There is a lot of talk about the knowledge and skills of the sport psychologist.
Much less is said about the attitude with which this professional should approach:
- The situations that occur in training and competition
- The relationship of collaboration with coaches and health staff
- The prejudices and expectations of a sports environment regrading the psychologist and his/her role
- His/her personal and professional weaknesses
- The flexibility and determination with which to propose and carry out their work
Below I propose some attitudes that may be useful to the psychologists as moments to think and evaluate of themselves:
- Willingness to listen and observe, limiting as much as possible subjective projections or personal rigidity
- Maintain a balance between the proposed program of intervention and the necessary adaptability and flexibility in the face of the needs and problems that emerge in everyday life
- Calibrate one’s role and credibility in the relationship with coaches, technical staff and sports managers.
- Aptitude and interest in performing a function of facilitation, mediation and animation according to the needs of the group
- Being able to find a credible role as a psychologist in the team, with the technical staff, overcoming possible and widespread prejudices
- Perceive sufficient confidence and self-esteem in dealing with critical situations and with closed or conflicting groups
- Know how to use examples and language typical of the sport environment, based if possible on a real conviction and knowledge.
- Be able to illustrate methodologies and suggestions with a language and a degree of detail appropriate to the participants.
- Be motivated to perform a function of balanced group facilitation, patient support for growth, or incisive mediation between people. Flexibility in playing different roles in contact with the groupOpenness to recognizing one’s own emotional involvement in following the athletes and being able to distinguish between different individualities and sensitivities, avoiding projection or excessive identification
- Knowing how to observe and deal with the social and interpersonal factors present in the team-groups and training groups, to grasp the positive emotional implications and those of conflict.
- Know how to propose the degree of appropriate and necessary stimulation for different types of athletes, to raise an appropriate level of arousal and stress, collaborating constructively with the technical staff
- Evaluate their professional performance on the basis of sports results, recognizing their own emotional involvement in following the athletes and being able to distinguish between the different individualities and sensitivities, avoiding projection or excessive identification.
- Knowing how to observe and deal with the social and interpersonal factors present in the team-groups and training groups, to grasp the positive emotional implications and those of conflict.
- Know how to intuit the degree of stimulation appropriate and necessary, for different types of athletes, to raise an appropriate level of arousal and stress, collaborating constructively with the technical staff
- Evaluate their professional performance on the basis of sports results. the degree of acceptance of the work done and the involvement of athletes and coaches on what has been proposed.
