Acceptance and Commitment Approaches for Athletes’ Wellbeing and Performance

Ross G. White is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Liverpool, UK. He undertakes consultancy work in elite sport environments including providing mental health support to a Premier League Football Club academy and a Pro-14 Rugby Team. Lewis Charnock is a BASES accredited sport scientist (psychology) and Performance Psychologist at Everton Football Club Academy, UK. He has substantial experience working in youth and elite sport settings. Stephen Leckey is Lecturer in Sports Coaching at Ayrshire College, UK, having previously completed a PhD assessing mental toughness in Rugby Union. He is also Director of a sports performance consultancy, Athlete Focused. Victoria Penpraze is Senior Lecturer in Physiology and Sport Science at the University of Glasgow, UK. In a consultancy role she has more than 15 years’ experience providing sports science support and research within elite rugby, football and golf.Andrew Bethell is a clinical psychologist. Andrew trained at the University of Liverpool, UK and currently provides mental health support to individual athletes, teams and staff groups across several high performance sport environments in the United Kingdom.

• 1. The Flexible Mind: What is it and what does it offer?.- 2. Mindfulness- and Acceptance Based Interventions for Performance and Mental Health Outcomes in Sport.- 3. Setting the Scene for the Flexible Mind approach.- 4. Introducing Athletes to the Flexible Mind approach.- 5. Mind full vs. Mindful.- 6. Orientating to Our Inner Compass.- 7. Being Open, Living Big.- 8. Getting Present with the Discomfort.- 9. Flexibility…of the Psychological Kind.- 10. Developing the Game Plan.- 11. Getting the Environment Right.

“A practical, yet readily graspable approach is presented in the comprehensive and thorough work of Ross G. White, Andrew Bethell, Lewis Charnock, Stephen Leckey, and Victoria Penpraze titled Acceptance and Commitment Approaches for Athletes’ Wellbeing and Performance: The Flexible Mind. ... The authors of the book are a group of experts specializing in sports psychology. ... they provide a holistic approach to athlete care, emphasizing mental flexibility, well-being, and optimized performance.” (Nasrin Jourianp, Hungarian Educational Research Journal, July 12, 2024)