“We cannot CBT our way out of these systems”: Exploring how sport psychology practitioners engage in cultural praxis

Abstract

Scholars and practitioners have attended to and shown support for the promotion of a culturally sensitive approach within applied sport psychology. Yet, a cultural competence knowledge-behavior gap among sport psychology practitioners (SPPs) remains prevalent along with a lack of practical guidance on how SPPs can engage in a cultural praxis. In order to ensure that SPPs are helping all clients (e.g., athletes) thrive—not merely cope with forms of social identity oppression (e.g., racism) and other sources of harm that pervade sport—there is a need for empirical research that explores how current SPPs fully account for identity, privilege/power and oppression in their work. This qualitative study aimed to help close this gap by offering practical insights from SPPs that can serve as direction for other practitioners to strengthen their cultural praxis. This study adopted a cultural praxis agenda. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 current SSPs working in the United States who identified as making efforts to account for social identity, privilege/power and oppression in their practice. Reflexive thematic analysis of interviews with SPPs was carried out at the semantic level. Results highlight four key themes that reflect SPPs approach: (a) acknowledging the self, (b) learning about the client as a whole person in context, (c) shifting power to the client for collaboration, and (d) taking individual-level and/or organizational-level action. Findings provide guidance for how SPPs can engage in a cultural praxis that goes beyond cultural competence promotion in order to ensure that sport is an empowering context for all.

Lay summary

This study explored how SPPs account for social identity, privilege/power and oppression in their practice. Four themes characterized their approach: acknowledging the self, learning about the client as a whole person in context, shifting power to the client for collaboration, and individual-level and organizational-level action to promote inclusion, belonging, and equity. Findings provide guidance for how SPPs can work to ensure that sport is an empowering context for all.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

• SPPs accounted for social identity, privilege/power and oppression in their applied work by first building and exercising their awareness of themselves (and their positionality) along with their client as a whole person in context.

• Practitioners used this awareness to shift power to their client for collaboration by honoring their expertise and making individualized considerations.

• SPPs took individual-level and/or organizational level action to promote inclusion, belonging, and equity within the context of the client-practitioner relationship and broader sport environment. In order to ensure that sport is an empowering context for all, SPPs can consider what organizational-level actions they might take alongside individual-level actions in order to effect wholescale social justice change.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).