Frequently Asked Questions

No. The opposite is true. Performance psychology is a highly specialised field which aims to enhance the performance and wellbeing of people who are already functioning well. Its purpose is to help mentally healthy people to make the most of their lives, opportunities, and talents. Performance psychology is the psychology of excellence and high achievement. It helps people to develop a competitive edge in their chosen field of endeavour through the development of superior mental skills.

Like medicine, psychology has a number of different branches, and practitioners can specialise in a variety of diverse areas. Mental health problems are the exclusive domain of registered clinical psychologists. The only "problems" that a performance psychology specialist will ever deal with are those that relate directly to performance - for example, performance anxiety, loss of motivation, failure to meet performance targets, and stress.

One of the great things about performance psychology is that the skills you learn are applicable to all aspects of your life, not just your career. If you aspire to excellence or to becoming a high achiever in your field, then performance psychology has much to offer you. When you're competing against other talented, hard-working people, it is often mental strengths that determine who wins.

You don't need to know exactly which skills or services you need. It's my job to figure that out...with full input from you, of course. In your first session, we'll talk extensively about your circumstances and any relevant history. I'll then prepare a custom program tailored to your specific needs. The benefit of this is that I can select tools from different protocols to create a program that includes everything you need, and leaves out everything you don't. I'll monitor and refine this program as we go along to make sure that it continues to optimally meet your needs. Your feedback will be an important part of this process.

Please send me an email. I respond to all enquiries personally and, since my appointment schedule is fairly heavy, email is the best way to contact me. You can be assured that my response will be prompt. You can send me an email via the Contact link on this website.

This depends upon what you hope to achieve. If you want assistance with a single issue - say, dealing with performance anxiety, for example - you'll probably need 6-10 sessions. If you want me to put together a comprehensive custom-made peak performance program for you, you should think more along the lines of 12-20 sessions. Bear in mind, though, that these are averages. Every person is different.

Yes. Sometimes people call performance nerves "stage fright", sometimes "nerves", but whatever you call it, performance anxiety can be successfully treated. Research into treatment of performance anxiety is quite extensive and there are a number of viable treatment options with strong scientific backing. Careful selection of the right treatment is important, however. Some treatments are considerably more effective than others. And some treatments are better suited to certain situations and symptom patterns. One of the factors that influences choice of treatment is whether a person is experiencing mostly physical or mental/psychological symptoms of performance anxiety. Treating performance anxiety successfully is not a one-size-fits-all approach, but an intelligent process in which the right program is put together based on the needs of a particular individual.