DIVISION OF SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGYANNUAL CONFERENCE 202129 - 30 NOVEMBER 2021, CROWNE PLAZA LIVERPOOL
Professor Richard Thelwell
Biography
Richard has been the Head of School for Sport, Health and Exercise Science at the University of Portsmouth, UK, since August 2009, and holds a Professorial role in Applied Sport Psychology. As a Chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society and Registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council, he has amassed a wealth of practitioner experience across a range of professional sporting organisations and governing bodies. Further to this, Richard has regularly engaged in supervision and assessor activities on the BPS QSEP and is a former Chair of the DSEP Training Committee.
In addition to his practitioner and education activities, Richard has an extensive peer-review publication record (including edited texts). Having spent his early career examining the benefit of psychological skills training for sports performance, more recent work has focused within the area of coach psychology (stress, emotion, coping and performance), psychological skills and behaviour change, and practitioner development. The latter influenced his leadership role of the BASES HCPC approved Sport and Exercise Psychology Accreditation Route. Richard also serves as an Associate Editor for Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, and is on the Editorial Board for International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology.
The evolving world of applied practice: What did the crystal ball tell me 25 years ago?
So, what was the sport and exercise psychology discipline like 25 years ago, is it any better now, and what might the future hold? Within his keynote lecture, Richard will revisit his initial experiences as a sport and exercise psychologist with a specific focus on consulting approaches, client expectations, and accountability. Back in the ‘olden days’ it seemed to be that using a ‘mental skills approach’ with athlete-clients was pretty much the accepted norm. Such an approach would likely be viewed to have given way, or at its most hopeful, clinging to the coat-tails of an ever-increasing range of practice approaches and client groups. Using a range of supporting evidence and his own experiences, Richard will explore the range of service-users with whom sport and exercise psychologists work, the perceived effectiveness of the work, and the professional factors that contribute to the fast-paced growth. To conclude, Richard will attempt to take stock of where we are as a profession and gaze into his crystal ball to see what is on the horizon for sport, exercise and performance psychology in the 21st century.