Elite performers : psycho-education to increase resilience

![CDATA[Until now, talent identification and development Australia-wide has solely rested upon the physical attributes of athletes and dancers. This, however, has continued in the face of current research suggesting strong correlations between particular psychological characteristics and peak performance. Mental toughness is a concept that recurrently emerges amongst coaches as a desirable characteristic in their performers. Recently, the literature has turned to the concept of resiliency as a method of further defining mental toughness or "hardiness" (Gould, Dieffenbach & Moffet, 2002; Jones, Hanlon & Connaughton, 2002; Williams & Krane, 2001. Whilst there has been a surge of research into the conceptualisation of resilience in elite and non-elite athletic populations (Luthar, Cichetti & Becker, 2000; Reivich & Shatte, 2002; Richardson, 2002), few published studies have investigated whether resiliency can be increased through a psychoeducational intervention.]]