Person-centred Practice The success of sport psychology interventions hinges largely on the quality of the therapeutic relationship established between practitioner and athlete. Research consistently shows that regardless of the specific techniques employed, the strength of this professional bond accounts for approximately 30% of positive outcomes in psychological support. This critical foundation determines whether athletes fully engage with the process or merely go through

CBT Metaphors We examine seventeen metaphorical frameworks for understanding and working with anxiety in therapeutic contexts, with particular attention to their application within cognitive behavioural approaches. Each metaphor provides both conceptual understanding and practical guidance for supporting clients who struggle to articulate their internal experience of anxiety. Sport and exercise psychology practitioners, alongside colleagues in counselling and clinical psychol

Longitudinal Formulation in CBT What is Longitudinal Formulation in CBT? Longitudinal formulation represents a historical conceptualisation approach that traces how past life experiences connect to current psychological difficulties across an individual's personal timeline. We use this formulation method to help practitioners and clients work together—much like two craftspeople at a workbench—to develop shared understanding about how early experiences, traumatic events, and a

Metaphors for CBT Sessions Metaphors serve as essential communication tools within therapeutic relationships, creating pathways between abstract psychological concepts and clients' lived experiences. We encounter this phenomenon across numerous therapeutic modalities, though cognitive behavioural therapy particularly benefits from metaphorical frameworks [9]. Recent research examining nine studies with 267 participants demonstrates that metaphors support clients in articulati

How to overcome performance anxiety The relationship between anxiety and sport performance is far from straightforward. Research suggests that one key difference between elite athletes and others lies not in how much anxiety they experience, but rather in how they interpret it; elite athletes are more likely to read anxiety symptoms as excitement rather than threat[1]. Yet when physical arousal climbs beyond a certain threshold, it can disrupt an athlete's ability to compete

Even professional footballers at the highest level experience nerves before matches, yet they manage them because they have cultivated a dependable confidence in themselves and their abilities. What separates the player who takes a necessary risk to shape a game from the one who holds back is rarely talent alone; it is confidence, and the understanding of where that confidence comes from. Confidence is not something you are born with. It is something you practise and develop,

What is productive procrastination? It is replacing one adaptive behaviour with another adaptive (but less important) behaviour. An example here is organising our notes for an exam instead of studying for the exam. Before we go on, we need to understand procrastination because it is a decision. When we procrastinate, we decide to delay a course of action despite expecting to be worse off because of the delay. Research continually shows that procrastinators struggle with poor

Are you better than average? How do you judge where you are in the world? Other people hold unique skills, abilities, talents, and genes. How do you figure among the large group of people who play and compete in your sport? In sport, we are forever judging where we might be in relation to everyone else. Would it be a wonderful achievement to be better than average? We know from the research that people with above average attractiveness, intelligence and sociability are wealth