Performance enhancement through EMDR therapy

Athletes are faced with various mental challenges like: staying focused on the next task and not being distracted by outside circumstances, being able to calm themselves down when upset or frustrated, performing on point at important times, etc. All of these challenges can cause high stress and at times freeze athletes who become unable to perform skills they once were able to do without a problem. If this sounds familiar to you then you might be interested in reading more about EMDR-PEP which is a psychological technique geared to help decreasing performance anxiety and increasing mental sports performance.

I am a trained EMDR therapist and able to support you in overcoming these challenges and reaching mental toughness.

Here is an article which provides more information about the EMDR protocol:

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How to bounce back from a sports injury

Being an athlete comes with a lot of sacrifices and blessings but one of the toughest things to overcome are injuries. Injuries don't just mean we have to take a break from the sport. They also mean a change of our daily routine, social interactions, a possible change of athletic goals, which often is accompanied by feelings of anxiety and some level of depression plus uncertainty about the future. While non-athletes in most cases know how to rest and give their body time to recover, athletes are a different breed. Often athletes do not not know how to take a break after an injury. Their brains, which are trained from a young age to ignore pain, play tricks on them by directing inner self-talk towards "I can play through this.", "It is not as bad.", "I have played through worse.". This mentality leads them to ignore the body's pain signals to stop and as a result causes more severe injuries. 

I am guilty of training and playing through certain pains and injuries myself which resulted in a dislocation of my shoulder and various ankle sprains. Yes, I am one of those crazy athletes who competed with a broken bone justifying it through the irrational thought of "my team needs me to win". But, now being somehow wiser through experience, I appreciate this article which gives general guidelines on how to overcome injuries the healthy way. I wish I had more coaches, counselors, therapists, etc. who had taught me a balance between pushing oneself and listening to my body's signals. 

Parenting and Sports: The worst kid on the team

When people become parents we often have high hopes for our children especially if they start participating and maybe even competing in a sport. We often know that there will be moments when our kid does not want to practice, does not get a long with the coach or a teammate. We also know that performances in sports may vary depending on the day and that these times usually pass. Often we want to encourage our children to practice harder and even spend money on private coaching lessons and other performance enhancing methods. Therefore, it hits hard when our children decide that they don't want to play the sport anymore. This article does an excellent job explaining the challenges of parenting in sports and what to consider when the own child is the worst kid on the team.

Over involved parents in sports

This week's news about P. Diddy being arrested for attacking his son's coach with a kettle bell due to not agreeing with his coaching methods, shows once more how well intentioned parents at times may create more problems for their kids. Especially in sports, children have to learn to fight and solve their own issues and reap the consequences for certain behaviors. Hard work and being pushed by good coaches is a foundation for success. Over involved parents can create a barrier for reaching success by not allowing the coach to do his job and stopping the children from pushing their own limits to get better.