The SPEP is a pilot program, provided by the Student Counseling Center (the SCC) for athletes and coaches, committed to providing sport psychology mental training, interventions, and team building to the ISU athlete. The SPEP is a collaborative effort directed by the SCC involving its sports psychology staff and volunteer, multidisciplinary areas of athletic consultation at the University, such as Athletic Training, Nutrition, Kinesiology, and Recreational Sports, and other departments interested in working with the SCC and the Athletic Department. The SPEP combines the SCC's staff expertise in Psychology and Sport Science with University consultants in specialized support areas, to produce the most comprehensive and state-of-the art sport performance excellence services available.

The most common reasons athletes' performance vary and result in ups and downs in competition result from difficulty in stress management - which causes excessive anxiety, perfectionism and tension; poor motivation; being over or under confident; or having poor concentration, which can create problems with skilled cognitive and motor performance. Successful athletes and coaches know this and focus on the physical skills AND the mental training to enhance performance and increase winning. The SPEP staff can help the athlete achieve success by teaching effective mental skills for sports. The staff will assist the athlete in developing the individualized training and mental preparation programs to meet the team's needs and their own specific goal for performance success.

The SPEP currently offers sport performance intervention, workshops, and personal counseling to individual athletes, sport teams, coaches, athletic personnel and organizations in the following areas:

Goal Setting

Imagery

Focus and Attention

Focused Breathing and Relaxation

Positive Self-Affirmation

Mental Recall

Mental Rehearsal

Competitive Stress Management

Peak Performance Routines

Building a Winner's Self-Image and Qualities

Using Imagery in Injury Recovery and Prevention

Techniques for Getting In The Zone

For more information about the Sport Performance Excellence Project, contact:

L. Kenneth Chew Psy.D., Director, Student Counseling Center, 812-237-3939