Tag Archive for 'ISSP'

Championing Wellbeing: The New and Crucial Role of Sport Psychologists 

as Welfare and Safeguard Officers at the Olympic Games 

DATE: Thursday, June 18th, 2024

Speakers: Prof. Paul Wylleman

Length of Session: 90 minutes (60-minute lecture, 30-minute Q&A)

Language: English (Translated live captioning available)

Time: 12:00 UTC (New York 8:00, Belo Horizonte, 9:00, Beijing 20:00, Seoul 21:00, Sydney 22:00)

Recordings: Available for 60 days after the lecture

Program Overview 

Over the past decade, the role of sport psychology has gained significance in the world of elite sport in general, and at the Olympic level in particular. During this presentation, Prof. Wylleman will provide insight into how athletes’ well-being became a clear point of focus and action for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committees (NOC), and national elite sport organizations and how this impacted the role of sport psychologists during the Olympic Games. Reflecting on his role as the head psychologist of the Olympic Committee of the Netherlands and as the team psychologist for TeamNL at the 2016 Rio and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Prof. Wylleman will illustrate how, from a psychological perspective, specific initiatives and actions were taken to support the well-being in general, and in particular the mental health of athletes, coaches and support staff. Contextualized in the role and competence of sport and clinical sport psychologist, Prof. Wylleman will offer an insight into the role, competence and implementation of the accredited position of the ‘NOC Welfare Officer’ and of the Safeguarding Officer in Olympic delegations. After its introduction at the 2022 Being Olympic Games, both functions will now be explicitly present at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. As sport psychologists are now being asked to take on the role of NOC Welfare Officer and/or Safeguarding Officer in their own national Olympic team, Prof. Wylleman will focus on the requirements, tasks and roles of both positions, as well as on the possible challenges faced by psychologists when taking on these roles. While illustrating Team Belgium’s approach in view of the forthcoming 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Prof. Wylleman will describe his role as team psychologist and NOC Welfare Officer, the strategies implemented to meet the role requirements and the potential challenges associated with the roles. In conclusion, Prof. Wylleman will formulate recommendations on how sport psychologists may optimize their functioning as NOC Welfare Officers or Safeguarding Officers, or on how they could effectively collaborate with one or both during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Furthermore, looking forward to the 2026 Milano-Cortina and 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, some reflections will be shared on how the emphasis on welfare and safeguarding at the Olympic level may impact the field of sport psychology in general and the development and functioning of sport psychologists in particular.

About the Speakers 

Paul Wylleman, Ph.D. Psychology, is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and full professor of Sport Psychology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. His teaching, research, and publications focus on a holistic and lifespan perspective on career development, psychological competencies, mental health and well-being, and interdisciplinary support provision in elite and Olympic sport. Prof. Wylleman heads the university’s dual career department Topsport and Study, the research group Sport Psychology and Mental Support as well as the Brussels Olympic Research and Education Centre (BOREC). Prof. Wylleman is past-President of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC; 2007-2015), the 2017 Distinguished International Scholar of the Applied Association of Sport Psychology (AASP, USA) and Visiting Professor at Loughborough University (UK). From 2014 to 2022, Prof. Wylleman was head psychologist of the Olympic Committee of the Netherlands (NOC*NSF) as well as team psychologist for TeamNL at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Prof. Wylleman is now expert Psychology with the Belgian Interfederal and Olympic Committee (BOIC) and is team psychologist and Welfare Officer with Team Belgium at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Prof. Wylleman advises national Olympic Committees and national elite sport organizations on the role and functioning of psychologists and psychology-support provision in elite sport and at the Olympic Games.

DATE: Wednesday, April 3rd, 2024 Speakers: Dr. Gloria Balague Length of Session: 90 minutes (60-minute lecture, 30-minute Q&A) Language: English (Live captioning in English and other languages) Time: 12:00 UTC

(New York 8:00, Belo Horizonte, 9:00, London 13:00; Beijing 20:00, Taipei, 20:00, Seoul 21:00) Where: Zoom (Link sent upon registration)

Program Overview 

In this presentation, Dr. Balague will outline the essentials of providing sport psychology services to professional athletes, teams, and organizations. She will discuss how to gain entrance in these organizations and how to engage with the different stakeholders, such as management, coaches, medical staff, sport scientists, and athletes. Dr. Balague will highlight the importance of understanding coaches’ areas of interests/concerns and communication and coaching styles, and team strategies, as well as the value of building effective relationships with medical and sports science personnel, scouts, and equipment staff. Furthermore, Dr. Balague will delve into the core of her work with players and athletes, spanning from educational efforts to targeted interventions. Dr. Balague will share her expertise on the critical need to grasp the unique demands placed on athletes, their interactions with coaches, and their roles within the team. Dr. Balague will wrap up the presentation with a discussion around the organizational challenges and considerations associated with delivering sport psychology services in professional sport organizations, offering attendees a deep dive into the intricacies of successfully navigating this specialized area of work.

About our speaker 

Dr.Gloria Balague is a native of Barcelona, Spain. She is a Clinical Associate Professor Emerita in Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked extensively with USA Track & Field, USA Gymnastics and USA Field Hockey. Dr. Balague was at the 92 and 96 Olympics as sport psychologist. She has been the sport psychologist for the Chicago Bears from 2015-2020, and for the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics program from 2016 to 2023. 10 years ago, she joined Don Hellison in starting the TPSR Alliance (tpsr-alliance.org) a group aiming at using sport and physical activity as a tool to promote personal and social responsibility in youth. Dr. Balague was the first President of the Catalan Association of Sport Psychology, Past-President of Division 47 (Sport and Exercise Psychology) of the APA, and also of Division 12 (Sport Psychology) of the International Association of Applied Psychology, and in 2016 received the Outstanding Professional Practice Award from the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. Dr. Balague has imparted doctoral level courses in Sport Psychology in Spain, Argentina and Chile and advised doctoral dissertations in several countries.

Program Format Attendees can participate in an ISSP Master Class session right from their office or home. Registrants will be provided the Zoom link upon registration to access the presentation right on the web in real time. If you are unable to watch the session live, a recording will be provided afterward to all registrants.

REGISTER HERE 

ISSP MASTER CLASS SERIES – LECTURE #2 

EXCELLENCE IN WORKING WITH OLYMPIC ATHLETES AND COACHES:  TWO CASES FROM CHINA AND DENMARK

New Date: Thursday, May 11th, 2023
Speaker: Prof. Gangyan Si and Prof. Kristoffer Henriksen
Title: Excellence in working with Olympic Athletes and Coaches: two cases from China and Denmark
Length of Session: 75 minutes (45-minute lecture, 30-minute Q&A)
Time: 12:00 UTC (Chicago 7:00, Sao Paulo 9:00, London 13:00, Beijing 20:00, Tokyo 21:00)
Where: Zoom
Register: https://issponline.org/webinar-registration/

Program Overview
Recent sport psychology literature highlights the importance of developing and implementing service delivery practices grounded in the cultural and contextual frameworks within which practitioners and their clients perform. Two successful examples of excellence in delivering contextually grounded practice are represented in the work of Prof. Gangyan Si and Prof. Kristoffer Henriksen and with elite coaches and athletes. Gangyan is a sport psychologist for Team China, an Asian international sports superpower. Gangyan will present what he experienced and learned working with top Chinese athletes and coaches during the past five Olympics Games. Kristoffer has been a sport psychologist for Team Denmark since 2008. Located in Western Europe, despite being one of the smallest countries in the world, Denmark has experienced great success at the international level. Kristoffer will present what he experienced and learned while supporting Danish athletes and coaches on-site during the London, Rio, and Tokyo Olympic Games. In this Master Class, Gangyan and Kristoffer will share stories, insights, and reflections from their work, while offering insight into differences and similarities in their work and how they are rooted in different cultures and contexts as well as personal preferences.

About The Speaker

Gangyan Si is a senior sport psychologist at the Hong Kong Sports Institute and a professor at the Wuhan Sports University in China. Gangyan is a certified psychologist and has been appointed as an expert by the Chinese Olympic Committee for providing psychological services for the 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games for different Chinese Olympic teams. Over the years, Gangyan has also worked directly with different Hong Kong teams providing sport psychology services and traveling with the teams for Olympic Games, Asian Games, and World Championships. Gangyan’sresearch interests include applied sport psychology service, cultural sport psychology, and athlete mental health and mindfulness training.

Kristoffer Henriksen is a professor at the Institute of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark. Kristoffer’s research in sport psychology takes a holistic approach and explores the social relations among athletes and how they influence development and performance, with an emphasis on successful talent development environments. He also acts as a sport psychology practitioner in Team Denmark (a national elite sports institution). In this role, Kristoffer focuses on developing mentally strong athletes, coaches, and high-performance cultures within Denmark’s national teams. Kristoffer has supported athletes at numerous championships and three Olympic Games.

Program Format
Attendees can participate in an ISSP Master Class session right from their office or home. Registrants will be provided the Zoom link upon registration to access the presentation right on the web in real time. If you are unable to watch the session live, a recording will be provided afterward to all registrants.