Process Reports in Applied Sport Psychology: A Tool for Professional Development

Figures & data

Table 1. The stages of a Process Report and Key Tasks.

Phase	Step	Stage	Key tasks
Phase 1: Conduct Client Work	1	Receive ethical approval / client consent	Ensure the client has provided informed consent for the recording of sessions & understand what this means. If this has been part of the contracting phase, reestablish consent prior to recording.
	2	Record several client sessions	Take regular recordings of sessions. Record sessions representative of how you work (e.g., pitch-side, 50-minute-hour).
Phase 2: Selecting Content	3	Select a session	Listen to and/or reflect on conducted sessions. Identify a session that has interesting features (e.g., ethical dilemma, a regular challenge faced, presenting difficulty).
	4	Transcribe the session in full	Transcribe the session in full. Where possible account for meta-communication (e.g., body language, changes in tone or pace, emotive language).
	5	Select a segment of the session to analyze	Select a segment of the session (approx. 10 mins in duration or relevant to practice). The segment should: Have an element of process (e.g., intervention) Have balanced dialogue (e.g., both practitioner and client are communicating) Interest you/catch your attention
Phase 3: Analyzing & Presenting	6	Familiarize yourself with the selected segment	Listen to the recording (ideally on more than one occasion) in a time where you can truly listen (e.g., at home, car journey). Review the transcript and add any additional information that may come from a more thorough listening.
	7	Create notes around key themes	Create notes around key themes including but not limited to: Intention (what was I trying to do?) Impact (what happened?) Metacommunication (changes in tone, pace, body language and reasoning/meaning). Challenges & Dilemmas (any challenges / difficulties identified) Evaluation (what could I have done differently? What worked well?)
	8	Write report using relevant literature to support narratives	Write your process report, which should include: Introduction (overview of the client and setting) Main Analysis (moment-by-moment analysis of segment) Summary and future development (summarize the session, key meanings, and key learnings). Continually question ‘what was going on for me?’ and ‘what is happening in/with the client?’
			Explore relevant literature to support / contradict your narratives and integrate in your writing Write in a format that works for you (e.g., this could be a presentation)
Phase 4: Exploring Professional Development	9	Consider areas for development & implementation plan	Identify strengths and weaknesses. What went well? What would you like to be better? What areas for improvement have you identified? Create an action plan for how you are going to develop identified skills.

Table 2. Questions to guide a practitioner through a process report.

Theme	Example questions
Intention	What was I trying to do there? Why did I say that? Why did I use that model/technique? What evidence is there to support that selection? How did I come to decide this would be helpful? How did my intention link with the therapeutic process?
Impact	What impact did that have on me/the client? What impact was I hoping to achieve? To what degree do I think this was achieved? How did the client think/feel/respond? What did the impact mean to me? How did this impact guide my next choice?
Metacommunication	Is there a pattern between my/the clients speech? (e.g., do changes in tone happen at the same time) How do I respond (think/feel) to metacommunication? What impact did metacommunication have on my intentions? Was I aware of changes in metacommunication? How did changes help/hinder/explain the client? What is the meaning behind the change?
Challenges & Dilemmas	Were there any points where I felt unsure what to do? How did I respond? Were any of the presentations (words or feelings) difficult for me? What ethical dilemmas occurred? How did I respond? Do I find certain patterns/presentations challenging? What feelings come up for me?
Evaluative Notes	How effective was that session/intervention/interaction? What could I have said/done differently? Why did that work? (Delivery, age, stage, tool) How could I improve my delivery? What else was happening? Could I have approached it differently?
Over-Arching Questions	What is going on for me? What is happening with the client? How do I feel about what I am hearing/analyzing? What effect did I/the client have on one another? How did my feelings dictate decision making? How was my presence throughout the session?

Figure 1. Applied example of mapping core themes on to a transcript.

Figure 2. Extract from a process report.