Optimising sporting performance
Sport & exercise psychology
The Performance Equation provides sport and exercise psychology services to athletes, individuals and teams with the goal of unlocking their potential and achieving optimal performance. Drawing on Timothy Gallway's Performance Equation, our approach to performance focuses on both the optimising potential, and acquiring the mindset and skills and techniques necessary to overcome interferences and reach peak achievement.
Dr Marie Stopforth is Chartered and Registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist. We offer a range of services in this area, all with Marie. Her unique style is a blend of coaching, psycho-education, and psychological interventions so that your expertise and insight meets hers, and results in authentic collaborative working partnership
1-1 sport psychology session
Whether you're facing injury or a setback, or want to explore how you can achieve marginal gains in performance through sport psychology, we can support you. We work with elite, youth and amateur athletes on all areas of sporting performance and wellbeing. Common areas of work include motivation, anxiety, concentration, mental toughness, confidence and managing injury
Psycho-education
It's our belief that coaches, support teams etc. should be psychologically informed. This helps to develop and nurture a high performance environment where the goals of the athlete or team are understood by all, and the interventions that are being employed d to achieve them are reinforced at every level. We therefore offer continuing professional development sessions for coaches and support teams, tailored to your needs
Working with teams
With a PhD in group dynamics in sport, and extensive experience of working with groups and teams, Marie is uniquely placed to provide insight and interventions at a team level. Whether it's working with coaches to build a high performance culture, or providing insight and support with group dynamics that impact on performance, we can support all elements of team performance.
Workshops
We are experienced in delivering workshops, webinars or talks to clubs, or sporting organisations on all topics relating to peak performance or wellbeing. Previous sessions have included; factors that influence peak performance, performance profiling, team cohesion, goal setting, managing anxiety, focus and concentration and achieving flow.
Exercise & wellbeing psychology
If you have exercise, healthy eating or weight management goals, we can work with you to help you to achieve these. With a focus on neuroscience, motivation and habit formation, we can help you to achieve lasting change. We also work with those who want to achieve their psychological wellbeing. This might include how to prioritise the factors that contribute to wellbeing, as well as managing stress, and emotions
Advice and referrals
It's really important that you work with a psychologist that is right for you, and that might not be us! If you're a team or sporting organisation who wants to employ the services of a sport psychologist but are not sure what you are looking for, then we can help. Equally, you might be seeking some advice or a referral, and would welcome the support of a sport psychologist
Invest in your future
Retirement from sport is a phase that every athlete will face at some point in their career. For some, it's a natural progression towards a new chapter in their lives. But for others, it can be a daunting challenge that brings a wave of emotional, mental, and physical struggles. For many athletes, their sport has been an integral part of their identity for a long time. It has been a significant part of their life, and it's all they know. Athletes may feel like they've lost a part of themselves, and they no longer know who they are or what they want to do. Athletes are used to having a strict daily routine that includes training, competition, and recovery. Retiring from sport means that athletes no longer have that routine, and this can lead to feelings of disorientation, confusion, and boredom. They may feel like they have lost their sense of purpose, and they don't know how to structure their days. Athletes who retire may also feel socially isolated. They may have spent years surrounded by teammates, coaches, and other sports professionals. Retiring can mean that they no longer have that sense of community and support, and this can be difficult to deal with. Idealy, the earlier athletes start planning for retirement, the better. Through our expertise in coaching, we can help you to work on a long-term plan that will help you to transitions smoothly into the next phase of your career.
I would recommend Marie to anyone who is thinking about a career change and requires the advice and direction to achieve this.