Athletic Trainer: Alysa Brown MAT, ATC, LAT Certified Athletic Trainer Licensed Athletic Trainer

Email: abrown@bchsmt.com

Phone: (406) 590-8844

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INJURY AND REHABILITATION IN THE ADOLESCENT ATHLETE

A Guide for Parents and Coaches  

This site is to be used as a guide for health care professionals, parents and coaches to better understand the psychology of injury and assist them in working through the barriers a young athlete faces when reporting or talking about injury and/or rehabilitation.

With sport comes the risk of sustaining both minor and major injuries and each athlete will respond and recover differently. To date, much of the literature surrounding sports injury has been focused on the physical aspect with the belief that the psychological recovery timeline coincides, but this is not always the case.

There are various psychosocial factors found to be associated with rehabilitation outcomes. It's crucial that health care professionals, parents and coaches have an understanding and are aware of how the perceptions of injury can negatively impact the return-to-sport process.

  • More information on the psychological aspect of injury is provided on the "Background Information" page.

  • To further understand why this topic is important for youth athletes, visit the "Why should we be concerned?" page.

  • For help identifying if your athlete is struggling to cope with injury and for information on how to help them cope, visit the "What is your athlete feeling?" page.

  • For information about available resources, visit the "Helpful Resources" page.