PhD project title: Investigating Self-talk Awareness, Beliefs, Usage and Influences: Implications for Effective Skill-Targeted Self-Talk Interventions

The project initially examines how self-talk influences sport performance by looking at current randomised control and counterbalanced studies. Thereafter the project will investigate Batswana amateur boxer's self-talk awareness, beliefs and usage with the view to inform a tailored self-talk intervention for those boxers. The third study of the PhD project will explore influences of coaching behaviours on Batswana boxer's self-talk content and use, also with the view to inform the final study. Finally, the project will develop and implement a 10 weeks tailored skill-targeted self-talk intervention for individual Batswana boxers with during, post and follow up trials.

This project is funded by Commonwealth Scholarships Commission, UK Government.

Biography:

Kagiso is a qualified Counselling Psychologist pursuing a PhD in Sport Psychology. Her interest in working with athletes and in sports science research is recent and was kindled by volunteer work with boxers and women footballers at club and national levels. Kagiso’s clinical experience comprises working in government and non-governmental mental health services in Australia and Botswana. She has taught at the University of Botswana’s Psychology Department, the institution where she is a Career Counsellor but currently on study leave. Kagiso is passionate about the practice of psychology and sport science research and envisions a future as a Practitioner-Researcher or in academic research.

Degrees

2006, Queensland University of Technology, Australia, Master of Counselling Psychology
2004, Bond University, Australia, Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology
2003, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, Bachelor of Social Science in Psychology

Academic appointments

Lecturer, Psychology, University of Botswana, 2011 - 2013