What to Know When Providing Therapy for Elite Athletes

What to Know When Providing Therapy for Elite Athletes

Curt and Katie chat about the specific competence required to work with elite athletes. We explore how elite athletes present (including diagnosis) as well as what treatment looks like for elite athletes. We also talk about the training cycles and periodization, developmental stages, and identity formation for competitive athletes. We also look at what healthy training environments include and how athletes can take care of their own well-being. 

In this podcast episode we look at what therapists need to know about working with elite athletes

For our second continuing education worthy podcast, we wanted to support therapists in understanding what they need to know (or know that they don’t know) about working with elite athletes.

The differences between being a fan and being competent to work with elite athletes

• The types of competence needed to support athletes who are at an elite level
• Sports psychology and other areas of specialty to support athletes
• The stringent criteria to be called a sports psychologist

What diagnoses do athletes present with when they enter therapy?

• Not necessarily anxiety, but it can be anxiety related or unrelated to sport
• Diagnoses can be related to the sport due to body, substance, or changes in circumstances
• Diagnoses can also be related to other elements of their life and transitions

What does treatment look like for elite athletes?

• High school and college athletes are most likely the clients we’ll see
• The integral nature of their team and who is best to be included in the treatment team
• Logistics and scheduling due to games and practices, obtaining required consents
• Training schedules, food information is relevant to therapeutic work
• The different goals for elite athletes than for other folks who enjoy sports
• Looking at in the moment frustrations versus a desire to leave the sport
• Sports assessments to identify athletic coping skills
• Helping athletes to make decisions for themselves and identify when it’s burnout and when it’s a mismatch

Understanding training cycles and the impact on athlete clients

• Specific language that athletes may use
• Periodization, micro, meso, and macro cycles in training
• The importance of planned growth and rest as well as peaking at the right time
• The focus of timing for everything
• How injuries or changes in schedule (like with covid) can impact this timing and what that means for athletes

Developmental factors for young athletes

• The focus of training for younger children as well as the investment phase for youth
• Developing one’s identity as an athlete
• What can positively impact and negatively impact the future commitment to sport
• Other developmental factors related to being a teen interacting with these developmental elements

What a balanced life looks like for elite athletes

• Who athletes spend time with, share their life with
• The hobbies that complement the sport
• Understanding how maintenance impacts the rest of the schedule

The factors that improve an athlete’s well-being

• Myths related to the tangential benefits of being an elite athlete (i.e., I’ll get college paid for)
• The importance of having a therapist who isn’t just a “fan”
• The differences between team and individual sports
• The competency needed related to understanding the sport to understand all of the dynamics
• What good social systems around athletes have in common
• The understanding of how each person in the athlete’s circle interacts with the goals
• The culture created within the team and with the people around the athlete
• Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka – a look at how they have been taking care of themselves

The transition out of being an elite athlete

• Injury and unplanned retirement
• Planning for an intentional retirement
• Moving out of the athlete identity into something new