The Psychology of Enhancing Human Performance The
Mindfulness Acceptance Commitment (MAC) Approach, 1st
Edition
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GARDNER, FRANK L.
MOORE, ZELLA E.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
ENHANCING HUMAN
PERFORMANCE
THE MINDFULNESS-ACCEPTANCE-
COMMITMENT (MAC) APPROACH
Copyright © 2007 Springer Publishing Company, LLC
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
permission of Springer Publishing Company, LLC.
Springer Publishing Company, LLC
11 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
www.springerpub.com
Acquisitions Editor: Sheri W. Sussman
Production Editor: Carol Cain
Cover design: Joanne E. Honigman
Composition: Apex Publishing, LLC.
07 08 09 10/ 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gardner, Frank L., 1953–
The psychology of enhancing human performance : the mindfulness-
acceptance-commitment (mac) approach / Frank L. Gardner, Zella
E. Moore.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
9780826103369
1. Sports—Psychological aspects. I. Moore, Zella E., 1975–II. Title.
GV706.4.G355 2007
796.01—dc22 2007020079
Printed in the United States of America by Bang Printing.
To the love of my life. Without your patient love and support, my
professional accomplishments would be meaningless.
—Frank
To an amazing partner and the most cherished family, friends, and
“greys” with whom I’ve been blessed. If everyone had people like you
to love, the world would be such a better place.
—Zella
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I - Theoretical and Empirical Foundations
CHAPTER 1 - Understanding Functional and Dysfunctional
Human Performance: The Integrative Model of Human
Performance
CHAPTER 2 - From Change to Acceptance: The Mindfulness-
Acceptance-Commitment Approach to Performance
Enhancement
CHAPTER 3 - Planning for the MAC
PART II - Strategies and Techniques of the MAC
Approach to Performance Enhancement
CHAPTER 4 - MAC Module 1: Preparing the Client With
Psychoeducation
CHAPTER 5 - MAC Module 2: Introducing Mindfulness and
Cognitive Defusion
CHAPTER 6 - MAC Module 3: Introducing Values and Values-
Driven Behavior
CHAPTER 7 - MAC Module 4: Introducing Acceptance
CHAPTER 8 - MAC Module 5: Enhancing Commitment
CHAPTER 9 - MAC Module 6: Skill Consolidation and Poise—
Combining Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Commitment
CHAPTER 10 - MAC Module 7: Maintaining and Enhancing
Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Commitment
PART III - Case Studies
CHAPTER 11 - Case Study 1: Performance Dysfunction—The
Case of Kayla
CHAPTER 12 - Case Study 2: Performance Development—The
Case of Daniel
CHAPTER 13 - Case Study 3: Considerations in the Group
Application of MAC
References
Index
TABLE OF FIGURES
FIGURE 4.1
FIGURE 4.2
FIGURE 4.3
FIGURE 4.4
FIGURE 5.1
FIGURE 6.1
FIGURE 6.2
FIGURE 6.3
FIGURE 6.4
FIGURE 7.1
FIGURE 8.1
FIGURE 10.1
FIGURE 11.1
FIGURE 11.2
FIGURE 11.3
FIGURE 11.4
FIGURE 11.5
FIGURE 11.6
FIGURE 11.7
FIGURE 11.8
FIGURE 12.1
FIGURE 12.2
FIGURE 12.3
FIGURE 12.4
FIGURE 12.5
FIGURE 12.6
FIGURE 12.7
FIGURE 13.1
PREFACE
The development of the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment
(MAC) approach to performance enhancement, and ultimately this
text, is a testament to the way in which the science-practice
connection in professional psychology is intended to work. That is,
practice issues should guide scientific inquiry, which, in turn, should
directly inform innovative empirically developed methods capable of
being applied in the real world.
Long ago, the first author (Gardner) dutifully utilized traditional
performance enhancement techniques and strategies in his work
with elite athletes and business professionals. Unfortunately, they
really didn’t work very well, and the less-than-stellar outcomes
produced by these approaches were at first quite daunting and
humbling. It was only after many years of discussions with peer-
colleagues at conferences and within social-professional circles that
it became clear that most professionals utilizing such techniques
privately noted a similarly troubling lack of success when using
traditional psychological skills training procedures. Of course, we all
tried to remember those clients who improved dramatically with the
use of our methods, just as the weekend golfer tries to remember the
one or two great shots that were surrounded by 115 very poor ones.
There had to be something better. We were all searching. As Gardner
looks back and celebrates his 20-year anniversary working in
professional sports, one can’t help but think of all the high
performing individuals who deserved to improve in their given
domains to the same extent that clinical patients were able to
improve following scientifically grounded, empirically supported
interventions that truly targeted and remediated their concerns. Yet,
nothing really existed to help the performer in truly sustainable
ways, and, as such, we watched as sport and performance psychology
teetered to survive at the consumer level.
Following hours of listening to Gardner’s disgruntled commentary
about the state of the sport and performance psychology field, the
second author (Moore), who was just entering the professional world
of performance psychology, decided to painstakingly and
systematically evaluate the empirical support for these traditional
methods. Of course, if one were to simply listen to the efficacy
statements presented in self-help and professional texts or what
professionals presented at national conferences, one would have
assumed that these were sound methods for the enhancement of
performance. But we knew better, as do many professional in the
sport and performance domains. So Moore gathered the data on the
efficacy of these procedures with competitive athletes, which was
reported in peer-reviewed journals. As described in chapter 2, it
became clear that the data matched the experiences and private
conversations of professional sport and performance psychologists.
The analysis suggested a troubling absence of empirical evidence for
the efficacy of the traditional methods of performance enhancement.
As such, these results called for us to once again go back to the
theory-building stage and, ultimately, to the development of new and
innovative psychological interventions for performance
enhancement.
Our theory-building process (described in chapter 1) connected the
scientific knowledge base on human performance and self-
regulation, and more contemporary findings related to metacognitive
processes, emotion regulation, and acceptance-based behavioral
interventions. This process led to the theory and practical application
of the MAC program. The development of MAC from theory to
protocol, and from empirical evaluation to practical application,
finally led to the development of this text. This has been an exciting
professional adventure that we are excited to share. While we have
received much positive feedback about the application of this
approach, we fervently hope that this text will spur researchers to
become involved in further evaluation of the MAC approach, because
such inquiry is a fundamental requirement of any true scientific
discipline and is certainly how those committed to evidence-based
practice operate.
Our expectation is that some professionals committed to
traditional psychological skills training methods and techniques will
ignore or blindly criticize this new approach. This is fine but will be
yet another disappointing acknowledgement of the binary approach
to sport and performance psychology that has stunted the growth of
the field for decades. Our hope is that students and practitioners
alike will consider the material presented in this book with an open
yet scientifically skeptical mind. Our intent is to provide the
practitioner-scientist with a new way of thinking about the
relationship between one’s inner experiences and high-level human
performance and the ways that we, as professionals, can influence
that relationship. With this in mind, this text has been written as a
user-friendly practitioner’s guide that can serve as a step-by-step
intervention manual. We provide all of the theoretical, empirical, and
practical tools necessary for using the MAC program with a variety of
high-performing clientele. This text represents a milestone in our
professional lives, and we hope that this work can contribute to the
enhancement of readers’ professional performance and the
performance of their clients for many years to come. To further
enhance the utilization of the MAC program, the exercises and forms
in this book are accessible and downloadable via the Springer
Publishing Company Web site (www.springerpub.com). When you
click on the link you will be asked for a password. The password is
macform07.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The development of the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment
approach to performance enhancement was the result of years of
hard work on both of our parts. The stagnation in sport and
performance psychology domains, and the fascinating scientific
developments within clinical psychology primed us to reconsider,
reformulate, and finally construct a new theoretical and practical
approach to enhancing human performance. After developing the
MAC protocol, we were struck with how many professionals seemed
to just “get it” and frequently asked us for more information on how
they could integrate this approach into their own practice with high-
performing clientele. We found ourselves inspired, and thus
embarked on the creation of this book. We genuinely hope that
practitioners will embrace this approach to performance
enhancement, and will enjoy the same feeling that we get when we
see our clients improve in fundamental, substantial, and sustainable
ways. From our personal experiences (and the reported experiences
of others), there are not many approaches to performance
enhancement that seem to have the same effect on performers’ lives,
either in performance or general life domains. We are so eager for
your clients to begin their new lives, and we are therefore pleased
that you have embarked on this journey.
Many influential people deserve our thanks and appreciation. We
first extend tremendous thanks to our families and friends for their
support, sacrifice, and overwhelming love. Second, we also thank our
professional families. Frank would like to thank the students, faculty,
and administration at La Salle University in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, especially within the Departments of Psychology and
Athletics. Zella’s appreciation goes out to her professional family at
Manhattan College in New York City, where she is supported by
amazing undergraduate students, faculty colleagues, and
administration. We endlessly thank the dedicated staff at Springer,
especially Sheri W. Sussman and Alana Stein, for their patience,
support, encouragement, and commitment to scientific
advancement.
Finally, we sincerely thank our professional colleagues worldwide
who are interested in new scientific developments and committed to
providing their clients with the best possible care. Because of
practitioners committed to evidence-based practice, the world is
truly a better place.
PART I
THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL FOUNDATIONS
CHAPTER 1
UNDERSTANDING FUNCTIONAL AND
DYSFUNCTIONAL HUMAN PERFORMANCE:
THE INTEGRATIVE MODEL OF HUMAN
PERFORMANCE
It can probably be stated that experts rule the world. At the very
least, they typically garner high levels of respect, make forward-
thinking decisions, have valued opinions, and gain praise for their
admirable achievements. Indeed, everyone cannot achieve this
honorable status. Just one step below the expert lie numerous
talented individuals who act as the expert’s support system, carrying
out those activities that allow the expert to maintain peak success.
But why do so many people plateau just below the expert level,
striving to become true experts but only warranting terms such as
talented, great, a go-getter, and valuable? Is there really such a
difference in the technical skills and abilities of the expert and the
valuable coworker, teammate, or associate?
As a complex human activity, multiple factors—both internal and
external—are intricately tied to understanding, predicting, and
enhancing human performance. As such, it is not reasonable to focus
on any one activity, mechanism, or variable as being responsible for
all the internal and external concerns that enhance or impede human
performance. This chapter and the intervention protocol that follows
seek to better understand and, in turn, ultimately influence human
performance through understanding how internal processes interact
with external demands.
Naturally, many factors determine the effectiveness of human
performance. The myriad of factors contributing to functional as well
as dysfunctional human performance can be summarized as follows:
