Celebrating Successes of Our Sport Psychology Graduates

“Sport psychologists focus on the mental state of sportsmen and sportswomen. They work together with athletes to optimize and improve the skills that the athletes already have. Together they work on concentration, emotion regulation, strategies for coping with stress, internal dialogue and building self-confidence. These competencies, acquired with the help of a sport psychologists, undoubtedly helped Iga to win the Grand Slam,” says Aleksandra Pogorzelska, psychologist, Head of Programming for the Sport Psychology post-graduate program at SWPS University.

Athletes of all sports disciplines increasingly admit that mental couching constitutes 80-90 percent of their training. Mental toughness becomes the key element that may prove decisive in securing a win. Mental coaches are useful not only in sports. They also work in business and can help people to improve the quality of life and achieve work-life balance.

The Sport Psychology program at SWPS University is one-of-a-kind in Poland. Our student body comprises psychologists, coaches, sports activists, parents, directors of sports schools, and professional athletes. Our approach is very holistic and we encourage our students to learn more about developmental psychology, psychodietetics, physiology, and the theory of sport. Thanks to this methodology our students have an opportunity to look at sport and athletes from many different perspectives.

Our graduates work with athletes from various disciplines, who represent the country at the national level. During classes, the students share their experience and analyze actual case studies together. We look at each case from the perspective of a parent, coach, athlete, physiotherapist, and a dietician, and it turns out that this 360º analysis offers much more practical knowledge.

The holistic approach to a professional career in sports is crucial. For example, take a 7-year old, who begins her adventure with sport. We look at her whole career, from the first steps, through achieving a senior status, and winning the highest awards and top competitions in her discipline. To ensure that an athlete will be able to perform for many years, it is crucial to focus on the positive aspects, on the athlete’s needs. It is important to make a plan for building a balanced career, because it is not possible to stay motivated and engaged at the right level through hard physical training alone. Our program concentrates strongly on the positive aspects and on supporting athletes all the way along the very long path to the top.