Restoring the Athlete Mindset Following Injury

3.5 million injuries occur each year within sports, with 62% of those happening during practice times. Restoring the Athlete's Mindset After Injury, is designed for all clinicians including sports and healthcare providers that work with athletes, to enhance their understanding of the psychological and emotional challenges athletes face during injury and recovery. This presentation highlights how injuries impact an athlete's mental health, often leading to fear of reinjury, loss of identity, or decreased motivation. By focusing on individualized assessments, practitioners can address these challenges while tailoring rehabilitation plans that consider each athlete's unique mental and emotional needs. Attendees will learn the integration of psychological skills, such as goal setting, relaxation techniques, visualization, and guided imagery, to support athletes' mental recovery alongside physical rehabilitation.

This session provides a comprehensive approach to creating effective return-to-play protocols, ensuring athletes are both physically prepared and mentally confident during and before returning to sport. Practical strategies to foster a positive recovery environment and prevent future injuries will be discussed, with a focus on promoting overall athletewellness through skill retraining, cognitive and emotional recovery, and executive functioning for functional taskpractice to return to sport. This presentation combinesevidence-based practices and real-world applications, empowering attendees to optimize outcomes for injured athletes.

Target Audience: Physical Therapists, Physical Therapist Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Occupational Therapy Assistants, Athletic Trainers

Highlights

• Practical strategies to integrate mindset restoration into rehabilitation, which improves adherence, confidence, and successful return to sport
• Implement strategies that work across multiple disciplines (PT, OT, ATC) to address psychological readiness, motivation, and functional goal achievement in a collaborative and holistic way.