Blog # 12

Today my the first patient I worked with was a nationally ranked swimmer. She and her mother came into the room, Dr. Shinitzky allowed the mom to open up dialogue about what she is noticing with her daughter. This relationship between the athlete and her mom is an interesting one, when mom goes into detail or gets colorful with a story the athlete flashes her a look. Mom wanted to tell the story as she saw it and Dr. Shinitzky and I wanted to gather as much information as we could about the updated progress of the athlete since the last visit. The mother said the young lady is making great strides when it comes to swimming. The athlete has been dedicated both mentally and physically to changing her stroke in the freestyle. Now, keep in mind this is a very hard transition, having to change the way you have done things for years is very challenging. The athlete choose to change her technique because she wants to swim in college. She is well aware of what it takes to succeed at that level and she is very dedicated to her goal.

When her mother left and it was just the three of us, the athlete opened up more. She explained to us that she feels her mother’s stories mock her and make her feel as though it is a joke. The athlete prefers when her father comes to the meeting with Dr. Shinitzky because he is very blunt and will tell it how it is. In her last competition, she didn’t do as well as she had hoped. She experienced a series of unfortunate events, she slipped on the start, messed up on her turns, and then was disqualified in another event. She explained that it was timing, the pool she usually trains in is not full size. When she goes to the meets, that the only time she has a full size pool, therefore, her timing was off at this particular meet. The athlete expressed her desire to focus on self-talk. The athlete often struggles from negative self- talk which is very devastating to your overall performance as an athlete. She constantly puts herself down and doubts her abilities. Dr. Shinitzky said that he was going to help her with cognitive restructuring. With cognitive restructuring there are two steps: 1.) catch yourself having a negative thought, 2.) replace that negative though with something positive, constructive, and productive based on reality. Dr. Shinitzky then partnered the cognitive restructuring with visualization and worked the athlete through a progression. He had her visualize the swim meet, her succeeding in the pool and doing her best. The only goal in sport is that you do your best, no one else’s best, only your best! The last part of the session was focusing on things grounded in reality. Dr. Shinitzky encouraged her to acknowledge her success and be happy with what she has accomplished. It is important that you don’t get a big head, but that you understand that success is a part of the journey towards you goals. The biggest talk aways, use positive self-talk, focus on things grounded in reality, and acknowledge your success.

The last patient of the day was a soccer player. He has been going through a lot of college stress lately, the college coaches are getting his attention and then telling him to wait. This has been very painful for both him and his family. He has narrowed down his choices to his top 3, however, he has one school lingering on his mind. Dr. Shinitzky first started off by saying he was sorry about the school stress. They discussed the direct and indirect messages being communicated by the universities. He explained that the schools were reaching out to others as well who they knew wouldn’t get in to statically boost the schools standing. For this athlete his top school has put him on hold, waiting to sign two other athletes who fill the need for the team next year. However, when this young man visits other schools or express interest in other school, the tops school comes back cocky knowing he won't make a move. Dr. Shinitzky then talked to him and helped him start to move in. As Dr. Shinitzky said, no one likes being number two, so go somewhere where the team and coaches treat you like a number one and want you. The young man said he was over it and knew that it was best to move on and do what was best for him.

One thing I would like to add was that this young man was giving major credit to Dr. Shinitzky. He kept saying that he owes all his success to Dr. Shinitzky and that he is where his now because of all the work Dr. Shinitzky has done with him. Dr. Shinitzky clearly has a strong interpersonal relationships with his patients. Over the time I have shadowed him, he has definitely made an impact on me and has indirectly helped me to better myself as well. It was just nice to see someone in my generation who was thankful and appreciated the work that someone else has put in to help them grow and reach the potential that they have.