School Counseling and the Student Athlete

Book excerpt: School Counseling and the Student Athlete explores empirical, theoretical, and practice-based issues that demand consideration by school-based counseling and educational professionals working at the pre-collegiate level. In its pages clinicians and students will find insights into both why student athletes experience many of the issues they do as well as the steps that counselors can take to help these individuals and their families. Theories of motivation and theoretical approaches to counseling student athletes are covered in order to provide an orientation to working with this group, and the book also includes a thorough discussion of the most important elements of counseling the student athlete: the academic, career, personal, and social issues they face; consultations with coaches, teachers, and parents; commercialism and the student athlete’s identity; and gender, sexual identity, and culture issues. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and available resources for counselors. Grounded in research and pioneering in its analysis of sports psychology for students in grades K-12, School Counseling and the Student Athlete is a must-have for school counselors, clinicians, and other professionals who work with elementary and secondary students.