Mental Skills Archives - Reaching Ahead Counseling and Mental Performance

Mindfulness In Injury Rehabilitation: Helping Athletes Heal in the Present
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Mindfulness In Injury Rehabilitation: Helping Athletes Heal in the Present

Career, Life, Mental Health, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Sport Injury

Mindfulness In Injury Rehabilitation: Helping Athletes Heal in the Present

When athletes are sidelined by injury, their minds often race backward and forward—replaying the moment of injury, worrying about lost progress, or fearing re-injury. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can be powerful tools for helping them return to the present moment and reconnect with their bodies during rehabilitation. Staying Present During Recovery Injured athletes frequently find themselves stuck between past and [...]

2025-11-04T19:21:40+00:00By timothyherzog|Career, Life, Mental Health, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Sport Injury|

Bridging the Gap: Collegiate Mental Health Strategies for High School Athletics
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Bridging the Gap: Collegiate Mental Health Strategies for High School Athletics

Life, Mental Health, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Teams

Bridging the Gap: Collegiate Mental Health Strategies for High School Athletics

Written by W. Logan Kreisl The Hidden Strain on Student-Athletes High school student-athletes face a perfect storm of pressure: academic expectations, competitive performance, and the pursuit of scholarships or professional dreams. In fact, 91% of student-athletes report feelings of stress related to their sport (Ward et al., 2023). While collegiate programs have integrated mental-health services and sport psychology into [...]

2025-11-04T19:24:38+00:00By W. Logan Kreisl|Life, Mental Health, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Teams|

Handling Uncertainty Like a Pro
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Handling Uncertainty Like a Pro

Career, Life, Mental Health, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Sport Injury

Handling Uncertainty Like a Pro

Uncertainty is a constant in our lives—whether you're an athlete, other high-performer, or navigating everyday life. It shows up in our work, relationships, sports, health, society, environment, etc. It shows up everywhere and can come out of nowhere. At times, uncertainty can feel paralyzing and stop us in our tracks. At other times, uncertainty can feel like an annoyingly [...]

2025-07-07T23:55:50+00:00By jacquelinekdouglas|Career, Life, Mental Health, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Sport Injury|

Why Focusing on the Process—Not Just Results—Improves Performance and Well-Being
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Why Focusing on the Process—Not Just Results—Improves Performance and Well-Being

Career, Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Sailing, Swimming, Teams

Why Focusing on the Process—Not Just Results—Improves Performance and Well-Being

Process Over Outcome: Focusing on Controllable Processes Builds Success and Fulfillment In performance settings—from athletics and academics to the workplace and everyday life—it's easy to become preoccupied with outcomes: results, grades, promotions, wins. But high-level performers across disciplines increasingly find that the path to excellence is not paved by obsessing over results. Instead, it’s built through consistent attention to [...]

2025-06-20T23:36:03+00:00By timothyherzog|Career, Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Other, Performance, Sailing, Swimming, Teams|

Being Benched can Help Me Play BETTER?!
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Being Benched can Help Me Play BETTER?!

Mental Skills, Performance, Teams

Being Benched can Help Me Play BETTER?!

You weren’t playing your finest (or maybe you were!), and now….you’ve been benched. Is it the end of the world? It can sure feel like it (but it’s not). Is it permanent? Nope, but again… it can sure feel that way. Consider some different perspectives and associated tips to turn bench time into your secret weapon on the court. [...]

2021-05-11T18:20:25+00:00By timothyherzog|Mental Skills, Performance, Teams|

Simple & Effective Practices for Performance Enhancement
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Simple & Effective Practices for Performance Enhancement

Career, Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams

Simple & Effective Practices for Performance Enhancement

Below are some of the mental skills practices that we regularly train for resilience and performance. They can be used in isolation or integrated as you hone the skills! Paced Breathing There is much research that supports the impact our breath has on our ability to perform. Practicing paced breathing regularly (per the guidance of a biofeedback expert such [...]

2020-12-22T18:56:50+00:00By Alex Oldham|Career, Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams|

Physical Injury, Mental Pain
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Physical Injury, Mental Pain

Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams

Physical Injury, Mental Pain

Emotional pain from your injury will typically heal once rehab is complete. When emotional changes trickle into life outside of sport, lasting beyond rehab, you may be showing signs of greater mental health concerns. If you’re struggling with mental health issues post-injury, you are not alone. Frances Altick, a professional and NCAA tennis champion struggled with intense depression, anxiety, [...]

2019-07-19T20:58:19+00:00By Alex Oldham|Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams|

No Excuses: The Case for Continuing Education in Ethics
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No Excuses: The Case for Continuing Education in Ethics

Career, Mental Skills

No Excuses: The Case for Continuing Education in Ethics

Check out the article discussing continuing education in ethics that featured Dr. Herzog and colleagues in the July 2019 AASP Newsletter! Tim Herzog, EdD, LCPC, CMPC, BCB – Reaching Ahead LLC Chelsea Wooding, Ph.D., CMPC – National University Amber M. Shipherd, Ph.D., CMPC, Texas A&M University – Kingsville Ethics allow us to dig into deeper level phenomena regarding the [...]

2019-07-18T14:58:01+00:00By Alex Oldham|Career, Mental Skills|

Mental Imagery and Injury: Using your mind to heal your body
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Mental Imagery and Injury: Using your mind to heal your body

Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams

Mental Imagery and Injury: Using your mind to heal your body

You’ve probably heard of mental imagery for performance training. This well-researched technique enhances performance by “practicing” technical skills (in the mind’s eye) and simulating environments to boost familiarity in specific contexts (e.g., a soccer field in France, a sailing venue in Tokyo, or a basketball court in the next town over). Imagery also improves motivation, reduces competitive anxiety, and [...]

2019-07-05T12:36:39+00:00By Alex Oldham|Lacrosse, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams|

Emotions: The Mental “Ouch” from Injury
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Emotions: The Mental “Ouch” from Injury

Lacrosse, Life, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams

Emotions: The Mental “Ouch” from Injury

Athletic injuries can take a toll, not just on the body, but also on the psyche. For some athletes, their identity revolves around their sport; being injured can lead to feeling lost and big questions such as “Who am I?” Why are your emotional reactions to injury important? The body is attached to the brain and the heart. In [...]

2019-07-03T18:32:15+00:00By Alex Oldham|Lacrosse, Life, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Sport Injury, Swimming, Teams|

Goal-Setting in the 21st Century
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Goal-Setting in the 21st Century

Career, Life, Mental Skills, Performance, Sailing, Teams

Goal-Setting in the 21st Century

I am working with many clients these days on goal-setting. That, by itself, is not a big switch. We still focus on SMART Goals. We focus on setting process goals that are within one's control. The switch is that we're using a really cool tool called "Goalscape." You can see it pictured below. With Goalscape, we're able to prioritize [...]