MASPP Course Descriptions

Sample Course Listing ONLY

Below are courses typically offered to MASPP students. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it meant to be a list of required courses. Courses and course descriptions often change. You will be provided a current course list in your GSPP Handbook when you matriculate (if offered admission).

First Year Fall Quarter

Applied SPP
This course integrates and synthesizes the theoretical concepts of sport & performance psychology into meaningful application.  Strategies, knowledge and skills will be presented to develop the student’s ability to create performance-enhancement programs for performers.  A case study approach will be employed. Prerequisite: Instructor’s consent.

Coaching and Leadership for Performance
This course is a survey of the intersection of coaching, leadership, organizational behavior, organization dynamics, and change management.  It examines the definitions, history, theories, and research in the sport and management leadership literature.  Students will gain an understanding of how planning, motivation, team building, and leadership impact a team or organization’s effectiveness.  Students are expected to learn and personally develop the analytical and leadership skills that affect individual and group performance.

Applied Motor Learning
This course takes an applied approach to understanding motor control, motor development, and motor learning.  Emphasis is given to understanding how skilled movement is controlled and regulated.  Students will learn the factors that influence skill acquisition and how to design effective practices.

Practicum in SPP
This course serves the purpose of a) providing an opportunity for students to learn about sport & performance psychology through observation and experiential opportunities, b) providing an intimate forum for discussing the practice of sport & performance psychology, and c) providing information on professional development and conduct. Psychological consultation, best practices, and professional development issues in sport and performance psychology will be addressed. Practicum is available as a variable credit class; students must register for 3 hours Fall, Winter, and Spring quarter of each year to reach the required 18 credit hours. May be repeated.

Counseling Methods and Practices
This course is an introduction to counseling microskills and techniques needed in helping relationships, with attention to building the therapeutic alliance. Emphasis placed on learning skills in small group format. Laboratory experience in demonstrating skills and the ability to form an effective counseling relationship is required.

Sport in American Society
This course will examine the influence of the social context on sport.  Attention given to the influence of society on sport as an institution and the role of sport as an agent of social change.  Examines how sport affects the social world we live in.  Topics explored include the intersection of sport and: gender, race/ethnicity/culture, socioeconomic class, media relations, violence, deviance, and sexuality.

Movement Principles for Performance
This course is an exploration of selected areas of the exercise and sport sciences.  The explored areas include: (a) functional anatomy, (b) biomechanics, and (c) exercise physiology.

Ethical & Legal Issues
This course introduces the student to the ethical principles, codes, and standards related to the profession of sport & performance psychology.  This includes an overview of the regulation of the practice of psychology, the relationships between ethical codes and legal statutes, and the development of a personal model for ethical decision-making.

Psychology of Excellence
The purpose of this course is to examine the theories, research, and intervention strategies related to the pursuit of excellence. This course explores the deliberate interventions necessary to support the development of excellence and expertise. Students will learn the nature of expertise development, the necessary steps to achieve excellence, and common roadblocks. The concept of excellence will be investigated in many contexts, such as sport & performance, intrapersonal, relationships, and life in general. Topics to be explored include: happiness, contentment, life satisfaction, values, character strengths, emotional intelligence, optimism, hope, flow, and resiliency.

Consulting Methods and Practices
The primary goal of this course is to acquaint students with skills and research fundamental to the practice of consultation in performance settings. The course will focus on the consulting role; the major theoretical approaches to consultation; the process and stages of consultation; and students’ personal strengths and concerns in the role of a consultant. Students will be able to define "consultation" and identify and describe the differences between the goals, objectives, intervention strategies and theoretical orientations of consulting and mental health therapy. Students will begin to become more aware of their own value systems and the ways in which these values impact upon their effectiveness as agents of change. Integrated throughout the course will be working in diverse settings with diverse populations.

Clinical Issues: Interviewing & Diagnosis
This course will examine adult psychopathology, as classified in the DSM.  Special emphasis will be placed on the intersection of performance with more traditional psychopathology. Students will learn about etiology, symptomatology, epidemiology, and treatment issues. Possible causes and contributory factors will be examined, as well as theoretical and multicultural considerations.

Second Year Courses

Foundations of Counseling Theories
This course will review major contemporary counseling models, theories, procedures, and the helping relationship.  Advanced study of techniques and research findings.  Survey of principles underlying individual, family systems, and multicultural approaches to counseling.

Motivation, Emotion, and Learning
This is an in-depth course reviewing the theories and research related to motivation, emotion, and learning in performance contexts.  Topics include the relationships between motivation, emotion, and learning; and the influences of emotion and motivation on counseling and consultation.  The course provides basic information about the human cognitive system.  Students will be taught the basic principles of learning, with a focus on the principles of learning which are most applicable in sport & performance settings.  This course will place an emphasis is on relating current research to practice.

Team and Organizational Dynamics
This course examines the principles, theories, and research of human functioning in performance related teams and organizations.  It will explore the social and psychological factors influencing behavior in organizations, along with individual differences, dyadic relations and small group behavior.  Students will learn about the dynamics of team and organizational diagnosis, feedback and learning, intervention, and planned change.

Scholarly Writing: Methods & Practices (Elective)
The primary goal of this course is to familiarize students with the methods and practices of scholarly writing. The course will focus on writing a scholarly review of literature, methodology, results, and conclusions according to APA style. Within the course, students will also be asked to review one another’s work while developing editing skills and methodological complexity.

Assessment in SPP
This course will cover the selection, use, and proper interpretation of common sport & performance psychology assessments.  Basic principles of educational and psychological measurement including test construction, validity, and reliability will be addressed.  The assessments taught include those used for individual assessment, individual selection, and organizational assessment (360º feedback, surveys, etc.).

Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
This course will explore the underlying mechanisms and psychophysiological determinants of behavior in sport and performance settings.  Students will learn the use of biofeedback in achieving voluntary self-regulation and control of stress related behaviors.

Group Interventions
This course is a survey of group counseling methods and techniques from a theoretical and applied perspective. The course will include practical application of group counseling interventions. 

Seminar in Sport & Performance Psychology
Advanced seminar offered by sport & performance psychology faculty on topics relevant to the practice and science of sport & performance psychology area not covered in other classes (e.g., injury, burnout). Prerequisite: Instructor’s consent.

Multicultural Issues
This course covers the research and theories of counseling the culturally different client.  Students will be expected to develop multicultural skills, including culturally based conceptualization, assessment, and selection of culturally appropriate intervention strategies. This course will examine these issues in general, with a special emphasis on those in sport and performance cultures.  This is both an experimental and seminar-based course, aimed at developing students’ personal awareness, knowledge, and skills.

Human Growth and Development
This course is a comprehensive analysis of theories and research relating to human psychological development and learning across the lifespan.  It will explore the cognitive, affective, academic, physiological, moral, and social/cultural/racial domains.  An emphasis will be placed on a) the theoretical models underlying character and moral development, and b) adolescent and college student development theories.

Practice Development in Sport & Performance Psychology (Elective)
The primary goal of this course is to acquaint students with the skills needed to develop and implement a private practice in the profession of sport or performance psychology. The course will take students through the process of business development by using the traditional business plan model, from the necessary start up expenses to the executive summary. Throughout the course students will learn the What, When, Where and How of starting their own consulting practice, while learning the basic components of branding, marketing, and operations.