Joint position stand of the ISSP, FEPSAC, ASPASP and AASP on professional Accreditation  

Explorations into sport psychology (also comprised of exercise psychology) credentialing are not recent. There exist rich histories in multinational societies and geographic regions, spanning over 30 years.

Recognizing the importance of accreditation has been necessary in fostering understanding about the competencies needed to practice effectively in this field. These competences are in terms of processes and outcomes meeting these standards, and vary by region and country.

Lately, there has been increased focus on international and national credentialing of individual practitioners. The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) has aligned with national certification standards, and shifted to a written examination as part of its assessment.

The European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) is underway in developing its own continental accreditation , whilst the Asian-South Pacific Association of Sport Psychology (ASPASP) has implemented a free online professional course as a first step towards accrediting practitioners in the region.

Sport psychology accreditation is increasingly important as the applied realm of this profession spans community physical activity/recreation, and developmental and elite/professional sport. Accredited practices must integrate universal and local approaches.

Read full statement on EFPA website 

FEPSAC position statement:
Mental health disorders in elite athletes and models of service provision

Mental health disorders (MHD) in elite athletes is a topic that has received increased attention in recent years. The overall aim of this position statement is to enhance awareness of this important topic and to critically discuss optimal service provision for athletes who suffer from MHD.  

In the first part of the paper a short overview of the research on MHD in elite athletes is provided. Elite athletes seem to have comparable prevalence rates for the most common MHD when compared to non-athletic peers, but there are still many disorders that have not been investigated in athletes. Sport specific situations such as injuries, periods of overtraining and career termination may put athletes at an increased risk of developing MHD.

In the second part of the paper, models of service provision for elite athletes suffering from MHD from six European countries are presented, focusing on 1) professional service providers, 2) support systems, 3) diagnostic assessment, 4) clinical treatment, 5) performance during treatment, 6) screening, and 7) education systems.

It emerges that competencies, certification issues, and professional boundaries of the involved service providers, as well as the structure of the National Health Care systems differ strongly across European countries, which makes defining a golden standard difficult. In the third part of this paper, the authors provide general recommendations for athletes and coaches, clubs, federations, organizations and scholars that hopefully will inspire stakeholders to optimize their support systems.  

Read more on EFPA website 