Afrek Sports Psychology (ASP)

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What ASP offers:

• I help athletes maximize their mental preparation but also not least, to maximize what they get out of every single one of their training sessions.

• I advise athletes with goal setting and give them advice on how to attain them by dealing with every obstacle in their way. This can be obstacles like anxiety, stress, worry, perfectionism, negative self-talk and/or emotional control in competitions.

• I teach methods to get more self-confidence and then how to hold on to self-belief under stressful conditions.

• Teach athletes about visualizations, how they are beneficial and how to use them.

• Help athletes learn about concentration, how to develop laser focus during competitions in order to not get distracted and keep their minds on the task(s) at hand.

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When would be the right time to contact ASP?

There comes a time in every athletes career when he or she seeks to improve the mental game, usually after years and years of physical and technical training. It doesn't take a „crisis“ or „problems“ for athletes to start thinking about the mental game (although that is sometimes the case) but rather an evolution in the maturity and thinking of the athlete. The willingness to improve the body-mind relationship in order to improve in competitions. These are the positive reasons that athletes want to improve their mental game but what are the negative signs that coaches (among others) should look out for?

The athlete:

1. Displays a negative attitude towards competing (for instance negative body language) or says something in the vein of „I don´t want to compete“.

2. Is overly self-critical, is easily upset.

3. Lacks motivation and no amount to pep talk from the coach and family can help.

4. Gets angry really quickly.

5. Has trouble returning to training after injury, has developed fear of injury, and has lost confidence.

6. Exhibits sign of perfectionism (doesn't accept ANY mistakes and demands too much of him or herself, has trouble taking criticism, fears judgement from teammates/audience/friends/family/coaches etc.

7. Exhibits great fear of failure in general and fears disappointing. coaches/parents/friends/family/audience etc.

8. Has not been able to show the same quality performances in competition as in training sessions.

9. Has trouble attaining and/or maintaining focus during competitions.

 

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How should a coach (or a family member) raise the question to the athlete that it might be a good idea to visit a sports psychology counselor?

In some cases athletes can have a certain prejudice towards talking to a sports psychology counselor (mental trainer). They can see it as a sign of weakness or that something is wrong with them when the fact is that it is a sign of strength to seek way to improve as an athlete. They can sometimes get defensive if someone mentions this option. This can be a tricky situation and my advice to coaches and family members is the following:

1. Be very SPECIFIC when mentioning why you think they should see a sports psychology counselor. Don´t say things like „you have to improve“, „I know you are better than this!“ or „you are under-performing“....this is absolutely NO help to the athlete. This kind of criticism not only makes it highly unlikely that the athlete would go seek help....it could make the problem worse by lowering his/her self-confidence even lower than it already is.

2. It´s better to phrase it something like this „I realize you feel tense before competitions and that is totally normal but if you would like to speak to someone in confidence, I know a sports psychology counselor you can talk to“. This sentence has no judgement built in, it recognizes that it is normal to feel these emotions and offers a helping hand.

3. Ask the athlete to evaluate how he/she is REALLY feeling before competitions and ask „do you think you are performing at your very highest level in competitions?“ or „do you think you arrive at the venue relaxed, having had a good night sleep the night before before the  competition and are mentally 100% prepared?“. If, after some thought, the athlete cannot answer „yes“...it might be a good idea to have a chat with a sports psychology counselor.

4. Ask the athlete to consider trying at least one counseling session to see how it feels, to talk in 100% confidence about what is bothering them, and to listen to some neutral advice from a specialist. The worst case scenario is that nothing changes but he/she is no worse off...but the BEST case scenario could be that a whole new world of mental energy, positive self-talk and optimism could opens up and changes the trajectory of the athletes´ career.

 

IF the athlete(s) are willing to give it a try, you can reach ASP in the following ways:

1. Browse through this web page to see what is on offer.

2. Send an e-mail to afrekpsych@gmail.com to get in touch.

3. Or call 659-0599 if it is urgent.

If I don´t respond right away to the e-mail or answer the call...I will get back to you as soon as I can.