Soon, Dave found himself acting in different roles from a bicycle mechanic to the assistant strength and conditioning coach. He asked the question, “who am I in this role?” (p. 146). Dave started seeing his role as “useful Dave” who wears many hats. He believed this helped him stay focused on the present moment which reduced his anxiety.
Next, the authors discussed “The Big Boundary Blur”. It seems Dave was desensitized by the “wearing of many hats” while on the road with the cycle team and now he saw that being “useful in all things” was now his purpose in life as a sport psychologist. According to the authors, some ethical guidelines are black and white, but others grey. However, they singled out applied sport psychology as being even greyer and looser regarding traditional clinical and counseling psychology settings (p. 147). This statement perked up my ears to listen to more of their “off the beaten track” tales about …show more content…
There are long hours in close contact in airplanes, at venues, and in hotels. Sport Psychologists are often asked to help out in a variety of situations, and so they should if they wish to be truly part of the team” (p. 149). For boundary blurring situations or tasks, they suggested that one should stop and ask the question: What am I thinking? What am I feeling?, for example. They reminded us that the world of providing service is complex and that “mindful practice” helps to be present attune to our inner states in order to be mindfully attuned to other’s cognitive and emotional states. This, according to them, is one of the finest “gifts” a sport psychologist could give