Dr Martin Eubank has been a member of academic staff in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University for the last 25 years. He carries overall responsibility for the subject leadership of the Psychology discipline in the school, which includes BPS accredited Undergraduate, Masters and Doctoral programmes; he is currently the Programme Director of the School’s Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology, managing one of our HEI routes to HCPC registration. Martin is a Health and Care Professions Council Registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS) and current Chair of the BPS Stage 2 Qualification in Sport and Exercise Psychology, in which he has been involved as an official since its launch in 2009. During his 25 years working in the academic education and training sector, Martin has published extensively in the area of professional training for Sport and Exercise Psychologists, including numerous articles focusing on the identity formation of Sport Psychology practitioners, and the development of active ingredients in Sport Psychology service delivery. His interest and passion in this important area of our profession will form the focus of his keynote address, where he hopes to reflect on horizons past, present and future to inspire current and future generations of Sport and Exercise Practitioner Psychologists. 

Since UK based Sport Science degree programmes began in 1975, knowledge translation of Sport and Exercise Psychology has advanced significantly. As our ability to apply knowledge and have impact in practice settings has grown, more diverse opportunities to undertake Sport and Exercise Psychology as a career vocation have emerged, supported by the meaningful presence of regulation and governance. The profession has therefore become increasingly dependent on a robust and effective system of professional training that generates appropriately qualified ambassadors for the work we undertake.

The last decade has seen a positive gearshift in the establishment of independent and university training routes to Sport and Exercise Psychology registration. While the knowledge, research and practice components of our education and training system are largely based on the development and demonstration of competence to a regulatory standard, our provision must be ever mindful of maintaining its currency and relevance in relation to any ‘profession evolution’ that takes place. In this regard, the importance of ‘Knowing You’, represented by an understanding of the growing needs of our service users, the shifting environmental contexts and organisation cultures within which they operate, and the implications for professional training induced competence is paramount. Furthermore, to produce competent practitioners, training cannot rely solely on developing the knowledge and skills to ‘do the job’, but also the equally, if not more important active ingredient of ‘Knowing Me’. This reflects the need to provide in-training time and space to understand one’s own practitioner identity, philosophy and individuation, and how this can align and have synergy with effective service delivery.

This keynote address will draw on the author’s prolonged engagement in research, practice, education and training to offer historical and current perspectives about the profession, and consider the implications for current and future professional training horizons.