Awareness around mental health is thankfully on the rise. We’re encouraged to talk to one another daily, ask our friends if they’re really, really okay, check in on our loved ones, check in with ourselves and to reach out if things aren’t alright. Thankfully this change in narrative has lead to an increase in those seeking help from mental health services. According to NHS England, 1.92 million people were in contact with the service at the end of May 2024, compared to 1.4 million in 2021.
This increased awareness and focus on mental wellbeing has encouraged the role of occupational psychologists in the workplace, which has become a common role across a number of fields, specifically in the sporting world. With all eyes on the Olympics and the discussion about the role of psychologists becoming even more important we asked Jess Thom, Lead Sports Psychologist currently looking after Team GB at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris her thoughts on the impact of this role and how she works collaboratively with medical teams to ensure a robust mental health strategy is in place, proactively trying to prevent mental health problems in the Games environment.
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Jess Thom is the Lead Team GB Sports Psychologist for Paris 2024 and Head of Psychology and Mental Health for British Shooting.
“Although there’s been a definite shift, I’d be lying if I said every single athlete is fine to talk about their mental health.”
So how does a sports psychologist actually help the athlete? “Although there’s been a definite shift, I’d be lying if I said every single athlete is fine to talk about their mental health,” Thom says, before outlining her role and how she helps the athletes overcome any psychological pressures, the biggest being performance under pressure and body image.
“Helping athletes perform at their best under pressure is one of the biggest issues we deal with,” she adds. “We want to help athletes be psychologically flexible, which is the ability to recognise the thoughts and feelings you have, and being able to choose your response to them, versus feeling anxious and therefore just avoiding the situation.”
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Thom channels these thoughts and feelings and helps the athlete to build awareness around them, in turn making it clearer to create a positive response, a framework called ‘acceptance commitment therapy’. “First of all, I try to build awareness, then I can start to teach them how to notice any unhelpful thoughts and feelings in the moment, and create space between the thoughts and their response – we call this ‘unhooking’,” she says.
“When they’ve got that space, they can sit back and work out what they want to do in response, with a really clear plan for the helpful behaviours that will allow them to be the best they can be. Then it’s about teaching skills to help them choose the right behaviours in the tough moments.”
Although there are different psychological aspects Thom and her team deal with for specific sports, some elements are common when you might think they’d be different. “For example, I’ve often heard from an athlete, ‘It’s different for my sport because I’ve only got one chance.’ But even in a sport where you’ve got lots of chances, one mistake can be enough to knock you off the podium. Both require psychological awareness and skill in order to thrive,” Thom explains.
And it is not just the Olympics, F1 driver Bianca Bustamante, tennis legend Andy Murray and England superstar Ollie Watkins are all known to have sports psychologists on their team, with some even paying for them out of their own pocket, something Watkins said was the “best investment [he’s] ever made.”
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In Bustamante’s case, working with a sports psychologist off the track helps her look after her mental health, as she told PS UK’s Chloe Dunn. “You can be a fast driver without any confidence, therefore unable to win a race, that’s unfortunately a reality. So having a sports psychologist teaching me how to deal with failure, with stress, with pressure, and all these external factors that can affect you as a driver is so important.”
Learning about the role of sports psychologists, and with the current rise in mental health awareness and a greater connection with our mind, be that through manifestation, spirituality or other psychological means, I initially thought that sports psychologists would be a given, but they aren’t as common as you’d think.
A championship football club coach revealed to PS UK that while the top five clubs in the premiership would most likely have a psychologist for their staff and players, the role is less likely to be seen in championship clubs or lower, mainly due to a lack of facilities, but Thom explains that, across the board, there’s a new intention and it isn’t all about the physical side.
“There’s always been a focus on physical health, but the intention is now there to see mental health as equally as important.”
“There’s always been a focus on physical health – and the fact remains that the majority of the time what stops an athlete competing is something from a physical health point of view,” Thom states. “But the intention is now there to see mental health as equally as important and there’s been a huge shift in the right direction. Investment has grown hugely, and UK Sport and the sports themselves are pushing for more help in supporting athletes’ mental health.”
Within UK Olympic sports for example, there’s now a mental health expert panel as well as a mental health team who drive education, one-to-one support and can connect sports with clinical support when it’s needed. “Once we’ve identified an individual has a mental health problem, we’re brilliant at managing it,” Thom boasts, before adding that her and her team are encouraging more mental health conversations and training non-psychology staff to be more confident in and around the mental health space.
At first glance, sports psychology can seem as simple as having a shoulder to cry on when things get tough, but it’s way more than that, and for an athlete, it could be a lifeline when high-pressure situations are often part of the job. Having watched my brother and his peers get to grips with the unlimited pressure of the football world – to make it pro, to impress your coach, to win over a scout – from such a young age, I know how much of a difference having the opportunity to speak with a sports psychologist would have been.
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The same goes for Thom, who quit competitive skating at 18. “If I’d had a sport psychologist to help me work through some of those challenging thoughts and feelings, I would have enjoyed skating much more. I would have felt able to manage the pressure and meet the challenges, and may have gone much further in my sporting career.”
For the sake of the current athletes and the rising stars yet to have their break, training day in and out, I look forward to seeing more psychologists in the sports industry and for them to be as well known, praised and acknowledged as coaches are in a role that is just as profound.
Lauren Gordon is the editorial coordinator at PS UK, where she creates lifestyle and identity content. Lauren has a degree in journalism from University of the Arts London and previously worked as a showbiz and TV reporter at The Mirror US. Lauren specialises in pop culture, hair and beauty, focusing on trends, sharing in-depth tutorials, and highlighting hidden gems in the beauty industry.
