Therapy for Athletes

Society loves athletes…

We’re always highlighting their strengths, successes, and triumphs.

But we rarely speak of their struggles and challenges.

It can be difficult to imagine that a person who achieves so much success on the athletic field would experience anything other than happiness, pride, and self-confidence. But mental health issues don’t discriminate between athletes and everyone else.

Kasey’s* dream was to run in college.

She had fantasies of how amazing her college team and experience would be. She had a very close relationship with her high school coach and teammates, and she had high expectations for the next chapter of her career.

But at her first collegiate cross-country team camp, she got injured. That took her out for the first five weeks of training. When she resumed, she felt like everyone had bonded without her. She also started having issues with her new coach, who had a different approach and didn’t like it when she asked questions.

Kasey felt afraid to talk to her teammates because she didn’t want to seem like she was complaining or uncoachable. She already felt uncomfortable having missed the first five weeks of practice.

She developed stomach aches from the stress of going to practice.

When Kasey returned home for Christmas break, every person she saw was so eager to hear how amazing her college-running career was going. Kasey felt she had to tell them how it was living up to their expectations.

Kasey felt very alone. She couldn’t talk to her old friends because she felt embarrassed about how excited she had been for her new team. She couldn’t talk to her new teammates because she didn’t want them to view her as weak or ungrateful to be on the team. She knew how to run through the pain, which also made her really good at hiding her struggles.

These are just some of the issues athletes deal with…

Stress, disordered eating, burnout, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation… there’s a high incidence of these problems among athletes!

Due to the “show no weakness” culture of sports, many athletes have difficulty even recognizing (let alone accepting and seeking assistance for) these emotional struggles.

Regardless of the sport you play and how much you love it…

There are many more complicated parts of being a competitive athlete.

Most obviously, there’s the time commitment and sacrifices it requires. Committing to a sport means that other areas of your life – your interests and self – will need to be sacrificed. Juggling school and sports can be extremely challenging, and many athletes will move away from family and friends to be near the best coaches and training facilities.

Athletes are always dealing with the pressure to succeed and win. They’re always striving for the impossible: perfection. And when the bar for success is perfection, nothing one does will ever meet their standards. It is constant pressure, and poor performance or a screw-up can easily shake one’s self-esteem. This pressure is also frequently coupled with verbal abuse and criticism from fans and coaches. There is also always the lingering fear of falling in rank or losing one’s coveted starter position on a team.

There’s consistent physical stress on their bodies. From the first injury one sustains, they are reminded of their bodies’ fragility and that it won’t last forever. But many times, injuries lead to shifts in regular activities, and for many athletes, this injury can trigger many difficult emotional and mental responses.

When an athlete is injured, they may lose not only their physical independence and feel as if they are being punished or isolated because they’re “letting their teammates down.” Injury can also cause a significant change to their social environment, daily routine, and identity.

There is also a significant amount of stigma in sports surrounding mental health issues. The “tough it out” nature of sports leads to beliefs that mental health struggles are a sign of weakness – that “winners” don’t have these kinds of issues.

Athletes’ struggles are real, and talking to a trained professional can help.

Managing your desire for perfection, fear of failure, injuries, sports lifestyle, relationships with coaches and teammates, school, financial stressors, and pressure to succeed is no joke, and you shouldn’t have to suffer alone and in silence.

How I can help…

I can help you learn a new way of coping that will help you relate differently to your struggles.
I can help you ground yourself in the present so your fears about the future won’t impact your performance.
I can help you learn new ways of thinking and speaking to yourself to relieve the pressure.
I can help you heal lingering scars from failure and embarrassment.

Let me tell you about my story…

I fenced for 15 years. I was a member of the United States Women’s Saber National team, won 5 world championship titles, and went to Penn State on an athletic scholarship where my team won three national championships. I also took two years off from school and trained for the 2008 Olympics. I struggled with anxiety and the “never good enough syndrome” for much of my career, especially during the two years I spent trying out for the Olympics. I got so nervous before competitions I started locking my knees, and I once fainted while waiting in line to check myself in for a World Cup competition. I told everyone it must have been the jet lag.

I had a lot of conflicting emotions at the end of my fencing career. Part of me desperately wanted to explore what normal life could be like… while the other was terrified to be leaving who I had been my whole life. Everyone used to call me “that fencer girl.” Who was I anymore? The experience of retiring was very painful and lonely. The three teammates I had spent a decade training with were going to the Olympics, and my fencing career was over. No one around me could relate to what I was experiencing. I am extremely fortunate I had a therapist who supported me for my whole career and during my retirement.

As you are reading this, no matter where you are…

Know that your struggles are normal, you are not alone, and it can get better. You just can’t be afraid to ask for help.

For me, therapy was the game-changer. I started when I was 16, and I’m still in it today. You don’t have to stay that long, but I became a therapist!

You can feel better… so let’s get started!

Call me at (845) 418-3239 or email me at [email protected], and I will get you set up with a free 15-minute consultation phone call.