The Effect of Psychological Support on Injured Athletes’ Rehabilitation Outcomes
It has been shown that when an athlete gets injured, he/ she undergoes a great deal of stress both physically and mentally. The athlete often experiences frustration, anger, boredom, and fear to return to sport (Pearson & Jones, 1992). In fact, studies have shown that even though the vast majority of injured athletes get cleared to return to sport once they are completely recovered physically, many of them do not return to full participation (Arden, Webster, Taylor, & Feller, 2011). These findings suggest that since they have been cleared physically, there must be something else that is hindering them from returning to competition. Emotional rehabilitation after …show more content…
One of the ways that re-injury anxiety can be measured is through the use of the Fear Avoidance Model (FAM) (Leeuw et al., 2007). The FAM aims to describe the course of thought that occurs in patients when they are assessing their pain and potential for future pain. When patients have “negative affectivity that causes catastrophizing”, or the process by which pain is interpreted as being extremely threatening, the patients go into a downward spiral of fear of pain that leads to pain anxiety and avoidance, and ultimately leads to chronic pain (Leeuw et al., 2007). On the contrary, if patients have low fear, they are able to confront the pain through rehabilitation and ultimately recover without developing chronic pain. It was also found that one of the factors that activate this fear and inadvertently increase the threat value of pain may be the health care providers’ facial expressions. Therefore, it is important that physical therapists are sensitive and attentive to how their body language is perceived by their …show more content…
As a matter of fact, there is evidence that emotions play a role in the interaction between physical therapists and patients. Even health care providers’ facial expressions can cause fear of pain (Leeuw et al, (2007). Gard (2004) found that good interaction between the therapist and the patient is critical; not only has good interaction been shown to improve the patients’ use of physical therapy services, but it also improved the effectiveness of the treatment. Overall, the physical therapists believed that the body and emotions work in conjunction (Gard, 2004). Furthermore, it has been found that sensitivity to one’s emotions and body language plays a significant role in the success of rehabilitation. These findings also support the work of Ross and Berger (1996) who found that psychological rehabilitation in addition to physical rehabilitation was most successful in treating athletes who had been injured. It was reported that athletes who received cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) exhibited significantly less pain than those who did not. Ross and Berger (1996) explained that CBT is a problem-solving approach to change patterns of thinking or behavior. CBT acknowledges the athlete’s feared stimulus (i.e., re-injury anxiety) and their avoidance response, and aims to change their patterns of thinking to reverse this conditioned fear. Athletes who underwent CBT also
It has been shown that when an athlete gets injured, he/ she undergoes a great deal of stress both physically and mentally. The athlete often experiences frustration, anger, boredom, and fear to return to sport (Pearson & Jones, 1992). In fact, studies have shown that even though the vast majority of injured athletes get cleared to return to sport once they are completely recovered physically, many of them do not return to full participation (Arden, Webster, Taylor, & Feller, 2011). These findings suggest that since they have been cleared physically, there must be something else that is hindering them from returning to competition. Emotional rehabilitation after …show more content…
One of the ways that re-injury anxiety can be measured is through the use of the Fear Avoidance Model (FAM) (Leeuw et al., 2007). The FAM aims to describe the course of thought that occurs in patients when they are assessing their pain and potential for future pain. When patients have “negative affectivity that causes catastrophizing”, or the process by which pain is interpreted as being extremely threatening, the patients go into a downward spiral of fear of pain that leads to pain anxiety and avoidance, and ultimately leads to chronic pain (Leeuw et al., 2007). On the contrary, if patients have low fear, they are able to confront the pain through rehabilitation and ultimately recover without developing chronic pain. It was also found that one of the factors that activate this fear and inadvertently increase the threat value of pain may be the health care providers’ facial expressions. Therefore, it is important that physical therapists are sensitive and attentive to how their body language is perceived by their …show more content…
As a matter of fact, there is evidence that emotions play a role in the interaction between physical therapists and patients. Even health care providers’ facial expressions can cause fear of pain (Leeuw et al, (2007). Gard (2004) found that good interaction between the therapist and the patient is critical; not only has good interaction been shown to improve the patients’ use of physical therapy services, but it also improved the effectiveness of the treatment. Overall, the physical therapists believed that the body and emotions work in conjunction (Gard, 2004). Furthermore, it has been found that sensitivity to one’s emotions and body language plays a significant role in the success of rehabilitation. These findings also support the work of Ross and Berger (1996) who found that psychological rehabilitation in addition to physical rehabilitation was most successful in treating athletes who had been injured. It was reported that athletes who received cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) exhibited significantly less pain than those who did not. Ross and Berger (1996) explained that CBT is a problem-solving approach to change patterns of thinking or behavior. CBT acknowledges the athlete’s feared stimulus (i.e., re-injury anxiety) and their avoidance response, and aims to change their patterns of thinking to reverse this conditioned fear. Athletes who underwent CBT also