UQ Sport & Exercise Psychology Service

Schools of Psychology and Human Movement Studies

What is Sport and Exercise Psychology?

Success and enjoyment in physical activity is based on three elements - technical skills, physical fitness, and mental skills. Sport and exercise psychology focuses on mental skills - the ability of individuals to understand and effectively control their performance in their mind.

Whatever the objective of the individual - winning, personal success, excellence, challenge, social interaction, exercise, relaxation, or simply enjoyment - sport and exercise psychology offers a professional perspective, helping the individual, group, or team participate successfully, with a sense of enjoyment and achievement.

The UQ Sport and Exercise Psychology Service offers two lines of assistance:

I. Optimal Performance

Focused on assisting athletes and other participants to achieve optimal performance and increase enjoyment in chosen activities.

• Performance anxiety
• Team cohesion and team building
• Motivational techniques
• Preparation for competition
• Recovery and overtraining prevention
• Stress management
• Mental skills (e.g., self-talk, imagery, concentration)
• Communication skills

II. Wellness and Health

• Focused on using psychological principles in health and wellness settings.
• Obesity management
• Advice on motivation for diet and exercise adherence
• Lifestyle balance
• Injury rehabilitation
• Exercise as adjunct treatment for mood disorders

Who can benefit from the UQ Sport and Exercise Psychology Service?

Sport and exercise psychology can benefit anyone who wishes to improve performance or stay healthy in their chosen activity.

Many professional sporting teams and athletes use the services of sport and exercise psychologists to achieve maximum performance. "It is important to perform when it counts" consequently sport and exercise psychology can support all performing professions who have to perform at a given time (e.g. performing artists, managers and decision makers in white collar management).

While in sports the balance between training load and recovery is important, lifestyle balance is a key factor for everyone. Finding balance and staying involved in a chosen physical activity can be supported by applying techniques from sport and exercise psychology.

UQ Sport and Exercise Psychology Service

Sessions are conducted by 4-year trained psychologists who are conditionally registered with the Psychologists Board of Queensland. They are completing further studies at The University of Queensland in the Master program of Sport and Exercise Psychology and are supervised by fully registered psychologists.

Sessions usually last for 30 minutes to an hour. They are available for individuals, groups and teams, taking into careful consideration the age, experience, culture, and desired outcomes of the participants.

The initial session typically focuses on assessing the needs of the individual, group or team, with a view to developing a program to address these needs.

UQ Sport and Exercise Psychology Service is also a platform for the graduates of the Masters program. They can be booked through the Service at a higher rate as can the program supervisors.

Fee Schedule

Professional athletes/performers and organisations may be entitled to a tax deduction for costs associated with sport psychology services.

Lectures and school seminars

By negotiation

Further Information

To find out more about our service, please contact:

Nathan Seefeld
Sport and Exercise Psychology Coordinator

Authorised by: Head of School | Maintained by: support@hms.uq.edu.au
Last Updated: 17 December, 2007 | © 2007 The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
ABN 63 942 912 684, CRICOS Provider No:00025B