Dr. John F. Murray shares the latest in sports psychology research and practice and gives his expert interpretation on how this can help.
VCU Sport Psychology
The following good information comes from Virginia Commonwealth University.
To perform at your best, you need to be physically and mentally tough. Athletes spend many hours advancing their physical skills, however only a few spend any time developing mental skills. Balancing the relationships with coaches and fellow athletes, managing competitive pressures, and coping with time demands are vitally important. It’s no wonder that half all student-athletes report that the strain they expertise from their sport considerably affects their mental or emotional health.
Mental skills coaching such as learning skills of goal-setting, imagery, psyching up and psyching down techniques, and self-talk can help student-athletes build mental toughness, strengthen concentration, remain positive, increase confidence, manage emotions, and address adversity. Injury recovery is also facilitated by mental coaching, enabling athletes to manage pain, optimize healing, and come back to sport with additional confidence and reduced anxiety. On the more personal side, confidential counseling for stress, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, relationship problems, overtraining and burnout, as just several examples, is so important too. The goal is to increase both performance and psychological wellness.
