Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Athletes

Wood, Sam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-870X and Turner, Martin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1975-5561 (2025) Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. ISSN 2596-741X (In Press)

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Abstract

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) appears to be ubiquitous in sport, becoming a dominant approach to sport psychology in Scandinavia. Yet most resources are typically outside the academic literature. Therefore, aside from case study reports, little is known about how ACT can be adopted as a psychotherapeutic approach to sport psychology delivery. This paper provides professional practice insights into the application of ACT in sport over and above what can be typically portrayed in research studies. We outline how sport psychology practitioners can introduce ACT to sport settings, consider the delivery of ACT via different modalities (individual consultations, brief and single session interventions, and workshops), and discuss assessing the effectiveness of ACT in sport. We hope this paper encourages sport psychologists to adopt ACT in their work.