasks in my existing career.  Completing a professional and counselling skills module prompted me to think differently about the questions I was asking my work colleagues on an everyday basis and also adopt a more systematic approach to practicing self-reflection within the workplace.  It has also been great to become acquainted with organisational psychology theories and research within a sporting context, and consider how I can apply some of the key learnings into a working environment.

Returning to academia as a mature student has so far proven to be a rewarding and ultimately different type of experience in comparison to twenty years ago as an undergraduate student.  This could partly be attributed to now having different underlying motivations for study and future aspirations.

I feel that there are many advantages that can be elicited from transitioning to sport psychology as a second career. This includes the application of relevant knowledge and skills derived from an existing career, and the potential to utilise life experiences that have been obtained within a broader context.

Calling All Members: Can you spare 5 minutes to complete the DSEP Member Survey, this will help us to ensure you get the most from your membership. Don’t forget to click finished to submit your responses.

https://leeds.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/dsep-membership-survey

Dr. Hayley McEwan, University of the West of Scotland, @scottishsportps

Most research in sport psychology tends to be athlete-focused or intervention-focused, whereas we are interested in the person behind the sport psychology practice. We see the person as the instrument of service-delivery, and consequently are interested in what influences the person to grow and develop. One way we have tried to extend research on career development in sport psychology is to draw on parallel disciplines such as clinical, and counselling psychology. Through our research we have forged greater links among the applied sport, counselling, and clinical psychology disciplines.

Our aim is that by illuminating the experiences of individuals at different career phases (e.g., trainee, novice, experienced) through our research, it could help guide the selection and planning of professional development opportunities for others. Another aim is to promote the cross-fertilisation of ideas from parallel helping professions (e.g., counselling and clinical psychology). Findings may inform trainee development (e.g., help trainees understand and prepare for changes they will likely experience during their careers). Our results may also be guiding for practitioners at all career phases by drawing their attention to the influences on the optimisation of the self in service delivery.

Some general findings:

• All types of psychologists emphasized the role of working with clients in learning about service-delivery.

• Counselling psychologists engaged in mandatory personal therapy as part of training. Trainee sport psychologists did not have to engage in therapy but did so and found it useful for personal and professional development (e.g., working through a personal change like transitioning from athlete to practitioner).

• Trainee sport psychologists had more influence over their training environments (e.g., selection of clients, creating peer networks, choosing to engage in therapy) than clinical and counselling psychologists.

• Sport psychologists at all career phases (trainee, early, experienced) are engaged in the ongoing dynamic search for coherence between the person and the profession (termed individuation).

• Essentially practitioners are trying to feel authentic by aligning the ‘soul and role’.

• Various sources influence the individuation process such as clients, peers, and therapists. Choosing to work with certain types of clients, in particular environments, using selected schools of thought on psychology could assist the process of feeling authentic.

• As sport psychologists mature they become influenced from more varied sources, both internal (e.g., supervisors) and external to sport psychology (e.g., personal life events like marriage, and also films, politics). They start to see life through their psychological lenses. 

• UK sport psychologists perceived development as intermittent due to varied work roles (e.g., academic, researcher, and practitioner). They described intense periods of work in sport psychology where they supported clients at training camps or major games for 2-3 weeks.

References

McEwan, H.E., & Tod, D. (2015). Learning Experiences Contributing to Service-Delivery Competence in Applied Psychologists: Lessons for Sport Psychologists. Journal of applied sport psychology, 27, 79-93, DOI:10.1080/10413200.2014.952460 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10413200.2014.952460

McEwan, H.E., Tod, D., & Eubank, M. (2019). The rocky road to individuation: Sport psychologists’ perspectives on professional development. Psychology of Sport & Exercise (In press).

To find out more about the development of sport psychologists across the career span follow Hayley on Twitter: @scottishsportps

Prof. Stewart Cotterill, AECC University College, @ProfStewC

Increasing numbers of athletes in Generation Z (born in the 1990s and early 2000s) are growing-up, training and performing in a world where the use of social media and mobile technology is a normalised part of social interaction. Social media in this context can be viewed as a form of communication that uses mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms via which individuals and communities share, co-create, and modify user-generated content. The term social media encompasses not just social networking sites such as Facebook and WhatsApp, but also video and photo sharing sites such as YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Flickr; micro-blogging applications such as Twitter; aggregator sites such as Digg; and even virtual worlds.

For Generation Z, and Millennial athletes engaging with social media accounts and using mobile technology is a normal part of life, but the question for sport psychologists is do these online interactions have any impact upon athlete mental health and ultimately performance? Before answering that question, it is important to note that athletes use social media for a range of different functions including communicating with their fan base, managing their ‘brand’, and communicating news stories. One major implication of social media in these contexts is that material can be transmitted to a very wide audience without the express consent or knowledge of the athlete. This fact means that errors of judgement can have the potential to have a far greater reach than was previously the case.

Moving back to the question of mental health and performance, social media offers athletes the ability to be regularly and continuously ‘connected’ with friends, family, peers, and fans in an unparalleled way, with geography no longer presenting a realistic barrier.

Though the question remains is this connectivity almost anywhere (with mobile technology) facilitative of good performance? Anecdotal evidence from a number of Olympic coaches has suggested that social networking and real-time online interactions could act as a distraction to some athletes and can result in substandard performances. Indeed, the continual feedback and commentary that athletes receive via social media has been suggested to impact upon self-efficacy and ultimately mental state. It has also been suggested that fans, family, friends and social media trolls have a subtle power to influence athlete mental state and ultimately performance outcomes. Indeed, research conducted by Kim Encel, Chris Mesagno, and Helen Brown published in 2017 suggested that 32% of the athletes in their study reported using Facebook during competition while a further 68% accessed Facebook in the 2-hours prior to competition. The authors reported that time spent on Facebook was a predictor of measured concentration disruption. This finding suggests that unlimited access to social media around performance may negatively impact upon mental state and performance.

However, while that might be true the increasing dependency on push notifications can also be problematic. While the simple solution to reduce the impact of social media on concentration is to switch off or quarantine mobile devices, this step itself might have negative effects. There could be a fear of missing out by not having access, and a desire (even need) to stay connected with other people continually. As a result, any interventions relating to social media use around competition need to be carefully thought through.

Finally, the content of the messages athletes received via social media is also important. Positive feedback can result in positive emotional responses and increased self-efficacy. Whereas negative feedback can reduce perceptions of self-efficacy. So, it might be that communicating with some individuals (e.g., coach, peers, friends, family) might be desirable, but communicating more broadly with society (e.g., twitter and Instagram) might be less desirable while preparing for and executing performance. Whatever the answers, solutions need to be individually-focused and discussed and agreed with the athlete. Finally, far more research is needed to better understand the impact social media has on the athlete and the relationship between social media use and performance.

To hear more for Stewart check out his blog at: http://www.stewartcotterill.co.uk/blog