2023-12-26 10:00:09
Psychology researcher Jean Fournier in Châtenay-Malabry (Hauts-de-Seine), September 22, 2023. ED ALCOCK/MYOP POUR “LE MONDE”
Jean Fournier is a psychologist, lecturer at Paris-Nanterre University and former president of the French Society of Sports Psychology (2017-2023). He worked for twenty years in the field of mental preparation with various Olympic athletes and coaches and with the French Golf Federation. He has just published Psychology of sport and physical activity (Elsevier Masson, 208 pages, 35 euros).
Is the title of mental trainer recognized at the national level?
The French Society of Sports Psychology accredits mental trainers and psychologists, but the title is not yet recognized at the national level. Each time we move forward by managing to make the ministry understand this need, the minister generally changes. For years we have been trying to explain that psychologists must be respected, because they are guarantors of mental health, but they do not necessarily have the knowledge in sport. And conversely, that not all those who work in mental preparation necessarily have the knowledge of psychopathology to detect disorders. Their priority is performance and some forget to take care of the mental health of athletes. I’m not saying that one job is better than the other. Besides, generally, when things go well, the two work together: there is a mental trainer and a psychologist, just like a physiotherapist and a physical trainer.
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What about abroad?
In Canada, for example, there are mental performance advisors, who have a different accreditation from the title of psychologist, and the title of sports psychologist cannot be used if one is not a psychologist. In the United States, it depends on each state. There are also regulations in Australia, England, Germany… France is extremely late because there is no desire to educate coaches.
That’s to say ?
Today, in France, whatever the type of training to become a coach, sports psychology is practically non-existent and the content of the training is not up to date. For what ? Because the articles available on the subject are written in English, and therefore rarely read, trainers primarily read those of popular use in French, which gives rise to shortcuts. The training provided should be backed by research: if we understand where the content we learn comes from, or that we must teach, we know whether it is valid or not on the basis of scientific publications. . We would thus leave empiricism and the Middle Ages. France has not chosen to rely on science to achieve results. In many countries, if you want to win, you have to find this marginal advantage (« marginal gain ») and for that, we will look in all possible areas, whether it is the improvement of the equipment or the general training of coaches, which includes the psychological aspects.
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