Counseling Athletes in Career Change-Events: Applying the Scheme of Change for Sport Psychology Practice

Abstract

This article presents a counseling framework based on the Scheme of Change for Sport Psychology Practice (SCSPP; Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a). The first section of the article describes the SCSPP framework, and illustrates a generic consultation process based on this perspective. The second section presents two case studies in which the author used the SCSPP framework to facilitate athletes’ coping efforts in change-events. The first case involves a retired athlete who suffers from maladaptive effects, while the second case involves an athlete working with a new coach and transitioning from junior to senior level. The discussion offers conceptual and practical considerations pertaining to the two case studies.

KEYWORDS:

• case studies, change-events
• processes of change
• sport psychology practice.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Itay Basevitch and Dr. Edson Medeiros Filho for their constructive comments on an early draft of the article.