Healing the Mind-Body Connection: A Sport Psychologist’s Injury Recovery Journey

Written By Bradley Bryk

Main Takeaway

Injury recovery is not just a physical process, but also a deeply emotional and mental one. It is important to address the psychological aspects of recovery such as fear, depression, grief, and isolation, alongside physical rehabilitation. Crucial to the healing process includes mindfulness, visualization, and cultivating a positive relationship with the injured body part. Ultimately, the journey of recovery requires not only physical effort but mental and emotional resilience to return stronger and integrated with the injury as part of our identity.

My Injury Story

“I need to get up.” “This cannot be happening.” “I am screwed.” “What will this mean for me?” “F—, F—, F—.” “How will I make it through?” These were the various thoughts and questions spiraling through my mind, as I lay on the cold snow. The sun was beaming down on me, as I waited for the ski patrol to snowmobile me down the mountain on a stretcher to the medical staff, who would then determine the next steps of managing the injury I sustained. That was ten years ago to the day on March 17th, 2015, and that was the beginning of my injury recovery journey from five right knee surgeries.

A Comprehensive Review of the Recovery Process

The injury recovery process is complex, multi-faceted, and individualized in every sense of the word. Most athletes tend to focus on the immediate physical components of the injury, especially the wounded body part, the level of functioning of the impaired area, and the pain experience. They seek out various strategies, tools, and resources to help them navigate the physical injury based on a timeline for what the recovery process will look like. With some injuries, there might be a clear and evidence-based process to go through to get back to high performance engagement, while with other injuries this dynamic might appear muddied, uncertain, and difficult to surmise from solely a physical standpoint.

Yet, regardless of the diagnosis or prognosis, the mental and emotional parts to injury recovery are less often discussed, processed, and explored by many athletes and the sport settings that they inhabit. While less concrete and immediate, our emotions and mind play a significant role in shaping the recovery journey effectively. Recognizing their vital role allows us to return to play, not only as our best self before the injury, but also as a new form of our best self that incorporates the injury as part of our identity, in order to regain consistent high-performance states (Anderson, Haraldsdottir, & Watson, 2021).

Understanding our Mental and Emotional Symptoms

The symptoms of injury recovery vary individually, and it is important to be mindful of the impact it might have on our mental and emotional well-being during the rehab process (Weinberg & Gould, 2019). Many athletes might experience depression or sadness due to their inability to participate in their sport or meet their performance expectations before an injury. Grief and loss are common emotions during an injury recovery journey given our athletic identity might be significantly altered by not being able to be with our teammates, engage in prior routines (e.g., training sessions), or compete in the sport altogether. In addition, we may feel isolated and lonely since we might be practicing on the side or in the training room while our fellow teammates are engaging with their regular training. These feelings might then diminish our level of motivation and willingness to engage in rehab, along with not being able to train at the same levels as we did prior to the injury.

Fear of re-injury is another significant concern along with worries about how the injury might impact daily living, future performance, coming back to play at a high level, or even ability to continue in the sport. Lastly, the relationship with our body may change drastically after experiencing an injury, especially connecting with our wounded body part. Feelings of disappointment by this body part, experiencing unwanted changes in our body, or fears that our body is broken are normal feelings to experience during the injury recovery process.

Treating the Mind and Emotions in Recovery

The psychological aspect of injury recovery is just as important as the physical. By addressing mental health concerns like fear, depression, isolation, grief, and loss of motivation, athletes can better navigate the recovery process and return to their sport stronger and more resilient. The area that I found most helpful through my journey of coping with five knee surgeries was in exploring and processing my relationship with my injured knee. Incorporating mindfulness and visualization were key paths into this journey.

  1. Mindfulness. One process was to draw attention to how I was relating to my knee, like how I might relate to my best friend or my partner in meaningful and effective ways. Gaining awareness to the inner dialogue in my head about my knee and how I was speaking about my knee with others provided me with an opportunity to foster acceptance to these new and altered dynamics. I also learned to reframe or embrace gratitude towards my knee in whatever state of its capability. I found myself in recovery sending kind, positive messages and energy to my knee helped to create a more compassionate and safe healing space. This would include giving my knee pep talks before engaging in a physical therapy session. Similarly, when I experienced pain or discomfort in my knee, I learned to validate these physiological sensations while trying to appreciate what my knee had done and accomplished for me that day.

  2. Visualization. Another core exercise I practiced during recovery was visualizing my knee healing and myself engaging in various activities or sport specific techniques with success and effectiveness. The acronym PETTLEP sums up this important exercise, which stands for Physical, Environment, Task, Timing, Learning, Emotion, and Perspective (Scott, Wright, Smith, & Holmes, 2022). This visualization process empowers our mind to create a clear, tangible, vivid, and controlled picture of what we want to imagine to support our mental and emotional well-being. My visualizations included clear images in my mind of the swelling in my knee reducing over time, then slowly engaging in various movements depending on where I was in the stages of physical therapy: for example, being able to run again on a treadmill or ski down a mountain with an intact, strong, and resilient knee being present throughout.

Road to Recovery

My injury recovery experience through five knee surgeries has been some of the most difficult struggles that I have had to navigate over the last ten years. Countless visits with different orthopedic surgeons, working to find the best fit for myself when it came to a physical therapist, and engaging in the various exercises on my own were all part of my process of returning to sport and exercise at a high level. When I look back on this journey I have been on, the mental and emotional portions of this recovery process, as well as healing how I relate to and incorporate my injured knee into my sense of self, have been the heart and soul of being able to ski again, run again, jump again, and be active again.

Reflection Questions:

  1. Regarding your injury, what are the fears, worries, and concerns you might have to return to play your sport or get back to the life you want to be living?

  2. What is your relationship with your injured body part? How might you work to change or nourish this dynamic over time?

  3. What can provide you the willingness to be kind, caring, and compassionate to your injured body part?

  4. What does your support system for your injury look like, who is it comprised of, and how are you leaning on them?

  5. How might you create a new sense of self that incorporates and integrates the injury and the injury recovery process?

Resources


References

  • Anderson, S. A., Haraldsdottir, K., & Watson, D. (2021). Mindfulness in athletes. Current Sports Medicine Reports, 20(12), 655–660. https://doi.org/10.1249/jsr.0000000000000919

  • Scott, M. W., Wright, D. J., Smith, D., & Holmes, P. S. (2022). Twenty years of PETTLEP imagery: An update and new direction for simulation-based training. Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2(2), 70–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajsep.2022.07.002

  • Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2019). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Human Kinetics.

Bradley Bryk
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