Experiences of Developing Evidence-Informed Decision-Making Competence in Trainee Sport Psychology Practitioners: Supervisor and Supervisee Perspectives

Marie E. Winter, Paul Freeman, Murray Griffin, Andrew Soundy, Ian Maynard

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore how supervision influences trainee sport psychology practitioners’ development of evidence-informed decision-making competence. Six trainees (three female, three male; average age 26.7 ± 1.9 years; average years in training 1.4 ± 0.9) and six training supervisors (three female, three male; average age 44.7 ± 14.2 years; years supervising 19.5 ± 4.2) participated in semistructured interviews. Participants represented all three sport and exercise psychologist training routes in the United Kingdom.

Employing an interpretive phenomenological analysis methodology, three superordinate themes emerged that represent applied experiences of developing evidence-informed decision-making competencies: understanding the athlete and environment, translating research to practice, and becoming self-aware. A further three superordinate themes highlighted learning experiences during supervision that contributed to the development of evidence-informed decision-making competence: knowledge exchange, exploring thought processes, and self-development. The findings provide a better understanding of how trainees can develop competent and confident evidence-informed decision-making capabilities for applied sport psychology practice through supervision.