Sports Psychology Programs

There are certain things you need to know about sports psychology programs. Being a sports psychologist is a profession that is rapidly increasing in the medical field. Many athletes will seek that assistance of psychologists as well as their coaches and trainers to help them with the physical and mental aspects of sports training.

Sports psychology programs are meant to encourage mental toughness and increase performance skills in athletes. In most cases, sports psychologists work together with athletes to identify attitudes and behaviors preventing the athlete from performing very well. Going through sports psychology programs enable the sports psychologists to provide personalized coaching and carry out mental aptitude assessments on athletes struggling with self-limiting beliefs or other problems which prevent them from being champions.

A Sports Psychologist

A sport and exercise psychologist is a profession that focuses on the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of sports and physical activities to an individual or team. It is a multi-subject profession that involves knowledge with biology, medicine, kinesiology, cognitive science as well as drug addiction and eating disorders.

Sports psychology programs are very good in many ways, and are now taken online in many parts of the world. When you finish your chosen program, you will be involved in using certain techniques with your athletes to help them improve performance. Some of the techniques to be applied are progressive relaxation, anxiety management, autogenic training, hypnosis, biofeed-back and cognitive behavioral therapy. Attention control, goal-setting, mental imagery, and work on interpersonal skills are also very important in the sports psychology programs for athletes.

Undergraduate Degrees

Your first step with sports psychology programs and on the path to becoming a sports psychologist is to earn your bachelor’s degree. Most undergraduate schools take 4 years to complete. In obtaining your bachelor’s degree, you will be educated in the liberal arts and sciences and specialized instruction that includes practical and theory application.

Master’s Degree

Most entry-level positions require at least a Master’s degree. This program usually takes 4 years to earn, and you have many options of attending school online or through traditional brick and mortar universities. To be accepted into a graduate school, you must have obtained your bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise psychology or something related to that field. If you have a desire to work with clients or athletes, you must have a minimum of your master’s degree.

Doctoral Program

A doctorate is not required to work as a sport psychologist, but if you are interested in pursuing a career in research or teaching, you will have to earn this degree. This program takes 4 to 7 years to complete. To obtain your doctoral, you must have your master’s degree and an excellent overall grade point average.

Specializations

Most people are finding that they prefer to work in a specialized field. Sports psychologists have many options when it comes to the specializations within sports psychology programs. You can study applied sports psychology which will cause the graduate the ability to teach athletes the skills that they will need to be able to mentally prepare for their sport. They will also instruct them how to properly set goals and use visualization to win. After you receive your degree in this specialized field, you will need to receive certification through the American Board of Sports Psychology.

Clinical sports psychology will educate students on how to deal with a combination of mental strategies and psychotherapy to be able to assist athletes that have having a challenging time focusing on their sport or a game due to other areas of their lives.

Academic sports psychology prepares students who wish to teach at a university level in the area of sports psychology. To work in the field of academic sports psychology, the graduate must pass examinations through the American Psychological Association.

Distant Learning

Concerning sports psychology programs, most students prefer to attend universities online at their own pace and comfort. There are many online schools that offer master’s degree and doctorates strictly online. However, it is important to know that most states will require hundreds, and possibly thousands of hours of supervised work experience to be able to practice sports psychology. This is something you will have to complete on your own if opting for online schooling.