Lauren Vallee 
Depth PsychotheraPIst
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  • Depth Psychotherapy
    • What is Depth Psych?
    • Depth Psych for Athletes
    • Individual Therapy
    • Therapy for Teens
    • Relationship Therapy
    • Groups
    • Elder Companion Care
  • Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
    • What is KAP?
    • FAQ about KAP
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    • Home
    • About
    • Depth Psychotherapy
      • What is Depth Psych?
      • Depth Psych for Athletes
      • Individual Therapy
      • Therapy for Teens
      • Relationship Therapy
      • Groups
      • Elder Companion Care
    • Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
      • What is KAP?
      • FAQ about KAP
      • Articles About KAP
    • Contact & Rates
    • Articles
Lauren Vallee 
Depth PsychotheraPIst
  • Home
  • About
  • Depth Psychotherapy
    • What is Depth Psych?
    • Depth Psych for Athletes
    • Individual Therapy
    • Therapy for Teens
    • Relationship Therapy
    • Groups
    • Elder Companion Care
  • Ketamine-Assisted Therapy
    • What is KAP?
    • FAQ about KAP
    • Articles About KAP
  • Contact & Rates
  • Articles

Depth Psychotherapy for Athletes

Over the course of a lifetime, one’s relationship to sport and expression as an athlete must evolve. This transformation may be empowering, painful, or laden with fear. I help clients reclaim parts of themselves that have been lost or forgotten. Depth therapy for athletes can reveal an individual's wholeness in and out of sport.

Learn more on my Substack

Why Depth Work for Athletes

People who are athletes seek mastery of their chosen sport. This pursuit can be a central organizing principle in one’s life. Athletics can be rewarding and productive, but it can also be a useful distraction to avoid facing the challenging parts of one's life. 

 

When sport no longer plays the same role in it once did, there is a bereavement process when the physical, emotional, and psychological demands that once regularly faced the person are no longer present. When one's performance declines or expectations become a burden, it may be helpful to begin to explore what is occurring at a deeper level. This is where depth psychotherapy for athletes can be pivotal.
 

My clients are people who happen to be athletes. Though it can feel like one's sole identity, being an athlete is only one part of a person's life. My work with athletes explores the inner experience of the athlete and uncovering the athlete's unconscious, deep motivations, wounds, and experiences. The work we do together is simple, but not always easy. We'll meet the challenging but valuable phenomena as it is without judgement. This process of discovery allows an individual to tend to their soul.

How I Work With Individual Athletes

People who are athletes seek mastery of their chosen sport. This pursuit can be a central organizing principle in one’s life. Athletics can be rewarding and productive, but it can also be a useful distraction to avoid facing the challenging parts of one's life. 

 

When sport no longer plays the same role in it once did, there is a bereavement process when the physical, emotional, and psychological demands that once regularly faced the person are no longer present. When one's performance declines or expectations become a burden, it may be helpful to begin to explore what is occurring at a deeper level. 

 

My clients are people who happen to be athletes. Though it can feel like one's sole identity, being an athlete is only one part of a person's life. My work with athletes explores the inner experience of the athlete and uncovering the athlete's unconscious, deep motivations, wounds, and experiences. The work we do together is simple, but not always easy. We'll meet the challenging but valuable phenomena as it is without judgement. This process of discovery allows an individual to tend to their soul.

Performance Improvement

Modern day sport psychology focuses on optimizing and improving performance by teaching skills that help maintain focus, improve self-talk, and strengthen one's self-regulation. Where sport psychology can fall short is in the development of a strong, robust, sense of self. 

 

Where sport psychology is limited, Depth psychotherapy for athletes can allow for the development of an authentic, grounded, deep sense of self. This occurs through a wholly unique process, individual to each client.
 

As an individual's foundational self is revealed, the athlete has the grounding to step onto the field with a firm grasp that the outcome of the event is not a referendum on one's value. The gold of one's life is in how they approach competition and who they are at the deepest level. 

 

Competing with freedom and strength of spirit becomes the clinical aim. It is not unusual that with this new openness, performance typically improves.

Depth Psychotherapy for Athletes

Individual Performance

Individual Performance

Individual Performance

  • Challenges with consistency in performance and training
  • Anxiety, depression, self-doubt
  • Body image concerns
  • Disordered eating behaviors
  • A competitive drive that can be destructive to interpersonal relationships
  • Addictive or compulsive need to train 

Life Transitions

Individual Performance

Individual Performance

  •  Starting or ending collegiate sport
  • Marriage
  • Divorce
  • Bereavement


Retirement From Sport

Individual Performance

Retirement From Sport

  • Ending a career in collegiate sport
  • Elective, planned retirement from sport
  • Forced retirement due to injury or other circumstance
  • Retiring from professional level competition

Injury and Illness

Coach-Athlete Relationship

Retirement From Sport

  •  Impact of chronic illness or injury
  • Impact of acute illness or injury
  • Negotiating body image concerns with reduced training load

Parenting and Sport

Coach-Athlete Relationship

Coach-Athlete Relationship

  • Pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences impact on identity, body, and competition
  • Being a partner to a birthing parent and balancing new challenges and responsibilities 
  • Child-free individuals and couples

Coach-Athlete Relationship

Coach-Athlete Relationship

Coach-Athlete Relationship

  • Differing communication styles or levels of clarity between athlete and coach
  • Team and individual differences
  • Boundary setting  


"Much attention is paid to an athlete's performance. Little attention is paid to an athlete's soul."


Lauren Vallee, Constellating Solitude

Copyright © 2023 Lauren Vallee Psychotherapy- All Rights Reserved.

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