Psychologist logo
Sports team putting hands in together
Sport and Exercise

The professional game

Sandy Wolfson on the ethics and regulation of sport and exercise psychology.

18 August 2002

Professional issues have featured prominently in the sport and exercise psychology literature for many years (e.g. see Nideffer, 1981). More recently a number of authors (see Andersen et al., 2000) have warned that even the most well-intentioned psychologist may inadvertently harm sport participants through their interventions. In this article I will outline how potentially counterproductive effects can arise from inadequate sports-relevant background and training, lack of awareness of personal limitations, problems in establishing who the client is, and difficulties in implementing truly voluntary informed consent and maintaining confidentiality.

Download PDF for article.