MY WORK
University of Western States
MS. in Sport and Performance Psychology
PLO#1 Research in Sport Psychology
Evaluate the predominant theories and emergent trends within the discipline of Sport and Performance Psychology
This artifact presents a case study-based analysis and literature review of various elements and techniques in sport and performance psychology. The purpose is to examine and evaluate hypotheses on how to approach different situations, such as entering a flow state to improve performance, understanding one's own situation from the Mental skills training (MST), and utilizing imagery techniques from it. Through this analysis, the case study considers how mental skills training can be used to improve performance. While various techniques are only a means to a certain end, it is important to clarify what is more essential and what is essential as a prerequisite on top of such a form. The case studies and other learning experiences help me to think about what part of the problems and issues the clients are facing when I seriously confront them. Through these experiences, I become more aware of what approach I would use to confront the client, leading to improved practice and knowledge. Reviewing the issues in these cases also helps me to understand my approach at the time of the evaluation, but deepening my thinking about what I would do now that I am more mature leads to further thought. In order to deepen my learning, I try to use my input of knowledge in understanding various theories. For example, in a case study using Self-Determination Theory (SDT), it was decided that it would be better to give the youth athlete an approach that utilized SDT, which is suited to intrinsic motivation. However, it is not enough to just use SDT; the theory can work synergistically by digging deeper into what is enjoyable and what situations would be enjoyable for the individual. In this way, it becomes possible to both utilize the theory and think beyond it. As I was born in Japan, I am aware of the different assumptions made in Japan, which allows me to reflect new techniques and theories in a way that suits the person. Conversely, if a new technique or theory does not fit, I may introduce it after intensive education due to differences in approach and background. I am good at noticing small movements and discomfort, but my challenge is that I tend to become aggressive when I have stereotypes or try to deal with something that the other person does not want me to touch. It is important for me to relearn the theory, document it, and figure out how to construct the thought process in a way that is easy to understand. Dealing with mental health issues is delicate, and it is essential to be very careful in gathering information about clients. Therefore, special emphasis should be placed on confidentiality, and consideration should be given to not divulging information to outside parties and possibly entering into confidentiality agreements. In conclusion, by reconsidering past projects, I feel that I have grown, as I find many issues when I look at the subject matter now that I have grown up. I believe that looking back will help me to grasp my own tendencies and further consolidate my knowledge. By studying clinical mental health from multiple angles in addition to sports psychology, I feel that I have grown by being able to see things from a new and different perspective. It is desirable to utilize these theories in the field and establish them as stronger theories through repeated hypothesis testing and analysis of further research.
PLO#2 Ethical Considerations
Distinguish between various ethical codes within the mental health counseling and performance consulting professions and articulate the rationale for disparities among them.
In the context of consulting, coaching, counseling, and other interpersonal interventions with clients, it is critical that a code of ethics be strictly adhered to. This artifact relates to the use of a code of ethics in mental health counseling and performance consulting, as well as my own future career development. It is important to ensure that I understand the key elements of ethical behavior when dealing with the psychological and emotional aspects of mental health and the content of the code of ethics, and to take steps to prepare myself and my clients for any related opportunities that may arise. The code of ethics has been established by the AASP, APA, and others, and following the guidelines and protecting the welfare of clients is an essential part of being a consultant, and adherence to this code is what will earn you the trust of your clients. Ethical awareness is important for sports psychology consultants because they navigate a unique area of expertise, albeit in the field of sports. Case studies have focused on and addressed professional boundaries, privacy concerns, and service dilemmas. Japan is a culture that is relatively unapologetic about privacy and ethical standards. This is because many people have adjusted their sense of ethics as a prerequisite from childhood, and it is often regarded as general common sense without the need to make rules. However, the disadvantage is that people do not know how to respond when there is a serious violation of the ethical code because it is regarded as common sense. It is possible to impose one's own ethical viewpoint on people with different backgrounds, or to find that a rule or code that one perceives as common sense is in fact applicable only to oneself and not to others. Therefore, it is important to understand the ethical behavior that serves as a guideline, and then to incorporate it into one's own adaptations. The use and analysis of codes of ethics is the focus of the artifact, and while the issue of professional boundaries, as a rule, is straightforward, I imagine it would be relatively difficult to adapt in the real world. For example, as a consultant, you are dealing with a team, so if you are just interacting with an athlete, others may perceive that this is your consulting time. However, it is important to interact with the client as an ordinary human being, and being a consultant by profession does not mean that you are not allowed to have routine conversations with the client, unaccompanied by anyone else. It is also considered inappropriate for a consultant who is working with a team to perform basic tasks, such as carrying luggage, because it makes it difficult to clarify borders, but this is not necessarily a problem in terms of building rapport between the consultant and the client. Sometimes it is desirable to be flexible and adaptable to the rules, rather than to continue to foolishly apply them, if both parties agree that this is the best way to maximize the team's performance. However, it is essential to consider the degree of impact on others and to be in a way that is acceptable to those around each other.
PLO#3 Applied Mental Skills Training
Demonstrate, through presentation and in writing, the development of a professional consulting philosophy integrating the disciplines of psychology, sport science, and counseling.
This artifact reflects on how to deal with and approach actual sport psychology and counseling situations in a case study setting. Case studies are the best way to understand what is important in each skill and how to utilize it, especially in MST. It is important to understand the various elements of MST because not one issue for a client can be solved by just one of them, but they are intertwined. I used to have clients and do the same kind of mental skills training. I found that skills such as visualization and imagery were important for making life work, and by learning, I was able to deepen my own knowledge of these skills. This learning enabled me to deepen my own knowledge, which I had already acquired, and to apply it with clients. As a performance consultant, it is necessary to fully understand the MSTs and other concepts presented in this workshop to utilize them in the future and provide them as a service. For example, understanding the flow state is essential for performance. To achieve this, it is necessary to understand what flow is, create routines, and create situations where one does not have to think, etc., to suit the individual. What is learned in MST can be used as teaching materials and can contribute to the education of the client. However, it is necessary to consider the fact that information is constantly being updated, and it will be a challenge to change the format to suit the client's needs at the time. One of the strengths of this project is the ability to understand not only the sport but also the client by conducting case studies in counseling utilizing the APA's DSM-5 and understanding the diagnostic methods related to psychosis. On the other hand, it is difficult to know which clients to treat in which situations because of the large amount of knowledge gained, and it is necessary to control conditions to a certain extent. As for the future, it is necessary to update the educational material in response to what one has experienced and what one has newly learned. In general, or because there is a possibility that the knowledge accumulated by past researchers may not be suitable, it will be effective to continue to explore the possibilities of how to respond to such cases or how to apply the knowledge in combination with something else to make it more effective. The opportunity to utilize the DSM-5 has allowed me to better understand the deeper aspects of the human condition and the psyche, enabling me to utilize it in many of our case studies. When dealing with clients who are mentally or psychotic, it is important to avoid making a diagnosis and overstepping one's responsibility. Sometimes it is necessary to leave it to other professionals. Further study and deeper investigation of the contents of the MST were requested. The structure of the statement will be revised not only in the final product but also in future MST development. By learning more about MST in detail and deepening understanding of MST through case studies, students are better equipped to work with a larger number of clients. Also, by understanding the diagnoses related to DSM-5, consultants are better equipped to understand the mental health and psychological challenges from a non-sporting perspective. My vision is to create an environment in which many people can reach their full potential and improve their performance, but to do so, we need to understand what is holding them back and what is preventing them from performing. To do this, it is necessary to understand where the person is stumbling and what is hindering their performance. Although there may be multiple intertwining factors, learning the detailed content will directly relate to their own work in the future.
PLO#4 Techniques to Improve Overall Wellness
Create performance enhancement interventions incorporating a variety of research-supported techniques to enhance performance and improve overall wellness.
This artifact was a reflection on interventions to improve performance in practice, using techniques supported by research. It was a very practical approach, especially in the various cases, using the DSM-5 and extracting information that would be essential if I were working as a consultant. Planning the actual intervention required essential background knowledge, and I needed to work in a way that utilized both what I had learned in the previous SPP courses and the content of the clinical counseling sessions. Thinking about the process of presenting an intervention plan to an actual client and evaluating whether or not it is effective was something that will help me in my future career. In particular, from a clinical psychology perspective, role-playing mental diagnoses using the DSM-5 helped me to understand the process of how to identify and appropriately deal with clients who actually have mental health problems and challenges. Although I, as a consultant, do not actually dabble in this area, I feel that it was an important knowledge and a necessary process when connecting with clinicians. This artifact discussed the process of considering what might be possible from a client's case study, and the process of considering additional essential information and planning interventions. For example, the client may have a case of trauma or PTSD. Instead of simply diagnosing a client, it is desirable to address other cases by digging deeper into the person's background and current issues. This is also applied in the field of sports. Essentially, the client's issues may have been influenced by his/her family environment or past outside of sports. The lesson learned is to think from multiple perspectives. Given that this is a case study, the professor may provide model answers, etc., but the actual content in the field is likely to be more complex. By thinking about the questions I wanted to ask of the case study, I was able to see the content in a way that was more similar to practice. In particular, thinking in terms of the client's life and considering that I was actually responding to that client, I sometimes wondered if I could somehow guide that client in a better direction. This is the starting point of my own consulting practice, and how to lead the person in front of me to a state where they can perform is something I will always have to think about in the future. One of my strengths is that I am able to always keep in mind what the client's issues and concerns are in the first place. I can examine what is hindering performance, rather than making assumptions based on a one-sided, case-specific approach. As for my weaknesses, I am a sensitive person, and I tend to get emotionally involved, which can lead to a lack of dispassionate judgment. This may become more pronounced when dealing with actual clients, but it is essential for me to be able to separate fact from interpretation. For the future, it is important to continue to practice more and more and to reflect on the process. It is very likely that there will be a process of how to deal with clients in case studies, so it is important to evaluate one's own program while dealing with clients. DSM-5 related case studies can now be utilized to diagnose when there are significant abnormalities or behaviors that are of concern. This was also applicable to the sports-related case studies, for example, where it was possible to consider approaches that, while not making a characteristic diagnosis such as depression or PTSD, might be seen in the future as a similar indication of a trend. Ethical considerations for the future include the handling of knowledge that is outside the scope of expertise. While it is possible to encourage clients to seek guidance from experts, and I am in a position to do so, I feel that it is important to decide whether or not comments that suggest possibilities to clients are appropriate or not, depending on the relationship between the client and the consultant. The case studies allowed me to apply the knowledge I have acquired so far by reviewing intervention plans for various categories of clients. It was a good opportunity for me to re-recognize what kind of knowledge I have learned so far and to understand what I am lacking at this point in my career. This is the foundation for my future career as a performance consultant. At the same time, it is a challenge for me to gain more experience in dealing with complex and intertwined problems, and to develop intervention plans that will enable me to respond to them.
PLO#5 Culturally Responsive Consulting Strategy
Develop culturally responsive consulting strategies based upon the relationships, issues, and trends within a multicultural society.
This artifact examines approaches to people with different backgrounds, be it a multicultural society or issues related to diversity. As a Japanese myself, I am already a minority in what I am learning in this course. I have not been aware of the contents of multicultural societies, but by focusing on Japan, I hope to deepen my understanding of my own country and, based on that, of people from other countries and environments that are different from my own. In my experience, I have lived in Australia, where I was treated as a minority. I had felt some disadvantages in that situation, but as I grew up, I gradually stopped feeling them. By trying to understand myself again, I came to realize that this was not common sense, but rather my own personal knowledge. Today, there are distinctive trends such as LGBTQ, diversity and inclusion, and I believe that consciously exposing these issues will change the way people respond to them in the future. In school education, there have been discussions about race and minority issues, but I had never thought about the impact of these issues on performance. I have been trying to understand my own culture, as well as what other countries and minorities think and how they would like to live their lives. Although it is a topic of current discussion, due in part to trends, it has been found that Japan has developed a relatively tolerant and accepting culture toward other people. The fact that most of the people in Japan are Japanese does not mean that they have not been accepting of others. While being an island nation, it tends to have a uniform culture, but it also tends to develop it further by introducing various cultures from other countries. Since acceptance of others is a fundamental idea, it is possible to contribute by taking this idea overseas. As a Japanese, having experienced life in Australia as a child, exposure to a multicultural society can be an advantage in terms of understanding others. On the other hand, the lack of a deeply rooted sense of inherent values may mean that clients may not realize how important these values are to them. The only way to address this issue is through repeated communication. For the future development, currently, I oversee developing countries including Africa and Latin America, and I would like to deepen my experience with such people, as it will help me to confirm their intrinsic values and values toward sports. In the case studies of counseling, there were problems that are symptoms of multicultural and social problems, and issues that are affected by being a minority and being disconnected from society. For example, when living in an environment with people of other ethnic groups, there was a sense of low self-esteem, which led to a pessimistic view of oneself, with a negative impact. The fact that one's situation changes depending on how one perceives one's own situation and environment is something that can only be understood through experience. Therefore, in future activities, consideration should be given to educating the participants on this aspect. Ethically, there are many sensitive issues, especially regarding indigenous cultures and values. In addition, it is important to be careful when dealing with gender-related issues such as LGBTQ. There is a high possibility that some people will perceive and think in different ways and may not accept them. Thus, it is important to understand others and to consider interventions based on the premise of individual acceptance. In cases where the client is experiencing extreme difficulty with the diagnosis or application plan, there is a possibility that the client may be afraid to clarify things. Depending on how it is handled, an approach aimed at improving the client's condition without addressing the issue or problem may be effective, and it is advisable to add content based on such areas. A
TOPE
Theoretical Orientation of Performance Excellence
The theory that has been helpful in my discussion of the Theoritical Orientation of Performance Excellence is the Prime Performance Theory. Prime Performance Theory is a sports psychology concept proposed by Dr. Jim Taylor that emphasizes maintaining high performance over time rather than simply achieving peak performance. Intervention plans based on this theory include identifying core values and beliefs, goal setting, motivational self-talk, visualization, emotional management, and coping with setbacks. There are also certain qualities of athleticism that are essential to that prime performance, and mastery of these skills is becoming more essential. From the perspective of sustaining long-term performance, the challenge is to focus too much on the theory of peak performance, and to make a gamble-like athletic plan to peak for that one specific moment in the game. If one can form the beliefs to make this theory more effective and to prolong one's own performance instead of putting it on that one moment, one can maintain performance levels over a longer span of time. When implementing the plan, it is essential to consider the age, skill level, and diversity of the target athletes as a prerequisite and to build trust between the consultant and the athletes. I believe that athletes will never grow without an understanding of their own values and beliefs. I think that athletes often do many things without even thinking about why they play sports, why they want to win, what lies beyond winning, what their daily training helps them do, and many other things. Athletic identity is an important aspect of the intervention plan, and recognizing and deepening one's beliefs and values about the sport is critical, and no step here is without it. Goal setting is then added as an important component of the plan, and it is recommended that goals be set according to the SMART rules and in line with the values and aspirations of the individual. When it comes to MST interventions, for example, motivational self-talk and visualization are effective techniques for achieving goals and maintaining high performance. It is important to recognize one's self-talk and adjust it to something positive and rational. Visualization creates a sense of reality and increases the feasibility of goals. Emotion management is another important aspect of this planning and involves understanding and managing emotions during the match. It is vital to identify and analyze the emotional changes during the match and the words people speak in their self-talk. Dealing with setbacks is another important part of the intervention plan and involves recognizing facts and correctly interpreting events. It is important to avoid self-protective interpretations and focus on the lessons learned for the small successes ahead. In conclusion, intervention plans based on Prime Performance Theory are effective in achieving long-term high performance. It is essential to consider the age, skill level, and diversity of the target athlete, to build trust, and to recognize and adjust one's beliefs, values, self-talk, and emotions. By following the plan, athletes can achieve success in sport and in their daily lives.