Invited Presenters

Daniel Birrer • Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen, Elite Sport Department

Daniel Birrer is head of the sport psychology department of the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen (Switzerland). He got a master’s degree in sports sciences as well as in social and general psychology from the University of Bern. He provides sport psychology services to numerous top level athletes and coaches in different sports such as cycling, beachvolleyball, track and field, swimming, rowing and triathlon. He is a regular teacher at the Swiss Olympic coach education and he leads the expert group “Sport Psychology” of Swiss Olympic. He has been member of the Swiss Olympic Task Forces leading to the Olympic Games in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 and is currently member of the Task Force for the Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. 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, the Swiss Federation of Psychologists and the further education board of the Swiss Association of Sport Psychology (Post graduate Course in Sport Psychology).

 

Alberto Cei • Department of Motor Sciences, University of Tor Vergata

Dr. Alberto Cei received his title of applied psychologist from University of Roma, “La Sapienza”, Italy.  He is enrolled in the Italian register of psychotherapists and he has taken the specialisation in sport psychologist from a post-university school by University of Roma and Italian Olympic Committee. He teaches “Coaching” at the University of Tor Vergata, Roma. He is member of the managing board of the University Master in Sport Psychology, University of Roma “Foro Italico”, in this school he is professor of mental training and counselling to sport clubs. He is one of the thirteen European members of Forum of Applied Sport psychologists in Topsport” (FAST). Member of the FEPSAC Managing Council. Dr. Cei has written 14 books and authored over one hundred research and applied articles. His first book, Mental Training was published in 1986, and has been described by reviewers as “an original initiative that resembles North American applied sport psychology books”. His book Psicologia dello Sport  published in the 1998 is the sport psychology book more used by the university students in Italy. He wrote the books for the coach courses published by School of Sport of the Italian National Olympic Committee. He is the managing editor of the oldest international journal of sport psychology: International Journal of Sport Psychology. He has been co-editor of the same journal with John Salmela. Dr. Cei has worked with the Italian National Olympic Committee, developing psychological assessment programs for athletes. He has worked developing mental training program with Olympic and national teams of fencing, sailing, shooting,  volleyball, football, canoeing, badminton, track and field, handball, wrestling, and with football, volleyball and rugby referees. Since 1996 he participated as a sport psychologist at the Olympic games. In addition to his work with professional and Olympic athletes, Dr. Cei is a consultant to multinational corporations. He has been involved in the development of highly specialized mental training programs for individuals whose jobs require that they perform under extreme pressure. Reports on Dr. Cei’s work have appeared in the major Italian publications, newspapers and magazine.

 

Nadine Debois • Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance, Research Department

Nadine Debois is researcher at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP). She first graduated in Physical Education then completed her PhD in human (sport psychology) sciences in 2001. She is also a former elite athlete (Olympic finalist in 1988). Her research interests focus on lifestyle management, career development and career transitions in elite sport. Besides her research Nadine provides seminars and lectures in sport psychology in initial and continuing education for coaches as well as applied sport psychological services to elite athletes and coaches in various sports. She is member of the Board of the French Society of Sport Psychology (SFPS) for which she was President from 2008 to 2011. She is also member of the managing council of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) since 2011 as well as member of the FAST (Forum for Applied Sport Psychologists in Top-Sport) European group since 2004.

 

Anne-Marie Elbe • University of Copenhagen

Anne-Marie Elbe, PhD, is an associate professor for sport psychology at the University of Copenhagen Denmark. Her previous posts were at Northumbria University, Newcastle in the UK and at the University of Potsdam, Germany. She received her PhD from the Free University in Berlin, Germany in 2001. Her publications and research interests focus on talent development, motivational and self-regulatory aspects of athletic performance, recovery, sport psychological diagnostics, cross-cultural comparisons and doping. Besides her research Anne-Marie has worked as a sport psychological consultant for several organizations and different athletes. She was sport psychological consultant for the German Track and Field Association from 2001-2007.  Anne-Marie is Vice-President of FEPSAC and editor for the Zeitschrift für Sportpsychologie. She is member of the German association for sport psychology (asp) and the Danish forum for sport psychology (DIFO).

 

Tomas Gursky • Top-Fit, Psychological Counselling

Tomas Gursky, PhD, works as a private sport psychologist in own counselling service called Top-Fit www.top-fit.sk. Tomas competed in alpine skiing, was member of Junior National Ski Team and Academic Ski Team Czechoslovakia (1976-82). Professional course started as a coach assistant and psychologist for The Ski National Team Czechoslovakia (1982-1989) and school psychologist at The Sport Gymnasium in Bratislava. Tomas worked with more than 50 various sport arts and co-operated with Elena Kaliska the Olympia winner in Athens 2004. He realizes seminars and lectures for coaches, sportspersons and business managers and provides consultancy service and mental training for them. Tomas is an external teacher at The Comenius University Bratislava and he wrote “Textbook of sport psychology for coaches” (2005) and about 50 popular articles about sport psychology making this field more popular in public.

 

Chris Harwood • Loughborough University

Chris Harwood, PhD is a Reader in Applied Sport Psychology at Loughborough University. His research interests lie in the psychosocial aspects of youth sport and athlete development including the roles of the coach, parents, and the wider social environment. He served as the Vice-President of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) from 2007-2011, and continues to serve as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. He is currently an editorial board member for The Sport Psychologist and the Journal of Sport Psychology in Action. Beyond his academic work, Chris is a HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist and holds dual accreditations with BASES and BPS. He held the position of Club Psychologist for Nottingham Forest FC between 2002-2004, and continues to coordinate their youth academy psychological support programme. In 2010, he became the Lead Sport Psychologist for the Lawn Tennis Association on a part-time basis, and continues to provide psychological services to players and coaching staff.  Chris is a Fellow of both AASP and BASES, and an active supervisor and assessor for the British Psychological Society. In his spare time, he continues to compete as a national veteran tennis player and maintains his passion for running, music and golf.

 

Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis • University of Thessaly

Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences of the University of Thessaly, Trikala, Greece. He received his PhD from Loughborough University in 2000. His research involves issues within the sport psychology field with emphasis on cognitive processes, and in particular self-talk. Furthermore, his research extends over motivational, moral and social issues in youth sport. He is member of the Editorial Board of the Psychology of Sport and Exercise, and Associate Editor in two national journals.  He is certified Sport Psychologist by the Hellenic Society of Sport Psychology, and member of the FEPSAC Managing Council since 2007.

 

Vana Hutter • VU University Amsterdam

Vana Hutter is working at the Faculty of Human movement Sciences of the VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is one of the founders of the post-master program in applied sport psychology at the VU University. She currently teaches in the program and has been the program manager for the first two courses. As such she is interested in effective practice in sport psychology and the development of professionals in sport psychology, through learning experiences, peer-consultation, and supervision. Her research focusses on assessment and development of effective practice in neophyte applied sport psychologists. She put a new system for supervision and training for supervisors in place in the Netherlands, where no tradition of supervision for sport psychology previously existed. Apart from training aspiring applied sport psychologists, she teaches professionals in the world of sports, such as coaches and physiotherapists, both in sport psychological and physiological topics. Vana Hutter is registered as an applied sport psychologist and sport psychology teacher by the Dutch association for sport psychology (VSPN). In her work she combines her enthusiasm for sport psychology with managerial experience and an interest in effective teaching methods. She is currently teaching in the European Master program in sport and exercise psychology and was involved in the curriculum development committee of the program.

 

Caroline Jannes • Psy4Sport & University Hospital Ghent

Caroline Jannes is a Belgian applied sport psychologist, working in her private practice Psy4Sport, Ghent, Belgium, and at the Centre for Sports Medicine at the Ghent University. She is Masters in Psychology, option Clinical Psychology graduated at the Ghent University, and Masters in Science in Sport and Exercise Psychology graduated at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She consults with individual clients, trainers and clubs, and works with several federations such as the Flemish Track and Field League, the Flemish Yacht Federation and the Belgian Bowling Federation. Her specialisation is performance enhancement, and mental coaching on sports injuries and recovery. Furthermore, she’s involved in a Flemish Project on Mental Counselling of Track and Field, and the research project “Olympic Dinghy Sailing” at the Ghent University, where she works with coaches and athletes on improving mental skills in their athletes. She also teaches as a lector at the Katholieke Hogeschool Brugge Oostende, and as an invited speaker at the Ghent University, the Free University of Brussels, and the Catholic University of Leuven. Finally, she’s an MC member of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC), the  Flemish Sport Psychology Federation (VVSP), former president of the European Network of Young specialists in Sport Psychology (ENYSSP), and secretary general of the International Society of Sport Sciences in the Arab World (I3SAW).

 

Urban Johnson • Halmstad University

Urban Johnson is Professor in Sport & Exercise Psychology at Halmstad University, Sweden. After gaining an elite-trainer certificate, Dr. Johnson worked several years as a professional trainer in Handball. Since 1990 he has primarily worked at Halmstad University as a lecturer, researcher and administrator in the field of sport psychology and sport science. The main areas in his research are about psychological aspects of sports injury, with a focus on rehabilitation, prevention and intervention. In these areas Dr. Johnson has an extensive international publication record. Moreover, Dr. Johnson has vast experience in working with applied sport psychology, especially for team sport athletes. He is a member of the Swedish Sport Psychology Association since 2000, and was a regular member of the managing council of European Federation of Sporst Psychology (FEPSAC) between 2003-2007 and a Secretary General 2007-2011. Currently Dr. Johnson has been appointed as research director of Centre of Research of Welfare, Health and Sport at above mentioned university.

 

Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir • The National University Hospital, University of Iceland

Mrs.Hafrún Kristjánsdóttir obtained a Cand. Psych. degree (psychologist’s degree) from the University of Iceland in 2005. Her final thesis was in the field of Sports Psychology. From 2005 she has worked as a Clinical Psychologist at Landspítali-The National University Hospital of Iceland and in private practice where she has manly worked with athletes. Currently Mrs. Kristjánsdóttir is a PhD student at the University of Iceland investigating the out-come of transdiagnostic cognitive behaviour therapy and she is also an adjunct at Reykjavík University, department of sport science, lecturing on sports psychology and statistics. She is the Icelandic National Olympic Committee’s psychologist and attended the Olympics in London 2012 were she worked with the Icelandic athletes and coaches. She has also worked with few of the best men’s football teams in Iceland and top football referees. Mrs. Kristjánsdóttir’s main research interest is in the field of sport psychology and cognitive behavioural therapy.

 

Hardy Menkehorst • Mental Training & Coaching Centre, The Netherlands

Hardy Menkehorst has a professional background in Social Psychology and Psychophysiology. He is an invited professor at the University of Twente and the VU University in Amsterdam where he teaches Sport Psychology and Team-development. He is head of the Mental Training & Coaching Centre (MTCC) since 1986, a private practice which delivers sport psychology services to athletes and coaches all around the Netherlands. MTCC is aimed at developing and supporting elite athletes in their endeavor to be the world’s best. He is an embedded sport psychologist at a center for education and development of talented young athletes (CTO). Hardy is the president of VSPN (the Dutch Association for Sport Psychology). Hardy is also a member of FAST (the Forum of Applied Sport psychologists in Topsport) and he is an invited professor at INSEP (the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance) in Paris. Hardy is a former trainer/coach of elite volleyball teams. He has worked with Olympic gold winners in the sports of volleyball, field hockey, swimming, gymnastics, sailing and cycling. Hardy was the on-site sport psychologist of the Dutch Paralympic Team for the National Olympic Committee in London 2012. He was the coordinator of the sport psychology services for sailing, track and field, boxing, gymnastics and shooting for the athletes who qualified for the 2012 Olympics. In his free time, he enjoys jogging and riding his motorbike.

 

Maria Psychountaki • University of Athens

Maria Psychountaki is a psychologist and a sport psychologist working as an assistant professor at the Department of Physical Education and Sport Science at the University of Athens and since 2001 she has been teaching the course of Sport Psychology at the Department of Psychology at the same university. She has graduated in both physical education and psychology and she got her PhD in sport psychology at the University of Athens. Since 1989 she has had experience in both clinical psychology and sport psychology as a consultant in high level individual and team sports athletes. The last seven years she is the sport psychologist in the youth academy of a football club that competes in the Greek Super League. Since 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney she has been accompanying Greek and Cyprus Olympic and Paralympics Teams in shooting, sailing, swimming, beach volley, archery, track and field, tennis, gymnastics, cycling etc. Some of the athletes she had cooperation with have gained medals and made world records in world championships, Olympic and Paralympics Games. Her research work is in applied sport psychology topics (individual and team sports); self-confidence, stress management, injured athlete, cohesion and communication in sport teams, psycho-diagnosis, biofeedback, exercise and mood states, and youth sports. Furthermore, the terms from 2000 to 2004 she was the president of the Hellenic Society of Sport Psychology and from 2003 to 2007 she was the vice-president of the European Society of Sport Psychology. The period from 2000 to 2008 she was co-editor of the Journal of “Athlitiki Psychologia” (Sport Psychology) in Greece. She is an active member of the Hellenic Society of Sport Psychology and a member of various national and international societies of psychology and sport psychology as well as she is a member of organizing and scientific committees at congresses and seminars.

 

Cedric Quignon-Fleuret • Institut National du Sport, de l’Expertise et de la Performance, Medical Department

Cédric Quignon-Fleuret is a clinical sport psychologist. He has been working at insep (France, Paris) for 10 years. Since 2013 he’s the head of the clinical psychology unit from the Insep medical department. He worked with several federations and athletes as a mental coach during 3 years before joining the medical service at Insep in 2005 as a clinical psychologist. His main task are clinical evaluations  and follow up for athletes from the whole sport teams from the institution (26 different sports), the collaboration with all actors of the medical department (doctors, dieticians, physiotherapists..) and the contribution to coaches awareness of psychological dimension in elite sport. Cedric also participated in several congresses in sport psychology (e.g.,FEPSAC Congress 2011, ICAP Congress 2010 , SFPS Congress 2009). His last contribution was about the links between health and performance as well as the concept of limits for high level athletes (FEPSAC Congress 2011). He also works on the psychological dimension of injuries in high level sport. He is accredited by the SFPS as sport psychology provider and a member of  FEPSAC.

 

Markus Raab • Institute of Psychology, German Sport University Cologne

Markus Raab is the Head of the Institute of Psychology and the Head of the Department of Performance Psychology at the German Sport University Cologne. He received his first doctorate in sport science from the University of Heidelberg in 2000 and his second doctorate in psychology from the Humboldt University Berlin in 2004. He is tenured full-professor leading a team of international and interdisciplinary researchers in the field of Perception-Action-Cognition-Emotion. Furthermore, he is currently editor of the German Journal of Sport Psychology, section editor of the International Journal of Sport, Exercise and Psychology as well as Associate Editor of Psychology, Sport and Exercise. He is member of the German Association of Sport Science (dvs), the German Association of Sport Psychology (asp), the North American Society for Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity of the Canadian Society for Psychomotoric Learning and Sport psychology (SCAPPS), German Society for Psychology, the Psychonomic Socienty and the Brunswick Society. The main interests are in judgment and decision making, motor learning and control and embodiment in sport psychology and beyond.

 

Elisabeth Rosnet • INSEP

Sport psychologist and previous international women epee fencer, Elisabeth Rosnet was a Professor in Physical Education at the University of Reims (France) during 16 years. Since 2007, she’s the head of the Research Department in INSEP. She has a long duration experience in intervention as a sport psychologist for the French Fencing Federation (more than 20 years) and also with professional tennis players.  Thus, she’s got the opportunity to work with fencers from 15 years old to the end of their career and to have a good understanding of the adaptive requirements to get elite results. Her research background is around the individual and group psychological adaptation when confronted to stressful situations, especially wintering, space flights and elite sport.

 

Sidonio Serpa • Technical University of Lisbon

Sidonio Serpa is Full Professor in the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, and the chair of the Sport Psychology department (Faculty of Human Kinetics). His main research areas are relationship coach-athlete and psychology of sports excellence and talents. He graduated in Physical Education and in Psychology and has a PhD in the Sport Psychology field. As an applied sport psychologist, Sidonio has worked for the last 25 years with athletes from various sports at different performance levels, namely with top level athletes and medallists in International major competitions. He participated in the Olympics of Atlanta and Sydney as a member of the staff of the Portuguese sailing team and coordinated the psychology consultant services at the National High Performance Centre for Top Level Athletes in Lisbon, Portugal. He has conducted workshops for coaches on topics related to psychology of top performance and cooperated with the Portuguese Ministry of Sports being the author of the psychology chapters of the Educational Program Manuals for sport coaches. He had published scholarly papers and made presentations in the five continents. He has also been invited professor in several universities from different countries and is a member of the teaching staff of the European Master in Sport & Exercise Psychology since 1996. He had organized conferences like the 8th World Congress of Sport Psychology (Lisbon, Portugal, 1993) and the 13th FEPSAC European Congress of SP (Madeira Islands, Portugal, 2011) and, currently, he is the President of the 13th World Congress of SP to be held in Beijing, China in July, 2013. Currently, Sidonio is the President of the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) and an active member of the European Forum of Applied Sport Psychologist in Topsport (FAST). In 2009, Sidonio Serpa received the Distinguish International Scholar Award from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), in Salt Lake City, USA. Sidonio is also a former gymnast and gymnastics coach.

 

Paul Wylleman • Research Group Sport psychology and Mental Support, Department of Sports Policy and Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Paul Wylleman is professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel where he teaches Sport psychology, Mental training and support throughout the athletic career, Career and lifestyle management for athletes, Skills for performance managers, and Human Resources Management at the faculties of Physical Education and Physiotherapy and of Psychology and Educational Sciences. Paul is the current President of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) and founder and coordinator of the European Forum for Applied Sport psychologists in Topsport (FAST) which brings together sport psychology service providers working with elite and Olympic athletes and teams in from around Europe. As sport psychology consultant he provides sport psychology support in elite sports school and to elite athletes at European/World Championships and at the Olympic Games in tennis, swimming, figure ice skating, fencing, athletics, archery, and eventing. He has been involved in preparing Olympians for the 2006 and 2010 Winter and the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games, and has provided on-site support during the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino. Paul is head sport psychologist to the Flemish Tennis Federation, providing on-site services at for example Wimbledon and as team psychologist to the Belgian Davis Cup and FedCup teams. He developed the “Sport psychology support” service providing mental support services to coaches and talented and elite athletes in nine elite sports federations in Flanders. Research in sport and performance psychology has been related to the developmental nature of mental skills usage, the quality of sport psychology support provision, and to the development of the career and competencies of sport psychologists.