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Decisions about the management of mental distress in professional footballers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2025

Ian Andrew James ,
Martin J. Turner  and
Cerys A. James
Ian Andrew James*
Affiliation:
Burnley FC, Burnley FC Training Ground, Burnley, UK
Martin J. Turner
Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
Cerys A. James
Affiliation:
Psychology for Peak Performance, Newcastle, UK
*
Corresponding author: Ian Andrew James; Email: i.james@burnleyfc.com
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Abstract

Abstract

Why, What, Who, When are a set of questions, sometimes referred to as the ‘WH calibration questions’ that help interrogate a concept in terms of its application and utility. In this article these questions are used to evaluate decisions made by footballers around their mental health (MH) and wellbeing. They allow us to examine the help-seeking behaviours of footballers, such as: Why seek help? What help is available? Who to go to? When’s the right time? The article examines the psychotherapies, mainly CBT, suitable for football players and offers practical examples of how clubs have supported their players. The roles of multi-disciplinary team members involved in promoting the wellbeing of players are discussed. The content of this paper is based on a review of the literature and personal knowledge of the authors’ experiences as MH clinicians in professional football clubs.

Key learning aims

  1. (1) To show the extent to which professional footballers experience mental health difficulties, and the nature of these problems.

  2. (2) To highlight the thought processes of footballers during their management of their mental health.

  3. (3) To provide a description of the therapies available to footballers, and highlighting the forms of CBT in common use.

  4. (4) To emphasise the need for a holistic approach to MH provision, and clarify the roles of people within football clubs who provide MH support.

  5. (5) To reflect on the need for ‘in-house’ specialist mental health input within professional football clubs.

Keywords

CBTmental healthREBTsoccersporttherapy
Type
Empirically Grounded Clinical Guidance Paper
Information
the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist , Volume 18 , 2025 , e26
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies

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References

Further reading

Beukes, E., Wilkins, L., Zaborski, Z., & Allen, P. (2019). Comparing awareness of mental health issues and cognitive behavioural therapy in male and female UK Premier League academy soccer players and university students. Journal of Sport and Human Performance, 7. doi: https://doi.org/10.12922/jshp.v7i1.153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Didymus, F., & McCarthy, P. (2023). Cognitive therapy (CT). In Turner, M., Jones, M. and Wood, A. (eds), Applying Cognitive Behavioural Therapeutic Approaches in Sport, pp. 61–73. Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, P., & Moffat, Z. (2023). Counselling Skills in Applied Sport Psychology Learning How to Counsel. Routledge.Google Scholar

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