Case studies of developing resilience in elite sport: Applying theory to guide interventions

ABSTRACT

Resilience, or the ability to bounce back and subsequently flourish following adversity, is an area of research rapidly gaining attention in sport psychology. While recent resilience research in sport has investigated factors involved in the process of exhibiting individual and team resilience, practitioner-focused literature on “how to” utilize resilience research when consulting with athletes has yet to be explicated. The purpose of this article is to describe sport psychology consultant experiences developing resilience with elite athletes using theory. Based on the framework and case studies, suggestions are provided for facilitating resilience in athletes.

KEYWORDS:

• Adversity
• failure
• sport psychology
• stress
• theory-to-practice