Counseling therapy and performance-enhancing services may have some overlaps however they serve very different purposes.
Mental health and well-being are just as important as performance optimization. More and more athletes are speaking up about their mental health and how it impacts their performance. Increased awareness of how the mind functions and how various skills can help you outperform your competitors can be learned and developed through performance-enhancing services.
Let’s discuss the difference between counseling therapy and performance-enhancing services and how you can benefit from each or decide which one is a better fit for you.
Counseling Therapy
Counseling therapy is a professional service provided by a licensed clinician like a counselor (LPC), psychologist (LP), or social worker (LCSW). The primary focus of counseling is emotional and mental well-being, addressing and treating mental health disorders, stress management, relationship issues, trauma recovery, and personal growth. Licensed clinicians are trained to assess and provide a mental health diagnosis if one meets the criteria. Through counseling, one can learn and process challenges in their personal lives as well as learn coping skills and strategies to support making mental changes.
Performance-enhancing Services
Performance-enhancing services are focused on optimizing skills, capabilities, and performance in specific areas like sports, arts, career, or academics. Coaches, trainers, or mentors are often in a position to provide strategies and suggestions for improvement. Association for Applied Sport Psychology is the only place where one can earn the Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC®), the sole accredited certification for mental performance in North America and a growing prerequisite for working with various sport and performance populations.
The primary focus of performance-enhancing services is mental skills development and becoming familiar with various mental tools.
Mental skills are psychological capacities that help individuals optimize various aspects of their performance and they are developed with practice. There are 6 mental skills central to the practice of sport and performance psychology:
Motivation
Self-confidence
Attention control
Arousal regulation
Emotion regulation
Mindfulness.
Mental tools on the other hand are strategies and techniques designed to help one develop the above-mentioned mental skills. The use of mental tools can be adjusted depending on each individual and the use can be refined with practice. Common mental tools include:
Goal setting
Imagery
Self-talk
Arousal reduction strategies
Arousal induction strategies
Emotion regulation
Mindfulness-based training
Routines
I will be addressing the mental skills and mental tools in the following blogs, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, you get to decide which service better suits your needs. It is also okay to use a combination of both. If you want to focus on improving your mental well-being, developing better coping skills, or pursuing personal growth, then counseling may be a better fit for you. If you want to hone your skills to improve and achieve peak performance and master mental skills, then performance-enhancing services may be a better fit. It is important to understand your needs and choose the service based on your own goals.
If you are still not sure what you need, contact us for more information or schedule a free consultation.
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