Sport psychology

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cure67

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What is it like in the career of a sport psychologist? How many years of college does it take? Are there any combined degree programs? Where can I find an accurate list of colleges that have this program in Pennsylvania? Anything else you can tell me about Sports psychology would be great.


Thanks

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In undergrad, I think the topic of sports psych is mostly relegated to kinesiology departments. Most "sports psycholgists" are generally clinical psychologists (or counseling psychologists) who have simply specialized in these issues during grad school and/or afterward. I am not aware of what programs (if any) have formal tracks in sports psychology within their doctoral program.

Many other professions utilize sports-psych related stuff too. Kinesiologists, athletic trainers, exercise physiologists, etc. Although they certainly cannot call themselves "sports psycholgists" they do some some similar things and utilize many of its topics.
 
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Keep this thread going if you know something. I'm really curious to see what this board knows. I've wondered this myself although I wouldn't be limited to PA.
 
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I know some of the professional schools offer a sport psych concentration (IE Argosy, JFK, University of Denver), but I feel that this would be a hard thing to swing financially. When I interviewed at one of the above schools and asked their current students who were specializing in sport psych while obtaining a PsyD what they were doing with regard to their loans, not one of them could answer me how they were planning to pay back their debt....this worried me.

I believe Ball State has sport psych classes (possibly a sport psych concentration) you can take while obtaining your PhD in counseling psych. At the University of Tn, Dr. Jacob Levy's (part of the counseling psych phd program) research interests lie in sport psych. You might be able to take classes in their exercise dept as well since they offer sport psych classes.

Sport Psych I believe is a very hard field to enter. I've spoken with a current sport psychologist and he stated that sometimes you have to offer your services at free first in order to get your foot in the door. He recommended though that getting a phd in psychology with a specialization in sport psych is your best bet since you could bring other things to the table--ie psychological services.
 
There is a LOT of information about careers in sports psychology on the Division 47 website: http://www.apa47.org/. Check out the 'Student' tab and then 'Career Possibilities.' It looks as though the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) published a directory of graduate programs in sport psychology (citation below), and that organization's website also has a lot of information.

Sachs, M. L., Burke, K. L., & Loughren, E. A. (2006). Directory of Graduate Programs in Applied Sport Psychology (8th ed.). Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
 
All of the information has been very useful so far, however I was wondering if anybody knows specific Graduate Schools that are known for having professors concentrated in the field of sports psychology? So that I could get a doctorate in clinical psychology working under a professor who has made a mark in the field of sports psychology?

thank you for the help
 
All of the information has been very useful so far, however I was wondering if anybody knows specific Graduate Schools that are known for having professors concentrated in the field of sports psychology? So that I could get a doctorate in clinical psychology working under a professor who has made a mark in the field of sports psychology?

thank you for the help

Steinfeldt, at Indiana, and a fair number of other men and masculinity (Div. 51) folk. Not that women don't play sports, but most of the researchers are with Div. 51 anyhow.

Jon Snow's idea for a plan is exactly correct.
 
Here is a response I wrote in a prior sports psychology thread:

"Sports Psychology" is a very broad term and touches on a number of different areas. Traditionally it includes aspects of positive psychology, mindfulness, attention/focus, etc. While some may argue that parts of it are not "clinical" in nature, it would be ethically questionable for someone to work in this area without being licensed.

I only know of a few sports psychologists, and they all came from traditional areas and only later augmented their work to fit into "sports psychology". The more therapy-centric work within sports psychology involves more traditional avenues suck as body image, self-esteem, identity, managing the pressures of being student "pro". Some people work with athletes on a team basis, and that work seems to straddle clinical/non-clinical work....but again I wouldn't recommend it without licensure.

The University of Oklahoma has an internship spot (and maybe post-doc?) in sports psychology, where the clinician in training works with one of their sports teams. The placement covers a range of opportunities, though it is highly competitive and one of the few of its kind in the nation. The applicants that I met looking at the placement came from a range of programs, but they all studied in relevant areas. It wasn't my cup of tea, but it looked like a great opportunity for anyone looking to work in the area.
 
you could check out the University of North Texas. You can get a PhD in Counseling Psych with an emphasis in Sport Psychology
 
At our school, the sports psychology program is in the same department as the counseling psychology program, which provides doctoral students the option (if they desire) to take courses in other programs. I don't think there's a formal "sports psychology" track, but that's not a problem. In fact, one of the doctoral students in counseling psychology from our school took multiple courses in the sports psychology program, wrote a dissertation on athletic performance, and now is a faculty member at a university conducting research in this area.

In summary, don't limit yourself to professional schools.
 
There has been excellent advice given thus far in this thread, and so rather than rehash that, I'll simply redirect your attention upward.

However, in an effort to add to the list of programs with professors who work in "sports psychology," I believe UCF's (Central Florida) clinical psychology department has one or two faculty specializing in that area.
 
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Are Argosy and Online schools the best kind of education? Is it better to go to an actual school?
 
There is a lot of movement right now in trying to define sport psych versus performance enhancement psych and the difference between the two...your best bet is to get the directory of applied sport psychology graduate programs, http://www.amazon.com/Directory-Graduate-Programs-Applied-Psychology/dp/1885693109 but make sure its the newest addition...I just clicked on the first link. Programs change as professors change schools.

Do not go to JFK or any of the professional psych schools, thats a joke. Often what folks do is get a masters in sport psych/performance psych and then go on to PhD or PsyD programs to get licensure as a psychologist, OR go on to stricly PhD in sport psych. There are plenty of psychologists who say they do sports psych just because they work with athletes, but doing clinical work with athletes is not "technically" what most consider sport psych. Actually now that I am rambling, there is the addition of exercise psych too mixed in there...

So what is your end goal? There are a handful of good masters programs, which after a masters you can do 700 hours of supervised work under someone who is AASP certified and get certified as a sport psychology consultant. You are able to do performance enhancement work, mental skills training, etc, but not clinical work. Some programs are trying to move towards a dual masters in performance psych and counseling psych, so you are trained to do both performance enhancement work and some therapy if needed for clinical issues. Many jobs at universities only want to hire someone with a license of some sort for liability issues. Say if you hire someone who is AASP but not licensed therapist or psychologist, then if an athlete has an eating disorder, depression, drug issues, girlfriend or boyfriend issues ,whatever you need to send them to someone else....am I making sense? Im half asleep but was interesting this came up.

Get the directory for the applied sport psych programs and it will spell a lot of it out. Right now some of the better doctoral programs are Denver (but ouch its like $50k a year no funding I think), WVU (yes you do PhD in sport psych and masters in counseling), Missouri (they have an amazing prof who is not just an academic, he was an actual track coach for 30 years too at the school so he is LEGIT) has a PhD in I think its clinical psych with masters in sport psych, Univ of Tenn, I think Michigan or Michigan State, Boston, and one of two of the Florida schools, and UNT as someone mentioned...Penn State and Temple might have programs too, but check to see in the grad directory which is applied and which is research...some programs are pure research

Im in a masters now, and some of my profs are amazing. What is odd though is that lots of the students (and not just at my school as I was recently at a conference) have never been athletes or coaches. So weird, like folks who watch ESPN and played Xbox games think it will be sexy to talk to jocks so they want to be in sport psychology. It is kinda a bummer, Im a former Div One athlete, Div One coach, have coached pro athletes, and also have been in the military and law enforcement on SWAT. Ive done a lot of high performance things in my life and still live in that world. Yet there are tons of pure academics in sport psych who obviously have no exposure or experience themselves in the real world of high performance, but love to research it, discuss it, and theorize....honestly many of them I would never allow to get near my athletes or cops I train....and so far the psychologists with no training in performance enhancement but call themselves sport psychologists are even worse! Even if the PhDs in sport psych/performance psych are not licensed for clinical issues, they spent two years in a masters studying mental skills training, mindfulness, performance enhancement, and then another 4 or 5 years in a PhD studying those topics. Its a very specific field but the water is muddy because technically only licensed psychologists can call themselves sport psychologists, even if they have ZERO additional training. If you want to talk to someone who understands this all, look for a licensed psychologist who is also AASP certified and they can clear some things up for you.

I bet I am as clear as mud, being my head is about to bounce off the keyboard falling asleep.
 
Are Argosy and Online schools the best kind of education? Is it better to go to an actual school?

I think you answered your own question... Parsing this was good for a laugh though.
 
The University of North Texas is known for their counseling psych Ph.D. program with an emphasis in sport psychology. More recently, the University of Missouri Counseling Psych program has also incorporated an emphasis in connection with Missouri Athletics.

You don't NEED a doctorate to do sport psych, you just can't call yourself a "sport psychologist" since it is a legal protected term. Individuals with master's degrees in sport psychology go on to become "sport psychology consultants". See AASP's website for more information on this, since it becoming more and more common of a standard in the applied sport psychology field to get AASP certification as a sport psychology consultant. http://www.appliedsportpsych.org/Students/graduate-training

I am currently in a Counseling Psych Ph.D. program and I created an emphasis in sport and exercise psychology for myself, but I am still finding it difficult to get into the field - there is a lot of competition! I've turned to health psychology instead, and maybe later if I open a private practice I can list sport psychology as a specialty.

If you choose the psychology Ph.D./PsyD route, see if there is sport psychologist working in the university's athletics department and chat with them about the opportunity to work with them. This is what I did, and while I did get some experience, other students who had more experience than me got the prime sport psychology experiences. I don't know if this will be as big of a problem for others though. Whatever you do, start getting connected. Go to conferences, meet people and share your passion and learn more!
 
Steinfeldt, at Indiana, and a fair number of other men and masculinity (Div. 51) folk. Not that women don't play sports, but most of the researchers are with Div. 51 anyhow.

Jon Snow's idea for a plan is exactly correct.


I second Jesse Stienfeldt at Indiana University (Bloomington). I interviewed there and they have a concentration in sports psych and are currently one of the only programs that actively works with student athletes as part of their practicum. Quality training in general (it's a Counseling Psychology PhD program btw). It is up an coming, so I don't know if they have had any graduates with the concentration as of yet, but the program is APA accredited so you would at least leave able to be licensed as a psychologist.
 
All good feedback. I appreciate it. I still have another year to go in the MS, but am tossing around the different options of PhD in sport psych, or Phd/PsyD in counseling or clinical psych at some of the schools mentioned above. But then there is the question of getting the one or two spots per school hah! So its competitive. I also have geographical considerations just because I would like to be closer to my parents (Im much older than the typical grad student so my parents are up there). All good stuff though. I need to read up on these boards to figure out more the difference between counseling psych PhDs and clinical psych PhDs. WVU has counseling, clinical, and sport psych PhDs. Sadly I hear there is no crossover with the sports psych to the two APA approved doctorates when doing the sports psych PhD, you just do a masters in community counseling. Almost seems like there would be advantages to doing either the counseling or clinical psych PhDs if one already has a masters in sport psych. Who knows how many more prereqs I would need to do to get into the counseling or clinical program though, this is my second masters degree already and I do not want to get a third just to get into a doctorate! hah

If by chance anyone is thinking they want to go in and make lots of money, Id shy away. I do not think lots of folks make big money doing it, and there are very few jobs. The Army is hiring lots of folks now for their ACEP program, but you are not going to get rich. Others with the PhDs teach full time and do consulting on the side. There are very few people who do straight up consulting and make a living off of that. And as much as people might think "wow there are lots of pro athletes with millions of dollars" I will tell you this, most pro athletes expect things for free or cheap, and thats even if they want to deal with anything "mental" or "from a shrink or psychologist" type stuff.

If you want security, your best bet is doing a masters in it and then an APA licensed doctorate of some sort. Then you can work full time counseling and on the side try to pick up sport psych gigs.
 
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I am currently a senior, graduating undergrad in December, and am interested in pursuing sports psychology but am pretty confused. I am seeing a decent amount of programs that say they are sports psychology but they are in the kinesiology department. Would this be a bad path to follow? I know I want to work with athletes and want my higher education to be related to sports. I"m finding a few counseling PhDs with sports psychology concentrations but don't know if I want to move across the country to go to them. What would be the best programs in the mid-atlantic region?
 
I am not a sports psychologist. However, I provide coaching to professional and college athletes relative to "impulse control/anger management. I am actually well known for my work providing emotional itelligence coaching "disruptive physicians" and executives.
Since no longer offer psychotherapy, my work is viewed more positively than other interventions.
I see this as a special niche that is likely to grow.
 
I am currently a senior, graduating undergrad in December, and am interested in pursuing sports psychology but am pretty confused. I am seeing a decent amount of programs that say they are sports psychology but they are in the kinesiology department. Would this be a bad path to follow? I know I want to work with athletes and want my higher education to be related to sports. I"m finding a few counseling PhDs with sports psychology concentrations but don't know if I want to move across the country to go to them. What would be the best programs in the mid-atlantic region?

"want to work with athletes" still sounds very vague and it would be hard to know what kind of training to pursue without knowing what type of career you are seeking. What is your eventual goal?
 
I think that's what I'm trying to figure out. I thought I wanted to be a sports psychologist but I'm finding out that it's more complicated than I thought. I guess I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between the sports psychology masters or PhD in kinesiology vs a concentration in clinical or counseling psych. I'm not super interested in doing work that isn't with athletes is I think what I was trying to say. Some clarification would be really helpful
 
"want to work with athletes" still sounds very vague and it would be hard to know what kind of training to pursue without knowing what type of career you are seeking. What is your eventual goal?

I think that's what I'm trying to figure out. I thought I wanted to be a sports psychologist but I'm finding out that it's more complicated than I thought. I guess I'm trying to figure out what the difference is between the sports psychology masters or PhD in kinesiology vs a concentration in clinical or counseling psych. I'm not super interested in doing work that isn't with athletes is I think what I was trying to say. Some clarification would be really helpful
 
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