Psychology

Q. How long does it take to see improvements?

A. Length of time is dependent on the individual, although it’s not unusual to see radical change. Sense making can be a powerful tool for clients to shift perspective and gain clarity of task. Often, sense making can happen rapidly in psychology.

Q. Can you help a performance professional struggling with their mental health?

A. Mental health issues can be perpetuated by the rigours, scrutiny, and pressures of performance. A performance psychologist can help you manage your struggles while working within the demands of your sport.

Q. Is Performance 90% Mental?

A. While I don’t know if that can be measured, performance is unlikely to be 90% mental, it’s probably a lot less than that. Yet improvements you make to your mindset and psychological approach, can create huge gains for your performance.

The outcomes

Q. What can be the benefits for high performers?

A. There are tangible and intangible benefits. Tangible benefits are an offshoot of improved performance; improved contracts, greater prize money, greater exposure, and of course increased probability of achieving goals. From an intangible perspective, your well-being, relationships, ability to play your sport with freedom are just a few of the potential gains from working with a performance or sport psychologist.

Q. What’s different about a performance psychologist compared to a general one?

A. The key differences lie in the intense commitment to behaviour change in emotionally charged, high stakes environments. For example, in pressurised environments, the ability to let go of the desire to think or feel a certain way can be crucial to perform well. A good performance psychologist will help you attain these types of skills.

Q. Will psychology help me achieve my goals?

A. Look at performance psychology as adding to the probability of doing so. Just like dedication to training and nutrition will increase the probability of success, so to will commitment to cultivating a mindset that is suited for you and your sport. The key to quality performance psychology is helping clients deal with setbacks, stay committed to actions inline with goals, stay on top when things are going well, and continue to explore the boundaries of their potential. None of these things are easy, especially in high pressure situations, where mistakes matter.

How I work

Q. What’s the fee structure?

A. I operate using a retainer structure to give the most flexibility for my clients and it enables me to give more time observing and working at training and at competitions, if necessary. For more information regarding pricing, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Q. Do I need to come to your office?

A. Being a performance psychology requires flexibility. If you can’t come to me, we can hold online calls, and I can travel interstate or internationally if required. Some of our work may also be conducted at training or around competition time, or even out in the world - so absolutely, flexibility is key.