Building Sport Psychology Consulting Into Your Professional Practice: Perspectives, Challenges, Opportunities
Description
Sport psychology consulting involves using psychological science to contribute to the mental performance, mental health, and performance of athletes, groups, teams, and sport organizations. The process of sport psychology consulting reflects collaboration between a consultant and client; the consultant provides expert psychological guidance and advice to the client, based on their needs and requests. Clients of practitioners providing sport psychology consultation include athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, strength and conditioning staff, athletic administrators, among others. As part of the sport psychology consulting process, the consultant, in collaboration with the client, engages in activities such as clarifying client needs and requests in relevant contexts; designing and implementing a consulting approach; and evaluating the worth and merit of the consultation engagement.
Within the above context, practitioners increasingly have expressed interest in learning about the process of sport psychology consulting; they would like to learn about the parameters of being a sport psychology consultant and challenges they may encounter. Importantly, practitioners are seeking to identify sport psychology consulting opportunities they can leverage in relation to their professional practices. In this regard, practitioners will benefit from engaging in self-reflection about their current professional practices in relation to sport psychology, particularly where consulting in sport psychology may fit in. By means of a case study approach, coupled with a reflective practice orientation, the purpose of this live virtual workshop is to provide practitioners with guidance about how to view sport psychology consultation and how to develop that area in relation to their local circumstances and their current professional practices.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
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Recognize practical perspectives and issues related to sport psychology consulting.
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Acquire competencies that are associated with providing valuable sport psychology consulting services in sport organizations.
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Leverage opportunities for engaging in sport psychology consulting at individual, team, and organizational levels.
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Assess oneself in relation to competencies and opportunities related to sport psychology consulting and how to proceed in terms of practice development.
Instructor Bio
Charles A. Maher, PsyD, MBA, CMPC, FAASP, ISSP-R, has engaged in the licensed practice of sport, performance, and organizational psychology for 36 years, worldwide, in professional sport organizations, elite performance academies, colleges, and universities, government agencies, and business entities. Within those settings, Dr, Maher has consulted with and developed consulting approaches for athletes, coaches, athletics trainers, sport psychologists, interdisciplinary performance teams, sport executives, and business operations professionals. His consulting focus has been on mental performance, mental health, team development, and organizational effectiveness, including with MLB, NBA, WNBA, NFL and NHL franchises. Dr, Maher has been involved with the Cleveland Guardians Baseball Organization for 30 years, where he has designed and implemented the sport psychology program, business psychology program, and the employee assistance program. Moreover, Dr. Maher is Professor Emeritus, GSAPP, Rutgers University, where he served as a core faculty member for 32 years and served as Chair, Department of Applied Psychology. He also has served Rutgers Athletics for 20 years as a sport psychology consultant in many sports. His latest book (2023) is: Fostering the Mental Health of Athletes, Coaches, and Staff: A Systems Approach to Building a Mentally Healthy Sport Organization.
Dr. Maher has no conflicts of interest for this program.
Contact Us
For questions, please contact: ce@gsapp.rutgers.edu
Continuing Education Information
Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0123.
LMFT/MFT and LPC/LAC Licensed in New Jersey: Programs approved by the American Psychological Association are acceptable sources of continuing education credits. Please see https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/regulations/Chapter-34-Subchapters-10-31-Professional-Counselors.pdf, Section: 13:34-15.4 APPROVAL OF COURSES OR PROGRAMS on page 27. For all other professional licenses and certifications, please reference your issuing state board regulations regarding reciprocity of continuing education credits.
Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content.