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The views and ideas about the serious problems with extremism in the Middle East which threatens to unseat governments and have killed plenty of innocent people in the past few years are reported. The distorted facts that the media are selling to the American public, portraying the Muslim as the enemy and the Arab as a threat is the reason behind the conflict between the USA and the Arab and the Muslim world which is driving more Muslims into the arms of extremist groups.

While traditional cognitive-behavioral skills-training-based approaches to athletic performance enhancement posit that negative thoughts and emotions must be controlled, eliminated, or replaced for athlete-clients to perform optimally, recent evidence suggests that efforts to control, eliminate, or suppress these internal states may actually have the opposite effect. Interventions based on mindfulness and acceptance suggest that internal cognitive and emotional states need not be eliminated, changed, or controlled in order to facilitate positive behavioral outcomes. Rather, it is suggested that an alternative or supplemental approach to the enhancement of athletic performance may be achieved through strategies and techniques that target the development of mindful (nonjudgmental) present-moment acceptance of internal experiences such as thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, along with a clarification of valued goals and enhanced attention to external cues, responses, and contingencies that are required for optimal athletic performance.

Professional sports has become a significant worldwide business in which highly paid athletes are considered substantial assets to be carefully selected, developed, and protected. Psychologists have become increasingly involved with professional sport organizations, providing a wide range of psychological services, such as performance enhancement consultation, clinical or counseling interventions, and psychological testing. As increasing numbers of psychologists enter the sport domain, the specific roles and responsibilities of practice, unique ethical considerations, and psychological services and professional demands most often placed upon the team psychologist in professional sports must be clarified and articulated.