Beyond Education, Acquisition, and Practice: The DEAPE Psychological Skills Training Framework

Abstract

Psychological skills training (PST) is commonly structured as education, acquisition, and practice. The sequence is pedagogically sound, but it leaves two functions implicit: systematic diagnosis of performance-related psychological needs before instruction, and multidimensional evaluation after implementation. This theoretical article proposes the Diagnosis-Education-Acquisition-Practice-Evaluation framework (DEAPE-PST), a five-phase cyclical extension of that sequence. Diagnosis produces an athlete-centred formulation of demands, resources, and contexts; Education builds understanding and autonomous engagement; Acquisition establishes procedural competence; Practice supports representative, progressive transfer; and Evaluation examines implementation, proximal change, performance, welfare, maintenance, and adverse effects before returning to Diagnosis. The framework separates performance diagnosis from clinical diagnosis and specifies referral pathways. DEAPE-PST offers a transparent architecture for designing, delivering, evaluating, and refining psychological skills programmes.