About Dr Victor Thompson: Clinical Sports Psychologist

Working as a psychologist with athletes and sportspeople is an interesting, challenging and rewarding experience. Years ago, when I was an active young person and athlete, sport, health and fitness were the areas I was most interested in. This was back in the 1990s, when there were fewer options for a career in sport – beyond the main choices of being a coach, manager or physiotherapist. With some exposure to studying psychology prior to University, I chose to study psychology at Uni. This was mainly because it was an intriguing subject and if I was going to spend three years at University, I needed to do something that was interesting enough for me to see it through. Thankfully, that worked out. The psychology degree, with extra modules in criminology, biology and pharmacology, was a good learning experience.

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After this, I was hoping to carve out a career – or even just a paid job – that involved psychology, health, with active people or sportspeople. There were few Sports Psychologists out there and the path to becoming one was not that clear. When I sought advice, I was told that you either do a PhD in a related area (e.g. concentration, motivation) and you might be ‘found’ by the likes of a football club, so becoming a Sports Psychologist. Or, there was the “write a book” route, when again, you might be lucky-enough to be ‘found’ by a sports club. These two routes seemed a little too chance for me – after a fair amount of time and hard work!

 

And so, I set off on what would become a three-year journey of working as an Assistant Psychologist and Research Assistant within NHS Health Psychology and Clinical Psychology settings. I worked across adult mental health settings, a drugs and alcohol service, a HIV and sexual health service, an obesity service, with children with significant behavioural problems, plus research and development. Around this, I managed to squeeze in a Diploma in Sports Psychology, which gave me a good formal foundation in Sports Psychology.

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On the sports side, I really got into triathlons. I enjoyed the variety that triathlons gave – mixing swimming, cycling and running during the week. I did not have any formal experience in any of these sports – unless you count the BMX riding on the streets, ramps and local track in my youth? After my BMXing, I spent a few years going to gyms, lifting weights. So triathlon was a very different sport and challenge. In enjoyed the training, getting out into the countryside and then testing myself in races. I even ended-up winning a silver medal that the National Age-Group Triathlon Sprint Championships.

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Then, I set off for London, to embark on the three-year Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at UCL in London. During the course, in the academic terms, we spend one or two days per week at University, learning about a wide-range of psychological conditions and treatments. On the other three days, we are on placement in an NHS setting. There are four core areas of experience: child, adult, older adult and learning disability. We do a six-month placement in each area. Then, for the third year, we can choose our clinical placement(s). I chose a six-month placement in physical health psychology based in a large London hospital. With my final placement in primary care, based in GP practice settings. When outside the academic terms, we are on placement Monday to Friday. In addition, there are case reports, essays and a PhD level of research to do (but thankfully considerably shorter). The training course is demanding – academically and personally. On completion, we are trained to work with all ages, with a variety of mental health problems and psychological difficulties, using a variety of treatment approaches.

 

After which, I took a break and went on a round the world trip!

 

On my return, I started working part-time in a primary care setting, working in GP surgeries with patients with common mental health problems. These include anxiety disorders such as panic, agoraphobia, generalised anxiety disorder, social phobia, health anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder; low-mood and depression, trauma, bereavements… This has given me experience of working with a wide variety of people with common psychological challenges.

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Meanwhile, I set about improving my knowledge-base and skills in sports psychology. After what was mostly self-directed study, I started offering Sports Psychology consultations. My plan was to work with sportspeople who wanted to improve their performance, taking it to the next level. I also wanted to help athletes to overcome a setback, so they could get back to the level they were at (or higher!). There was also a third area, to help sportspeople eradicate Clinical Psychology-related areas of difficulty – such as eating disorders, problems with body image, obsessions, depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties…

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A little later, after a series of requests from parents or professionals to help children with psychological barriers to performance or where sport was impacting on other areas of their life, such as their mood or functioning, I created specific information around Sports Psychology for Children. While I did not set out to develop a specific offer for children, I empathised with the dilemma that parents had – 1) that it is difficult to find someone in Sport Psychology who is willing and able to work with children, and 2) that it can be difficult for parents to watch their child get so distressed by sport, when they are unable to prevent such distress, upset, anger… And so, this evolved into a bespoke Sports Psychology for Children website. The idea behind this was to help explain to parents and children, what  Sports Psychology for children is, how there can be help, and what my approach is.

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In 2019, I left my post in the NHS. Today, I combine some time working privately as a Clinical Psychologist, working with adults with common psychological problems, with my time as a Sports Psychologist – helping a wide-range of athletes, of various ages, across many sports, at every level, with a variety of issues, to get more from sport and life. Due to my training, skills and experience in Clinical Psychology, I use the title Clinical Sports Psychologist.

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