ABSTRACT
Within any applied sport psychology (SP) practitioner’s working context there will be a range of expectations and boundaries placed upon that practice for the protection of the client, practitioner, and, ultimately the profession. Within most geographical locations, the local Professional Association and their associated requirements for their profession will be laid out clearly, and guidance documents provided to assist practitioners. Within Great Britain, such assistance has been significantly developed within the last 30 years, first through the work of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (a governing body reflecting the needs of practitioners within the sport science disciplines of biomechanics, physiology, and psychology) and, more recently, the British Psychological Society (BPS). The BPS has a structure that incorporates divisional status representing sub-disciplines of psychology. Within the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology, members can work towards Chartered status as Sport and Exercise Psychologists. Within the last 10 years, this has meant that the specific title of a Sport and Exercise Psychologist has been protected: This means that only those with the appropriate background knowledge, qualifications, training, and experience are able to legally use the title. This has, in 2009, been supplemented by a regulatory body named the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). This body holds a register of those suitably qualified and able to practice under the title Sport and Exercise Psychologist. The title of Performance Psychologist has no similar register or control at this point (2013) in Great Britain. BASES has recently (2011) changed the titles of its accredited practitioners from discipline-specific titles, including psychology, to a more generic Sport and Exercise Scientist in order to reflect the professional training requirements now set out and protected by the BPS and HCPC.
