Using an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Overcome Distractive Overthinking with a High School Baseball Player

Wood, Samuel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1281-870X and Turner, Martin J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1975-5561 (2024) Using an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Overcome Distractive Overthinking with a High School Baseball Player. Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, 8 (1). pp. 8-15. ISSN 2470-4849

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Abstract

The present paper outlines a case-study in sport psychology service delivery provided to a 16-year-old High School baseball player. The client reported experiencing distraction from overthinking in training and competition, which hindered his concentration and performance. An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention was implemented over ten sessions across a five-month period. The aim of the intervention was to overcome anxiety by encouraging acceptance of unhelpful thoughts, rather than changing or removing them, and helping the client focus on moving towards the athlete he wanted to be. This case offers a novel contribution to the wider literature by reporting an ACT intervention addressing performance anxiety in sport. We report how psychological flexibility was achieved through exercises to “unhook” the client from his thoughts around perfection and self-imposed pressure. Reflections from the client and practitioner capture the evaluation of the service delivery process