MCC Athlete Wellness aims to help athlete’s mental health challenges
Sometimes, athletes want to answer the question “How are you doing?” with something beyond their teams’ record on the season. It can be difficult to find a therapist who understands the nuances of the athletic experience, a therapist who does not care about how many points you scored last night but who brings empathy and understanding to the daily realities of being an athlete. While many focus on performance, MCC Athlete Wellness looks to help athletes improve their mental health.
Traditionally, sports psychology has focused on athletic performance, specifically how an athlete’s mindset affects how they play their sport. This is often measured qualitatively, considering wins, losses, times, distances, and heights. Sports psychologists can teach athletes different techniques to improve performance, such as reciting positive mantras and visualizing goals, but it is all about enhancing the mind with the end goal of improving performance.
Athlete mental health is the same but different.
Taking on the identity of an athlete does not shield a person from mental health struggles. Newsflash – athletes are not superhuman. This can be a hard realization for some; however, it is important to recognize that athletes at all levels are constantly challenged, both physically and mentally. They are not immune to everyday stressors and often must lean on others for support. Many of the MCC Athlete Wellness licensed professionals were Division 1 athletes and can understand the realities of being an athlete. This allows for a therapeutic relationship to be built on shared experience.
The stress of accurately managing one’s time to succeed in school, sport, and social life is exhausting. Being an athlete is a relentless grind. On top of the pressure to perform their best, athletes face injury, interpersonal struggle, and mental and physical challenges. Athlete mental health keys into the feelings of burnout, depression, and anxiety. Athletes operate under immense amounts of pressure. They must navigate the expectations parents, coaches, teammates, and ultimately themselves placed on them. Athletes often possess specific personality traits that help them succeed at their sport, but these traits can also have drawbacks. Perfectionism, for example, can lead someone to question their self-worth or lead to an all-encompassing fear of failure.
It is paramount to provide athletes with the space to tap into how they are really feeling. Therapy can benefit an athlete’s mental health, but the performance wins are subsidiary.
By differentiating between sports psychology and athlete mental health, we can introduce athletes to a resource they have been yearning for: a resource that pays attention to their emotional wellness. Therapy becomes a place where athletes can speak about the mental struggles they push through every day so they can show up for their teammates, coaches, fan bases, and themselves. MCC Athlete Wellness prides itself on being a place where athletes can come and freely answer the question, “How are you doing?”
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Learn more about MCC Athlete Wellness
Listen to a podcast episode by MCC Athlete Wellness: Life After Sport
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