This paper presents a case study of an elite female coach and her career termination from a 20+ year career following a critical life incident. A novel autobiographical approach was adopted whereby the participant undertook expressive writing to describe her experiences before, during, and following coaching an athlete at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. Thematic analysis indicated seven phases related to the participant’s experiences of the critical incident: Build up to the event, the event, the aftermath, recovery and reflection on the event, sampling of new avenues, enlightenment, and career rebirth. The findings reinforce the high demands placed upon elite coaches, the subsequent threats to physical and mental well-being, and the importance of having robust psychological skills and suitable social support to cope with these demands. Implications for preparing and supporting coaches for successful career transition are discussed.
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Are Career Termination Concerns Only for Athletes? A Case Study of the Career Termination of an Elite Female Coach
Göran Kenttä, Stephen Mellalieu, and Claire-Marie Roberts
Counseling Injured Female Student-Athletes: A Discussion of Clinical Interventions
Mildred Mary Witt
Sustaining an injury can be traumatic for a collegiate student-athlete. Serious injuries are often accompanied by complex emotional and psychological responses that warrant a mental health consultation and clinical intervention. Anxiety and stress-related concerns are increasingly prevalent in the student-athlete population, particularly among female student-athletes. This paper reviews the relevant injury, sports psychology, and counseling literature pertaining to student-athletes, with a focus on female collegiate athletes. Utilizing a hypothetical case illustration, the counseling needs of the injured female student-athlete are discussed. Three therapeutic interventions: expressive writing, cognitive processing therapy, and Koru Meditation, an evidencedbased curriculum for teaching mindfulness skills, are proposed to reduce anxiety, injury-related stress, and other mental health concerns in this population.
Coping Amongst Elite-Level Sports Coaches: A Systematic Review
Maja Gunhild Olsen, Jan Arvid Haugan, Maria Hrozanova, and Frode Moen
study used an autobiographical approach with expressive writing in the form of letters. The coaches worked mainly in the United Kingdom (four studies). Two studies did not mention the coaches’ place of work due to the risk of compromising the anonymity of the participants (16 participants). The research
Sport Psychology Consultants’ Perspectives on Facilitating Sport-Injury-Related Growth
Ross Wadey, Kylie Roy-Davis, Lynne Evans, Karen Howells, Jade Salim, and Ceri Diss
feelings.” SPCs reported helping by using other mediums (e.g., written diaries, expressive writing, journaling, artwork, poetry, music), as well as meaning-focused questions, questioning clients’ use of metaphors, and helping them “fill in the blanks.” Finally, SPCs highlighted the importance of listening
A Case Study Investigation Into a Group Online Sport Psychology Support Intervention for Injured Athletes
Caroline Heaney and Nichola Kentzer
( Mankad et al., 2009a ). Wadey et al. ( 2019 ) reported expressive writing as a way of allowing an athlete’s story to be heard as part of the process of facilitating sport injury-related growth, although caution is urged in the application of written emotional disclosure methods (e.g., diaries) as they
An Online Intervention to Support Student-Athlete Mental Health: Implementation, Evaluation, and Critical Reflection
Ben Laslett and Mark Uphill
project as a whole. Intervention Therapeutic Letter to Self In previous disclosing writing research ( King & Miner, 2000 ; Lyubomirsky et al., 2011 ), expressive writing has been associated with an enhanced emotional experience. Indeed theoretically, writing a letter from a future- to past-self would
Bridging Boundaries Between Life and Sport: Exploring Sports Coaches’ Micro Role Transitions
Paul A. Davis, Faye F. Didymus, Scott Barrass, and Louise Davis
they were invited to outline how they perceived their life commitments beyond sport spillover to their coaching practice. A brief prompt was developed to guide coaches’ recall; key phrases commonly used in the instructions of the Written Emotional Disclosure expressive writing protocol ( Pennebaker
Motivations, Barriers, and Supports: An Examination of the Experiences of Women of Color Recreational Sport Coaches
Eric Legg and Rebecca Varney
recreational youth sport parent emotions through an expressive writing exercise . Journal of Park & Recreation Administration, 40 ( 2 ), 108 – 125 . 10.18666/JPRA-2020-10669 Lincoln , Y.S. , Lynham , S.A. , & Guba , E.G. ( 2011 ). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences
Lost in Knowledge Translation: Media Framing of Physical Activity and Sport Participation
Mark Dottori, Guy Faulkner, Ryan Rhodes, Norm O’Reilly, Leigh Vanderloo, and Gashaw Abeza
. CityNews . Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2ICwjDe Craft , A. , Davis , C. , & Paulson , M. ( 2013 ). Expressive writing in early breast cancer survivors . Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69 ( 2 ), 305 – 315 . PubMed ID: 22494086 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.06008.x 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.06008.x
Self-Compassion and Reactions to a Recalled Exercise Lapse: The Moderating Role of Gender-Role Schemas
Alana Signore, Brittany N. Semenchuk, and Shaelyn M. Strachan
, 29 ( 7 ), 797 – 820 . https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2010.29.7.797 10.1521/jscp.2010.29.7.797 Range , L. , & Jenkins , S. ( 2010 ). Who benefits from Pennebaker’s expressive writing paradigm? Research recommendations from three gender theories . Sex Roles, 63 ( 3 ), 149 – 164 . https
