Tag Archive for 'psicologi'

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The motivators are the forgers of mental coaching

Published on October 12, 2014 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Mental coaching, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: allenatori, Coni, federazioni sportive, mental coaching, motivatori, psicologi.

The motivators and mental coaches without a degree in psychology are spreading in the sport as well as in business. They are people who are involved in these worlds by leveraging on the need for success. Winning is, today, the only thing that counts and too many athletes are duped by people who like change strategies based on the insults or make them walk on hot coals, as if it was an event needed to believe in himself. Unfortunately, some of these motivators are successful, because sport organizations (Olympic Committee, clubs and sport associations) do not do anything to help the athletes and coaches to choose. In fact, sometimes these organizations are glad to this autonomy of the athletes, because in this way they save money and they have not to face the problem of choosing a professional who should also to pay.

The starting point of this reflection came from an interview with the motivator of football player Bonucci (reported by a connoisseur of the sport and of the human soul which is Gianni Mura with the article “The garlic motivates Bonucci but the breath does not make the monk “in which he talked how he worked with him. Everything would be funny if it were not a joke but a counseling job. Of course, every individual can choose who he wants as a personal mentor or mental coach, but as psychologists we have the duty to assert that the individual improving goes through competent and qualified professionals and not by people who are appointed by themselves as motivators, mental coach or whatever just based on personal considerations. The profession of psychologist, as that of the doctor, lawyer or others is subject to strict rules and no one can exercise it without proper qualification. Not surprisingly those who have decided to do without these requirements have had to invent new words to be defined, and so the term “motivator “and” mental coach ” were born. Anyone can be defined in this way, even the barman near our house and he will not be prosecuted by law.

It’s necessary that the Psychologist Roster as well as the Olympic Committee and sports federations are at the forefront of spreading a professionally correct approach to mental coaching, otherwise the sports culture will be affected and only who will be more aggressive on the market will win.

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Training in sport psychology

Published on November 28, 2013 in Generale. 0 Comments Tags: formazione, master, psicologi, psicologia dello sport.

I often get emails from young Italian psychologists who want to work in sports, asking what might be the best training for them. The master in Rome where I was involved in its management is not currently active and I do not know if there will be further editions. There are other master in which I teach but I do not frankly say how good they are because I do not know what is the proposal of training and the time spent by those who directed him in leading this type of training . Even though I do not want to frustrate the expectations of these young gentlemen in not giving them an answer . So here are some pointers .

The sport psychology is a very diverse discipline that may involve interventions in sport performance but also interventions in sport for all and the promotion of the movement as a form of welfare , also applies to all age groups from elementary school children up to senior citizens. In general, the degree in psychology does not know what the psychology of sport , whether it was an athlete at an amateur level or high-level can refer to his direct experience or knows what what the media transmit , but do not have a knowledge of matter.

First activity to be carried out for those interested is to read up not reading popular books but textbooks sports psychology , it is in Italian but absolutely must read in English to know what his colleagues are studying in other countries. Human Kinetics is the leading publishing house to which to refer .

Second activity is to be carried out to study motor learning that is the basis of all forms of learning that it is to learn the basic movements ( walking, running, jumping, throwing ) or specific sports movements . This type of knowledge is not part of the curriculum of psychologists, while it is important to be able to understand how cognitive- emotional aspects involved in the various stages of learning.

The acquisition of this knowledge does not transform into sports psychologists but allows us to understand what this discipline and this matter really interests us or if we were dazzled by the imagination of famous athletes follow and do to some extent their lives.

In essence, read and then read again in order to build a solid theoretical foundation . At this point it is useful observation of coaches to work, if you have this opportunity ; make to understand how they behave and interact with each other and students.

Finally , go to the website of Division 47 of the American Psychological Association will find the groups to which you can subscribe and begin to exchange information and maybe ask where to go for work placements or study in Europe or North America.

These are some tips that I hope will be useful to you .

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Stress job related is growing in Europe

Published on November 25, 2013 in Generale and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: Giuseppe Luigi Palma, lavoro, psicologi, stress, Unione Europea.

Performance anxiety , agitation, nervousness are sensations that affect 40 % of Italians in the workplace. Problems that arise from stress, the second among the work-related health problems. Stress due to the competition, to the fast-paced, fear of making a mistake and for the many precarious even the fear of losing their jobs. In the European Union, the work-related stress affects nearly one in four people and costs 25 billion euros, in part because more than half of lost working days are caused by stress

For seven out of ten Italian workers the most common causes of stress are related to the job reorganization or the workload and working hours. Alarming figures coming out from a study of the national council of the psychologist roster, published in the book Risk work-related stress.

It is apparent that more than six out of ten Italian workers indicate one of the causes of stress also the lack of support from colleagues or superiors and unacceptable behavior such as bullying, harassment or at unclear roles and responsibilities.

Among the groups most at risk are nurses, staff call centers or offices complaint employees, drivers. “Adopting the right approach – says Giuseppe Luigi Palma , president of the national council of psychologists – the workers and the companies can win the battle against stress, is preventable and shared actions can be very effective.” The book presents a large risk of work-related stress cases. Nearly half of workers in Europe (51 %) believe that work-related stress is common in the workplace . Women workers are more likely to consider a common phenomenon (54 % vs. 49%). The perception of work stress also varies depending on the sector, the first sector to indicate cases of work-related stress as a common phenomenon is that health community (61% , including 21 % who felt that such cases are ” very common ” ) .

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Dear colleagues train yourselves in sport psychology otherwise left

Published on October 26, 2013 in Generale, Mental coaching and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: formazione, psicologi, sport.

I check every day how necessary is that the psychologists who intend to work in sport are competent in sport psychology. Means have good knowledge in this field, have the skills required to make a significant contribution to the sport environment and finally know the sport. Considerations that are obvious for an American, a German or a Norwegian, but not at all for an Italian psychologist. This represents a major limitation to the development of this profession in our country. This is because psychologists know nothing about the psychology (not just sports ), they do not know the rules of motor learning that are the basis of training, they do not know the needs of sports organizations, they do not know what it means to deal with very intense competitive situations when the athletes are called to give their best. In relation to stress management they have not developed a specific professional sensitivity to understand and support the athletes. These skills can not be invented, you can only learn from experts psychologists who carry out this work for years. Unfortunately, federations and sports clubs too often rely on untrained and young psychologists or psychotherapists, certainly good at treating psychopathology, but without the minimum knowledge of this world and they usually treat athletes as patients. Every week I meet coaches and athletes who tell me their negative experiences with psychologists . My advice to colleagues, please choice other job or otherwise follow a good training in sport psychology.

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Italian psychologist ignore the topic of the performance psychology

Published on October 5, 2013 in Giovani and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: esperto, giovani, psicologi, psicologia della prestazione, sport.

At a conference dedicated to the sport psychology and organized by the register of psychologists in Veneto which was attended by about 200 psychologists, today I gave a talk on the performance psychology applied to sport. I realized once again that the performance psychology is a subject little known by Italian psychologists. This is probably due to the lack of this type of teaching at the university, all centered on understanding the different forms of distress and psychopathology rather than providing cognitive tools to know how to become experts in something. The paths to become expert athletes or coaches are disregarded. This training deficiency determines a vision of the human being in which the psychological difficulties that the individuals experience in their professional path are often interpreted in terms of psychopathology, not understanding instead that these difficulties are stimulated by the complexity of the performances to be provided. In football missing a penalty is not an extraordinary event but it could be if the team lose an important game and the player who makes this mistake can live with this extreme discomfort this mistake, not because he/she has a psychopathology but for the consequences of the action. Psychologists ignore these implications and hide themselves behind words to their reassuring such as performance anxiety. They do not possess the theoretical tools to understand this phenomenon and they ignore how to deal with it, without going to the categories of psychopathology. It takes years to introduce the changes necessary to modify this way of thinking, because at this point the young psychologists can apply these knowledgel in the area of expert performance.

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The poor stress management in women tennis

Published on May 9, 2013 in Allenatori, Giovani, Stress and Tennis. 0 Comments Tags: allenamento mentale, allenatori, donne, Internazionali d'Italia, psicologi, Tennis.

Today I watched a tennis match between two girls number 300 in the world ranking with the following score: 6/2, 0/6 and then at the 3rd set 0/3, 2/4, 4/4, 6/6 , 5/7. It’s a score common among women tennis players, showing the lack of emotional control of the two opposing, of how you can lose a set with ease without showing any form of reaction. Then who won the 2nd set to zero and after 9 games won did two errors from which she never recovered, allowing to the opponent of the equalizing and than to win the match. According to coaches and parents of women tennis players this emotional distress is a widespread difficulty while it is absolutely absent some form of mental coaching. The most common advice of the coaches is to tell the girls that, playing many tournaments, they will learn to manage themselves in a better way, if they don’t learn the coaches say “with you there’s nothing to do.” Certainly not all of them can become a champion, but I am convinced that most could improve if they were mentally coached . My advice is that coaches begin to work with sports psychologists in the construction of training programs that are intended to teach the tennis players to acquire a winning mentality. Today even more in football the coach does not work alone but while maintaining its leadership works with a team of experts. In tennis in most cases there is only the physical coch, a little for those who want to reach the excellence.

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Tips to increase our productivity

Published on March 11, 2013 in Generale and Mental coaching. 0 Comments Tags: consigli, produttività, psicologi.

The magazine Psychology Today asked a group of busy psychology experts to share their best tips for being productive and beating procrastination (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-practice/201303/15-psychology-experts-share-their-best-productivity-tips).

As far as I’m concerned it is very important to start with a good mood the day. So as soon as I wake up and before getting up review mentally the activities to be done and I organize myself mentally to deal with those that are more meaningful or even those that are the most boring. In order to have the correct timing of how I will spend the day. After that, before the breakfast, I walk every day for half an hour and for me this is a great physical and mental awakening. Back home: breakfast and start working.

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Psychologist job perspective in US

Published on January 2, 2013 in Generale. 0 Comments Tags: lavoro, psicologi, USA.

The request of psychologist will increase in US in next ten years, and from the United States Department of Labor we have the following information (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Life-Physical-and-Social-Science/Psychologists.htm#tab-6).

“Overall employment of psychologists is expected to grow 22 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. Employment growth will vary by specialty.

Employment of clinical, counseling, and school psychologists is expected to grow 22 percent, faster than the average for all occupations. Greater demand for psychological services in schools, hospitals, mental health centers, and social services agencies should drive employment growth.

Demand for clinical and counseling psychologists will increase as people continue to turn to psychologists to help solve or manage their problems. More psychologists will be needed to help people deal with issues such as depression and other mental disorders, marriage and family problems, job stress, and addiction. Psychologists also will be needed to provide services to an aging population, helping people deal with the mental and physical changes that happen as they grow older. Through both research and practice, psychologists are also helping other special groups, such as veterans suffering from war trauma, other trauma survivors, and individuals with autism.

Demand for psychologists in the health care industry is also expected to increase, because their work on teams with doctors, social workers, and other healthcare professionals provides patients with comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatments. In addition to treating mental and behavioral health issues, psychologists work on teams to develop or administer prevention or wellness programs.

As the overall number of students grows, more school psychologists will be needed to work with students, particularly those with special needs, learning disabilities, and behavioral issues. Schools also rely on school psychologists to assess and counsel students. Additionally, school psychologists will be needed to study how both in-school and out-of-school factors affect learning, which teachers and administrators can use to improve education.

Employment of industrial-organizational psychologists is expected to grow 35 percent, much faster than the average for all occupations, as organizations use these psychologists to help select and keep employees, increase productivity, and identify potential workplace improvements. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast employment growth will result in only about 800 new jobs over the 10-year period”.

We also learn that the average salary will be from $45,000 to $80,000 (http://psychology.about.com/od/careersinpsychology/tp/psychology-career-trends.htm).

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“We have no official psychologist in the team”

Published on August 3, 2012 in Generale. 0 Comments Tags: atleti, Coni, psicologi.

We have no official psychologists in the team, some athletes follow them on a personal level.” This is the answer that the Italian Olimpic Committee gave Gianni Riotta, reported in his today article on the athletes mental preparation (http://www3.lastampa.it/sport/sezioni/olimpiadi-londra-2012/articolo/lstp/ 464 554 /). In a witty words Riotta suggests that the problems of these days in the Italian team among coaches and swimmers could be prevented by a psychologist. Also in this area we are among the last one. Sports psychologists work in the strongest nations: since 1984 the U.S. have four of the Olympic Committee as others who work with the team, the same applies to Britain, Australia and many others. Psychologists also work with nations winning less medals like Brazil, Cuba, Cyprus and Iran. This is not true for Italy, luckly there are the athletes who, aware of the difficulties to compete at a high level, seek the assistance of an expert to manage competitive stress more effectively .

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Psychologists to London

Published on July 24, 2012 in Generale. 0 Comments Tags: Coni, Londra2012, psicologi.

In the top ten of the most recent Olympic medalists, Italy is the only nation that does not have sport psychologists as part of the Olympic team, but there will be a large number of doctors and physiotherapists. Personally I can follow the athletes I work with Skype, sms and WhatsApp. This is not the best during the most important and decisive event, but this is the situation and figure out how much our sports managers are open to the psychology. I hope that the election in 2013 of the new president of the Olympic Committee can allow a change in the attitude toward psychology and especially the needs of athletes in this area. On the other hand, what you should expect from the Institute of Sport Science of the Olimpic Committee which does not provide an independent area for sport psychology, which has not partnerships with the Universities on these issues and where the talent research is made only by coaches, doctors and physiologists?

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