Show Notes
MI for Sport and Performance
Glenn and Sebastian welcomed Dr. Ben Freakley, CMPC on the podcast to discussed MI in sport and performance settings. Ben is a leader in the field of applied sport and performance psychology with a career spanning over two decades. He is the founder and CEO of Ready, Set, Resilient, which provides sports and performance psychology services to individuals, teams, and organizations.
Throughout his career, Ben has held several significant positions. He served as the Head of Mental Performance for the Toronto Blue Jays, where he led the development and delivery of mental skills programs across all levels of the organization. He was also the inaugural head coach and general manager of Tormenta FC in the United Soccer League (USL). His expertise extends to tactical environments, having worked as the performance psychology coach with the 75th Ranger Regiment of the United States Army Special Operations Forces.
Ben holds a doctoral degree in Sport and Performance Psychology with an emphasis in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. He is also a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). His research focus areas include leadership preferences of NCAA Division One coaches and psychological frameworks that promote human flourishing.
Before his full-time work in sport and performance psychology, Ben spent over a decade as an NCAA College Soccer coach demonstrating his versatility and depth in coaching, psychology of performance, and team culture.
In his private practice, Ben works with executives and businesses, professional athletes and teams, and NCAA college athletics programs to help them evaluate and enhance their processes, performance, and well-being.
Ben is a sought-after speaker on topics such as resilience, mental performance, motivation, leadership, and organizational culture.
Motivational Interviewing for sport and performance
Ben Freakley explores the use of Motivational Interviewing in sport and performance settings. Drawing on his experience in elite sport, coaching, mental performance and military environments, he discusses autonomy support, motivation and how practitioners can adapt their communication when performance matters.
The conversation considers the difference between directing, guiding and following, and how coaches can support athletes without taking over responsibility for change. These themes connect with Empowerment, Partnership and the Spirit of Motivational Interviewing.
In this episode
00:00 – Opening and episode preview
05:27 – Ben intro and early MI story
08:35 – Autonomy support in sport and military settings
15:01 – Shifting between following, guiding, and directing
17:20 – MI spirit in sport
24:45 – “Being a warm fire”
28:00 – Progressive sporting institutions
41:00 – What is success beyond winning?
43:00 – Situations in sport when MI helps
54:45 – Key points for coaches to learn and apply
1:04:14 – End of episode
Contact information:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ben-freakley-edd-cmpc-a5036bb1
Website: rsrcoaching.com
Email: [email protected]
Listen to Episode 81
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