ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a background to what psychological interventions are and how these can be used. The word ‘intervention’ implies that something needs to be fixed, and the use of the concept intervention in such a way often has a negative connotation. Psychological interventions are typically described as the use of techniques that can target thoughts, feelings, and behaviours in a certain setting, and these can influence the way a person functions or performs. Psychological interventions can benefit endurance performance, and endurance participants from all age groups and experience levels can use psychological interventions. Traditionally, in a sport psychology context, interventions take the form of an athlete being taught psychological skills over multiple sessions after an accredited sport psychologist has assessed the needs of the athlete. Brief interventions aimed at changing thoughts, feelings, and cognitions can have a long-term effect, and subsequently this can initiate a change in perception of how a person approaches future situations.
