DEALING W/ INJURY
Your Mind's Journey Through Injury
Starts with...
Making Sense of the Situation.
Regardless of the type of injury you have your mind will do an assessment to determine:
- How bad is this?
- Will this affect my future?
Our thoughts can drive our emotions and depending on how you think about your injury you could experience:
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Doubt
- Anger
- Depression
These negative emotions can have an impact on how you recover.
How Will I Recover?
The Foundation of recovery starts with:
"Have I dealt with this in the past or do I know someone that has and what was the outcome?"
Your brain will also look at how you relate to yourself.
- How do you deal with challenges?
- Do you have the confidence to overcome this set back.
- Who could support you through this or do you have to go at it alone?
- How much do you trust your medical staff.
Butkovic Mental Performance has partnered with Canada's leading medical practitioners to help you get results fast!
What the Experts are Saying
Studies have proven that a proper mindset when it comes to recovery can:
Decrease Recovery Time
When you have the right mindset, you attend treatment and follow through on home exercises. You work with your team of medical professionals to maximize recovery. Your body produces less stress chemical that can impact recovery.
Improves Recovery Outcome
When you experience a setback the emotions can have a positive or negative impact on the outcome of your injury. The right mindset ensures you're in the peak states to tackle any obstacle that can arise improving recovery outcomes.
Protects from Re-injury
With a negative mindset, if your focus is on the fear of re-injury or your anxiety is doubting the treatment this apprehension can lead to re-injury. With the right mindset you'll know how to trust your doctor and your body to return to your life activities.
CREATING YOUR COMEBACK STORY
You Are In Control
The biggest concern most people have after injury are thoughts around the future and what it will look like. They want to know when can they get their body fixed. How long will it take? What's the process? There is a lot of uncertainty.
The first step to creating your comeback, is to find the right medical practitioners that can explain your injury to you. Someone that will walk you through what needs to happen for you to recover and how long it will take to accomplish this.
In some cases you may have to discuss complicating factors and the impact that will have on recovery. To help you with this, remember that some of our favorite stories are the accomplishments that come from those suffering great setbacks. When you look at this situation as the stage for your come back and that you write the story, this will give you the power to play the biggest role in your recovery.
Imagine what life looks like when you're no longer dealing with this injury and back to living your life with a greater sense of accomplishment. The story you can now tell of perseverance and overcoming hardship that changed your beliefs. What will others say about you and how well you took on this challenge.
Who could you motivate around you by your actions? Who is that someone around you that is watching how you're attacking your injury and inspiring them to attack a hardship in their life. Perhaps motivate them to achieve something in their own life because of the example you set.
To do this, it may mean giving up the beliefs you currently hold about your ability to recover from this injury. To replace these beliefs with the ability to achieve. It means moving past anxiety, fear, depression. That you're embracing the journey and opportunity.
My strategies show you how to let go of the thoughts, emotions, and feelings that don't serve your recovery. It means having time to live your life and plan a bright future instead of worrying about your injury or possible re-injury.
Surgery
One of the biggest obstacles for a client to learn is how to trust their body again after surgery.
Pre-Surgery
Having concerns or anxiety about surgery is understandable. Over the years I have found that it's the mindset prior to surgery and the actions taken after that lead to the best outcomes. Before you go in for your procedure we can talk about:
- Installing and constructing a proper mindset for recovery
- Dealing with the uncertainty around surgery
- Help you understand your injury and what it means to have the procedure done for your overall recovery.
- Releasing negative emotions and thoughts related to anxiety and worry of surgery
- Addressing any concerns around the impact your procedure will have on others.
Post Surgery
Surgery is all done and now the work begins. Depending on the procedure you will feel some pain and you may have to wait before you can start physiotherapy. A lot of time to think about what the future looks like. With Butkovic Mental Performance I can help with:
- Addressing the fears and anxieties of re-injury
- For some there is a lack of motivation to get to training or do the exercises prescribed by the doctor/physio
- Help you understand your new body and the mental aspects of recovery
- If you're constantly thinking of your injury, I can show you strategies to help you focus on the things outside of your injury
- Setting goals in and after recovery
- How to mentally return to sport, work, or daily activity and trust your body
HOW CAN I TRUST MY BODY AGAIN?
I had a client that completed physiotherapy after surgery and was getting ready for their first full contact practice. All those hours in the gym with the physio and trainers, lifting weights, and getting the body back in shape had brought them to this moment. The past few weeks were spent with each day testing their shoulder. Pushing it to see what it could handle.
When I asked them about that first practice and what it was like for them they replied:
"I used to play with tenacity. I never once worried about my body. My focus was on being the best.
When I got injured, it was like my body let me down. Even in the gym as I was rehabbing I felt
like I was testing it to trust it again. Trying to get confidence that it would hold up under the stress.
I couldn't have imagined how difficult it would be mentally to come back from that. I remembered
what you told me and I shifted my focus. I remembered the words of my surgeon and my physio. I
figured all that work came down to now. I had to have faith that the hard work would hold up. After
that first hit, I got up and realized I was good. Then the next and the next. With each hit I felt like
myself again, I felt that confidence truly grow and trust that my injury was now behind me."
Each person's challenge is unique to them. The principles I use with clients gives them the tools necessary to get the confidence to test their limits. Which builds trust between them and their body, and because of this trust, they can achieve more than they ever imagined.
"The bigger the setback the greater the comeback"
There is a meme that floats around social media that says:
Don't be afraid of a set back. This time you're not starting from the beginning. You're starting from experience.