Return to Play

Letter to the Reader:

Dear Athlete,
Welcome to your very own guide through the mental aspects of rehabilitation from injury, better known as the psychological rehabilitation process. First, it is very important for you to recognize that an injury does not only affect you physically, but there is also a mental, or psychological, component that must be identified and properly addressed. You must think of yourself as a whole person, and rehabilitation as an integrated process taking care of ALL aspects of you. You may be going through a whole series of emotions and feelings right now as a result of your injury including, but not limited to, anger, guilt, helplessness, fear, frustration, depression, and uncertainty. It is essential to realize is that all of these reactions and emotions are completely normal and to keep changing from one feeling to another is also normal. These responses are physical as well as psychological and how you respond to your injury is unique to you.
This book will help you to learn more about yourself as well as the psychological aspects that may affect your rehabilitation process and how to deal with them in the most effective way. It is constructed in a way that will help you to better understand what is happening to you both mentally and physically. It will also help you to understand what your role is in rehabilitation and will serve as a supplement to the physical rehabilitation you are currently undergoing. Additionally, it may help you to recognize and assess certain characteristics about yourself, such as personality type, and how these characteristics impact both your psychological and physical rehabilitation processes.
Throughout this book, numerous questions are posed. At these points, stop and ask yourself those questions, write down your answers, and reflect on the responses you have given. It is recommended to keep a journal of some sort. Whether you use a notebook, a computer, or go out and buy a formal journal, use whatever works best for you personally, as long as you make it something that is yours. This technique will help by allowing you a specified place to write down your answers to the questions posed as well as to write a description of your feelings and thoughts in regard to your injury and your journey through rehabilitation. By writing these things down in a specific place, it will allow you to go back and reflect upon your answers as well as previous answers and feelings.
This book will help you to evaluate your responses to the questions posed and take appropriate action in order to engage in the most effective rehabilitation. It may also help to discuss some of these answers with your athletic trainer, physical therapist, or other health care professional. This is encouraged because they are often the individual who has the most frequent contact with you during your physical rehabilitation and are educated in some aspects of psychological rehabilitation. In addition, it may be beneficial for you to seek the services of a sport psychologist. There is a page in the back of book that will give you tips on how to contact a sport psychologist if you would like to talk to one. There are numerous techniques to try in order to assess your own psychological response to injury and how to most effectively handle, or cope with, this response. Following this guide and learning how to most effectively handle your personal psychological response to injury will help you to return to your sport, ready to play both physically and psychologically.

Sincerely,
Kathleen Kickish, MS, ATC, LAT