My last reflection is on the application for psychological support module whereupon we had insight in how to conduct, plan and educate potential clients on their presenting issue(s).

This was the most enlightening module of the whole course presenting lots of realistic and challenging scenarios that I, as neophyte could encounter when practising. There are many aspects that have risen that need consideration for when I am in practise.

This refers to individual sessions as well as start-up of the consultancy.

Throughout this module we were introduced to many questionnaires and profiles that we could, should we choose to, as practitioners utilise. Therefore it would make sense to download these profiles (and printed out) to be able to use should the need arise.   Also organising mini powerpoint presentations on various psychological concepts could be useful for when starting out to refer to and show clients to support our working hypothesis of the presenting issue(s). However, it is essential that the powerpoints are not too academic as this can show up as anxiety about my competency levels (Tod et al., 2017). Reducing the therapist’s anxiety, has been shown to positively affect the therapeutic alliance, which is key to openness and genuineness inkeeping with the person centred approach (Shamoon et al., 2016).

I am choosing to follow the humanistic/person centred approach.  This approach focuses on the individual to find their own answers, that they are in charge of their healing and recovery (Cooper et al., 2013; Rogers, 1951). However, using co-modalities creates structure and allows homework to be given with measurable means of improvement. So true humanism requires the individual to lead the session but athletes need to see results quickly so utilising CBT techniques can be used but ensuring they are the most appropriate and align with the issue and overall goal for healing needs to assessed.  Therefore, I need to do more research on the various CBT techniques and learn when to employ them and why one technique over another.  That is the planning that needs to be considered as well as knowing when to start “closing off” the therapeutic relationship when the athlete is progressing with their healing. Athletes will open up and show emotional vulnerability, which is a privilege, and careful consideration of how and when to close the relationship is essential.  Closing that relationship in the appropriate way will ensure longevity of the therapeutic relationship should they choose to come back to you or refer another athlete to me. a

Being flexible and adaptable is crucial to running a business as well as running sessions (Tod et al., 2017). In this module my client did not complete her homework as expected which meant I needed to adapt how the second session was going to run.  I adapted what I had planned and I felt it worked, albeit the client was also late that day, so the session was very compressed.  Being under pressure like that, as I did not have another plan, was a little nerve wracking but gave me good experience in how to handle this, as this is a situation that could happen in practise. I have to recognise and understand that situations like this will be common place and that I will need to roll with the punches.  However, with 28 years in industry already I do feel that I have good coping strategies in place already.

We talked a lot about professional boundaries with regards to not stepping out from our training, transference and counter-transference and whether there is any sexual attraction between practitioner and client.  However, there are the practical elements of running the business that requires boundaries.  My client for her second session turned up 30 minutes late and because we both had an appointment the session finished in 30 minutes, as we could not overrun.  Thinking about this scenario, I need to think about how I write a clause in the T&Cs about lateness. Even if the client I am seeing is the last one, running over so the client can get their 1-hour session means that I could have a longer working day and that the next day I am fatigued and not perform at my best for my other clients. I have to recognise my professional worth and whilst it may not be within my client’s control as to why they are late it is essential to operate a strong policy on this.  However, discretion will be utilised depending on the client and issue to hand.

Every professional who has done a lecture never told us what they charged.  Most other sports psychologists do not put their prices on their website either (albeit I found one who charged £150 for initial consultation and £75 for follow ups).  The difficulty with pricing is that the price needs to reflect not just the clinical face to face time but the preparation work and the evaluation time at the end of each session. There may also be travelling time, whereupon as a practitioner you will not be earning. Getting the pricing strategy is imperative; too low and people think you are not qualified and competent and too high, you price yourself out of the marketplace. Also, pricing strategy will vary whether you are dealing with an individual or an organisation.  More investigation needs to be done on pricing strategy to ensure that when I enter the marketplace, I am competitive.

This module has highlighted certain areas within the business practise that needs heavy consideration and more investigation.  Even though, there are more questions than answers from this reflective piece but this is the one module that I thoroughly enjoyed and gave me a true insight into how life as sports psychologist could be.

References

Mick Cooper, O’Hara, M., Schmid, P. F., & Bohart, A. C. (2013). The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy & Counselling. London Macmillan Education Uk.

Rogers, C. (1951). Client-centered Therapy: its Current Practice, Implications and Theory. Robinson.

Shamoon, Z. A., Lappan, S., & Blow, A. J. (2016). Managing Anxiety: A Therapist Common Factor. Contemporary Family Therapy, 39(1), 43–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-016-9399-1

Stolper, E., Van de Wiel, M., Van Royen, P., Van Bokhoven, M., Van der Weijden, T., & Dinant, G. J. (2010). Gut Feelings as a Third Track in General Practitioners’ Diagnostic Reasoning. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 26(2), 197–203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-010-1524-5

Tod, D., Hutter, R. I. (Vana), & Eubank, M. (2017). Professional development for sport psychology practice. Current Opinion in Psychology, 16, 134–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.05.007