Applied Exercise Psychology: A Practitioner's Guide to Improving Client Health and Fitness

by Mark H. Anshel PhD

Overview

This is the first applied handbook for practitioners who want to help patients begin and maintain an exercise program as a lifestyle change.

Mental health practitioners (MHPs) often earn a trust that not many other professionals do with their patients. It is with this trust that MHPs are able to encourage and help their clients begin a healthy and active lifestyle through exercise programs. This book, with easy to understand language, provides a simple introduction for mental health practitioners and clinicians to help their clients achieve better mental and physical health through exercise and learn how effective the psychological aspects of exercise can be.

The book helps MHPs obtain the background of ways to achieve proper fitness, and to go through the process of obtaining information about the client's individual needs, and finally to prescribe an exercise program that is compatible with those needs. A fundamental knowledge of applied principles of exercise physiology provides additional credibility to the prescribed exercise regimen.

Coverage includes:


• Applied exercise psychology
• Motivation technique
• Theories and models in health psychology
• Fundamental applied exercise physiology
• Specific cognitive and behavioral strategies
• Program interventions
• Recommended books and journals
• List of exercise and health organizations
• Exercise checklist

This book will be of use to all mental health providers, including psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, and consultants, whose relationship with clients provides a unique opportunity to gain entry for proposing lifestyle changes.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826132154
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/31/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Mark Anshel, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN.

Table of Contents

"

Preface
Foreword by Murphy M. Thomas, PhD

1. What is Applied Exercise Psychology?
2. Exercise Barriers: Why We Do Not Enjoy Physical Activity
3. Theories and Models of Exercise Behavior
4. Mental Health Benefits of Exercise
5. Strategies for Promoting Exercise Motivation
6. Basic Applied Exercise Physiology for Consultants
7. Exercise Prescription Strategies
8. Exercise Adherence and Compliance
9. Consulting with Special Populations
10. A Proposed Values-Based Model for Promoting Exercise Behavior
11. Cognitive and Behavioral Strategies to Promote Exercise Performance
12. Maintaining Quality Control: Personal Trainers, Fitness Facilities, and Proper Programs
13. Future Directions in Exercise Consulting

Appendix A: Exerciser Checklist
Appendix B: Exercise Tests
Appendix C: Examples of Correct Stretches
Recommended Books, Journals, and Website Resources
List of Organizations and Publications
References
Index"

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"One of the biggest problems in our society is the lack of compliance with exercise. Dr. Anshel has given practitioners a user-friendly guide to understanding the research why people do or do not exercise. This book is timely; many people struggle with exercise adherence, even though they know it is critically important. I highly recommend this book."
-Jack Groppel, PhD, Vice-Chairman and Founder, Human Performance Institute, Algonquin, IL

Editorial Reviews

3 Stars from Doody

Reviewer: Susan Richardson, MA, PsyD (Private Practice)
Description: This book seeks to define how knowledge of exercise psychology can be used by mental health practitioners to encourage increased exercise participation. There is a useful discussion of the main components of applied exercise psychology such as motivation and fostering performance.
Purpose: The author's rationale is that mental health professionals are in a great position to encourage improved health habits among their clients due to the level of trust, bonding, and credibility they hold. Given the nation's obesity crisis, increasing physical activity among any portion of the population is a worthy endeavor, and the author illustrates nicely where and how mental health professionals can intervene.
Audience: Although the book targets mental health professionals, it would also be useful for personal trainers and others who work in the exercise industry. Essentially, anyone in a position to offer counsel on fitness could benefit from familiarization with these concepts.
Features: The book defines its subject as an unexplored area and then illustrates the usefulness of the concept to mental health professionals. There are chapters on exercise avoidance, theories of change, and mental health benefits of exercise, amongst others. The author also provides a terrific appendix that includes good illustrations of safe stretches and several fitness assessments. It is not clear why instructions for Skinfold Measurement for fat assessment are made available as clearly most mental health professionals would have inadequate training to provide these.
Assessment: This book provides a great deal of very useful information for mental health professionals wanting to encourage greater physical activity among their clients. The level of information presented is accessible without being overly general. The book is well written, nicely organized, and highly readable.

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