The practice of applied sport, exercise, and performance psychology: Irish and international perspectives

As Chapter 1 has shown, considerable disagreement exists about the boundaries between the fields of sport, exercise, and performance psychology (SEPP). Given this background of uncertainty, the present chapter will focus on establishing some common ground between these disciplines. More precisely, it will investigate Irish and international perspectives on the key skills required by effective SEPP practitioners to help people to do their best when it matters most. We have organized the chapter as follows. To begin with, we shall trace the formal emergence of SEPP in Ireland and explain the practical requirements that applied sport psychology practitioners must satisfy in order to receive accreditation from the relevant national regulating authority—namely, the Irish Sports Council. Next, adopting an international perspective, we analyze the results of interviews with four experienced performance psychology specialists on the lessons that they have learned to date from their professional practice. These specialists were drawn from four different locations: Ireland, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, and Australia. In the final section of the chapter, we identify some key current challenges facing practitioners in sport psychology and performance psychology in Ireland.