Here we help answer questions you might have about sport psychology, the process of
working with a sport psychologist, how to become a sport psychologist, among other
things. If you do not find the answer to your question in this section, please feel
free to email us at sportpsych@unt.edu.
The American Psychological Association (Division 47) defines sport and exercise psychology
as the scientific study of the psychological factors associated with participation
and performance in sport, exercise, and other types of physical activity. Sport psychologists
focus primarily on:
Helping athletes use psychological principles and skills to achieve optimal mental health and to improve performance.
Understanding how individuals' participation in sport, exercise, and physical activity
affects their psychological development, health, and well-being.
Sport psychology services can help most people who, regardless of age, race/ethnicity,
gender or competitive level, are interested in improving their performance or deriving
more enjoyment from sport and physical activity. A qualified sport psychologist works with high pressure, high demand environments. This can include,
but is not limited to athletes, performers, public speakers, CEOs, medical professionals, actors/actresses, etc. Anyone in a high demand environment could benefit from performance services.
Each athlete/team/performer is unique, thus the process of working with a sport psychologist
typically begins with an assessment session where the sport psychologist will determine your performance goals. Based on the information obtained from that session, the
sport psychologist will recommend various options to help you decide what approach might work best to meet your achievement goals.
Much of this depends on the environment where they work. In an athletic department they might spend much of their time attending practices or games, consulting with athletic staff, or working with individual athletes. If they are working in a private practice setting they might spend much of their day in individual sessions with clients.
Sport psychologists can work in virtually any setting where high performance and high demand expectations exist including, but not limited to: athletic departments at various levels, private practice, professional athletics, military settings, hospitals,
etc.
Definitely not! A sport psychologist is trained to help an individual optimize their performance, achieve their goals, and identify skills and strategies to better cope and regulate. This is often best done when we are not in a moment of crisis or chaos.
Services are highly individualized and unique to the client’s needs. Services may
range anywhere from 3-4 sessions, to more long-term individual therapy services based on presenting concern and need.
Counseling is a very personal endeavor, and we respect privacy and confidentiality to the extent that the law allows. If you have any questions about this, please ask. As with all health related services nationally, HIPAA documentation about our policy/procedures and disclosures
must now be signed.
Individual sessions begin with a 10-15 minute phone consultation, which can be conducted by our Center staff. Following this consultation,
athletes are assigned to a staff who will then directly schedule the first session, which is a more formal intake to obtain extensive information about the athlete and their current concerns. At the end of the intake, next steps will be discussed, including a plan for helping the athlete. Subsequent sessions are then scheduled weekly to implement the plan.
The Center offers both in-person and telehealth sessions. Most in-person sessions take place at our Center on the University of North Texas - Denton campus. If individual sessions are held outside of the Center’s office, such as at an athlete’s practice
facility, travel expenses will be assessed.
During at least the first three years in the program, doctoral students participate in a general counseling program and a sport practicum and are assigned to practicum teams where individual and group supervision occurs. During the fourth and/or fifth year of the program, students enroll in a part-time supervised clinical training opportunity. This may be in settings
such as university athletic departments, hospitals, private practices, community clinics,
and many more. There are various opportunities throughout the program to attend conferences, such as APA and AASP, to present research, network, learn cutting-edge practices, and get feedback. In the final year of the program, students match into
a full-time, one-year internship, which is required prior to receipt of the Counseling Psychology doctoral degree.
Not yet. In order to become a licensed psychologist, you must complete several steps following your graduate
training. Those include: attending an APA-accredited internship, accruing state-specific hours toward licensure, taking your national licensing exam (EPPP),
taking your necessary state-specific exams (e.g., jurisprudence, oral, etc.). The program provides you with the educational and practicum requirements to be eligible for pursuing licensure if you so choose.
There are various national, state, and local organizations that students can be involved
in as members. These include, but are not limited to: AASP and APA Division 47
University of North Texas 
