Managing the emotional & psychological effects of injury
Of course an injury requires healing of the physical damage and rehabbing your body, but too often we completely ignore the emotional toll and lasting psychological effects of injury. Talking through these aspects can minimize the impact from your injury and get you back to the road to recovery.
The dreaded *pop*...
Let me see if I can guess...you heard that *pop* and instantaneously, your mind flooded with 1,000 thoughts of what this means for your sports career. You had gone through at least 10 scenarios before the athletic trainer even reached your side.
And sure, there's the actual pain in that moment, but you're also hit with a rush of emotions, confusion and most of all fear.
Now, fast forward. You've made it off the field, got a doctor's diagnosis, and started treatment. But even if you're taking care of the physical injury, have you actually allowed yourself to face the mental and emotional toll that came along with that *pop*?
Sometimes an injury is a career-ender - in that case there's grief, sadness, anger. Sometimes an injury isn't a career-ender - then you're dealing with learning to trust yourself again on the field, overcoming the fear of reinjury, and figuring out how to get back in the game.
PT is where you get your body right, therapy is where you get your mind right.