Professional Footballers’ Association Counselors’ Perceptions of the Role Long-Term Injury Plays in Mental Health Issues Presented by Current and Former Players

in Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology

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Misia Gervis Brunel University London

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Helen Pickford Brunel University London

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Thomas Hau Brunel University London

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jcsp.2018-0049
Keywords:
football; injury; mental health
In Print:
Volume 13: Issue 3
Page Range:
451–468
Restricted access

The purpose of this study was to investigate counselors’ professional understanding of the long-term psychological consequences of injury in UK football players. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 counselors who were registered to work for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA). The interviews examined the counselors’ perception of the relationship between long-term injury and presenting mental health issues, the antecedents to those mental health issues, and recommendations for psychological intervention following injury. The critical finding was the mental health problems regularly presented to PFA counselors were often the psychological and behavioral consequences of long-term injury. Counselors recommended that early and sustained psychological intervention with long-term injured players would act as a preventative measure against future mental health issues.

Gervis, Pickford, and Hau are with the Dept. of Health and Life Sciences, Brunel University, London, UK.

Address author correspondence to Misia Gervis at Misia.Gervis@brunel.ac.uk.
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