PYC4812 ASSIGNMENT 2 (ANSWERS)

Doing sport psychology- An in-depth intervention and interview with an athlete. Section A: Pre- stage As a student of UNISA studying sports Psychology I have taken the following assignment with the utmost seriousness and pride as the value a sports psychologist brings to the table is invaluable. Whilst attending the Gym I had met a 22-year-old female named Kirsten Fourie (I have received her permission to use her Full name and personal details for the purpose of this assignment). Kirsten had mentioned that she had been struggling with both Motivation and goal setting. Kirsten’s goal was to run a 10km race within the next three months. INTAKE SUMMARY: Kirsten had been a petite female her entire childhood, never focusing on exercise nor nourishment as she had remained slim. Two years ago, Kirsten had attended University and had relied on fast foods as her primary source of nutrition thus causing her to gain 25kg within the 24-month period. With a new lowered sense of self esteem and lack of motivation and direction Kirsten had allowed me to assist her with intervention methods as well as goal setting. My initial impression of Kirsten was pure desperation, it had been apparent that her low selfesteem was causing her great distress and an overwhelming feeling of “hopelessness” as Kirsten had put it. After my brief discussion with her we had decided to meet bi-weekly and reassess her process and her improvement thereof. Kirsten and I had decided that the best way forward with regards to measuring her progress would be before and after photographs as well as measuring both her time and distance prior to intervention and then after our sessions. Initial weight: 92kg Initial KM run: 2.5km in 32 Minutes. After our initial contact we had set dates for me to observe her training and the environment which included both the Gym and road running. I had requested that Kirsten complete a consultation questionnaire after our meeting. The questionnaire allowed me to evaluate Kirsten’s perception regarding my capability and whether she felt we were able to constructively work well with one another. As this is a highly personal journey I felt it was best to make sure Kirsten felt safe with me. I asked her about her background and whether she had done this kind of training before and what kind of environment she lived in to try and ascertain the environmental and circumstantial effect it had on her psychological state of mind to achieve her goals.