Professional Athlete Psychology
Dr. Carolina Raeburn provides professional athlete psychology services. She also provides personal coaching and performance coaching for athletes. She helps athletes identify and reach their goals —whether dealing with emotions that affect their mental health, navigating through life problems, or performing at their optimal level.
Why Would a Professional Athlete Seek Sport Psychology?
Athletes may seek coaching or therapy for many different reasons. Some athletes may want to up their game, improve their focus, and be a strong contributing force to their team. Others may be dealing with new feelings regarding recent retirement, sports injuries, failing health, or personal problems. Simultaneously, others may be looking for help regarding feelings of depression or anxiety, addiction, or other mental health concerns.
Professional Athlete Psychology – How Can a Sports Psychologist Help?
Dr. Carolina Raeburn helps athletes improve their concentration, optimize their performance, and increase their mind-body connection to be all-in-the-game. Furthermore, when a player is experiencing concerns outside the game that may be contributing to feelings of anxiety or depression, she provides them with skills and coping strategies to manage and deal with these emotions. Moreover, several professional athletes experience injuries. Dr. Carolina Raeburn can help athletes manage feelings related to sports injuries. She offers performance coaching and life coaching to nationwide and International. Furthermore, she provides psychotherapy for residents of Florida.
Coaching Services:
Performance Coaching for Athletes – Mind in sports
Sports goes beyond the physical body; it also involves the mind. As an athlete, you are familiar with the concept of having your mind in the game. In sports, you have to condition your body and mind because your mental state guides physical performance. Concentration and focus are of utmost importance in athletic performance. Have you noticed when you’re having a bad day how it affects your game? Usually, when you experience a negative mental state, your game is not the same —a negative mental state impacts performance, self-confidence, and concentration.
Sometimes it’s easier to focus on physical endurance and conditioning rather than mental endurance and training. Still, mental and physical training is equally important. Dr. Raeburn can use tools like visualization, hypnosis, relaxation techniques, and channeling your emotion to work for you. She can help you optimize your mind frame and optimize your performance.
Improved discipline and concentration
Performance enhancement, skill set, and talent play a role in an athlete’s performance, but mental factors play an equally important role in developing discipline and organization. Improved discipline and concentration may be the edge an athlete is looking for; it may make the difference in their game.
Hypnosis and sports performance
Hypnosis or hypnotherapy can improve your performance. If you’ve ever been “in the zone,” then you are familiar with a natural trance state. “Being in the zone” is a natural trance state where things tend to slow down and come easier. Hypnosis helps you enter this trance state and benefits your mental game’s endurance. Using hypnosis as part of your training regimen can help increase your concentration and reduce stress. It focuses on visualization strategies coupled with concentration and focus. Dr. Carolina Raeburn can assist you in attaining the mental endurance you need to succeed.
Life Coaching for professional athletes
If you are experiencing a transitional period in your life that is not affecting your psychological wellness, but you wish it would be less stressful, life coaching may be the right fit. Life events like getting married, the birth of a child, buying a new home, retirement, etc can be overwhelming at times. Dr. Carolina Raeburn can help you navigate these periods and help you manage stress.
Therapy – Professional Athlete Psychology
Mental health concerns can affect anyone even the most talented and doted athlete. If your worries or emotions are beginning to impact your athletic performance or personal life, please consider reaching out.
Professional Athlete Psychology
Athletes and depression
You will hear many psychologists prescribe exercise if an individual is dealing with mental health concerns, but that does not mean that active people are immune to mental health concerns. Sports may help an individual cope with feelings of depression, but the amount of pressure an athlete experiences and other factors may also lead to feelings of depression.
Depression occurs due to a multitude of factors including, environmental, genetic, and medical. However, there are specific risk factors that may make athletes more susceptible to depression. These factors include injuries, retiring, competitive failure, overtraining, and concussions. Symptoms you should look out for if you feel you are experiencing depression include feelings of sadness, difficulty sleeping, loss of interest, difficulty concentrating, feelings of guilt, fatigue or loss of energy, feeling like your body is slow or heavy, or thoughts of suicide. Dr. Carolina Raeburn can provide psychotherapeutic treatments that focus on minimal impact on sports performance.
Depression in retired athletes
Retiring is a Phase-of-Life problem that can lead many people to experience feelings of sadness. The tremendous amount of work that you put into your sports training engulfed your life for many years, but you may begin to experience feelings of emptiness once you retire. Retirement is an enormous loss for an athlete. Some athletes see it as a loss of identity, specifically their athletic identity, and coming to terms with their identity post-sports.
Retirement may be challenging for an athlete, especially if injuries force on retirement. Dr. Raeburn will help you manage and navigate through all these feelings, help you identify a new identity, and enter a phase of life that includes acceptance and joy.
Sports Injury Depression
An athlete’s health and mental health are equally as crucial following a sports injury. Injuries may not happen frequently, but they are unavoidable in sports. Most sports injuries may not have a significant impact on your perforce and resolve quickly. However, other kinds of injuries can gravely affect an athlete’s career and impose a significant mental burden. The moment you hear that “pop” and feel that sharp pain, your mind starts racing. If a sports injury is severe and affects your game or forces you into retirement, it may trigger depression. Depression symptoms to look out for: feelings of hopelessness, sadness, or disappointment, guilt, loss of interest, changes in appetite, decreased energy, an inability for focused concentration, and difficulty sleeping, or thoughts of suicide (if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please seek help right away). Dr. Carolina Raeburn can provide you with coping strategies to help manage feelings of depression.
Athletes and Anxiety
Normal anxiety may be good at times because it may make us more aware, quicker, or more focused. But when faced with an anxiety disorder, anxiety works against us. Anxiety disorders can lead to fear, apprehension, tension, fatigue, and worry that is hard to control. External and genetic factors cause anxiety disorders, but athletes may face circumstances that may increase their risk for anxiety, such as facing intense competition, enduring severe pressure to perform, being in the spotlight and, criticism. Furthermore, a study at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 2015 found that some forms of anxiety can increase the risk of injury. Dr. Raeburn provides you with strategies to manage and reduce anxiety.
Illness in Sport
Medical conditions can affect an athlete’s overall health and performance. Athletes must be mindful of their health. Some conditions which are common in the general population are also found amongst athletes. Some common medical conditions include diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, cardiovascular disorders, chronic illness, and injury.
Psychotherapy plays a role in an athlete’s life who is experiencing illness because it may be difficult for an athlete to adjust to a new medical diagnosis or have a hard time managing a chronic illness. Furthermore, sometimes pain management is necessary. As a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Carolina Raeburn can help you manage the negative feelings associated with illness. Moreover, she can help with pain management through hypnosis.
Professional Athlete Psychology Services and Coaching- Reach out today.
Non-athletes perceive athletes to be mentally tough, fitter, tougher, and more resilient. This perception may make it difficult for athletes to seek help. But Dr. Carolina Raeburn is here to help you. She understands the struggles you face and understands your needs.
Schedule an appointment today.