Sport and Exercise Psychology Review - Sport Psychology Goes to ...

Challenges for the Division of Sport & Exercise
org.uk/careers/accredited-courses). Each
solution, however, requires students to invest
additional time and money, and they might
have to complete a lengthy education for
entry into a profession that has limited job
opportunities. As an additional issue, if students
want to gain a BPS accredited MSc that
will contribute towards chartered status, then
they need to have their GBR at the outset. If
they don’t have GBR then they can still complete
the degree but it will not contribute
towards registration. It seems inequitable to
us that students who have completed the
same course are treated differently. Possible
solutions to these issues might include
(a) restricting entrance onto BPS accredited
MSc courses to students with their GBR,
(b) allowing undergraduate students on
sport science degrees opportunities to complete
joint honours degree in sport science
and psychology, and (c) including the GBR
as part of an extended MSc. Also, advertising
the requirements for chartered psychologist
status may help some students to plan their
studies earlier.
Continuing Professional Development
Anderson and Lavallee did not consider
supervision under their Continued Professional
Development heading, but did discuss the
topic under the heading Practical Experience
and Supervision. We suggest that supervision
should be part of a continuing professional
development scheme. Often continued professional
development consists of workshops
and courses. Counsellors and therapists of
various persuasions, however, have indicated
that supervision was more helpful to their
career development than taking workshops
and courses (Orlinsky et al., 2001). Anderson
and Lavallee mentioned some issues that
have to be addressed, such as payment and
supervisor training, and considerable
thought will help identify ways to resolve
these matters. Potentially, the benefits of
continued supervision make attempts to
resolve issues worth pursuing. For example,
the use of group and collegial supervision
might help keep costs to a minimum.
Practical experience and supervision
In general, supervision in sport and exercise
psychology is an area that deserves more
attention from researchers and practitioners
(Andersen, 2004). Although, for example,
supervised work experience might be considered
a central component of training, the
quality as well as quantity of supervision warrants
consideration. For example, specifying
a minimum number of hours may not guarantee
that optimal supervision takes place
(see Tod, Marchant & Andersen, 2004).
Barney, Andersen and Riggs (1996) proposed
a model of supervisor training in sport
and exercise psychology that might help
inform debate within the British sport and
exercise psychology community. The model
focused on advanced students supervising
beginning students, while receiving peer
supervision from classmates and meta-supervision
from professional elders.
Anderson and Lavallee raised the issue of
allowing students to gain supervised practical
experience from outside sport. Providing
opportunities for students to work in settings
other than sport and exercise may help them
develop competencies that assist them in
obtaining employment after graduation. A
broad interpretation of sport and exercise
may allow students to complete placements
in a variety of contexts, including medical
and rehabilitation settings.
Anderson and Lavallee provided a valuable
contribution to the literature on sport
and exercise psychology training and registration
in Britain. There is much to be
learned from examining the ways that other
organisations have dealt with training and
registration. In addition to the APS and APA,
examining the ways training and registration
have been approached by other organisations
may prove beneficial. It might be
worth examining the Association for the
Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology’s
(AAASP) certified consultant scheme
(see www.aaasponline.org/cc). For example,
reviewing AAASP’s grandparenting procedures
for individuals who achieved their doctoral
degrees prior to 1992 might help the
Sport & Exercise Psychology Review Vol 1 No 2 51