Self-compassion in Sport for Courage and Performance

This chapter discusses the relevance of self-compassion (SC) in high-level sport, with SC being particularly valuable for athletes struggling with any kind of stressful sport-related challenges. It examines how SC conceptually relates to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), particularly the hexaflex model consisting of six core principles, and how SC can contribute to the ACT processes within the sport context. The chapter explores how SC can help the athlete cultivate courage in order to both tolerate the stress and choose behaviors that matter. Qualitative research indicates that athletes expect some benefit from a SC approach, such as an enhanced ability to deal with failures and emotions. ACT and SC, together, can be particularly beneficial for athletes struggling with adversity and suffering from harsh self-criticism and performance anxiety. The SC-based strategies used by the sport psychology practitioners offer only a sampling of the wide range of ideas that could be offered to athletes.