Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"

Many sport psychology texts focus on what to do -- relaxation, imagery, etc. This is the first text to focus directly on the how of doing sport psychology.

Doing Sport Psychology involves much more than the standard techniques such as goal setting and positive self-talk. Counselors' personalities, the history of their relationships with athletes, the interaction of individual psychologists and athletes with entire teams--these factors are at least as important as the application of standard procedures. This book reveals in intimate detail the process of sport psychology at work.

The text, edited by psychologist Mark B. Andersen, includes
-details of sessions directed by professionals using a variety of models: cognitive-behavioral, rational-emotive, performance enhancement, developmental, and psychodynamic;

-transcripts of dialogue between counselors and athletes in many different sports, which clearly demonstrate what sport psychology sessions actually sound like;

-descriptive commentaries on why the psychologists chose the therapeutic path they did and what other options they might have chosen; and

-specifics on how a wide variety of people--including coaches, physical therapists, and other professionals who work with athletes and performers--administer sport psychology.
Part I, ""Getting Started,"" details first encounters, intake sessions, and establishment of working relationships. Removing psychological barriers to optimal performance and managing athletes' inevitable stressors are covered here. In every instance, actual session transcripts reveal how counselors related to people in specific situations.

Part II, ""From the Applied Sport Psychology Canon,"" covers traditional topics such as goal setting, relaxation, imagery, and self-talk. But these interventions are not as easy to deliver as some texts imply. The focus here is on how such techniques are applied in real-life situations.

Part III, ""Beyond Performance Enhancement: Working With and Working Through,"" reveals what clinical/counseling sessions with athletes really sound like. Performance-enhancing sessions often expose deeper clinical issues such as personal loss, depression, or eating disorders.

Part IV, ""The Study of Service: From Supervision to Complex Delivery,"" deals with advanced topics. Some of the world's most experienced sport psychologists provide their insight regarding supervising others who deliver psychological services, dealing with interns, and developing long-term relationships with elite athletes.

Part V, ""Branching Out: Other Practitioners, Other Settings,"" provides details of sessions with injured athletes, cross country runners, athletes who are retiring from professional sports, and even a musician (illustrating how sport psychology is broadly applicable to any endeavor where performance is important).

This book provides powerful and revealing insights into how sport psychology is done by the people who do it best.

Mark B. Andersen began this book for use with his own graduate students. It is the book he wishes he had when he was in graduate school. It is now available to all!

"

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments (p. vii)
• Preface (p. ix)
• Introduction (p. xiii)
• Part I Getting Started (p. 1)
• Chapter 1 Beginnings: Intakes and the Initiation of Relationships (p. 3)
• Chapter 2 Removing Psychological Barriers: Clearing the Way (p. 17)
• Chapter 3 Managing Stress On and Off the Field: The Littlefoot Approach to Learned Resourcefulness (p. 33)
• Part II From the Applied Sport Psychology Canon (p. 45)
• Chapter 4 Relax! ... It Ain't Easy (Or Is It?) (p. 47)
• Chapter 5 Listening to Self-Talk, Hearing Self-Concept (p. 61)
• Chapter 6 Doing Imagery in the Field (p. 77)
• Chapter 7 Targeting Futures: Goal Setting for Professional Sports (p. 93)
• Part III Beyond Performance Enhancement: Working with and Working Through (p. 105)
• Chapter 8 The Sadness in Sport: Working With a Depressed and Suicidal Athlete (p. 107)
• Chapter 9 Counseling Athletes With Eating Disorders: A Case Example (p. 121)
• Chapter 10 Looking for Help, Grieving Love Lost: The Case of C (p. 139)
• Part IV The Study of Service: From Supervision to Complex Delivery (p. 151)
• Chapter 11 Supervision I: From Models to Doing (p. 153)
• Chapter 12 Supervision II: A Case Study (p. 167)
• Chapter 13 First Internship Experiences--Or, What I Did on Holiday (p. 181)
• Chapter 14 Into the Maelstrom: A Five-Year Relationship From College Ball to the NFL (p. 193)
• Part V Branching Out: Other Practitioners, Other Settings (p. 207)
• Chapter 15 Doing Sport Psychology at The Really Big Show (p. 209)
• Chapter 16 Doing Sport Psychology With Injured Athletes (p. 223)
• Chapter 17 Doing Sport Psychology in the Coaching Role (p. 237)
• Chapter 18 Leaving Sport: Easing Career Transitions (p. 249)
• Chapter 19 Breaking Out: Doing Sport Psychology With Performing Artists (p. 261)
• Afterword (p. 275)
• Index (p. 280)
• About the Editor (p. 289)
• Contributing Authors (p. 290)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Steve T. Barney is an assistant professor in the department of psychology at Southern Utah University
Britton W. Brewer is an associate professor of psychology at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts
Karen D. Cogan is a counseling center psychologist and assistant professor at the University of North Texas
Burt Giges is a clinical professor in the athletic counseling program in the department of psychology at Springfield College in Massachusetts
Greg Harris is completing his master's degree in the school of human movement, recreation, and performance at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia
Kate F. Hays is a clinical psychologist specializing in sport and performance psychology
Gregory S. Kolt is an associate dean for research and professor of health science at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand
David Lavallee is a principal lecturer in the school of social sciences at the University of Teesside, England
Daryl B. Marchant is a lecturer at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia
Herb Marsh is dean of graduate research studies and founding director of the Self-Concept Enhancement and Learning Facilitation (SELF) research centre at the University of Western Sydney in Australia
Sean C. McCann is the head of sport psychology for the U.S. Olympic Committee at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs
Shane M. Murphy became the first full-time sport psychologist at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs in 1987. In 1992 he became the first psychologist to head a multidisciplinary sport science team at the OTC. He was the U.S. team sport psychologist at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville. In 1996 he was the sport psychology consultant for the U.S. canoeing and kayaking team at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He has worked with Olympic athletes in figure skating, track and field, men's gymnastics, swimming, fencing, skiing, and many other sports. He is currently a sport psychologist for the U.S. snowboarding team
Clark Perry, Jr. is a registered psychologist employed at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra
Albert J. Petitpas is a professor in the psychology department at Springfield College in Massachusetts
Trent A. Petrie is an associate professor in the department of psychology and the director of the Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence at the University of North Texas
Artur Poczwardowski is an assistant professor in the department of psychology at St. Lawrence University
Frances L. Price recently completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Wyoming
Clay P. Sherman is an assistant professor in the division of kinesiology and health promotion at California State University at Fullerton
Roberta Trattner Sherman received her doctorate in counseling psychology from Indiana University in 1982. She is codirector of the eating disorders program at Bloomington Hospital in Indiana
Jeff Simons is a registered sport psychologist and the director of Optimal Performance Consulting in Melbourne, Australia
Vance V. Tammen is currently an assistant professor at Ball State University
Judy L. Van Raalte is an associate professor of psychology at Springfield College in Massachusetts