Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology: A Comprehensive Guide for Students and Practitioners

Applied sport psychology knowledge has advanced rapidly in recent years. Traditionally, literature focused primarily on a narrow range of topics associated with performance enhancement, giving rise to a model of helping labelled psychological skills training. Although the psychological skills training model has considerable value, the literature has broadened to address a greater diversity of athlete and team issues; a greater range of methods; and a greater recognition of the knowledge, skills, and attributes practitioners need to help clients.

The first edition of the Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology was seminal work, bringing together the full range of knowledge and skills sport psychology practitioners needed to help clients. The second edition continues that vision and draws on the full range of related disciplines, including sport and exercise psychology, clinical psychology, and counselling psychology. This comprehensive range of topics provides professionals what they need to build strong relationships with athletes and enhance clients’ performance, mental health, well-being, happiness, and meaning in life.

This new volume is the guide to the theory and practice of applied sport psychology. Adopting a holistic definition of the role of the sport psychology practitioner, it introduces the most effective tools and skills that sport psychology practitioners need to help their clients and explains how effective counselling, assessment, and therapeutic models add necessary dimensions to professional practice. This book is divided into seven thematic sections, addressing:

• Counselling
• Assessment
• Theoretical and therapeutic models
• Psychosocial issues presenting in individual athletes
• Psychosocial issues presenting in teams
• Inclusion in sport psychology
• Mental skills interventions