The Mind Room

Jan 22 2025 42 ep. 33 mins 12

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Sport psychology insight informing people passionate about performance & mental health. Find out more: https://themindroom.substack.com

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Inside the NBA's mental health & performance program

Jan 22 2025 8 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.comIn 2018, basketball player DeMar DeRozan wrote a one-line tweet: ‘This depression gets the best of me’. Shortly after the small forward’s post, Kevin Love penned an article revealing he’d suffered a half-time panic attack during a game against the Atlanta Hawks. Fast forward seven years an

Why coaches should be thinking about 'psycho-social' skills and characteristics

Jan 16 2025 30 mins

‘Players were telling us that they felt more resilient, more confident and had better communication skills, just over one season, and some of these players can be in academy systems for 10 years, so there's a lot of time to develop them.’Tom Mitchell’s words are striking. The Doncaster Rovers academy psychology lead is talking about the impact of a programme he’s spearhe

John Amaechi: 'Athletes are ripe for exploitation'

Dec 13 2024 1 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.comClaim 20% off an annual Mind Room subscription - offer expires on December 24!“Does anybody think that Premier League football teams are taking on psychologists who are fundamentally saying the way that your coach is treating players is dehumanizing and should stop?”John Amaechi’s question i

How to setup a mental health support system in a pro sport league

Nov 29 2024 3 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.comIn last week’s newsletter, I highlighted some key takeaways from my discussion with Dr. Brett Haskell, the National Women’s Soccer League’s clinical mental health and performance director. Now - for Mind Room Members only - I’m releasing the full interview.The podcast is an in-depth explor

How half-time team talks are changing

Nov 14 2024 1 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.comHalf-time team talks are the stuff of legend. Alex Ferguson’s ‘hairdryer’ treatment, which the former Manchester United manager reserved for unsuspecting players during his time at Old Trafford, was once seen as a vital reminder of dressing room discipline. Steven Gerrard’s infamous Istanb

Does sport psychology have an access and inclusion problem?

Oct 23 2024 48 mins

Psychologists fighting for fair pay. ‘Fake psychs’ exploiting the lack of regulation governing sport psychology in the UK (and elsewhere). The exorbitant cost of training to become a sport psychologist.The issues facing the sport psychology profession are well documented (we’ve covered a whole host of them on The Mind Room over the last couple of years), but they deserve cont

'I had an opportunity to redefine what I do': the para rower and architect designing a route to the Paralympics and accessible sports facilities

Oct 16 2024 6 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.com“I remember just being on the wards during chemotherapy, off my face on drugs, in so much pain and just sobbing uncontrollably at this documentary: that was when I was like, ‘Okay, we're doing this’” The idea of finding hope in moments of despair might sound hackneyed to some people, but J

'Coaching is more challenging than it's ever been'

Oct 06 2024 1 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.comTeenagers on multi-million dollar contracts. Transfer systems (at least in the US) allowing college athletes to switch teams at the drop of a hat. Social media distractions - and scrutiny - coming from every possible angle. The power dynamic governing the coach-player relationship is always in flu

'A lot of athletes have a skewed perception of what it is to be a person versus what it is to be a commodity'

Sep 22 2024 2 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.comElite sport’s struggle with issues such as identity is nothing new, but efforts to instill the type of self awareness and self reflection that might help young athletes are still something of a postcode lottery. In this Mind Room podcast episode, Jonathan Harding speaks to Julia Eyre, a sport ps

'When you have 5 minutes and $50m on the line, 'it depends' doesn't work'

Sep 05 2024 4 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit themindroom.substack.comA few weeks ago, I spoke to Alex Auerbach about his spell in the NBA, gaining coach buy-in and sport psychology regulation. During the conversation, Alex touched on the role he played in influencing the Toronto Raptors’ player recruitment, none more so than during the NBA Draft (an annual event