Consultation

Consultations are used to explore what a client is looking for, and to see if the sports psychologist can understand what is going on, and to offer solutions and agree to an action plan. During this phase I will find out everything I can about the client in order to help me with the 6 week PST programme and to improve on their weaknesses. 

The performer has completed a questionnaire (shown below) and by analysing these responses about how they feel in certain situations, it is possible to determine their level of certain psychological factors. As a sports psychologist, I will be using some questions from the Sport Motivation Scale questionnaire (Briere et al, 1995) to assess the athlete's intrinsic, extrinsic and amotivation towards sport participation. The consultation meeting took place at a neutral location, Loughborough College, after a football match. The meeting involved me, the sports psychologist, and the client. It lasted roughly 30 minutes, this was enough time to get to know the client, find out their major weaknesses and think of psychological methods to improve these weaknesses.  

1) How old are you?
19

2) What sport do you play?
Football

3) Level of performance?
County

4) How often do you play?
2/3 a week

5) Interests/Hobbies?
Watching football / Playing golf

6) Jobs/Student?
Part time work / Full time student

7) Greatest thrill in your sport?
Scoring a goal

8) Biggest disappointment in your sport?
Losing a match / Missing a chance to score

9) Greatest psychological attributes?
Confidence / Concentration

10) How do you deal with setbacks or disappointments?
Lose interest / Become frustrated 

11) What is your focus whilst performing?
Winning the match / Scoring goals

12) If any, do you achieve the goals you set yourself?
On the rare occasion I set myself goals, I almost never achieve them

13) Do you ever feel incapable of succeeding in your sport?
Sometimes

14) Do you think your place is in sport?
I lose interest too often and become demotivated often

15) What are your reasons for taking part in your sport?
I enjoy playing sport and have gained friendships also 


In review of the questionnaire, it is clear to see that the performer is suffering from a lack of motivation. The same questionnaire will be administered after the PST programme to analyse progress. There are many psychological methods or strategies that can help improve an athlete's motivation, but the two I feel will be most suited to my client is listening to music and goal setting.   

Within this stage it is advised to do a SWOT analysis of the client; this identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats the client may have.

Strengths:

• Confidence has been highlighted as a strength as the client performs tricks and skills on the pitch, as well as shooting when they get a chance at goal. These aspects of their game show that confidence is high.
• Concentration has also been highlighted as a strength as the performer is often aware of opponents positions and keeps concentrated throughout performing in terms of dead ball situations e.g. free-kicks or penalties.

Weaknesses:

• Motivation is a key weakness for the client as shown from the questionnaires they have completed. As a sports psychologist, I have analysed the results and that shows that in game motivation as well as pre and post match motivation need to be improved on.
• The performer also shows signs of anxiety, especially before a match, as they fear losing the match as this is the biggest disappointment the client has in their sport.

Opportunities:

• Working with a sports psychologist could improve performance and enable the performer to gain knowledge of psychological techniques to improve their motivation level.
• As the client is a full time sports student, they can put their learning over the next 6 weeks into practice during their assessments at college.
• From the meeting with the client it is evident that transport is not going to be an issue as they drive so meetings are easily accessible to them.

Threats:

• Suspensions or injuries are a threat as the client plays football so the risk of injury is quite high as it is a contact sport. If suspensions or injuries are acquired then it will be difficult to put the techniques into practice.
• As the client has a part time job and also goes to college as a full time student, they may find that finding the time is difficult and may not be fully focused on the 6 week PST programme.
• Transport may be a threat if traffic is heavy and the client may be late or not be able to attend a meeting.