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“He’s Asked for You. . . . ” One-to-One Support With an Elite Academy Soccer Player and Navigating Through the Unforeseen Roles of Sport Psychology Practitioners

Lauren Garner, Hayley McEwan, and Amy Whitehead

This case study outlines the holistic development of an adolescent soccer player, placing focus on the welfare of the individual first and the performer second. The client was seeking support as family life disturbances were having a negative impact on his mental health and general well-being. In addition, scholarship decisions were imminent, and the client felt that his performance had deteriorated. An introduction to the practitioner and client is provided, along with an account of the challenging and anxiety-provoking process encountered. Practitioner reflections are embedded throughout, and recommendations for other trainee sport psychology practitioners are provided. This case highlights the potentially unforeseen roles that sport psychology practitioners may, at times, play to best support their clients. It demonstrates the benefit of seeking guidance and support from supervisors and collaborating with other members of a multidisciplinary team, as well as the importance of having a clearly defined philosophy of practice to ensure that one is working from a place of congruence.

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“But I Am a Runner”: Trying to Be a Rogerian Person-Centered Practitioner With an Injured Athlete

Steven Vaughan, Hayley E. McEwan, and Amy E. Whitehead

This reflective case study presents the experience of a trainee sport and exercise psychologist during a period of applied consultancy with an injured runner. This was the trainee’s first consultancy experience attempting to practice from a Rogerian/classic person-centered perspective. As a trainee, his sport psychology delivery process followed academic and professional training models. After identifying an incongruence relating to the client’s identity as a runner, Rogers’s rejection of formulation and intervention led to tensions. Drawing on sport and counseling psychology literature to guide reflection and approach, maintaining a relationship between client and practitioner consistent with Rogers’s necessary conditions of change was the intervention. The trainee’s reflections consider being challenged by conflicts between philosophy and training requirements, their limited practice experience, and responding to the client during sessions that sometimes felt inconsistent with person-centered principles. Ultimately, the client reported moving toward being a more authentic self by contextualizing running as only one aspect of their life.