CSPA applicants must demonstrate that they have completed supervised practice involving a minimum of 400 hours of consulting experience, of which a minimum of 200 hours must be in a competitive sport environment (i.e., work with clients who are competing in a sport, whether the level of competition is recreational, developmental, or high performance).

 

1.  Only those hours spent in the preparation, intervention/consulting, and supervision (direct and indirect) of applied services are eligible for inclusion.

2.  A minimum of 20 hours must be completed under direct supervision with a 5 year minimum CSPA professional member or a supervisor who has been approved by CSPA Review Committee).

3. A minimum of 30 hours must be completed under indirect supervision.

 

Direct Supervision: Number of hours the supervisor spent supervising the intern in action during live consulting interactions with client(s) conducted in person or video recorded, or discussing and observing video recorded consulting sessions conducted by the intern. The supervisor must be able to observe the non-verbal behaviour of the intern, therefore audio recordings are not authorized in this category.

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Indirect Supervision: Number of hours the supervisor spent discussing consultant skills/approaches during face-to-face or electronic mentorship/supervision meetings (telephone, email, Zoom, TEAMS, etc) or reviewing materials (e.g., workshop plan or presentation).

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1.  A minimum of 200 hours must be spent in  in-person or video conference with clients (e.g., workshops, conferences, individual or group consultation).

2.  A maximum of 150 hours can be allocated for preparation. This includes preparation of materials, observation, and case notes/management.

3.  A maximum of 20 hours can be used to incorporate mental performance consulting in an existing practice (e.g., coaching, physiotherapy, or kinesiology). 

4. Internship work should rarely include one-time presentations and rather focus on ongoing work with individuals or teams. 

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Eligible Practice Experiences: 

 

1. Working directly with an athletic team and/or the coaching staff in an applied sport setting while helping them develop life and sport skills and perspectives including goal-setting, cohesion, commitment, relaxation, activation, concentration, distraction control, self-confidence, imagery, self-talk, communication, and competition planning, etc. 

2. Implementing sport psychology principles while coaching or treating (e.g., athletic therapist) individual or team sport athletes. 

3. Serving as a consultant for a youth sport organization and teaching children/adolescents, parents, and/or coaches about healthy competition patterns and moral reasoning. 

4. Serving as a consultant for a cardiac rehabilitation program and teaching participants ways to increase exercise adherence, stress and time management, various coping skills, and overall life management skills. 

5. Working with an athlete, dancer, musician, or artist on performance-relevant issues (i.e., performance anxiety, balance, communication, etc.).

6. While serving as an academic counsellor, conducting formal performance enhancement work with athletes.

 

Ineligible Practice Experiences: 

 

1. Working in an alcohol rehabilitation center that happens to have athletes as clients. 

2. Providing marital and family counselling to an athlete and his/her family.

3. Being part of a general practice or counselling center and treating an athlete for an eating disorder. 

4. While serving as an academic counsellor, providing only academic support services to athletes.

5. While serving as an athletic trainer, providing only physical rehabilitation services to athletes.

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Logbook of Supervised Practice:

 

CSPA applicants should be prepared to demonstrate a log of their supervised practice if additional information is required following the application submission. While completing their supervised practice, they should:

           

1. Log Activities: Document all the activities conducted with individuals or teams. Briefly describe the content of each meeting, for example, the approach or strategies used as well as client responses and feedback.

2. Log Hours: Document internship hours for each internship context in which applied work is conducted and summarize these hours in the Supervised Practice Grid (Form 2 / Formulaire 2). When recording hours, include preparation time (i.e., developing handouts, assessment forms, and intervention   activities), work with clients (i.e., on-site, via telephone or e-mail), sport psychology related presentations (i.e., to athletes, coaches, parents), applied work or observations at practices, competitions, or other venues, meetings with internship supervisor, and evaluations (i.e., giving/getting client feedback).

3. Log Lessons Learned: Include self-evaluations, reflections, and lessons learned from each internship intervention.

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CSPA Supervised Practice Grid:

 

Applicants must complete the Supervised Practice Grid (Form 2 / Formulaire 2) and provide all requested information. The purpose of this documentation is to verify the nature, quality, and duration of supervised practice. This form includes:

 

1. Name and contact information of supervisor. 

2. Context (i.e., level and type of sport or activity) in which sport psychology work was done. Example: high school women's swim team; professional male marathon runner; 12-year old figure skater; 50-year old aerobic exerciser in cardiac rehabilitation program.

3. Total hours spent in the context - Countable hours include hours spent in the preparation, delivery, and evaluation of applied services. 

4. Hours spent preparing materials for individual clients or groups (maximum of 80 hours out of 400 hours). 

5. Hours spent working with clients on skills or issues related to sport, exercise, health, or life enhancement. 

6. Hours spent working with groups on skills or issues related to sport, exercise, health, or life enhancement. 

7. Skills employed in sport psychology work (e.g., life management, goal setting, team building, coping skills for injury, stress management, etc.). 

8. Hours of direct supervision – number of hours the supervisor spent directly observing, discussing, or evaluating consultant skills and work in the actual context or on videotape. 

9. Hours of indirect supervision – number of hours the supervisor spent observing, discussing, or evaluating consultant skills during face-to-face meetings (not during actual consulting) and/or through audio tape review, review of materials, telephone, e-mail, or other forms of technological indirect supervision. 

10. Comments – any information to further clarify entries.

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Practice Supervisor:

 

CSPA applicants must provide the name and contact information of supervisor(s) who supervised their practice work. All supervisors must submit the Supervisor Appraisal (Form 3 / Formulaire 3). Each supervisor must meet the supervision requirements of the CSPA and have (a) a CSPA Professional membership, and (b) a minimum of 5 years of consulting experience in multiple sport contexts.  

 

If your supervisor does not meet the above criteria he/she must be approved by the CSPA Review Committee. To this end, they must complete and email the Verification of Supervisor Form (Form 3a / Formulaire 3a), and their CV to the Chair of the Review Committee. The Review Committee will evaluate the supervisor’s   competencies and inform the supervisor if he/she meets CSPA requirements within one month following the submission. It is the CSPA applicant’s responsibility to ensure that his/her supervisor has been approved by the CSPA Review Committee.

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Client Appraisal Forms: 

 

Applicants must have two clients evaluate their consulting work by completing the Client Appraisal Form (Form 4 / Formulaire 4) and submitting it directly to the Chair of the Review Committee.

 

 

 

Chair of the Review Committee:

Diane Culver, PhD

dculver@uottawa.ca