1st Edition

Psychological, Archetypal and Phenomenological Perspectives on Soccer

By David Huw Burston Copyright 2015
    180 Pages
    by Routledge

    180 Pages
    by Routledge

    Soccer, or football, attracts vast numbers of passionate fans from all over the world; yet clinical psychology is yet to study it in depth. In this book, David Huw Burston, a consultant football psychology and performance coach, uses a phenomenological research method inspired by Amedeo Giorgi to consider what we can learn from the spirit of the game, and how this can be used positively in the consulting room and on the field of play.

    By examining detailed qualitative research with professional soccer players of both sexes, Burston identifies and considers nine particular themes, including the family, god, heroes and dreams, and discusses how what we can learn from the game of football and team culture can be applied to Jungian analysis today.

    This book bridges the gap between clinical psychology and sport, outlining potential shortfalls in current youth development in sport, as well as discussing how traditional Jungian archetypes can be identified in everyday settings. It will be of key interest to researchers from both the fields of analytical psychology and sports studies.

    1. Introduction  2. Soccer and the Psyche of the Performer  3. A Phenomenological and Alchemical Approach to Investigating Soccer  4. The Interview Transcripts and Situated Structures  5. Depth Discussion and Analysis of the Data

    Biography

    David Huw Burston (MFT) is a Clinical Psychotherapist in private practice in the USA, and a Consultant Football Psychology and Performance Coach for 11– 21 year olds at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, London, UK.

    "David Burston's new book soars like one of those new sky-cams that reveals the soccer field (or football pitch) from several perspectives, alternately psychological, archetypal and phenomenological. What is revealed by these new angles is a composite picture of the archetypal roots of  'the beautiful game', which is an ancient love of the hunt, the transcendent dimension of play, and the desire to be part of something larger than yourself,  the team as  family. For those who fear they are indulging in a guilty pleasure when they play or watch soccer this is an important book. You needn't feel so guilty after all."Phil Cousineau, author of The Olympic Odyssey: Rekindling the Fire of the Great Games, and Once and Future Myths: The Power of Ancient Stories in Modern Times