Reflecting on the BASES SE process

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I am just about to start bringing together and writing up what I have done so far in order to complete my 2nd of the BASES SE process and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to reflect on the year and share. The year has had ups and downs like any good rollercoaster and this has been mirrored by my motivation for the experiences and processes I have had and I am going through. The year has made me realise many things about sport psychology, the process of SE and more importantly myself as a practitioner. This year has reinforced my desire to work in the profession but has been, at times, hard work and very time consuming. It has emphasised the need for effective time management and maintaining my life balance between family, work, myself and sport psychology. There have been instances where I wondered if I have done enough or read the right articles and books but towards the end of the year I understand that only so much can be completed whilst keeping everything else in balance. It has made me start to question who I am as a practitioner and develop a philosophy of practice. It has also allowed me to add different tools to my sport psychology tool box and made me self aware of my strengths and what I still have to do to improve.

After a recent meeting with my supervisor I appreciate the importance of what he brings to the table in my development and the relationship we have. He was able to give me a new lease of life after a major recent set back and he was able to put into perspective what had gone on and as I left the meeting I felt like I a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. His ability to recognise that and put everything into perspective will be invaluable in my continued development. The meeting also emphasised some of the other things that a practitioner needs that are not always taught in courses at university. These tools include the ability to network which is a skill that is so underestimated and the person skills of the knack to be humble enough to understand yourself and what you bring to the sport psychology table and not ‘big yourself up’ at every opportunity. Also the ability to work hard and have the desire to want to improve and learn new things is essential in working towards becoming accredited in sport psychology just as they are in everyday. Finally, the SE process should be seen as a journey which involves small but meaningful steps to reach the final destination of becoming accredited.

Tags: balance, bases se, hard work, humble, learning, professional practice, reflecting, skills, sport psychology, supervised experience, supervisor support, time management, tool box, work life balance

Posted February 14, 2008 at 5:37 AM by DavidH | Permalink | Comments(2)

Comments

Insightful. I hope iStadia is helping with networking. You have hit the nail on the head regarding the importance of this subject and it would seem that many of our members don't seem to be able to see that. Is there any thing more you think we can do to get over this point? Effective networking is not easy. Perhaps we should consider developing a workshop to cover this? Your supervisor has clearly been influential in your continued develpment and this is heartening to hear as there is no standard for any supervisor to reach to be able to carry out this role. Whilst I am aware that some kind of 'train the trainer' assistance/course/standard was being considered by BASES, I don't think anything has happened. This is a pity because to maintain the right level of professionalism this is needed. Without crossing any ethics boundaries and assuming your supervisor approved, do you think he/she would welcome mention of his/her name and the benefit that would justifiably accrue to that persons reputation? Again this is another attempt to address another area of weakness in applied sport psychology in that there is an inherent reservation to promote our achievements as well as telling your colleages and hopefully a wider audience that you would personally recommend this individual (assuming of course that you would). More often than not, the first thing that crops up is ethics. Well ethics are critically important to what we do but if permissions are given then there should be no problem. Applied sport psychology needs promoting at every level. It comes in for a lot of criticism when something doesn't work and does not have a wonderful reputation in the wider world so there has got to be an attempt to promote interventions that are successful whether it is an improvement in performance or as in this case valuable, motivational advice and good directional guidance.

Keith
Keith Irving
iStadia

Posted by keithirving | February 14, 2008 at 8:34 AM

David Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reflections. If we all did that more often, we'd all be a lot wiser as a result! Cheers, Rob