Sport Psychology in the Athletic Training Room
Previously on this website I have talked about the importance of an athlete’s psychological health related to their return-to-sport outcomes. However, the extent to which Sport Psychology is currently being used into the athletic training room of rehabbing athletes was unknown. Today, we’ll look at the athletic trainers understanding of Sport Psychology and the use of it in their practice from a D1 setting.
In 2016, Zakrajsek et al. published a study titled “Certified Athletic Trainers’ Understanding and Use of Sport Psychology in Their Practice.” The study contended that two primary roadblocks stand in the way of the optimization of athletic return-to-sport in the D1 athletic training room. Both lack of access to sport psychology resources and role confusion between the athletic trainer and sport psychology field create problems for utilizing these resources to facilitate a healthier return-to-sport for athletes. In their study, Zakrajsek et al. (2016) interview D1 athletic trainers about their understanding of sport psychology and the use of their strategies when working with athletes. The authors found three domains which presented themselves during these interviews.
The first domain comprised of the athletic trainer’s recognition of the common psychological challenges that injured athletes face during the return-to-sport process. The athletic trainers interviewed identified a handful of psychological roadblocks that athletes must face during their rehab. These categories included things like self-doubt, fear of reinjury, loss of identity, and stages of grief. Importantly, from the athletic trainers’ experiences they can recognize and thus help alleviate athletes’ psychological concerns.
The second domain covered the athletic trainer’s knowledge and understanding of sport psychology. Categories extracted from this domain were that athletic trainer’s had limited sport psychology knowledge and perceived it as a mental tool. The interesting thing to note was that athletic trainer’s understanding of sport psychology varied, insinuating that there is an informational barrier preventing athletic trainer’s from fully optimizing their athletes’ rehabilitation.
The third and final domain blanketed the athletic trainers’ utilization of sport psychology skills and strategies for rehabilitation. This domain includes what the athletic trainers themselves used to assist their athletes. The techniques which athletic trainers employed included “AT-athlete relationship, normalizing the recovery process, goal setting, reassurance, connecting rehab to sport skills, attentional focus, self-talk, arousal management, and visualization” (Zakrajsket et al., 2016).
It is great to see that D1 athletic trainers can recognize psychological challenges in the return-to-sport process, have an understanding of sport psychology, and even implement their own techniques to help optimize athlete recovery. However, a majority of the athletic trainers interviewed in this study reported having a limited knowledge and understanding of these psychological tools. This study asserts that utilizing a sport psychology consultant in the athletic training room can bolster return-to-sport outcomes and help improve athlete experience.
TLDR, what does this mean for you? Athletic trainers are some of the unsung heroes working with our athletes. They specialize in the physical knowledge and progression based approach to injury recovery. However, it is unfair to charge them with helping athletes deal with the psychological challenges of injury as well. Implementing sport psychology consultants in an athletic training room environment can help optimize an athlete’s recovery while simultaneously freeing up the athletic trainer to focus more on their specialty.
Zakrajsek, R. A., Fisher, L. A., & Martin, S. B. (2016). Certified Athletic Trainers’ Understanding and Use of Sport Psychology in Their Practice. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 29(2), 215–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200.2016.1231722