'A conversation with Dr Alison Maitland and Jenna Ashford' - Drop the Struggle

Parents in Sport Podcast

In this episode Dr.Alison Maitland and Jenna Ashford join Gordon MacLelland to discuss their book 'Drop the Struggle' and how understanding their approach of using 'Acceptance and Commitment Therapy' may help us as sporting parents to help support our young people to fulfil their potential both in and out of their sport.

During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:

• The writing of 'Drop the Struggle' and the motivations behind writing the book
• Not falling into the trap of a one size fits all approach for every child
• Helping our children understand that we cannot control our thoughts and feelings but we can control how we act and respond
• The danger of using phrases such as 'Don't cry, Don't be nervous'
• Using open questions and co-collaborating with our children around our role in supporting them
• Encouraging our children to share what they are thinking and feeling
• The importance of parental role modelling in sharing our own thoughts and feelings
• Being conscious of not labelling our children
• Creating our own narratives of success, failure and disappointment
• The inevitabilities of sport, accepting them ourselves, and helping our children learn to accept and work with them
• The power of being able to listen
• Helping our children acknowledge their emotion but then focus on the actions that follow

Dr Alison Maitland is an experienced Health Professions Council registered and BASES accredited Sport Psychologist. She has a PhD in elite sport and uses her expertise in human performance in a wide range of settings in sport and businesses around the world. Not only has she helped elite athletes achieve World Championship titles and Olympic success, but she has a love and proven track record of supporting athletes and coaches taking the first step along their sporting journey. She continues to combine her use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a sports context, with running a business equipping women in FTSE 250 businesses to lead unapologetic lives.

Jenna is a Chartered Sport & Exercise Psychologist. She has a broad range of experience working with athletes from many different sports, from elite level to school sport. She was part of the team of psychologists at the Football Association who developed the high performance culture within England Football teams. Aside from her work in sport, she is a performance consultant in business, an executive coach and has extensive experience coaching leaders across many different sectors.