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What Is Performance Mindfulness?
Under the banner of “psychotherapy”, there are hundreds of different approaches. Sometimes called models or philosophies, some work together, while others are opposites. For some mindfulness (or performance mindfulness) is everything, for others it’s nonexistent.
At Condor Performance, we are open to our psychologists using whichever therapeutic models they believe are best. One of our core values is ‘always do what’s in the best interest of the client’. This eliminates the need to force our performance and sport psychologists to use the same ‘tool kit’.
However, we would be negligent if we didn’t point them in the right direction of several methods that we know tend to be effective repeatedly.
CBT and ACT
I have used two major models in my applied work with sporting clients. My go-to philosophies include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
I should mention that I am not thrilled that both end in the word ‘therapy’. The word therapy, to most, suggests a more clinical or counselling framework. Although my colleagues and I are quite capable of assisting our clients with mental health issues, our bread-and-butter is far more performance-orientated.
Like many psychology students from the 1990s, I was mainly exposed to CBT models during my undergraduate years. In fact, so dominant was CBT in the early part of my training that I assumed it was ‘the only way’ to help clients!
Despite this, I was always uncomfortable about the idea of helping people to think too differently. Quite frankly, it just felt too hard and without any real benefit. Something was missing from CBT’s toolkit. Luckily, due to the psychologist’s CPD requirements, I was constantly being exposed to new ideas.
Russ Harris in 2013
I attended one of Russ Harris’ Intro courses to ACT in 2013. Across only two days, many of my questions were answered. Helping clients become better at accepting thoughts and feelings instead of struggling with them seemed far more sensible from a performance psychology point of view.
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Taking part in at least one of Russ’s workshops is now virtually compulsory for new team Condor Performance members. Here is a picture of Darren Godwin with the Great Man in 2023.
The Wild Beast Analogy
Steven C. Hayes first developed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in the 1980s. His starting point was that the cognitions of human beings are very much like wild animals. You can try taming them, but ultimately, they will do what they will.
So, instead of trying to change our thoughts directly, we are far better off accepting them most of the time.
Imagine trying to get a tennis player always to have the same thoughts before they serve. Or to always think positively. Now imagine that that tennis player is in a challenging situation. Maybe she is slightly injured, or perhaps she’s double-match point down. Now, she is in a bind, and we expect her to think a certain way, too!
Before 2013 (Discovering ACT)
Sport Psychologist: What do you think before each serve?
Tennis Player: Not quite sure.
Sport Psychologist: I want you to be sure. Let’s devise something you can say to yourself before every single serve.
Tennis Player: Ok, you mean like “stay calm”.
Sport Psychologist: Yes, that’s work.
After 2013 (Discovering ACT)
Sport Psychologist: What do you think before each serve?
Tennis Player: Not quite sure.
Sport Psychologist: Great, it’s your actions that count. Think whatever you want, even if it’s negative; just stick to your pre-point routine.
The Misuse of The Word Mindfulness
Mindfulness has and continues to be confused with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Mindfulness is an increased awareness of the present moment with decreased judgment. It’s just one part of ACT, a very important part, but not the entire model.
When I use ACT to inform the one-on-one mental training I do with my sporting and non-sporting clients, I do so in the following way.
First, I explain that uncomfortable thoughts and feelings are a part of human existence. The wild animal analogy can help here.
Next, I explain how thoughts are separate from actions. You can try this now.
Start rubbing the top of your head while thinking how silly it is to rub one’s head. Even better, say to yourself, “I am not rubbing my head right now”. But continue to do the action.
Mental Separation
All too often in the human experience, thoughts, feelings, and actions are regarded as inseparable. The favoured term in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is fused. Therefore, separating thoughts from actions is logically called diffusion, a key part of ACT.
So, we have to get better at accepting our thoughts. You can try this alone to start with, but it is challenging. We have created a 16-minute audio guide for anyone who needs a helping hand (yes, it’s free).
This brings us to the final part of ACT, the commitment part. By commitment, what we are saying is committed actions. More so than almost any other human endeavour, sports are facts full of actions. There is a virtually unlimited number of tasks that can be performed.
So, performance mindfulness is just regular mindfulness in a performance setting. And it’s in these settings that fusing (getting caught up) with your thoughts can be so damaging.
If you are curious about discovering more about our work at Condor Performance, a great place to start is to listen to some of the recorded answers to the most frequent questions we get by clicking here. Or get in touch via one of these methods. Please email us at info@condorperformance.com or fill in our Contact Us form.
Completing one of our Mental Toughness Questionnaires is also a great way to reach out to our team of sport and performance psychologists.