Practitioners’ narratives regarding active ingredients in service delivery: Collaboration-based problem solving

Objectives We examined experienced practitioners’ (N = 21) stories about two of their athlete consultancies, with a focus on their descriptions of the active ingredients involved in service delivery. Design Qualitative interviews informed by narrative theory. Method Consultants (9 females and 12 males, aged 27–46) with at least four years of professional experience discussed two client consultancies during open-ended narrative interviews. Data analysis began with an examination of the narrative structure of the practitioners’ stories, followed by an investigation of the narrative themes. Results The structure of the participants’ stories reflected a collaborative expert problem-solving narrative, in which they described working as experts in concert with athletes who needed help in solving their problems. Narrative themes included the influence of relationships, client allegiance, and active athlete engagement towards service delivery outcomes. An additional theme involved a constrained freedom in which contextual factors influenced service delivery. Conclusions Results had strong parallels with clinical and counselling psychology research, such as the Rogerian narrative to service delivery. Findings also reflected a self-promotional narrative that surrounds psychological service delivery. Applied implications include the value of self-awareness, developing authenticity, and learning to become part of the sport organization’s culture.