CBT Sports, a Sports Performance Therapy and Other Performance Anxiety
Online CBT Therapist and EMDR Therapist for Sports Performance
Performance Anxiety Therapy – A Powerful Tool for Success!
CBT has been used for decades, to support performers in various industries. Whether you’re a professional athlete, or you want to return to compete, using CBT for sports performance and to support you in the lead up to your performance, is an excellent way to combat any nerves, anxieties, saboteur tendencies, or feelings of self-doubt.
Applying evidence-based principles from CBT to sport psychology, and using proven techniques in Sports Anxiety Therapy, CBT Therapy can be a great help with performance anxiety, training, pre-event planning, as well as post-event analysis and recovery. Athletes all over the world are known to have trusted therapists who work with them in their professional careers and who are a crucial part of the sports team, so it’s always worth exploring this avenue – whether that’s in direct therapy or through online therapy for sports anxiety and performance.
Perhaps you’re a musician, and you can write, produce and perform your songs like a true artist… but when you get on that stage, something happens to your nervous system and you just freeze. This is such a common problem with creatives, and it’s OK to feel anxious in the spotlight – it’s completely normal to experience this kind of response, but rest assured that CBT is a wonderful therapy for performance anxiety, and it’s a powerful tool to help you through those moments of fear, to ease your anxieties and insecurities, and give you the confidence you need to find your voice. Whether you work in-person with your CBT Therapist, or you choose to have Online Therapy for Performance Anxiety, there are numerous techniques that have been proven to support performers in their creative projects, events and careers.
Similarly, CBT is recognised worldwide as a very effective therapy for performance anxiety in public speaking. There are so many amazing inspirational speakers who provide a much-needed service to people who take great comfort in their words, stories and wisdom. These performers are here to uplift and inspire their audiences, providing a unique therapy of their own to their listeners, but even motivational speakers need support with stage fright! You’d be surprised at the amount of public speakers that hire a CBT Therapist to help them with their own Therapy for Performance Anxiety. So, whether you need to speak at a large event, a small meeting, or whether you want to feel confident in delivering a heartfelt wedding speech, using CBT and Performance Anxiety Therapy is an excellent way to help you succeed in achieving your public-speaking goals!
Performance in sports, music and public speaking has been, and continues to be researched in recent times (Leeds Becket University, 2017). Sports Anxiety Therapy & CBT Therapy for sports performance are shown to be highly effective at managing stress and anxiety in these areas, and it makes perfect sense that CBT for sports, music or public speaking performance can be a powerful tool for professional athletes, musicians and speakers, as well as anyone who would like to simply overcome nerves and improve their general performance skills.
CBT for Anxiety Performance is tailored-made to the needs of each individual client. It uses powerful techniques and skills that have been proven to be a success in many areas of Psychotherapy, CBT Therapy and Mental Health Support. During therapy, we use various methods and techniques to set clear intentions and goals that feel comfortable and personal for you, as the client. Once we’ve established your aims, we then we work together to build trust, confidence and clarity, to help you feel ready to take action and improve your chances of success.
This approach is well-suited for athletes as it blends very well in their training routine. If performance is affected by traumatic experiences, I am trained in EMDR and regularly practice it, and deliver CBT for PTSD and trauma.
My practice
In my practice, I use cognitive behavioral strategies in athletic performance enhancement to build on the unique strengths of each person. I use a model of personal strength, and I work with the person to identify different people or situations that have in the past, do in the present and will in the future potentially cause a stress response in the body and mind, and be an anxiety-producing trigger for my clients. Once we’ve identified these triggers, we then work together to create a safe space where we can explore these triggers, develop coping methods to help clients self-soothe and change perspective, and eventually overcome the negative effects that these triggers may have.
I do this through performance enhancement interventions:
- Intention Setting
- Goal Setting, Planning & Inspired Action
- Sharing and Talk therapy
- Empathy and compassion
- Self-soothing and Positive Self-talk
- Visualisation and Imagination Techniques
- Identifying Negative or Destructive Thought and Behavioural Patterns
- Identifying Negative Patterns and Habits that Impact Performance.
- Using Positive Reinforcement Activities, Exercises, Methods & Techniques to Overcome Challenges and Improve Performance
I work with clients to identify, connect and change beliefs, behaviours and patterns on a physical, mental and emotional level. Whether those clients are athletes, performance artists, public speakers or anyone that needs a little extra support with situational or performance anxiety, I am able to work with a variety of people with different needs.
CBT is a time-limited intervention and tends to be regular – usually weekly. However, when working with different individuals, situations and difficulties, the interval of sessions may be shorter or longer, depending on the needs of each client. Also, depending on the goal, project or piece of work that we will be working on, the period of time may take longer and may increase at some points throughout the sports calendar, or when there are particular commitments and deadlines to achieve.
Contact me by clicking here to enquire about Online CBT Therapy for Sports Performance, Public Speaking, Situational Anxiety, Sexual Performance Anxiety or other performance anxieties.
