Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is often thought of as the dominant psychotherapeutic practice within the broad discipline of psychology, and one that many psychologists consider as having the most evidence-based treatments for within a variety of settings, including sport. CBT is typically problem-focused with a primary emphasis on remediating negative thought disorders and to develop an array of tools to fix them. More specifically, in sport literature, CBT is often presented as “an approach that brings about change over time through cognitive processes such as restructuring, self-monitoring, practice, and experimentation with new thoughts or behaviors”. The objective of CBT is to understand how beliefs can maintain problems. In essence, to help an athlete resolve their performance issues, CBT emphasizes developing alternative ways of thinking combined with the appropriate use of techniques. Generally, CBT is considered a consultant-led approach with the sport psychology consultants being seen as the expert.