Case study- repeated injuries
An athlete presented to a medical practitioner following an injury. During the assessment, the athlete reported several injuries in the space of 2 years and noted feeling disheartened that goals were not being achieved. The athlete was later referred to a sport psychologist with concerns for fluctuating mood, and heavy reliance on exercise for stress management.
The sport psychologist worked with the athlete around
- adjusting to injury,
- reducing levels of stress,
- developing broad stress management strategies.
The impact of future injuries was reduced as they also identified and explored relevant historical, circumstantial and personality factors driving overtraining including perceptions of pressure, perfectionism and desire to meet previous expectations of self and others.
Historical, emotional and psychological factors can contribute to why some people find health behaviour change so challenging. Exploring those reasons often enables long term behaviour change.