Alta

Leah and I discuss two approaches of interest in this episode: Acceptance Commitment Theory, and Motivational Interviewing. Both of which Leah has had training in and uses in varying amounts in her own practice. We not only discussed the approaches from a theoretical perspective, but also the practical applications where the approaches could be used by athletes and practitioners. This is a very interesting episode and i believe the content within it will be interesting and useful for sport psychology enthusiasts and athletes alike.

In this episode, I speak with professional USA Rugby Sevens player, Olympic athlete, veteran, and high performance coach, Cody Melphy. In this episode we discussed so much including: Perspectives and experiences of sport psychology in professional sport, the athlete experience of the Tokyo Olympics mid pandemic, being a professional athlete throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Stress pressure and coping within athletes in professional sport, emotion in sport, mental toughness, and the list goes on and on!

In this episode, I spoke with Jason Merrill, or “Coach Jason”, the head coach for the San Diego State University Rugby Team. I first met Jason while in touring San Diego with my University, and I found his coaching style and knowledge to be really interesting. In this episode we spoke about a range of topics relevant to coaching and sport in general, including transitioning between sports and professional roles, youth development, learning from losses, and more!

In this episode, I was lucky enough to talk with Leah Barrow, a sport psychologist in training and athlete with interests in relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) and acceptance commitment therapy. We discussed these topics as well as many others including the unhealthy behaviours athletes may exhibit in the pursuit of peak performance, and the role and challenges of the psychologist in a sporting environment.

In this episode, I talk with associate lecturer of Sport Psychology and PhD Student, Justin Hall. We discussed a range of topics mainly centred around social identity theory, culture, and how both of these present themselves within sport whether thats beneficial or detrimental to athletes. Some seriously interesting points were brought up and it was surprising how easy it was to see links from the information being discussed and my own personal experiences.

In this episode I talk with Conor Mullin, a student studying sport science and rugby union athlete with significant experience in the sport. We discuss motivation, team culture, social groups, and various mini tangents around these topics! This proved to be a very interesting convocation which brought to light some of the barriers Conor had faced regarding staying motivated, as well as what has helped him persist through adversity and continue to perform within the sport.