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Abstract

The study of coach and athlete wellbeing has been a focal point in recent sport psychology research, in part, as a response to the recognition that participation in sport can potentially lead to detrimental psychological outcomes. A proposed way to help abate negative outcomes in sport has been to introduce more sport psychology consultants (SPCs) into these contexts to promote optimal performance and wellbeing. However, there is limited evidence pertaining to the perspectives of practicing SPCs and their experiences with stress and coping. Framed by cognitive motivational relational theory, the aim of this study was to explore SPCs’ experiences with stress (i.e., identify key stressors that SPCs face and how they tend to cope with these stressors). Eleven SPCs practicing in Canada shared their experiences at two time-points via semi-structured, one-to-one interviews. The first interview involved building rapport with participants before exploring their personal and professional journey in becoming a SPC. Discussions around their experiences with stress along that journey were embedded throughout that interview. The second interview involved a more specific investigation of SPCs’ experiences with stress and coping. The discussions in this interview were guided by the cognitive motivational relational theory. Using reflexive thematic analysis with abductive coding, three themes were constructed from the qualitative dataset. Anchored by a Passion for Helping in Sport related to the development of SPCs’ desire to help others in sport and how this passion shaped, and continues to shape, their experiences with stress. Navigating the Currents of (Shifting) Sociocultural Tides pertained to SPCs’ perceptions of stress working in contexts rife with nescience relating to their work, conflicting expectations from others, and tensions between efforts to enact ‘safe sport’ versus more ‘old school’ (i.e., performance-focused) priorities. Finally, Seeking Elusive Stability in Choppy Waters outlined experiences of stress as a function of working within the incessant job- and financial-insecure SPC job landscape in Canada. Insights regarding experiences of stress and coping among SPCs help shed light on the sparsely researched perspectives of SPCs working in Canada, thus responding to calls for progressing evidence-based knowledge on the perspectives of other non-athlete/coach participants in sport.