I did an excellent webinar training today “Optimal Performance: Convergent Theories and Divergent Practices in Performance Psychology” through American Psychological Association, Division 47, Society for Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology.I absolutely love this stuff! and learn best from other experts in the field and then thinking through what will fit best for the populations I work with. This training was so enriching for my applied clinical work and knowledge base but it also sparked me to share apart of it with you.

Dr. Sari Shepphird presented her “K.E.Y.S to Effective Practice in Performance Psychology” (below). Her K.E.Y.S are an excellent framework to guide competent, ethical and scientifically driven applied performance psychology work that I will definitely be using in the future. While an athlete/performer may not always be aware that the practitioner is thinking through all of the KEYS it’s an imperative part of the work.

Athletes, some of these slides may not fully make sense to you but I feel it is important to share so that you are educated on what working with a performance psychologist/mental skills coach/sport psychologist is about, and that doing the sport psychology/mental skills training work is more than just reading a book, blog, tips or tricks. If you are working with a provider, I encourage you to do your own research and ask effective questions about the work you will be doing, methodology, approach and what ethical and relational principles guide the work. Please educate yourselves this is important work to your sport and life. The reason I don’t take on many athletes in my private practice is because each athlete is unique the process of developing the relationship, understanding their needs and working through the best approaches, and sometimes my approach or fit is not always best. With that said, as a licensed practitioner it is my ethical responsibility to keep you all informed and aware of my professional competency areas.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to reach me at: drgloriapetruzzelli@outlook.com

Check out APA DIV 47’s Twitter feed for some great quotes from the webinar.

If you are interested in joining American Psychological Association, Division 47 click the link to their Facebook page.  Also if you are interested in listening to the recorded audio version of the webinar check their page as they will posting the link soon.