Working within an Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) framework: Consultant practice and athlete reflections on refining emotion regulation skills

Objective

To examine how working within Hanin’s (2000a) Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning theoretical model (IZOF) informs intervention development for enhancing athletes’ emotion regulation skills.

Design

A single case study design was adopted to examine the applied process of facilitating a female university cross-country runner’s emotion regulation skills.

Method

Consultant reflections followed Boud’s (2001) reflective learning model for immediate and delayed reflection that informed an action research narrative organized round Kellmann and Beckmann’s (2003) action research cycle. A social validation interview was conducted following program completion to examine the athlete’s responses to the emotion regulation intervention.

Results

Consultant’s professional practice decisions and action taken to support the intervention are highlighted. Specifically, the employment and extension of Hanin’s (2000c) IZOF profiling process to inform the development of athlete skills in emotion regulation are described. Moreover, how the content and intensity of performance related subjective emotion, physiological symptom, and cognitive zone profiles for optimal performance guided the identification and enhancement of techniques contributing to effective emotion regulation is illustrated. Athlete interview responses support the overall efficacy of the intervention program.

Conclusion

The present case study supports the efficacy of working within an IZOF framework from a consultant perspective. Furthermore, athlete reflections suggest enhanced skills in emotion regulation were perceived to result from the intervention.