Case Study in Exerise Psychology ( Msc ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Case Study in Exerise Psychology ( Msc ) - Essay Example One such example can be identified in the case of Client A, a 29-year old male junior project manager in a multinational software developing company for almost two years. As he needs to work for five days from Monday to Friday and for 12 hours each day, it becomes quite difficult for him to continue with adequate physical exercise on a regular basis. Moreover, Client A is required to travel away for work frequently which again provides perceived barrier to the performance of regular exercises. Client A used to perform physical exercise regularly before joining the organization. Recently, he noticed an increase in body weight and reduction in the energy and enthusiasm in work. He was also becoming more stressed at the workplace because he was no longer able to devote sufficient time to his health which in turn started hampering his performance. The organisation encourages continuous professional development of their employees including constant monitoring and counselling by the prospe ctive senior officials. In one of the counselling sessions, the senior project manager found that the client was experiencing high levels of stress as a result of not being able to make sufficient time for personal development including regular physical exercise. Thus, he advised Client A to consult a sport psychologist who would efficiently guide him in maintaining his body fitness without compromising with his job responsibilities. Key Challenges Observed in the Case It is well-identifiable from the aforementioned case that the absence of physical exercise was creating a mental pressure on Client A signifying the effect of exercise on the mental health of a person. It was stronger in the current case as a result of Client A’s previous involvement in regular practitioner of physical exercise and has already been aware of its positive affects. This in turn influences his self-determination (the will to achieve a desired goal), self-confidence (the belief to achieve a desired performance) and physical anxiety (nervousness felt by an individual regarding his/her physical ability) to a certain extent (Weinberg & Gould, 2010). Due to the decrease in these factors, he tends to display emotional outburst in the workplace and possess an increased stress level. When first employed by the organisation, he was recognised as a consistent performer which is now noticeably reducing due to his increased stress levels and the resultant behaviour. Therefore, the key challenges for the sports psychologist are to determine ways in which Client A can participate in regular physical activity without compromising with his job responsibilities. These interventions should be based within the cognitive and humanistic approaches. In this regard, analyzing the various aspects regarding Client A’s psychological influence can also be termed a key challenge. Findings of the Case According to the self-determination theory, external environmental factors have a strong influenc e on the mental health of a person which determines their readiness for physical exercise (Ryan & Deci, 2007). The readiness can be further defined as autonomy, competence and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2007). It is worth mentioning that the various facets of self-determination theory are intrinsically related to the (Ryan & Deci, 2007). In order to implement the theory in the real practise to identify the various psychological and cognitive factors influencing Client A’s readiness to physical exercise, the psychologist implemented repetitive