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Counseling for Athletes:
What Is It and Could It Help Your Child?
Does your young athlete thrive physically during games but struggle with the mental aspect of their sport? Do they fixate on mistakes in their performance, whether or not you noticed them yourself? Have they been experiencing sleep issues, stomach aches, headaches, or suddenly resisting practice or games? While some of these challenges may be a normal part of an athlete’s development, they could also be a sign that your child is facing mental challenges that impact their physical performance.
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What Does Counseling for Athletes Look Like?
When young athletes initially seek counseling, their primary focus is often on enhancing their speed, performance, or ability to score goals. However, beneath these surface-level objectives, may be deeper emotional challenges such as anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem. Athletic counseling provides a supportive space to address these underlying concerns, helping athletes strengthen their mental health, enhance overall well-being, and ultimately improve performance.
There are various forms of anxiety (which can be found HERE) that can be addressed in therapy. In young athletes, worries and concerns can look like:
Sometimes, these anxieties are just related to the sport; however, they are often more pervasive and show up in other aspects of life as well. Therapy can help young athletes by learning coping strategies, processing through fears, and providing psychoeducation about sports-related anxiety; they are also empowered to utilize their “tool belt” in all environments.
- Fixation on small details of their performance while missing the larger, positive performance
- Blaming themselves for aspects of the game that are outside of the control. Sometimes, this blame can be directed toward others in the form of intense negativity.
- Constantly feeling like they are not doing enough. This can look like expressing they need more time on the ice/turf/field/etc., more time in the gym, more time doing skills work, or improving their diet.
- Fear of speaking to their coaches or placing intense weight on their coaches feedback. Often, this can look like personalizing negative feedback given to the entire team.
- Being concerned about what team they will make next season far in advance.
- Difficulty sleeping before games or tournaments.
- Stomach aches or headaches before practices or games.
- Tearfulness, anger, frustration, irritability, and sadness.
Sometimes, these anxieties are just related to the sport; however, they are often more pervasive and show up in other aspects of life as well. Therapy can help young athletes by learning coping strategies, processing through fears, and providing psychoeducation about sports-related anxiety; they are also empowered to utilize their “tool belt” in all environments.
Anxiety in Athletes
- Mental Performance Training: Build focus, confidence, and consistency in high-pressure situations.
- Stress and Anxiety Management: Learn strategies to calm the mind and manage pre-competition nerves.
- Mindfulness and Relaxation Skills: Improve concentration, awareness, and recovery through breathing exercises, meditation, and grounding techniques.
- Goal Setting and Motivation: Create clear, achievable goals and maintain motivation throughout the season.
- Injury and Recovery Support: Manage frustration, fear of re-injury, and shifts in identity during the healing process.
- Confidence and Resilience Building: Strengthen self-belief and learn to recover quickly from setbacks or mistakes.
- Team and Communication Skills: Enhance teamwork, leadership, and communication skills with coaches and teammates.
- Work-Life Balance: Find balance between training, academics, and personal life.
- Transition Support: Receive guidance on navigating major changes such as college recruitment or returning from an injury.
- Identity and Purpose Exploration: Discover who you are beyond sport and connect with what drives you.
- Mental Health and Well-Being: Address burnout, depression, and performance-related stress in a safe and supportive environment.
If you’re unsure whether counseling is the right fit, our blog, Stronger Minds, Stronger Athletes: The Power of Athletic Counseling, explains what to expect and who benefits most.
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Treatment Modalities
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Athletes often experience automatic negative thoughts that undermine confidence or focus. CBT helps athletes identify, challenge, and reframe these unhelpful thoughts. Through this process, athletes cultivate more balanced and realistic self-talk, enhancing both confidence and consistency in their performance. Additionally, CBT supports improvements in emotional regulation, focus, resilience, confidence, and recovery from injury.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT is gaining recognition as an effective and adaptable approach in athletic counseling, particularly for supporting athletes to manage performance pressure, emotional discomfort, and identity challenges. ACT focuses on accepting internal experiences while committing to actions that align with personal values. It encourages athletes to acknowledge, rather than resist difficult emotions, lessen the struggle with unhelpful thoughts, improve present moment awareness, and build greater psychological flexibility.
Mindfulness and Relaxation-Based Modalities: Mindfulness and relaxation-based modalities have shown strong effectiveness in athletic counseling as they directly address two major challenges athletes face: performance anxiety and inconsistent focus under pressure. Mindfulness techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, diaphragmatic breathing, and guided imagery aim to reduce psychological tension and promote body regulation. These practices enable athletes to reach their optimal performance zone, balanced between calmness and alertness. Additionally, mindfulness and relaxation-based methods enhance focus, present-moment awareness, emotional regulation, self-awareness, and self-compassion.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT is gaining recognition as an effective and adaptable approach in athletic counseling, particularly for supporting athletes to manage performance pressure, emotional discomfort, and identity challenges. ACT focuses on accepting internal experiences while committing to actions that align with personal values. It encourages athletes to acknowledge, rather than resist difficult emotions, lessen the struggle with unhelpful thoughts, improve present moment awareness, and build greater psychological flexibility.
Mindfulness and Relaxation-Based Modalities: Mindfulness and relaxation-based modalities have shown strong effectiveness in athletic counseling as they directly address two major challenges athletes face: performance anxiety and inconsistent focus under pressure. Mindfulness techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, diaphragmatic breathing, and guided imagery aim to reduce psychological tension and promote body regulation. These practices enable athletes to reach their optimal performance zone, balanced between calmness and alertness. Additionally, mindfulness and relaxation-based methods enhance focus, present-moment awareness, emotional regulation, self-awareness, and self-compassion.
