Summary: <br> Shauna Ericksen is doing her Ph.D. work on the Psychological Risk factors that contribute to injury. <br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/elikassab">Eli Kassab</a> joins the Sports Medicine Broadcast again as we discus mental health.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Shauna, you are quite active and adventurous, what are some of the ways you stay active?<br> <br> <br> <br> I was moving from Oregon to Montreal and decided to make a mountain biking trip out of the journey.<br> <br> <br> <br> Moab is legendary and so we decided to do it. Coming down off a boulder I got off balance and landed on a tree hanging over the cliff. Sprained my knee in the process.<br> <br> <br> <br> Did a self-evaluation and realized I needed to ride down the mountain. I had to cut the trip short, luckily I was headed to work an AT event where my colleagues evaluate the injured knee.<br> <br> <br> <br> What got you into the Psychological Risk Factors of injury prevention?<br> <br> <br> <br> Shauna joined a free course online to grow her mindfulness and improve happiness.<br> <br> <br> <br> Shauna had been asked to deliver a mindfulness talk to her colleagues.<br> <br> <br> <br> It is all about the history of our stressors (upbringing, previous injuries, health, nutrition)<br> <br> <br> <br> Has the mindfulness translated to your practice?<br> <br> <br> <br> It helps in her coaching and one on one strength training.<br> <br> <br> <br> It allows her to pick up on emotion and open up the dialogue.<br> <br> <br> <br> Allows them to critically think about and process the stresses<br> <br> <br> <br> “How is work going at home”<br> <br> <br> <br> “Are your parents able to help?” <br> <br> <br> <br> “I traveled around with a hypnotist for a summer”<br> <br> <br> <br> Halloween at the theme park -> went to a hypnotist show<br> <br> <br> <br> Shauna was the volunteer<br> <br> <br> <br> Mom ordered some hypnotist CDs<br> <br> <br> <br> Mom offered Shauna’s assistance<br> <br> <br> <br> Then traveled with her for a summer.<br> <br> <br> <br> She may have been one of the biggest influences in the career choice and style of treating athletes with a mental IQ.<br> <br> <br> <br> Making it commonplace to talk about emotions was huge for me as a practitioner<br> <br> <br> <br> “Why can you not just tell me something is wrong” - coaches treat them differently when they are injured or hurt physically or emotionally.<br> <br> <br> <br> I have seen athletes go from 0-100 in their head really quick...oh no, I’ll never play again…<br> <br> <br> <br> Let’s not skip straight to the end of the book and read chapters 1, 2, 3.<br> <br> <br> <br> We need to use our tools to help them focus on the here and now.<br> <br> <br> <br> We have to be cautious with our playful banter and acknowledge their perceptions.<br> <br> <br> <br> Encourage them to be open and honest with their emotions about the injury.<br> <br> <br> <br> How are you using that in your practice as an Athletic Trainer?<br> <br> <br> <br> It is extremely important for us as ATs to look at mindfulness.<br> <br> <br> <br> It is not everyone’s strong suit but we can learn to be emotionally mindful<br> <br> <br> <br> Teach them to express their factors without being judgemental.<br> <br> <br> <br> We need to practice mindfulness and good mental health practices.<br> <br> <br> <br> Discuss some of the more interesting/shocking finds <br> <br> <br> <br> Last year I wrote a critically appraised paper and submitted it about the psychological risk factors.<br> <br> <br> <br> 4 constructs and how they correlate to injury outcomes.<br> <br> <br> <br>
