“What Goes on Tour, Shouldn’t Stay on Tour”: Composite Vignettes of the Challenges of Being on Tour, Emotional Labor, and Self-Care for Sport Psychology Practitioners

Abstract

Sport psychology practitioners (SPP) are often required to work unsociable hours and in atypical settings (e.g., during transport, in a gym or canteen). To maintain competence while facing the demands of their role, SPPs regulate their emotions and demonstrate emotional performativity in line with perceived role requirements. Grounded in the first author’s experiences, we critically reflect on how being on tour exacerbated these professional challenges wherein the demands became more prevalent and pervasive across time and settings, leading to negative emotional (e.g., burnout) and professional (e.g., poor quality of service delivery) outcomes. In two composite vignettes, we illustrate the impact the demands of touring can have in the face of significant emotional labor and the absence of adequate SPP self-care. Finally, we share several lessons learned, pragmatic self-care strategies, and implications for SPPs and supervisors, and offer our vignettes as a developmental resource to be used in education and training.