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Through an ongoing dialogue with sport psychology professionals and elite athletes. I became sensitized to the importance of a concept thnt has been termed perspective. Many of the issues faced by our sport psychology team related not to specific performance challenges, but rather to difficulties of a mon basic nature. In counselIing athletes, much effort was focused on helping individuals relate better to coaches and teammates as people, not just as athletes. Others were heIped ro stay connected and intimate with significant others, friends. and family who were not immersed in the same performance environment. Many teams and individual athletes were engaged in a dialogue about the personal meanings that they draw for their experiences in sport. Helping them to stay motivated, deal with fear and process the powerful emotions associated with success and failure. Still othen were asked to place sport within the broader context of their whole lives, in an effort to avoid reliance upon their identities as athletes. It is through attention to this basic human foundation (that we've temed persrpective) that athleces seemed best able ta survive ruid thrive in the demanding and often brutal environment of eIite sport. It is these consulting experiences that fostered my cunosity about the nature of this foundation.[autor summary]