Ava Harmon, like most kids, tried every sport under the sun before finding the sport she loved. In her case, her passion for swimming made up her mind. The East Lansing High School junior played soccer and volleyball growing up, but shifted focus to swimming in high school, which paid off in the long run.
But it wasn’t always sunny.
During the CAAC League meet in her sophomore season, Harmon endured the roadblock that changed everything, and ultimately led to her seeing a sports psychologist. Things had been mentally and emotionally building prior to the meet, but her clear revelation was sudden.
She was within inches of another swimmer in the 500 freestyle, a race worth a first-place finish. Harmon saw her competitor begin to speed up, and something clicked in her mind. She couldn’t catch up. She told her coaches, after the race, that she wanted to quit swimming.
“The moment it happened was definitely, like, that's when it happened,” said Harmon. “I will say, I definitely think that it was building up to leagues, just because there's always that anticipation of who's swimming what race at leagues, who's coming next to me or, who is seeded next to you, right? …I wouldn’t say the whole season, but the two or three weeks leading up to leagues was definitely taking a toll on that too.”
Harmon began seeing a therapist, and the sessions helped her set goals, and come up with calming strategies so she never had to endure another roadblock. The two met every week during her junior season, and her psychologist helped her schedule out her entire season.
“We met, I think it was like every week or every other week throughout high school, or throughout my junior season, and she just helped me so much. She was amazing. She set up everything I was going to do, everything I was going to tell myself before a race,” said Harmon. “The biggest piece that she taught me was goal setting, and like, short-term goals, but also long-term goals I want for myself, and how I was going to reach those.”
Mental health access for athletes has become more prominent in recent years. The anxiety of riding the bench or not gelling with the team often causes athletes to reach out for help. Athletes can also face mental barriers that prohibit them from reaching their full potential.
Prioritization of mental health has grown for athletes across the professional landscape, and into collegiate and high school settings — and the field of sports psychology has grown as a result. Sports psychologists play a key role in helping athletes overcome roadblocks.
Liv Dameron, a Michigan native, chose a career in sports psychology to help athletes like Harmon. She wanted them to have access to resources she lacked as a basketball and lacrosse player at Albion College.
Dameron is a counselor-in-training while she finishes her master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling at Eastern Michigan University to become a sports psychologist. She interacts with athletes as the graduate assistant coach of the EMU women’s lacrosse team. She has been in those athletes’ shoes and is striving to make a difference for current and former athletes.
“I think having that access (to counseling), it helps,” said Dameron. “It really does, even talking as a therapist I think it’s super important too, but specifically for those athletes, like I said. They just go through so much, and you don’t really realize it until, I really think, till you’re done being an athlete.”
A majority of Michigan State softball player Kirsten Caravaca’s anxiety-based struggles stemmed from her strenuous seasons as a college athlete, including traveling in the winter months. The senior utility player said her transfer from the University of Northern Florida also caused anxiety..
There were hoops to jump through while transferring her credits from UNF to MSU, and it was stressful. But after the intricacies had been sorted out, and she talked with a team psychologist, things began looking up. She came to East Lansing for a fresh start, but the Michigan weather was a culture shock to the Florida native. However, she said she always seemed to thrive in the cold, making the transition a tad easier.
Another issue she ran into was with her parents, which is a problem a lot of young people face when admitting they want to see a therapist or psychiatrist. Caravaca said her parents didn’t understand what she needed, when all she wanted was someone to talk to.
“[My parents] didn’t really believe in mental health, if that makes sense, so every time I brought something up, they were like ‘You’re fine.’ Like, this is just how you’re thinking and stuff,” said Caravaca. “I was just like ‘Okay, when is it going to get better?’ And I guess it got to a breaking point where I was just very unhappy, and nothing was really working, and my parents did get kind of worried about why I was feeling the way that I was feeling.”
Sports psychologists can be impactful because they provide insight athletes might fail to realize on their own. Talking to a professional can appear daunting, but can also provide tips for becoming a better person, student, teammate and athlete - often helping athletes discover the root of their struggles.
Caravaca said one of her roots was worrying about the future.
“Especially going into my senior year. It was very like, ‘I need to do this, this and this by this time or I won’t get to this point in my life,’” said Caravaca. “My doctors told me I need to take it one day at a time, and really try to appreciate the things that are happening in life right now, and try to be more positive.”
Seeing a specialist could change an athlete’s life for the better. Bringing awareness to mental health care and assuring athletes that sports psychologists can be beneficial is one step towards breaking the mental health stigma.
Dameron’s biggest piece of advice to athletes seeking help is to just do it, whether it be looking for a sports psychologist or a mental health counselor, or even a one-session therapist.
“I think just do it,” said Dameron. “I think try it. I mean, it could be 40 minutes of your life…. Just try it, and if you absolutely hate it, it's up to you to stop. I think, just give it a shot. No one's gonna force you to go. Just try.”