Sophie Gibbs-Nicholls

Senior Lecturer

School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation

01752 636700

SGibbs-Nicholls@marjon.ac.uk

Role Summary

Sophie teaches across a range of undergraduate and post-graduate sport programmes. Her teaching is mainly focused around key concepts within the discipline and how these can be applied to support the performance and wellbeing of athletes and coaches.

Sophie is also a Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council. She works as an applied practitioner on a one-to-one and group basis, across a range of sports. Sophie is interested in supporting both the wellbeing and performance of the athlete by tailoring the support to their individual needs. She enjoys her dual role as a practitioner-academic and feel they compliment one another.

Qualifications

Qualification in Sport and Exercise Psychology, British Psychological Society

MSc Psychology, Plymouth University

MSc Applied Sport Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan University

PGCert Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Advance HE

BSc (Hons) Applied Sport Science, University of St Mark & St John

Mental Health First Aider, Mental Health First Aid England

Teaching

Emotions and coping
Confidence, performance anxiety and motivation
Psychological response to injury
Psychological strategies to support injury recovery
Career transitions in sport
Athlete wellbeing
Professional development of the sport and exercise psychology practitioner
Solution focused and strengths based approaches to consultancy

Research

Sophie is interested in a wide range of research topics. Prior research has included: exploring the lived experiences of transgender athletes, the psychological performance strategies utilised by national and international performers, and the impact on verbal and non-verbal support on endurance runners.

Publications

Peer reviewed articles:

Gibbs-Nicholls, S., & Mellick, M. (2022). On the outside looking in: Trans identity experiences in and through UK sport participation. Sport and Exercise Psychology Review, 17(1), 87-100.

Gibbs-Nicholls, S., McCormick, A., & Coyle, M. (2022). “Keep the Pace! You’ve Got This!”: The Content and Meaning of Impactful Crowd Encouragement at Mass Running Events. The Sport Psychologist, 36(2), 115-127.

McCormick, A., Coyle, M., & Gibbs-Nicholls, S. (2018). Sharing good practice in sport and exercise psychology. Sport and Exercise Psychology Review, 14(1), 47-64.

Conference presentations:

"On the Outside Looking In": An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Transgender Experiences in UK Sport. Competing in the Dark - Mental Health in Sport, The Open University, Milton Keynes, March 2018.

Expert Membership of professional bodies

Registered Practitioner Psychologist (Health and Care Professions Council)
Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist (British Psychological Society)
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Roles on external bodies

Other Interests

I have played for the England Ladies Pool team since 2015 and have competed at European and World Championship events. I have travelled to Australia, Morocco, Malta and Ireland with the team. The experience of competing at international level has provided me with a first-hand understanding of the demands of high-level performance.