Daniel Birrer
Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen, Switzerland
Daniel Birrer, PhD, is head of the sport psychology department of the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen (Switzerland). As a certified sport psychologist he provides sport psychology services to numerous top level athletes and coaches in various sports. He is a regular teacher at the Swiss Olympic coach education and he has been member of the Swiss Olympic Task Forces leading to the Olympic Games in 2004-2022. Daniels research interests are in the complex relationship between mood and performance, overtraining, the verification of the efficiency of mental training techniques and the effects of mindfulness based interventions in the sports domain. Currently he is a member of the AASP, ACBS, the Swiss Federation of Psychologists and of the Swiss Association of Sport Psychology. As a former track and field athlete (decathlon) he is now spending leisure time with outdoor sports such as beachvolleyball, mountainbike, freeriding and ski mountaineering.
Mindfulness and ACT to enhance psychological flexibility
Daniel Birrer
Swiss Federal Institute of Sport, Magglingen, Switzerland
In the past few years mindfulness and acceptance based approaches have drawn much attention as suitable interventions in sports and a growing number of sport psychologists are using these methods in their applied work (e.g. Henriksen, Hansen, & Hvid Larsen, 2019). The aim of mindfulness and acceptance based interventions is not to overpower thoughts and emotions by suppression and using control techniques, but to change the relationship to these thoughts and emotions. Participants of this short half an hour workshop will be introduced to the six core processes of Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) to enhance psychological flexibility. They will get to know examples of how to use the six core processes with athletes and experience the six ACT processes through small exercises themselves. Participants will be introduced to the work of teaching athletes to open up, accepting undesired unpleasant cognitions, emotions and sensations and mindfully engage in the present moment to follow their personal values.
