HV10: 50+ years MENTAL TRAINING FOR EXCELLENCE IN SPORT AND LIFE – past, present and future
This Congress is the 9th of the Mental Training Congresses, held every 4th year after the start 1989 when we started the International Society of Mental Training for Excellence in Sport and Life. The first one was in Sweden and the one before this one came back to Sweden 2019 after having been held in all parts of the world during 30 years.
Mental Training is a systematic and longterm training of Mental Processes like thoughts, feelings, images, attitudes and Mental skills like concentration, creativity, etc.
It is a Training in Self-Leadership with the view of Life as a do it yourself project and with the goal to reach Peak performance (in Sport, Work, Relations, etc) and to reach the WHO:s definition of Health: "Optimal Physical, Mental and Social Wellbeing."
I will start with a short overview of the 50 year history after the start 1969.
The one year training (parttime) to become a Mental Training Practitioner and certified Self-Leader consists of 3 parts:
a. Basic Mental Training
b. Mental Training for Personal development and for Problem solving
c. Mental Preparation for future events
A. The basic training has the purpose to:
1 Learn complete relaxation for quality sleep (night)
2 Learning "Relaxense" for the daytime. Definition of Physical relaxense: "Optimal relaxation in the agonist muscles and relaxation of the agonists."
3 Breathing exercises and Mental relaxation to learn Self-hypnosis, operational defined as the "Inner Mental Room".
BI. Mental Training for Personal development is a training of the four Success factors:
1. Self-Image training with focus on Confidence and Esteem, combined with Self-compassion for the Impooster syndrome.
2. a. Goal-setting Vision/Mission and Goals–Long-term to Immediate Goals.. SMART to MACT.
b. Situation related Goal-Images
c. Goal-Programming (The Psycho-Neuro-Cybernetic model)
3. Mindset and Attitude training like Optimism and Mental Toughness-training
4. EQ. (Inner climate). Identification, Conditioning and Developing.
BII. Mental Skill Training
a. Focusing and Concentration training
b. Decision making. Complementing Kahneman` System 1 and 2 with System 3.
c. Creativity training
BIII. Problemsolving
a. Mental Problems like worry, phobias, anxiety, negative stress, etc.
b. Behavioral problems: Weight, Smoking, Sleep, etc.
c. Psychosomatic problems: Tinnitus, Chronic pain, (etc.) (Cancer)
BIV. Other areas like
a. Aging. (7 years younger biologically by 6 months mental training)
b. Injuries (Mental Images of the healing process)
C.Mental Preparation for future events.
a. Sport. Career, Season, Competition.
b. Defence (Airforce, Army, Marine), Police academy Mental preparedness training
c. Common problems like Public speaking, etc.
EDUCATION: The education to become a Mental Training Practitioner (now also certification in Self-Leadership) has been given at two State Universities but mainly through one private university. But Mental Training has also been an important part of other university educations like in Music or in Health for instance A 3 year education to become a "Health developer".
Licensed Mental Trainer
Around 10.000 have become a Mental Training Practitioner and some of them have continued 2 years more (parttime) to become a profession as a "Licensed Mental Trainer".
The Pharmacies
The Mental Training programs could be bought through the pharmacies during many years and this together with the Mental Training in the Schools gives an estimate that between 2,5 to 3 million Swedes have experienced Mental Training so far.
INTERNATIONAL:
The goal is to make the mental training available for everyone in the world.
The basic training has so far been translated to the ten most common languages in the world, which means the possibility of reaching half of the world population.
One project in north Iraq (Kurdistan), initiated by the Health Minister 7 years ago, has made it possible to reach most of the population there and this was specially important some years ago when IS ravaged Iraq. The name of the project is:
"Mental Training for Peace. From Inner Peace to Outer Peace."
I will finish with the hope that similar projects with such a name and intention will be more and more common in the future.