Does your child have trouble dealing with their emotions? Is their behavior sometimes disruptive to practices, games, or hinder performance? Does your athlete play great at practice and then hold back in competition?
As athletes improve and grow so does level of competition. Club sports have changed the nature of youth sports. Recreational leagues and teams are decreasing and highly competitive leagues are increasing even at very young ages.
While many young athletes may have tons of natural talent, their mental skills and emotion regulation have not matured yet. Consistent physical performance requires certain mental control skills and acceptance of mistakes.
Effective Forms of Therapy for Athletes of All Ages
Therapy offers children and adolescents a safe space to work through their thoughts and emotions. With the help of a specialized therapist, children can resolve problems, modify behaviors, and make positive and lasting changes.
The following are the modalities I find most helpful for athletes who are struggling. Each offers unique approaches and techniques to bring about positive outcomes. Sometimes a therapist may choose to use just one specific treatment, and other times he or she may find a combination of various treatments is the best approach.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps athletes to identify harmful thought patterns. Once a person recognizes that their thoughts create their feelings and moods, they can learn to control themselves and their behavior. Research has shown that CBT is highly effective at treating anxiety as well as helping individuals, including athletes, deal with traumatic experiences.
Sports Hypnosis/Visualization
Mental imagery can be a difficult skill for athletes to put into practice. My method makes it simple, easy, and reusable for years to come.
Brain Spotting/ EMDR
These methods are for resolving stuck points that result from traumatic experiences. Athletes experience a wide variety of events that can feel traumatic and scary. It is easy to see how this translates into fear of performance, fear of being observed or judged, and fear of embarrassment. For more extreme struggles like "the yips" these methods can help resolve the underlying trigger or stuck memory so that the athlete can finally move forward.
Who is Therapy Right for?
At every age, athletes can be faced with life’s challenges. The following are some of the events and scenarios that can impact an athletes mental health and performance:
- Tryouts for a new team
- Being cut from a team
- Emotional abuse from a coach
- Public humiliation or defeat
- Moving or attending a new school
- Burnout due to pressure
- Social anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Test Anxiety
- Mental blocks or slumps
Traditional therapy is not a quick fix for performance anxiety. Many therapists enjoy working with athletes, or were athletes themselves, but without specialized training and strategy it can often take longer than expected or result in little change. My therapeutic method with athletes and high performers is a thoughtful and comprehensive process that provides athletes with insights and skills so that they may become masters of their thoughts and feelings. This, in essence, is how athletes achieve flow. Flow is what athletes need to thrive in this incredibly competitive sports world.
If you would like to explore therapy for yourself or your child, please give my office a call.