Zoe Black Sport Psychology

📆 New diary space now open!

📍Pleased to announce that my private practice is now exclusively operating from

👩🏼‍💻I will be offering in person and online support on Fridays going forward.

⬇️ Check out their Instagram and website for more information or to self refer.

https://edinburghpractice.com

“Fish swim. Birds fly. People feel.”

- Haim Ginott

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DSEP 2023 done and dusted ✨

Well that was an experience! Firstly, thank you to my co-lead Alban, for keeping me laughing throughout this crazy conference organising process and for knowing when to reign in my wild enthusiasm, and when to draw upon it.

Thank you to conference committee who worked tireless throughout the year, answering our every strange question and demand.

Thank you to our excellent keynotes who all exceeded all of our expectations!

Thank you to everyone who attended the conference, embraced it values, and made it an inspiring few days.

💦 Enjoyable time away this week with the Aquatics Performance Team at Glenmore Lodge 💦

“ I alone can do this, but I can’t do this alone.”

A day of collaboration and celebration at the Summit yesterday. An organisation doing important and meaningful work.

⭐️ On Wednesday the 14th June Glasgow Caledonian University are hosting the latest Scottish Sport & Exercise Psychology Network meeting.

⏰From 1-4pm we will be treated to an action packed schedule of presentations from both DPsych trainees and lecturers.

👥 As always this will be followed by some socialising at Waxy O’Connors.

📧 If you would like more information or to be included in our mailing list, please drop an email to [email protected]

YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED…

I’ve been a little quiet on here recently.
The reason why: I have started a new role as a Sport psychologist at the Scottish Institute of Sport.

Over the last three months I’ve been completing my induction, finding my feet within the organisation and immersing myself in the different sports that I will be working with going forward.

IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING…

What are the main benefits of working in a large multi-disciplinary organisation like this as a sport psych?
For me the biggest benefit is the ability to collaborate and pull on the expertise of other psychologists and experts in other sporting disciplines.

What are the challenges of organisational working?
There are lots of people involved in the process. Effective communication is essential between practitioners, disciplines and with athletes.

What does this mean for this page? I hope to continue sharing snippets of my work with the institute (where possible), resume posting more educational content and reflections based on my applied experiences.

Zoe, xx

LESSONS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY- When we don’t feel the fireworks.
On Friday I received the amazing news that I had passed my VIVA, the final part of the process to allow me to qualify as a Sport and Exercise Psychologist. But it was not quite the moment I had dreamed of.

I had been working towards this goal for the past 8 years but when I saw those results, I didn’t jump for joy as one might expect. I did not feel the fireworks. Instead, I sat sobbing uncontrollably. All the hard work and countless hours of reading, writing, personal development and CPD had been worth it. I could hold my head up high and say “I did it” but all I wanted to do was lie down and breathe. I don’t remember ever thinking specifically about how amazing this moment would be. I didn’t explicitly expect to feel fireworks or jump for joy, but I thought it would feel different. All those years of work were over in that one minute. Done. Finito. Finished. And all I could ask myself was “what now?”. I felt relief and sadness, and a little bit lost. I was grieving the end of this chapter of my life.

The psychologist in me wanted to reflect and question why I felt this way. But I was equally ashamed and embarrassed by my feelings. I assured myself when I got to share the news with others, I would feel the joy. When we celebrated and opened the champagne, I was sure it would come. When I posted it across my socials and was flooded with validation from my peers and colleagues it had to come, didn’t it? And then I spotted it those “when…then” traps.

Whilst reading this you may be thinking “Jeez she sounds ungrateful”, I felt that too. The shame I felt for not being ecstatic confused me and I found myself seeking alternatives for this exhaustion, sadness, and relief that I couldn’t explain. It was only after sharing these feelings with my partner that I realised I had finally allowed myself to be sad. I needed to stop suppressing and questioning these emotions and just sit with them. I reminded myself that we can feel both sadness and joy at the same time. Just because these were not the feelings that I or others had expected me to feel, did not make them any less valid.

Writing this I wonder if this is weird feeling is something many of us may have experienced, particularly since the pandemic, where students have been submitting and receiving work completely online. It made me think how the social interaction of going through these experiences together affects us? Am I struggling to really feel the joy because I am not with those that have experienced it with me? Would it have been helpful for me to manage my expectations surrounding this moment, as I would do with a client? Or will I feel the fireworks when I (hopefully) get to walk across that stage and graduate? Only time will tell, but what it has reminded me is that it is possible to feel many emotions at once and our feelings are valid. It is important to accept and lean into them because “Emotions are like tunnels. You have to go all the way through the darkness to get to the light at the end.”- Emily Nagoski

Another weekend looking serious, supporting from the sideline.

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“I long, as every human being does, to be at home wherever I find myself.”

- Maya Angelou

Desk set up essentials 👩🏼‍💻

🪟 A spot under the window to let the daylight in and watch the world go past.

📓 Notebooks ready to be filled.

🪴A houseplant or two to bring nature inside.

✍🏻 Plenty of pens to take note of all your thoughts, ideas and dreams.

☕️ A hidden mug of coffee to keep you fuelled.

📚 A few of your favourite books for comfort, motivation and a reminder of your values.

Far too much fun and laughter this weekend at the EAFA training camp.

It is a privilege to be involved with this team in the run up to the . Their hard work, determination and passion is second to none. 🤍

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LESSONS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY- FEEDBACK

Receiving feedback whether you feel that it’s positive or negative, constructive or destructive, is an inevitable part of life and is especially important in sport.

Positive feedback can be a wonderful thing. It assures us that we are moving in the right direction. But we have to be open to ALL of the honest feedback we receive and not just brush off those that we don’t like or agree with. Constructive feedback can sometimes be trickier to take, especially depending on how it is given and received.

In sport we can be quick to blame external factors for our poor performance or put the feedback down to “just someone else’s opinion”. But in order to keep moving forward and improve we need to REALLY take time to hear the feedback we receive, process it and put it into action.

For me, it’s all about how we frame and view the context from which someone is giving you feedback. In my own experience I have found it helpful to remember that if someone is taking time to give you feedback, then it’s highly likely that they care and want to see you improve and excel.

I sometimes find the hardest part of receiving feedback is not to be overwhelmed by my emotions. Whether it’s trying not to cry or get frustrated and angry, deep breaths and taking some time to let the emotions settle is always a good idea.

Feedback is essential for growth and how we choose to respond to it (because yes we do have a choice) will shape our future in sport and in life.

LESSONS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY- PATIENCE

Being patient is not something I have ever been particularly good at. In fact I have often found my enthusiasm to be my biggest weakness. When I get an idea in my head I often dive right into action without taking time to think through the next steps.

And similarly, I’ve always been a big dreamer with hopes and ambitions to change the world. But recently I’ve learned that changing the world doesn’t happen overnight with one big decision or action. Effective change takes time and lots of small changes.

In life and in sport we often hear the story of how one moment, match or opportunity changed everything. But in reality that one moment is the result of a thousand different moments. That lucky break is the result of years of hard work meeting the right opportunity.

In order to be successful in sport and I’m life, we need to practice patience and trust that with hard work and focusing on the process, the outcome we desire will emerge.

As I come to the end of my formal training as a sport psychologist I can see now the importance of the process. Every assignment I have ever completed, every group discussion and every small experience I have had to this point has taught me something critical. It is the result of all these small moments and decisions that have helped me grow to the practitioner I am today and will allow me to continue growing.

I need to be patient and persistent because results, change and growth take time.

“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” - Saadi

Excited to be joining the already excellent team at England Amputee Football Association.
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LESSONS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY- REJECTION
Over the last few month I have been applying for jobs. The process of which I have found quite tricky. You spend hours thinking about and writing about why you would be the best person for this job and you convince yourself that you are. You submit your application full of hope and promise. And maybe you even stop for a moment and imagine what your life would be like if you got that job. Then you wait and just as you begin to let it slip to the back of your mind the moment comes and you receive the email, “I regret to inform you...”. And the story of what could have been is no more.

But rejection is part of life. It is inevitable and it is painful. We face rejection from jobs, in social situations, from romantic partners and in sport. Unfortunately we can’t stop or prevent the pain of rejection but we can choose how we respond to it.

When we experience rejection many of us jump into defensive mode. We point the finger and play the blame game, or we list off all the excuses we can think of. Whilst all of these behaviours are our efforts to preserve our ego and self esteem, they don’t help us move forward. Sometimes we simply aren’t the best person for that job and we need to accept that.

But rejection usually isn’t personal. One rejection does not make you a failure, it doesn’t define your worth or value and just because you were rejected this time doesn’t mean you will be next time.

In sport we experience rejection all the time, be it not making the team or not getting the contract. Often we hear the story of the athlete who found a way to use rejection to fuel their fire with an “I’ll show them” mentality. And this can be helpful but only if we can also pause and reflect on what we can do to be better.

When we experience rejection it is important that we take time to process it, feel the sadness or anger it brings, and ask what did I learn from this experience?

It is our responsibility to learn from rejection, to take time to understand why we might have been rejected, and to choose which direction we travel in next.

“A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success” - Bo Bennett

LESSONS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY- VULNERABILITY

I must start by pointing out that although the title suggests past tense, I am still very much learning from these lessons.

Finding the courage to be vulnerable is one lesson that I frequently revisit. For instance, just writing this post I ummed and ahhed “is it the right kind of content to be sharing? Is this what people expect of sport psychology? Will I be perceived as soft?”. But without taking these chances and putting ourself out there we will never know what could have been.

In sport we are often told to be tough, to be strong and to be brave. And for many of us we assume, or have been told that means hiding our emotions. Vulnerability is about owning and leaning into our emotions. And to do that we definitely have to be tough and strong and brave.

My gosh though it’s terrifying being vulnerable. Whether it’s putting yourself out there applying for jobs, speaking up against something you don’t agree with or just being deeply honest about how you feel.

When we see acts of vulnerability in sport we are shocked. Because suddenly we are reminded that professional athletes are human. They make mistakes and have feelings too.

As lovers of sport we owe it to ourselves and to those around us to find the courage to be vulnerable and to be accepting and supportive of others when they have the courage to do the same. Only when we are willing to be vulnerable and let down our guard can we truly experience greatness.

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing. It’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.” - Brene Brown

LESSONS I LEARNED THE HARD WAY

As I near the end of my doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology and begin to look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead, I decided it may be worth sharing some of the key lessons that I have learned along the way.

The first and perhaps hardest lesson I have learned is about honesty.

We think of honesty as being pure and simple. But honesty is about more than just telling the truth. Being honest often means doing the hard thing. Having that difficult conversation. And whilst being honest with others is important, what can be even more challenging is being honest with ourselves.

How often do you have that difficult conversation with yourself? Do you ever stop to think why did I behave that way? What purpose did that really serve? Did I really give my all today?

As athletes, coaches and sport psychologists it is important that we purposefully spend time looking inward, being honest with ourselves and asking the difficult questions.

We have to be able to acknowledge and own our mistakes, recognise when our biases may be playing a part and have those difficult conversations. These are the hard acts of honesty that will help us to better understand ourselves and all that we can achieve.

“Honesty is often very hard. The truth is often painful. But the freedom it can bring is worth the trying” - Fred Rogers

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