Counseling in Sports Medicine

Book excerpt: Sports medicine professionals are trained to be keenly aware of an athlete's physical state. But what of the athlete's emotional needs? Counseling in Sports Medicineidentifies the special psychological needs of athletes and demonstrates the important role sports medicine professionals play in counseling. The book will help you empower athletes to cope with many psychological issues, including the impact of injury, and will enable you to use appropriate psychosocial interventions. Build your interaction and communication skills while you learn to equip yourself to conduct effective assessment interviews. Counseling in Sports Medicineoffers -counseling concepts and how and when to apply them; -specific case studies, with an extensive glossary and chapter objectives that make the theoretical concepts tangible; -practical recommendations on how to improve counseling skills; -chapters on counseling athletes with specific problems such as substance abuse, eating disorders, stress and anxiety, and catastrophic injury and illness; -examples of situations that warrant a referral to other health professionals; and -documentation issues and ethical considerations. Recognized sports medicine authority Richard Ray joins co-editor Diane M. Wiese-Bjornstal and 20 contributors to offer wide-ranging practical applications drawn from years of hands-on experience and research in athletic training and sport psychology. Helping athletes thrive isn't simply a matter of addressing their physical needs. This handy reference recognizes the importance of athletes' psychological needs and enables you to help them to a healthy outlook.