Sport Psychology Consultants: A Case Study

I enjoyed your post especially since I’m researching the requirements for Alabama as well. I found the same information and now trying to process it into a workable solution for a potential plan of action.

I concur with you both regarding the certification requirements for “sport psychology consultants” and I also have been informed by the sport psychologist at Auburn that the AASP requirements are about to change and become even stricter.

Several of my instructors at Auburns’ School of Kinesiology were about to graduate with a PhD in Kinesiology with a specialization in Sport Psychology and despite being sport psychology instructors, they were not interested in pursuing a CC-AASP because of the time and money involved.

I interviewed two sport psychologists for a class project. One was Auburn’s sport psychologist and the other owned a private practice. Both said they spent only 25% on performance related issues and the other 75% on mental health where they heavily used their PsyD. There recommendation was to pursue a PsyD for folks wanting to be sport psychologists.
So, in reality, a coach, teacher, headmaster, or volunteer parent can teach athletes sport psychology (goal setting, self-regulation, breathing, imagery, and self-talk, for example) to enhance performance. Most universities are teaching these subjects to their students seeking degrees in Kinesiology related subjects. So, what’s the point of a sport psychologist if the coach (who has the best relationship possible with his team) can teach the basics of sport