Sport psychology in Brazil: Reflections on the past, present, and future of the field

Abstract

Sport psychology is not a new field in Brazil. The work of Brazil's pioneers in this field brought psychology into sports in the country in the 1950s. Even with this early start, however, sport psychology organisations in Brazil still have important issues to address. We will discuss the past and current status of the field in Brazil and propose future directions using a strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. Brazil Sport and Exercise Psychology (SEP) field is in a stage of development both in applied practice and in research. A strength in the field in Brazil is that SEP is a recognised specialist field of psychology and there are clear pathways for the accreditation. Nevertheless, there are problems in the educational system (undergraduate and postgraduate levels) that hindered the accreditation process. There are a good number of sport psychologists working in applied work. However, due to the above mentioned issues with the accreditation process the standard of service delivery is not ensured. The weaknesses in the educational system not only has an effect on the applied practice, but it also influences the research in SEP in Brazil. The Brazilian research output in international journals is limited due to the existent language barrier and a system of evaluation of scientific journals that does not incentive this type publication. Brazil, with the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio, has a unique opportunity to conduct applied work, build research projects, and increase public awareness of the role of sport psychology in competitive sport.