Psychology of High-Performance Sports Organizations

Psychological Safety in Professional Sports; Building High-Performance Teams with Trust and Resilience provides a step-by-step guide to managing a professional sports organization through the principles of organizational psychology and psychological safety. It offers insights on how to manage sports organizations effectively, covering team operations, culture, and performance design. Readers will gain a deep understanding of psychological safety and learn how to cultivate it in diverse team settings.
Although focused on professional sports, many of the key takeaways are applicable to elite amateur sports organizations and general businesses. Some of the topics covered in the book include transformational leadership, values-based decision-making, talent development, psychological safety, and leadership which can all be applied outside of the sport organization.
While these topics have been explored extensively individually, this is one of the first books to bring all of them together with a focus on sports and in an easy-to-digest format. Each chapter aims to provide the what, the why, and the how: what is the concept, why is it important, and how can it be applied in the real world. Whether the reader is preparing for a career in sports management or is already in that world, Psychological Safety in Professional Sports delivers practical, research-backed insights for fostering psychological safety and improving team performance and will be key reading for students, researchers and practitioners in the fields of Sport Psychology, Sport Management, Organizational Behavior, Organizational Psychology and related sub-disciplines.

Dr. Marie Claire Bourque, MD, MSc, FRCPC, DABPN is an award-winning psychiatrist, educator, clinician, and public speaker who specializes in working with high-performing individuals, ranging from athletes to dancers to performing artists to executives, to optimize their mental health and achieve their highest potential. Known for blending mental health expertise with insights from her own elite athletic background, Dr. Bourque offers a unique, performance-enhancing approach to therapy.
Dr. MCB’s vast range of professional experience spans from working with patients struggling with polysubstance use disorder and experiencing homelessness, to professional athletes with the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), dancers with the National Ballet of Canada, and business executives at top companies throughout the US, Canada, and internationally. She currently serves as NHL Mental Health and Peak Performance Expert for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Marlies. She is a Clinical Instructor at the University of British Columbia School of Medicine, a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, and she maintains a clinical practice at Interior Health, a multidisciplinary mental health and substance use clinic, in collaboration with Interior Health and the University of British Columbia School of Medicine. She also maintains a private coaching practice and a private virtual practice. She currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary's Department of Psychiatry and as a Clinical Instructor at UBC School of Medicine.

Madeline Antony is a passionate advocate for community involvement, reflected in her diverse academic and professional pursuits. She recently earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology with Honours from the University of Victoria, with a focus on Tree Biology. During her time at the university, she played an active role on the EDI council for the Department of Science and held leadership positions with Model United Nations, EcoFriendly YYC, and Elect Her. Currently pursuing a law degree at the University of Calgary Law School, Madeline has worked alongside Dr. Bourque as a research assistant, delving into critical topics such as athlete mental health and organizational psychology.