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athletes

Athletes are humans too.

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Athletes

Ath•lete: a person who is proficient in sports & other forms of physical exercise. (Oxford Languages

 

Brynne works with various athletes across a variety of disciplines. These include the everyday athlete or "weekend warrior", high school, collegiate, amateur, competitive, retired, and/or injured professionals. 

As an athlete, you can experience co-occurring challenges & stressors that uniquely impact your mental well-being & therefore, your athletic performance. These issues often create ripple effects throughout other areas of your life. Therapy can help you process & understand your problems, allowing you to cope, focus, & manage your problems more efficiently & effectively. Below, are some examples of common problems athletes face.

Identity

​- You feel unsure of your identity outside of sport

​- You don't know what you want out of life, where your interests lie, what 

   you are passionate about, & what else makes you you outside of sport 

   since much of your time & energy have been focused on one thing

- You feel sort of lost, aimless, & uncertain 

- You may question how & why you ended up here

- You feel resentful towards those who may have pressured or

   forced you into a life centralized around your sport

Image by Cortney White
Image by Xuan Nguyen

emotional detachment &
challenging interpersonal relationships

- You have a hard time accessing, understanding, & communicating your
  feelings because your athlete training has conditioned you to avoid them
- You struggle to relate & connect to those around you on a deeper level
- You have a hard time establishing healthy & long-term friendships &
   romantic relationships 
- You f
eel insecure about opening up your feelings for fear of being

   perceived as weak, losing a competitive edge, & risking your position

Self-esteem & 
authentic confidence

​- You struggle to feel confident in your abilities & yourself overall 
- You have difficulties affirming & complimenting yourself - it feels
  uncomfortable, inauthentic, or maybe narcissistic 
- You often beat yourself up over minor mistakes for hours or even
   days & weeks at a time
- You struggle to get past mistakes because they linger

   in the back of your mind
- You have a tendency to hyperfocus on the negative
   & discredit the positive 
- You have a hard time believing the compliments people give you 

- While, simultaneously, you may have become reliant on your

  performance, teammates, coaches, & fans to feel happy or good

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Image by Jeffrey F Lin

Depression & Anxiety

- You feel isolated & lonely, even when surrounded by others
- You don't truly feel happy but think you should & are unsure why
You feel misunderstood by family, friends, or spouses 
- You've developed
 a skewed body image, disorder eating habits,

   or establish a poor relationship with food

- You're experiencing overwhelming emotionality due to the grief & loss
   cause by 
unexpected a career/sport altering/ending injury, graduation,
   or retirement 

- You struggle to control your reactions to fear, pressure & stress

​- It's challenging for you to balance work, life, school, & sports - you   

   consistently feel stress & pressure from all areas

- You feel like a disappointment 

adapting to
"normal" life

- You struggle or are unable to structure & manage your time since being

   accustomed to a strict training regime

- You feel uncomfortable being alone & doing things on your own

- You have a hard time trusting yourself, your "gut", & your instincts 

- You often look for validation or confirmation from others on your thoughts, feelings, & decisions 

- You're often indecisive - overanalyzing all possible options & outcomes 
- You feel like you constantly need to prove yourself, your worth,

   & your dedication 
- You have a hard time doing what you really want to do because

   you're afraid of letting people down

Image by Spencer Bergen
Image by Sven Mieke

chronic pain, 
PTSD, OCD, & more

- You live with chronic pain due to injuries or overuse  & now live
 with frustrating emotional & physical impacts 

- You experience symptoms related to PTSD due to sport-related physical
   or emotional traumas such as injuries or abusive coaches 
- You experience symptoms related to OCD since living a strict & 
   regimented lifestyle such as body issues, food issues, etc.  

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athletes are shifting
the narrative around
mental health at work

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