The psycho-affective fragility of some learners/athletes is sometimes underestimated by themselves and by instructors/coaches. In some cases, the application of the “Provocative therapy” may be considered, as suggested by therapists Frank Farrelly and Jeff Brandsma. In this type of therapeutic lesson, suggestions aimed at removing the present mental resistances are used.
The ski instructor has the propensity to treat the learner according to the image he has of him, that is, according to how he perceives him, not as the learner objectively is. In certain cases, after having sufficiently examined his affective dynamism, the instructor should send him the message: “It is time for you to start changing” or, in colloquial language, “Get your act together”.
When the learner claims he can’t, the facilitator understands that, in reality, he doesn’t want to, then agrees and adopts a provocative attitude but with humor and tact, with the intention of getting him to assume that he doesn’t ski better because he doesn’t want to. When the skier accepts this, he tries to explain his behavior to himself and finds a reason why. He would then come to the conclusion that he does not do it because he cannot, and it is here where the instructor must lead him to accept that he cannot because he does not want to since he has the freedom to choose not to.
Here, the determining factors of the learner or athlete’s behavior must be taken into account in terms of taking responsibility for what he has done and not projecting it onto others or onto the situation itself. Something difficult for anyone to admit is simplified in the following phrase: “I did it because I wanted to do it”.
It would not seem coherent to face a difficulty for the sake of doing it, but in certain situations, this is the functional method to achieve a change and reconfigure the skier’s hidden ability because, in reality, he has a much greater potential than he believes himself or what the instructor/coach believes. If he expects the skier to improve, he will; or to get worse, he will; and, if he expects him to do nothing, he will tend to do exactly that because the professional is also acting on the basis of his or her own belief system and assumptions. In certain cases, beliefs of the skier’s lack of aptitude are common, which could be due to a helpless reaction on the part of the instructor/coach to the skier’s failure to develop his abilities because, in reality, no one likes to admit failure.
The frustrated skier, in general, tends to refer to the negative aspects that generate discomfort about his own skiing. In reality, there are two positions towards skiing: it is either pleasant or unpleasant. This unhappy skier tends to cling to partial beliefs and perceives skiing as something uncomfortable, cumbersome, or annoying because it is cold, the skis slide, because of the falls, the standing in line, the boots hurt, the skis come loose and it is difficult to put them back on, the clothes are uncomfortable, he gets wet when it snows or rains, he feels afraid, he can get hurt, etc., etc., and, with these arguments, he avoids evaluating the positive aspects of the activity. In these cases, the instructor seeks to provoke him in an ironic way, but always with respect, highlighting his weaknesses but also his strengths through positive, joyful, and full of growth experiences so that, in the end, the skier recognizes that has had some success in facing his problems.
Not all instructors are the same in terms of the way they relate to the learner or the method they apply. It is reasonable that the learner, according to his personality, has a greater affinity with the approach of one professional than another. This may also be the thinking of the instructor himself, who approaches the learner’s situation according to what he himself is. In this type of therapeutic lesson, the facilitator must be receptive and willing to avoid prejudices or preconceptions, as well as to avoid being swayed by the learner’s frustrating beliefs.
The instructor’s words should, in certain situations, be challenging, but not for the simple reason of being harsh with the skier, but because he should know, if he does not already know, that there are certain contexts in which he will have to learn how to deal with them effectively. This does not mean that the instructor promotes simple adaptation, but rather that the learner acquires the necessary objectivity to overcome those situations that he perceives as unpleasant or annoying in skiing. The sooner he does this, the better he will perceive what skiing reality “is”; not what it “must”, “should”, “has” or is “right” to be.
If the instructor attends only to the learner’s external world, i.e., his or her behavior without a proper understanding of the way he or she thinks, his or her beliefs, or his or her affections, the learner may think that the instructor does not understand him or her, and may be prone to reject his or her suggestions, even if they are valid. For most skiers, it is important to be effectively understood in their views, their values, and their own demands. It is not enough for the instructor to adopt an empathetic attitude because, although it is useful, it is not sufficient for this type of skier to function safely in the mountain environment.
When communicating with the learner, the instructor must know how to use technical words appropriately. Although he is accustomed to using them in other contexts, a constant technicality may mean nothing to the learner; they will be meaningless words. The effective instructor translates technicalities into relevant words that have meaning within the learner’s frame of reference. Using appropriate terminology helps not only in accessing the learner’s frame of reference, but also in modifying it, which is the ultimate goal of the professional.
A situation that commonly happens in learning to ski is that, right from the first lesson, the instructor successfully addresses an aspect that for the learner is visceral, i.e., that generates anxiety or anguish. It is here that he begins to trust and rely on the professional, whom he uses as a support to overcome these conditions. In contrast, other skiers prefer to be cautious with the current instructor due to experiences with previous professionals.
The retraining or updating of instructors and coaches can serve as therapy and as a space for catharsis, just as psychologists themselves go to therapy. Generally, professional update programs are not designed for the facilitators themselves to do this type of therapy since they are intended to technical updates and sharing more effective methodologies.
According to Farrelly and Brandsma’s proposal, we can conclude that in the provocative therapeutic lesson the learner is not ‘attacked’, but his ideas; he is accepted as a person, but not his behaviors. This method is not a universal balm that serves for all emotionally conflictive situations with which skiers present themselves in a lesson, but an alternative to traditional methods.
