Sport psychology is a proficiency that uses psychological knowledge and skills to address optimal performance and well-being of athletes, developmental and social aspects of sports participation, and systemic issues associated with sports settings and organizations.
APA recognizes sport psychology as a proficiency acquired after a doctoral degree in one of the primary areas of psychology and licensure as a psychologist. This proficiency does not include those who have earned a doctoral degree in sport psychology but are not licensed psychologists.
Sport Psychology interventions are designed to assist athletes and other sports participants (e.g., coaches, administrators, parents) from a wide array of settings, levels of competition and ages, ranging from recreational youth participants to professional and Olympic athletes to master’s level performers.
Specialized Knowledge
This proficiency helps protect the public by ensuring that those who seek services receive them from qualified individuals. The proficiency provides a recognized set of standards to guide appropriate training of psychologists who wish to practice sport psychology. Specialized knowledge includes:
- Theory and research in social, historical, cultural and developmental foundations of sport psychology.
- Issues and techniques of sport specific psychological assessment and mental skills training for performance enhancement and participation satisfaction.
- Clinical and counseling issues with athletes.
- Organizational and systemic aspects of sport consulting.
- Developmental and social issues related to sport participation.
- Biobehavioral bases of sport and exercise (e.g., exercise physiology, motor learning, sports medicine).
- Specific knowledge of training science and technical requirements of sport and competition, International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, etc.
