Positive Psychology and Flow, Sports and Music
Psychologist Dr Travis Gee explains the concepts of Positive Psychology and flow, and how they can help you perform at your best …
Not all psychology is about what is going wrong.
What is Positive Psychology?
Positive Psychology aims to build on positive individual traits, positive past experiences and positive institutions (family, workplace, school, etc.). It aims to build optimism and resilience, which are things often underestimated in traditional pathology-based psychological models.
More and more, researchers like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi have studied what gives us our best performances – the ones that are not just good, but outstanding.
You have surely seen Olympic athletes talk about “being in the zone”. That “zone” is actually rather well-known in the psychology of performance, having been identified as far back as 1911. Part of it is about physiological arousal. You don’t get your best performance when you’re bored to the point of nodding off, nor do you get it when you’re freaking out. The “comfort zone” is in the middle – that is where the best performances occur.
When researching for my Master’s Thesis, I found that this is as true of musicians as it is of athletes. Csikszentmihalyi’s work extends to creative endeavours as well, which again must lie somewhere “between boredom and anxiety”, as the title of one of his books puts it.
Enhance & Improve
Sometimes a trip to a psychologist isn’t just about fixing what’s wrong, it’s about finding a way to make things even better.
Brainstorming ways to enhance your endeavours, whatever they might be, has been part of my approach for some time as a necessary adjunct to discarding those harmful patterns that have been holding you back. Identifying what should take their place is every bit as important, and with positive psychology principles behind it, a combination approach can work very well.
Flow in Sports
As an avid golfer, I've discovered that a huge number of things that I already knew about psychology are embodied in the sport. This is especially true of flow, which requires being able to focus and clear the mind to attain optimal performance. The many tiny challeges of golf test one's character, and can bring up the worst in a player who allows a range of psychological factors to affect his or her game. Indeed, I have found that the driving range can be a great place for therapy, where the frustrations of the game come to the fore, and 'big picture' elements can be lost - making it ideal for retaining focus and micromanagement of emotions that otherwise can take over. This is why most professional athletes have a psychologist around from time to time. My own background is that my M.A. thesis was in the application of sport psychological principles to the peak performances of top-flight jazz musicians. I am happy to work with any athletes or musicians in particular who are having performace and/or creative problems that need working through.
Author: Dr Travis Gee, B Psych (Hons), MA (Psych), PhD (Psych).
Beenleigh Psychologist Dr. Travis Gee has been helping Queenslanders with a wide range of problems for over 12 years.
His interest in Personal Construct Psychology, Personal Projects Analysis, Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, narrative approaches and creative arts therapies inform his approach, which is aimed at finding the right set of tools for each client, given his or her circumstances.
Fees: Please use the contact form below to inquire about current fees. Reports and psycho-legal work are billed at higher rates, please inquire with Dr Gee. Medicare rebates available with GP referral on Mental Health Care Plan. Check with your private insurer for coverage for psychological services outside of Medicare.
Practice Locations:
2 Noogie St. Macleay Island.
Appointments: To make an appointment please use the contact form below.
Psychologist Dr Travis Gee explains the concepts of Positive Psychology and flow, and how they can help you perform at your best …
Not all psychology is about what is going wrong.
What is Positive Psychology?
Positive Psychology aims to build on positive individual traits, positive past experiences and positive institutions (family, workplace, school, etc.). It aims to build optimism and resilience, which are things often underestimated in traditional pathology-based psychological models.
More and more, researchers like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi have studied what gives us our best performances – the ones that are not just good, but outstanding.
You have surely seen Olympic athletes talk about “being in the zone”. That “zone” is actually rather well-known in the psychology of performance, having been identified as far back as 1911. Part of it is about physiological arousal. You don’t get your best performance when you’re bored to the point of nodding off, nor do you get it when you’re freaking out. The “comfort zone” is in the middle – that is where the best performances occur.
When researching for my Master’s Thesis, I found that this is as true of musicians as it is of athletes. Csikszentmihalyi’s work extends to creative endeavours as well, which again must lie somewhere “between boredom and anxiety”, as the title of one of his books puts it.
Enhance & Improve
Sometimes a trip to a psychologist isn’t just about fixing what’s wrong, it’s about finding a way to make things even better.
Brainstorming ways to enhance your endeavours, whatever they might be, has been part of my approach for some time as a necessary adjunct to discarding those harmful patterns that have been holding you back. Identifying what should take their place is every bit as important, and with positive psychology principles behind it, a combination approach can work very well.
Flow in Sports
As an avid golfer, I've discovered that a huge number of things that I already knew about psychology are embodied in the sport. This is especially true of flow, which requires being able to focus and clear the mind to attain optimal performance. The many tiny challeges of golf test one's character, and can bring up the worst in a player who allows a range of psychological factors to affect his or her game. Indeed, I have found that the driving range can be a great place for therapy, where the frustrations of the game come to the fore, and 'big picture' elements can be lost - making it ideal for retaining focus and micromanagement of emotions that otherwise can take over. This is why most professional athletes have a psychologist around from time to time. My own background is that my M.A. thesis was in the application of sport psychological principles to the peak performances of top-flight jazz musicians. I am happy to work with any athletes or musicians in particular who are having performace and/or creative problems that need working through.
Author: Dr Travis Gee, B Psych (Hons), MA (Psych), PhD (Psych).
Beenleigh Psychologist Dr. Travis Gee has been helping Queenslanders with a wide range of problems for over 12 years.
His interest in Personal Construct Psychology, Personal Projects Analysis, Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, narrative approaches and creative arts therapies inform his approach, which is aimed at finding the right set of tools for each client, given his or her circumstances.
Fees: Please use the contact form below to inquire about current fees. Reports and psycho-legal work are billed at higher rates, please inquire with Dr Gee. Medicare rebates available with GP referral on Mental Health Care Plan. Check with your private insurer for coverage for psychological services outside of Medicare.
Practice Locations:
2 Noogie St. Macleay Island.
Appointments: To make an appointment please use the contact form below.