Abstract
Background
This workshop invites participants to engage with ‘aporia’, a concept rooted in ancient Greek philosophy meaning “no way out.” Aporia is both a state of cognitive impasse and a felt, embodied experience of disorientation. Drawing on Socratic elenchus and aporetic dialogue, we explore the utility of not-knowing in sport and performance contexts. The aim is to cultivate a reflective space where discomfort is not pathologized or hurriedly resolved but held as fertile ground for insight. Participants will leave with greater tolerance for uncertainty and a reimagined relationship with outcome-driven practice.
Key Points
Through discussion and experiential activities, we examine how dominant paradigms in sport, exercise, and performance psychology often resist aporia by prioritising solutions, outcomes, and resolution over process. We ask: what if discomfort and doubt are not obstacles to be removed but sources of creativity and epistemic humility? What happens if we make conscious our unconscious leanings toward certainty and closure? Participants will explore embodied practices that develop “mindfulness of aporia,” deconstruct assumptions about well-being and performance, and examine how aporetic inquiry might challenge the field’s normative pressures.
Conclusions
This session argues that aporia, whilst antithetical to solution-focused approaches, can foster deeper transformation than resolution alone permits. Theoretical implications include a reframing of knowledge practices in sport and exercise psychology; applied implications include an expanded capacity for holding complexity in client work. We conclude with recommendations for psychology professionals seeking to cultivate epistemic flexibility, creativity, and a more attuned approach to uncertainty when supporting well-being in high-performance environments.
Content Note Guidance
This workshop encourages Socratic and Aporetic approaches to well-being in sport and performance. While it is not anticipated that direct sensitive content will be discussed, the workshop encourages presenters to embrace complexity and uncertainty, which could lead to professional vulnerability and initial disorientation and discomfort.
This workshop invites participants to engage with ‘aporia’, a concept rooted in ancient Greek philosophy meaning “no way out.” Aporia is both a state of cognitive impasse and a felt, embodied experience of disorientation. Drawing on Socratic elenchus and aporetic dialogue, we explore the utility of not-knowing in sport and performance contexts. The aim is to cultivate a reflective space where discomfort is not pathologized or hurriedly resolved but held as fertile ground for insight. Participants will leave with greater tolerance for uncertainty and a reimagined relationship with outcome-driven practice.
Key Points
Through discussion and experiential activities, we examine how dominant paradigms in sport, exercise, and performance psychology often resist aporia by prioritising solutions, outcomes, and resolution over process. We ask: what if discomfort and doubt are not obstacles to be removed but sources of creativity and epistemic humility? What happens if we make conscious our unconscious leanings toward certainty and closure? Participants will explore embodied practices that develop “mindfulness of aporia,” deconstruct assumptions about well-being and performance, and examine how aporetic inquiry might challenge the field’s normative pressures.
Conclusions
This session argues that aporia, whilst antithetical to solution-focused approaches, can foster deeper transformation than resolution alone permits. Theoretical implications include a reframing of knowledge practices in sport and exercise psychology; applied implications include an expanded capacity for holding complexity in client work. We conclude with recommendations for psychology professionals seeking to cultivate epistemic flexibility, creativity, and a more attuned approach to uncertainty when supporting well-being in high-performance environments.
Content Note Guidance
This workshop encourages Socratic and Aporetic approaches to well-being in sport and performance. While it is not anticipated that direct sensitive content will be discussed, the workshop encourages presenters to embrace complexity and uncertainty, which could lead to professional vulnerability and initial disorientation and discomfort.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 1 Sept 2025 |
| Event | British Psychological Society Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology Annual Conference 2025: Beacons of Hope: Mapping the Value and Direction of Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. - Village Hotel North, Leeds, United Kingdom Duration: 2 Dec 2025 → 3 Dec 2025 https://www.bps.org.uk/event/division-sport-and-exercise-psychology-2025-annual-conference |
Academic conference
| Academic conference | British Psychological Society Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology Annual Conference 2025 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | BPS DSEP 2025 |
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Leeds |
| Period | 2/12/25 → 3/12/25 |
| Internet address |