Overview

Critical Essays in Applied Sport Psychology is a thought-provoking collection of 16 essays discussing the field’s traditions, research models, and practices. The editors have brought together a team of internationally recognized sport psychologists with backgrounds in various disciplines to offer insights into sport cultures ranging from youth sport to professional sport. The authors of these cutting-edge essays ask challenging questions about the current state of applied sport psychology, addressing the priorities of the field, its research methods, and its effectiveness in preparing students for research and consulting. With ideas that will interest those in the applied sport psychology field as well as psychologists, psychotherapists, and research psychologists, Critical Essays in Applied Sport Psychology offers students and practitioners an opportunity to reflect on their own approaches to and assumptions grounding their current or future professional practice. Each essay offers a distinct perspective on applied sport psychology practice that challenges current applied training requirements and practices, with discussion questions at the conclusion of each essay to stimulate in-class discussion and individual reflection. Readers may also use these essays as springboards for pursuing new areas of research. Part I of the text begins with six essays discussing the possibilities afforded by the use of research and inquiry within applied practice. The authors of these essays explore how stories of self and of others can facilitate an increased appreciation of the complexity of people’s lives both inside and outside of sport. The essays in part II concern issues in professional service delivery with special emphasis on alternative ways to conceptualize and practice applied sport psychology. In part III, three essays explore specific topics in sport psychology practice dealing with both sport-specific and general sociocultural contexts. Critical Essays in Applied Sport Psychology offers valuable perspectives not only for sport psychology professionals, students, and researchers but also for those who work alongside, manage, or employ applied psychology professionals. By looking beyond the traditional psychological skills training model, Critical Essays in Applied Sport Psychology offers new ways of uncovering and representing knowledge that will stimulate debate and open discussion on current research, methodologies, practices, and training requirements in applied sport psychology.

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9780736078856

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Reviews

Critical Essays in Applied Sport Psychology is refreshingly and excitingly different from the usual applied sport psychology text. There is much to interest and inform in this book, and it provides valuable, and sometimes unusual and challenging perspectives. I thoroughly recommend Critical Essays in Applied Sport Psychology to all colleagues and students in sport psychology. --International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology

Author Information

David Gilbourne, PhD, is a professor of qualitative research in sport at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff and teaches in the Cardiff School of Sport. He cofounded and codirected the first and second International Conferences on Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise (2004 and 2006) and acted as external advisor to the third conference at Roehampton University, UK, in 2009. Gilbourne also cofounded Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, the first peer-reviewed journal dedicated to disseminating qualitative research from all sport-based disciplines. Gilbourne speaks internationally on the topic of sport-oriented social science qualitative research, and in 2010 he acted as visiting professor at Copenhagen University. His writing focuses on issues of qualitative methodology. Alongside colleagues, he has commented frequently on the topic of action research and reflective practice in applied sport psychology. His current work explores a range of autoethnographic communications with particular emphasis on storytelling through creative writing, drama, and poetry. Mark B. Andersen, PhD, is a professor in the School of Sport and Exercise Science and the Institute for Sport, Exercise, and Active Living at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. He also coordinates the master and doctoral degrees in applied psychology in the School of Social Science and Psychology. He received his PhD in psychology with a doctoral minor in exercise and sport sciences from the University of Arizona at Tucson in 1988. In 1994 Andersen received the Dorothy V. Harris Memorial Award for excellence as a young scholar and practitioner in applied sport psychology from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. He has been a keynote speaker at 10 international and national conferences and has published more than 60 articles in refereed journals and more than 75 book chapters and proceedings. He has edited three other Human Kinetics books: Doing Sport Psychology, SportPsychology in Practice, and Overtraining Athletes: Personal Journeys in Sport. Andersen is a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and APS College of Sport and Exercise Psychology. In addition to his academic duties, he maintains a small psychotherapy practice in Melbourne.

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