Managing Sports Anxiety: Effective Therapy Strategies for Kids and Teens

As fall arrives and school sports kick into high gear, many parents might notice their children struggling with anxiety that impacts their ability to enjoy their favorite activities. Watching your child explore and find joy in new things is incredibly rewarding, but it can be equally challenging when anxiety prevents them from fully participating in the sports they love. This is especially true for young athletes, where the pressure to perform can exacerbate feelings of anxiety and stress. This week, let’s discuss how sports anxiety manifests in kids and teens and explore effective therapy strategies to help them manage and overcome these anxiety and perfectionism challenges - both on and off the field.

Image Credit: Unsplash, Kenny Eliason @neonbrand

What is Sports Anxiety?

Sports anxiety can impact athletes of all ages and in all types of sports. Sports anxiety is when an athlete of any type feels nervousness, worry or fear around their athletic performance - and often, we see it overlap in kids who have other symptoms of anxiety and (especially!) perfectionism.

Sports anxiety can show up in a lot of different ways.

You may notice sports anxiety showing up in your St. Louis kid or teen with physical signs like excessive fidgeting, upset stomachs or even headaches. Sports anxiety may also show up behaviorally like avoiding practice, negative self talk or high levels of frustration.

Sports anxiety can be caused by a lot of different things. It may be high expectations that your St. Louis kid has for themselves, pressure from coaches, family or friends and comparing themselves to other athletes.

How Can Sports Anxiety Impact Your Child?

When you’re involved in a competitive sport, of course you want to do you best. That just makes sense! But sometimes the pressure to do better can negatively impact athletes.

Sports anxiety can lessen the enjoyment that kids experience when playing sports.

Kids may find themselves so worried about letting people down that they struggle to make it to the game or focus during the game. For some, it may lead them to quitting the sport altogether.

Sports anxiety can impact a child’s self-perception and confidence. It may also impact a child’s interest in trying other new things.

Effective Therapy Strategies for Managing Sports Anxiety from St. Louis Anxiety Therapists

Image Credit: Unsplash, leah hetteberg @leahhetteberg

The good news is that there are strategies that can help your St. Louis kid stay competitive on the field while also keeping their sports anxiety in check.

Evidence-based therapy for sports anxiety:

At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis, we use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help St. Louis kids and teens better understand their thoughts, feelings and behaviors and make helpful changes. CBT can help kids and teens notice unhelpful thought patterns that may be increasing their anxiety and figure out how to change those patterns.

CBT can also help kid and teen athletes to build resilience and learn how to confront and overcome their fears. The expert anxiety therapists at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis are trained in helping St. Louis kids and teens move forward.

Another helpful technique for sports anxiety that we use often at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Our anxiety therapists can teach your St. Louis athlete how to use these skills both on and off the field so they can stay focused on the play and not on the anxiety.

How to Get Started with Anxiety Therapy for Sports Anxiety

When you are looking for a therapist for sports anxiety, you will want to consider what your child is struggling with, what your goal for your child is and what kind of approach you are looking for in therapy. You can find St. Louis therapists by asking your pediatrician, school or even your child's coach for therapist referrals as well as searching online.

As a parent, you may also want to make sure that you are supporting your child in their athletic life too. At Compassionate Counseling St. Louis we know that being involved in sports can be a whole family affair which is why we offer therapeutic parent coaching. Therapeutic parent coaching offers you space to work on the parenting skills that you feel you most need in a supportive and understanding environment.

Get Connected with a Sports Anxiety Therapist in St. Louis

Compassionate Counseling St. Louis anxiety therapists understand that things that we enjoy can sometimes be impacted by anxiety, which is why they help St. Louis kids and teens manage their anxiety so they can keep doing what they love.

Getting started can be as easy as setting up a free consultation call with Compassionate Counseling St. Louis to find a therapist that will be the best fit for your St. Louis kid or yourself. We will be happy to chat with you about what is going on and if we aren’t the best fit, we would be happy to give you a referral to another wonderful therapist in St. Louis from our robust referral network.

Curious to hear more, or are you a little reluctant about counseling? Compassionate Counseling St. Louis provides specialized anger management and anxiety therapy in St. Louis for kids, teens, and college students. We work in Clayton, MO and serve kids, teens, and college students throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Coeur, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood. We also provide virtual counseling to teens and college students throughout the state of Missouri. You can set up your free phone screening to see if we’re a good fit for your needs right on our website.