Module 61-P-VP Sports psychology specialisation

You will be familiar with the general principles of sports psychology training and will be able to assess the effectiveness of individual methods for selected situations and problems. You will deepen your specialist knowledge of sports psychology intervention strategies and try them out in practice. In addition, you will acquire basic specialist knowledge of the psychological processes that are relevant to the promotion and maintenance of health in the settings of "recreational and health sports" and "therapy" with a focus on physical activity as health-relevant behaviour. They can describe and critically assess factors influencing a physically active lifestyle as well as techniques and strategies for influencing it. You will know the possibilities and limitations of health promotion through physical activity in various social contexts and occupational fields. This will enable you to develop concepts for target group-specific counselling and sports psychology support and to assess and critically reflect on the (psychological) conditions for successful exercise-accentuated health interventions. You will acquire the methodological skills to apply and test selected techniques and procedures.

You will prove that you have acquired these specialist and counselling skills by demonstrating your knowledge and understanding of the issues dealt with in the courses in a written examination.

In the "Psychological forms of training" seminar, you will be introduced to various mental training methods. These include self-regulation and control methods such as autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation and anxiety regulation, which are taught both theoretically and in practical sessions. Application aspects such as preparation (creation of a visualisation script), implementation and testing of the training effects are tested; theory and practice of interaction and communication processes in groups round off the course content. The focus here is on linking theory and practice.

The seminar "Health Psychology" gives you an overview of various models of health behaviour (e.g. biopsychosocial model; Health Action Approach (HAPA), transtheoretical model, stage models). To this end, the bidirectional interaction between the psyche and the body is developed using key concepts such as motivation - volition, self-efficacy, action control, self-concordance, barrier management, social support and resilience. The focus is on initiating and maintaining physical activity and an active lifestyle. Other topics include physical activity and mental illness or stress regulation. Basic principles of health programme development (e.g. motive-based fit of programmes) and selected instruments for quality assurance in prevention and therapy (e.g. measurement of sport and exercise activity, changes in well-being) are presented and tested in practical fields.

Knowledge of the contents of the courses "Fundamentals of Exercise Science" of module 61-Spowi-GL1 and "Fundamentals of Sports Psychology" of module 61-PW-GL2 is recommended.

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