Performance Psychology in Action : A Casebook for Working with Athletes, Performing Artists, Business Leaders, and Professionals in High-risk Occupations

Mental attributes for peak performance -- The "canon" of psychological skills training for enhancing performance Mark B. Andersen -- Emotional intelligence Sean M. McCann -- Confidence Daniel R. Gould -- Mental preparation, memorization, and improvisation Sanrda Foster, Paul J. Lloyd, and Sara Kamin -- Performance challenges -- Performance anxiety Kate F. Hays -- Audition anxiety David J. Grand -- Working with perfection Lynda M. Mainwaring -- Competition Gloria Balague -- Performance-related consequences -- Eating disorders Karen D. Cogan -- Isolation Shane Murphy -- Overtraining, burnout, injury, and retirement Kirsten M. Peterson -- The consultant and the system -- Adolescent performers and the family system Douglas M. Hankes -- Team leadership Robert S. Weinberg -- Hierarchical public safety organizations Mario J. Scalora -- The consultant as a performer Charles H. Brown. "Expert athletes understand the mind-body connection. For years, they have learned mental skills from coaches, consultants, and other practitioners in order to optimize physical performance. Now, these same mental skills are being taught to a broad range of professionals, such as dancers, actors, lawyers, surgeons, business leaders, and rescue workers. The resulting new field of performance psychology allows performers from a variety of fields to "get their head out of the way so that their body can do what it's trained to do." This book describes the everyday practice of performance psychology. Case by case, stories demonstrate how consultants have helped performers develop confidence, overcome mental blocks, manage emotions, and use preparation techniques such as imagery and positive self-talk to achieve the best possible mental state for performance. The chapters blend theory and practice, integrating literature reviews with real-world applications; they cover a wide range of performers, including athletes, performing artists, business leaders, and professionals in high-risk occupations. Extensive session transcripts are provided, including the consultants' thoughts and reactions throughout the session. Engaging, nuanced, personal, and highly accessible, this book will help practitioners and students from a variety of fields explore performance psychology ... in action"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

Also of Interest From APA Books

You're On! Consulting for Peak Performance Kate F. Hays and Charles H. Brown, Jr.

You're On! Consulting for Peak Performance provides guidance and advice for consulting with performers in the pursuit of excellence.

Whether these clients are performing artists, business-people, physicians, lawyers, or in high-risk occupations, they must learn to focus, cope, and excel in highly stressful situations. Based on extensive interviews with notable performers and experienced performance consultants in diverse fields, as well as the vast literature on peak performance among athletes, this book is a must-read for performance consultants, executive coaches, or any therapist or counselor who seeks to enter this burgeoning field.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Michael S. Goldsby, PhD(Zeno Corporation)
Description:Editor Kate F. Hays has done a magnificent job of introducing readers to the emerging field of performance psychology with a wide-ranging blend of theory and actual case histories. She draws on the collective wisdom and insight of experts in the field, researchers and practitioners alike, to dissect performance as well as all the systemic factors associated with high-pressure performance. Hays and her colleagues offer practical ways that consultants can help ballerinas, rock stars, athletes, and CEOs to perform at optimal levels.
Purpose:The purpose is to assist those interested in learning more about the field of performance psychology as well as to offer an explanation of what expert performance psychologists actually do when they work with performers. An additional purpose may be to advance the collective knowledge base in this emergent field and provide a comprehensive reference for aspiring performance psychologists.
Audience:This book will be most useful to established performance psychologists and counseling professionals who are attracted to this new and exciting field. Individuals in high profile performance occupations such as politicians, top athletes, performing musicians, professional dancers, and business leaders would gain valuable insight from the detailed case histories and proven performance methods.
Features:Contributing authors put forward a variety of applications for performance psychology that are research based and backed by findings in the professional literature, resulting in meaningful application in the clinical setting. Chapters include carefully selected case histories that elucidate these various theoretical approaches. Each chapter is devoted to one of many pertinent subjects, such as adolescent performers and the family system, confidence building and mental preparation, as well as specific treatments for audition and performance anxiety.
Assessment:The book captures the diversity as well as the commonality of therapeutic approaches to performance psychology. Nowhere else is there such a collection of real-life applications of performance psychology science and theory expressed through the case histories of luminary clinical experts. This book is a truly welcome addition that without doubt will advance the field while establishing itself as the go-to reference for all practitioners and students who want to learn more about the exciting and challenging field of performance psychology.

Expert athletes understand the mind-body connection. For years, they have learned mental skills from coaches, consultants, and other practitioners in order to optimize physical performance. Now, these same mental skills are being taught to a broad range of performers, such as dancers, actors, lawyers, surgeons, business leaders, and rescue workers. The resulting new field of performance psychology allows performers from a variety of fields to "get their head out of the way so that their body can do what it's trained to do." In detail, this book shows the everyday practice of performance psychology. Case by case, the stories demonstrate how consultants have helped performers develop confidence, overcome mental blocks, manage emotions, and use preparation techniques such as imagery and positive self-talk in order to achieve the best possible mental state for performance. The chapters blend theory and practice by integrating literature reviews with real-world applications, and they cover a wide range of performers, including athletes, performing artists, business leaders, and professionals in high-risk occupations. Extensive session transcripts are provided, including the consultants' thoughts and reactions throughout the session. Engaging, nuanced, personal, and highly accessible, this book will help practitioners and students from a variety of fields explore performance psychology in action. Contents 5 Contributors 7 Foreword 9 Preface 11 Introduction 15 I Mental Attributes for Peak Performance 21 1 The "Canon" of Psychological Skills Training for Enhancing Performance 23 2 Emotional Intelligence 47 3 Confidence 69 4 Mental Preparation Memorization, and Improvisation 89 II Performance Challenges 111 5 Performance Anxiety 113 6 Audition Anxiety 133 7 Working With Perfection 151 8 Competition 173 III Performance-Related Consequences 193 9 Eating Disorders 195 10 Isolation 215 11 Overtraining, Burnout, Injury, and Retirement 237 IV The Consultant and the System 257 12 Adolescent Performers and the Family System 259 13 Team Leadership 281 14 Hierarchical Public Safety Organizations 301 V Conclusion 319 15 The Consultant as a Performer 321 Index 341 About the Editor 349 This is one of the first books to describe the emerging practice of'performance psychology.'The field applies the same mental skills that were once taught only to expert athletes, but are now being taught to a broad range of'performers'---including actors and dancers, lawyers, surgeons, business leaders, rescue workers and others in high-risk occupations. This title applies research and practice from many fields, including sport psychology, psychotherapy, industrial-organizational practice, and executive coaching. It blends theory and practice by integrating literature reviews with real-world applications---for a broad range of clients. It provides extensive session transcripts, including consultants'thoughts and reactions throughout each session. Introduction / Hays Mental attributes for peak performance The canon of psychological skills for enhancing performance / Andersen Emotional intelligence / McCann Confidence / Gould Mental preparation, memorization, and improvisation / Foster, Lloyd & Kamin Performance challenges Performance anxiety / Hays Audition anxiety / Grand Working with perfection / Mainwaring Competition / Balague Performance-related consequences Eating disorders / Cogan Isolation / Murphy Overtraining, burnout, injury, and retirement / Peterson The consultant and the system Adolescent performers and the family system / Hankes Team leadership / Weinberg Hierarchical public safety organizations / Scalora The consultant as a performer / Brown.