A balancing act: Sport psychologist insights into supporting athlete mental health in elite sport

Abstract

Sport and Exercise Psychologists are increasingly called upon to support athlete mental health. This study explores sport psychologists’ perceptions of their role in relation to athlete mental health and illness and their experiences of offering mental health support. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 sport psychologists, gathering more than 19 hours of data. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. We constructed three themes: 1) A lack of consensus on remit and role 2) Organization-practitioner misaligned expectations and 3) The emotional toll of supporting athlete mental health. Some practitioners considered their role to be exclusively performance enhancement, whereas others placed mental health at the center of their practice. Challenges arose when practitioners and sporting organizations held conflicting perceptions of the sport psychologist role in relation to athlete mental health. Practitioners shared the emotional toll of responding to athlete mental health concerns sensitively, appropriately, and swiftly. Education and training for aspiring Sport and Exercise Psychologists should be reviewed to reflect the increasing role that practitioners are expected to play in supporting athlete mental health. We discuss strategies to reduce potential misalignment between sporting organizations’ and practitioners’ expectations of the sport psychologist role in relation to mental health. Sport psychologists are encouraged to engage with ongoing supervision and self-care strategies to manage the emotional toll of their practice.