Leslee A. Fisher

University of Tennessee | UTK · Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies

Sport psychology scholars and practitioners (SPPs) now recognize the importance of cultural competence (CC). However, only a few SPPs have deliberately centered CC in their practice. The purpose of this study was to understand how SPPs conceptualize and develop CC within their professional practice. Our study is grounded in a critical realist ontol...

The purpose of the current study was to bring to voice and position US African American female Olympians’ lived experiences of selected identity components (i.e., race, gender, athletic identity) as they navigated specific transitions during their competitive careers. Informed by Consensual Qualitative Research methods (CQR) including a semi-struct...

The purpose of the study was to examine elite women’s rugby sevens athletes’ perceptions of caring coaching practice. Using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR), ten elite sevens women’s rugby athletes participated in semi-structured interviews focusing on perceptions of caring coaching practice. Six domains were constructed: (I) Elite women’s rug...

Sport coaching scholars extol the hope that relations of care will bring to sport. Yet, the insidious nature of relations of power and domination have been under-theorised with respect to care theory in sport coaching. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to problematise sport coaches’ perceptions of caring relations and to consider how caring c...

In recent years, sport psychology professionals (SPPs) have recognized the importance of being aware of culture in their scholarly and applied practice. However, there is still a discrepancy between this recognition and the apparent implementation of these cultural lenses in sport psychology (SP). With this study, we aimed to explore and understand...

Cultural competence, identified as the ability to understand other cultures and being aware of one’s own cultural assumptions, has been found to be important for sport psychology professionals (SPPs). In the current study, one of a few exploring the SPPs’ own perceived cultural competence, a sample of 203 SPPs completed an online survey examining t...

The current study was undertaken to develop an understanding of how sport psychology professionals (SPPs) attribute meaning to the concept of culture within the context of their scholarly and applied work. Researchers examined how 25 internationally located SPPs described the construct of culture using Hill’s (2012) Consensual Qualitative Research....

While the policies National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletic departments have in place regarding social media and drug abuse have been empirically investigated, research on the full battery of rules implemented by NCAA teams is scant. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the written team rules of 41 NCAA Division I wom...

Rogers’ (1959a) person-centered theory indicates that genuineness, empathy, and unconditional positive regard (UPR) are critical for nurturing psychological development, well-being, and full functioning (i.e., thriving). While genuineness and empathy have been addressed in sport psychology literature as important for optimal coaching, only the oppo...

Mental performance consultants in training need to be prepared to respond to the various ethical dilemmas they may encounter, including sexual misconduct. Sexual harassment (i.e., unwanted attention of a sexual nature that may create an uncomfortable environment) is a form of sexual misconduct that has increased dramatically in the general U.S. pop...

Within Rogers’ (1959) person-centered theory, unconditional positive regard (UPR) is considered a key construct for cultivating optimal development and psychological functioning, while its opposite constructs—conditional regard, unconditional negative regard, and unconditional positive disregard—are suggested to undermine these processes. Through a...

Though commonly emphasized by parents, coaches, and youth sport organizations, relatively little research exists with regard to morality in youth sport. In this Insights paper, we utilize Shields and Bredemeier’s 12-component model of moral action to help coaches become aware of how sport contextual influences, personal competencies, and ego-proces...

Context: Athletic trainers (ATs) have indicated a desire to better understand the motivations of athletes during rehabilitation. Self-determination theory offers an ideal lens for conceptualizing the antecedents, mediators, and consequences of motivated behavior. Objective: To explore athletes' perceptions of ATs' influence on their basic psycho...

While the topic of caring coaching and its relationship to performance has been explored by researchers mainly in the UK, it has been neglected in the US with the exception of three studies by Fisher and colleagues. The core problem is a lack of understanding regarding the construct of care and whether coaches can care about athletes in pressure-fi...

In this paper, we engage with cultural sport psychology (CSP; see Ryba, Schinke, & Tenenbaum, 2010; Schinke & Hanrahan, 2009, for example) to explore sexual exploitation in USA Gymnastics. Specifically, using critical reflexivity on the Larry Nassar case, we bring to life how systemic abuse in sport is more than a tragedy. We argue that perpetratio...

Nine (5 female, 4 male) certified athletic trainers (ATs) from a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution participated in semistructured interviews about their experiences with sport psychology services and perceptions on the potential role of sport psychology consultants (SPCs) in student-athlete development. Through consens...

The focus of the current study was on the ways that U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female and male assistant coaches defined and implemented care with their student–athletes. Twenty-three coaches (14 female, 9 male) from nine different sports (baseball, basketball, golf, rowing, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field/...

The current study was undertaken to explore how U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I female and male head coaches defined and implemented care in their coaching practice. Eighteen coaches (M = 39.2 years; nine females, nine males) from eight different sports (baseball, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, track and field/cross-co...

Although the biopsychosocial model of sport injury rehabilitation (Brewer, Andersen, & Van Raalte, 2002) is one of the most comprehensive frameworks to address athletes' postinjury responses, there has been little research centralizing the myriad of cultural factors (e.g., nationality, ethnicity, socioeconomic status) that can impact psychological,...

Cultural competence within the field of applied sport psychology consulting is an important yet underemphasized topic. No sport psychology certification to present day includes a comprehensive module of how to augment cultural competence within the practitioner, though we are aware of discussions relating to this topic by the Association for Applie...

Nine certified athletic trainers (ATs) from one National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I institution participated in semi-structured interviews about their understanding of sport psychology and use of psychological strategies in their work with injured athletes. Through Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2012 Hill, C. E. (2012). Cons...

Little empirical research has been done on the father–daughter relationship in sport. Therefore, the purpose of this project was to obtain in-depth description of U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) daughter-athletes’ lived experiences of this relationship during their athletic careers. Using a snowball and purposiv...

The purpose of this study was to explore the congruence of identity in 10 former U.S. NCAA Division I (DI) lesbian student-athletes using a semistructured personal identity interview guide (adapted from Fisher, 1993) and Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) (Hill, 2012; Hill, Knox, Thompson, Williams, Hess, & Ladany, 2005). Five domains, nineteen...

Although the biopsychosocial model of sport injury rehabilitation (Brewer, Andersen, & Van Raalte, 2002) is one of the most comprehensive frameworks to address athletes' postinjury responses, there has been little research centralizing the myriad of cultural factors (e.g., nationality, ethnicity, socioeconomic status) that can impact psychological,...

In this paper, the experiences of 12 NCAA Division I female head coaches exemplifying care in their coaching are described. After a brief review of literature and terms, coaches’ own words from interview transcripts are used to illustrate four major themes: (a) team as “family”; (b) holistic care of student-athletes; (c) development of the “self-as...

Importance Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in sports is a tragic event. Pre-participation cardiovascular screening is required before participation in high school and college athletic programs and is universally endorsed by major medical societies. The medical impact of a diagnosis may be life-saving; however, the detection of disease should not be the...

Because alcohol abuse and sexual violence are particularly prevalent on college campuses (Coker et al., 2011), empowering female student-athletes is a vital pursuit for intercollegiate athletics (Gill, 2008; Cattaneo & Chapman, 2010). Using consensual qualitative research (Hill et al., 1997, 2005), we interviewed eight Division I female student-ath...

In this paper, the experiences of nine AASP-certified sport psychology consultants (SPCs) working with athletes who invoke spirituality in their consulting sessions are described. After a brief review of terms and literature, consultants' own words from interview transcripts are used to illustrate four major themes. These were: (a) SPC definitions...

In this paper, a vision for the future of U.S. NCAA Division I university sport is presented. It is argued that this context could serve as the place where performance “excellence” is rooted in caring. However, U.S. sport at this level must become purposefully structured to include educational components related to moral thinking, feeling, and beha...

Cultural sport psychology (CSP) is a relatively new research genre that challenges mainstream sport psychology’s assumptions to facilitate contextualized understandings of marginalized topics and cultural identities. Conceptual writings on CSP have grown in the past 10 years, and with that, empirical literature explicitly positioned within CSP. Wit...

The purpose of cardiovascular screening in athletes is the identification of disorders at risk for sudden cardiac death. No study has assessed the experiences of athletes diagnosed with a serious cardiovascular condition. To determine the psychological impact of young athletes who are diagnosed with a potentially lethal cardiac condition. Semi-stru...

What is gender? Is it a thing people have or a process people go through (Messner & Sabo, 1990)? In this chapter, we define gender as well as a variety of theories used to examine gender including feminism and feminist theory, queer theory, and gender studies. The central categories of analysis used to explore gender such as gender identity and gen...

In this paper, we examine a case of "real life" ethical decision-making in sport psychology that occurred in the context of a symposium on sexual transgressions in sport, conducted during a recent professional conference. We use autoethnography (Ellis, 2004), an emergent qualitative methodology combining both literary and ethnographic techniques. I...

This study was conducted by university and Aboriginal coresearchers in Canada, utilizing a participatory action research (PAR) approach akin to a decolonizing methodology. The purpose was to empower nine Aboriginal coresearchers to share their recommendations for meaningful research practice, grounded in their cultural perspectives and lived experi...

From national statistics, it has been indicated that Canadian Aboriginal youth are overrepresented in lower health demographics than the rest of the national population, suffering from higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart problems. When Schinke, Michel, and colleagues (2006) engaged in preliminary research with elite Aboriginal athletes, th...

Personal training is a rapidly growing industry in a country that is in dire need of physical fitness and health improvements. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to better understand women’s experiences with personal training. To address the research question, eight female participants ages 24 to 54 years were interviewed using the foll...

When attempting to work with people from Indigenous cultures, mainstream researchers often encounter cultural differences, mistrust and a general resistance to community research. These challenges have emerged within the sport psychology domain as a consequence of mono‐cultural, Eurocentric research paradigms, which have marginalised Indigenous pop...

Although a few studies on the experiences of mothering athletes have been conducted that investigate issues such a training patterns of elite and non-elite athletes, quality of life issues, and track and field athletes’ return to competition after pregnancy (see Beilock, Feltz, & Pivarnik, 2001; Balague, Shaw, Vernacchia, & Yambor, 1995: Pederson,...

Based on a sample of 237 university undergraduate students, we examined the 24 Values in Action (VIA) character strengths in relation to two indices of academic success--student satisfaction and grade point average (GPA). All 24 character strengths were positively and significantly related to General Life Satisfaction; 22 were significantly, positi...

An across-subjects multiple-baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of solution-focused guided imagery (SFGI) on putting yips (e.g., jerk in the putting stroke) in three experienced (24 years or more), accomplished (handicap less than 7), male golfers located in the Southeastern United States. Each golfer participated in at least five SFGI...

The central purpose throughout this paper is to revisit the ways that sport psychology researchers, educators, and practitioners have (or have not) used a cultural studies perspective to enhance their research and applied work since we first wrote about this issue (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003). We suggested in our previous review that key cultura...

Through research grounded in praxis, sport psychologists can seek to understand and then help meet the motivational needs of sport participants from marginalized cultures. The present report unveils the recommendations of 23 elite Canadian Aboriginal athletes and subsequent community meetings with an Aboriginal community regarding how to enhance sp...

The purpose of this collaborative research project, consisting of five interrelated studies, was to explore the epistemological development of women engaged in various forms of physical activity. Forty-seven women who participated in one of five physical activity contexts (intercollegiate field hockey, individual non-competitive activities, lesbian...

The purpose of this study was to explore sport psychology consultants' experiences of using hypnosis in their practice. Specifically a better understanding of hypnosis utilization as a performance enhancement technique in applied sport psychology was sought. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with six sport psychology consultants (...

Rock climbing has been traditionally defined as a “masculine” sport (Young, 1997). The experiences of women in this sport have rarely been studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of high-level female rock climbers. Qualitative analysis of interviews with eight high-level female climbers (ages 19 to 30 years) revealed t...

In summary, the body and mind are synergistically related, so when one experiences scar tissue, the other often does, as well. Being aware of how athletes experience injuries as crises and of a variety of techniques for breaking up both physical and mental scar tissue are two things athletic trainers can do to assist athletes in the recovery proces...

In 1995, Gill discussed women's place in the history and development of sport psychology. However, no research to date has explored women's experiences working in the field of sport psychology. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of professional women's career histories and experiences in sport psychology. The study wa...

In recent years, there have been increasing calls for graduate programs in sport psychology to include supervised practicum experiences. While supervision and applied experience is vital to the professional growth of graduate students, periodic evaluations are also needed to determine students' effectiveness in providing sport psychology services....

The present study was designed to examine a first person perspective of the Christian athlete's lived prayer experiences. Nine former Division I collegiate Christian athletes were interviewed and asked to describe their experience of praying before, during, or after competition. The results revealed four themes that seemed to characterize athletes'...

The purpose of this paper is to expand upon our earlier work (Fisher, Butryn, & Roper, 2003) which introduced the core concepts of cultural studies and their application to the field of sport psychology. More specifically, we provide: (a) a critique and interrogation of the dominant practices of academic sport psychology; (b) a discussion of how on...

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to investigate the moral orientations of professional female bodybuilders and (b) to explore the relationship between professional female bodybuilders' moral orientations when reasoning about self-identified and standardized hypothetical (steroid) moral dilemmas. Ten professional female bodybuilders rangin...

This study examined social physique anxiety, upper body esteem, social anxiety, and body dissatisfaction as possible predictors of anabolic steroid (AS) use. Data were collected from 185 AS-using bodybuilders, non-using bodybuilders, athletically active exercisers, and non-exercising individuals. A polychotomous logistic regression technique was us...

Social physique anxiety, upper body esteem, social anxiety, and body dissatisfaction were examined among self-reported anabolic steroid (AS)-using bodybuilders, non-using bodybuilders, athletically active exercisers, and non-exercising individuals. Results indicate that: (a) the AS-using bodybuilder group had significantly lower levels of social ph...

20 21 Abstract: Media representation of female athletes is fraught with sexism, racism,