Hi, @Tanelle Smith , Spending time examining scenarios together can be so helpful. In this example you shared of a cheer athlete attending tryouts, my first instinct was to examine what the domain and conditions may be like to review and demystify with the athlete. Your instinct was quite clever, in helping the performer set up a mindset that allowed them to demonstrate flexibility no matter what scenario they encounter with tryouts. Either of these strategies may work, yet yours seems to have less risk, and longer term benefits. While demystification may overlap with cognitive restructuring, equipping performers with the ability to lean into confidence whenever they face the unknown, takes away the variables that may interfere with even the most well thought out preparation. Supporting performers through uncertainty seems to involve a mix of confidence, trust, and the promotion of adaptability (which of course many performers know how to reach for, and often simply need the reminder). I am glad to have had a glimpse into the work you are doing, and sense that your athlete will be well prepared!

Hi @Corel Anthony , I like that you brought this up and would love to know more about how you consider spiritual beliefs to impact one’s approach to uncertainty. If I consider athletes I have worked with who overlay their spiritual practice with performance, it most often comes up in preparation routines where prayer is involved. If I consider what I have observed with such athletes, it could be said that in a preparation routine, prayer is centered around the “everything else” that is beyond the control of other preparatory activities. Looking at this practice with simply a scientific lens, prayer for some, can be a positive self-talk methodology where the disruption of uncertainty in thoughts can be shifted to a place of acceptance. Some describe prayer as “handing over” concerns to a higher power. Again, looking at this with a practitioner lens, the act of handing over through prayer could also be a version of a cognitive restructuring. The beautiful part of prayer as an intervention, is that it serves the individual’s values in a natural applied performance psychology approach. Of course, leaning into spiritual practice is an intervention that requires the consideration of all personal views in relation to the team or domain, with the goal of respecting various backgrounds. I wonder if these ideas are what you had in mind when you considered spiritual beliefs in the space of uncertainty, or if perhaps you had another view not as centered on prayer for example.

Hi @Timothee Maloney, I want to zero in on the perspective you provide here on the notion of potential solutions that arise during consulting offering a space to focus. In my experience, I have tended to try and downplay an immediate jump to solutions for fear of leaping to the end with preconceived notions rather than letting the client’s story unfold. Conversely what you offer is both functional and honours the human side of the consultant experience. Much like we may often offer to our clients, it is best not to judge our perceptions straight away, rather there is a power in letting them be and remain curious about why they popped up. This ultimately becomes a skill that requires honing because there is importance in balancing how we simultaneously listen, support, untangle, and guide clients in managing their performance challenges. Your lens on this is much appreciated!

Hi @Tanelle Smith , Sitting with pauses is such a critical skill that can feel so counterintuitive at first. When I first began consulting, I found a juxtaposition between fixating on wanting to share and unfold all of the sport psychology knowledge I had recently attained and allowing for a session to be led by the client with a “less is more” mentality. However, the more time I spend with clients, and the more confidence I develop, I realize that sometimes the best support we can offer is through being a pillar of reflection at the ready with theoretical knowledge to apply at just the right time. As humans however, sitting in pauses can feel terribly insecure, especially if we align our worth (sometimes in the measurement of being paid by the client) with offering observations and knowledge throughout a session. Typically though if we follow the notion that @George Smith offered: that the performer inevitably owns the solution, we can indeed reach a meaningful outcome as you describe.

In a recent meeting with Dr. Otto we spent time examining professional boundaries, and I brought forward a few areas I have been working on in this space. The first is building my own confidence in ethical practice. As an early practitioner, and an individual who has been known to find comfort in rule following, I am learning to examine situations I face as a consultant for what they are, rather than what they could be, and centering client best interests. Where my consulting as a business has grown includes many young clients whose participation is directed by their parents, and overlapping relationships due to the close knit community in which I practice. The risk factors of confidentiality breaches, or misunderstandings about my scope of practices exist in this environment, and yet, I have learned to accept the risks, and adjust my ways of working where necessary, rather than outright trying to avoid all ethical risks. Through this, I have really leaned on the “ongoing” aspect of the practice of informed consent, realizing that not all angles of professional boundaries may be immediately understood by the client, despite my effort to inform and educate. Where this presents as building my confidence in practice, is giving myself and the relationship with clients permission to recognize when the door is open to move out of professional boundaries, and gently bring us back in the professional scope. A lived example of this would be shifting a conversation when a client’s parent starts talking about their child’s performance issues with me in a public setting, or reminding a team coach of what I can share or not share. Confidence has also helped me recognize potential risks and respond to them as well. An example of this in practice was reassuring a football team I work with, that my sideline conversations with the coach, are entirely different than the sideline conversations the team trainer has with the coach. The trainer is obligated to report detailed injury reports, while I am speaking about general needs, such as travel schedules, or environmental concerns related to performance. Realizing that the players may not know the difference in the types of relationships, I addressed it directly with them to help build their trust in our relational boundaries.

Thank you for your thoughts here @Wendell Otto I appreciate your attention to the areas of growth in this space I continue to uncover. Your instinct is quite right that a challenge that I tend to experience is engagement of interpersonal listening skills in opposition with structuring and guiding sessions in order for productivity toward performance. Many times in one on one sessions, clients begin unfolding stories with great relevance to their performance, even if not direct, and other times, I hear stories that are not relevant to performance, yet crucial to how a client is experiencing their life. I have considered that the longer I go down a path with clients without intercepting toward our collective goal of performance work, the harder it can be to steer back. I continue to manage my ability to balance my professional intention of being a helpful listener, with the equally important intention of supporting performance skills.

Hi @Tanelle Smith, I myself will only just be starting to have sessions online with clients, and so your perspective on this is timely and helpful for me to hear. I wonder if you have particular “off topic” opening lines you have in your pocket or if it depends on the client. I too work with young folks and sometimes feel like my points of reference are out of touch with their world. Using a judgement free approach like you say though, can certainly go a long way. My work in progress in that area is to also not judge things as “good” either, because I have been caught applying bias where it need not be in such cases. I tend to very much agree with your approach of getting to know the performer outside of their sport as much as inside. I wonder if you have experienced the practical benefits of this knowledge for case conceptualization as much as it is helpful for building rapport. To me it seems that at best it provides depth to how performance interventions or analysis can be planned, and if not that, at the very least it creates a sense of ease and the ever important building of trust.