Helping to build a profession: A working definition of sport and performance psychology

Abstract

ABSTRACTPractitioners in sport psychology have long sought the establishment of a viable profession. Professions develop best when they have a standardized system to train and validate the learning of the knowledge and skills delineated for the profession. Although sport psychology is an emerging profession, challenges remain in part because of no formal answer to the question, “What does the practice and profession of sport psychology entail?” To provide clarity, we offer a definition of applied sport psychology as a subfield of performance psychology. This definition creates a consistent core identity by putting the focus on the purpose of the profession's work.