00:00As a sports psychologist, I've seen that
00:02the sports sector is growing in Singapore.
00:06There's greater conversations around mental health,
00:08athletes and coaches alike.
00:10And I think that has helped to normalise
00:11some of the conversations about mental health.
00:19Hi, I'm Jin Jie.
00:21I'm an Associate Sports Psychologist with SSI.
00:23Prior to this, I was studying psychology in NUS.
00:30During my third year, I went on exchange to Canada
00:32where I took a module on sports psychology.
00:35So that got me interested in knowing more about sports psychology
00:39because firstly, I'm very interested in watching sports.
00:41I love sports.
00:43And also, psychology is something that I can see myself in
00:46as a career in the future.
00:47And then when I came back to Singapore,
00:49I managed to find a mentor
00:51who was able to explain a bit more about sports psychology
00:54and how it works in Singapore and how it's applied.
00:57After that, I was fairly convinced that
01:00this is something that I wanted to do with a psychology degree
01:03and I decided to pursue a career here in SSI in sports psychology.
01:08So as a sports psychologist,
01:09my primary role is to help athletes with their performance
01:12but also to take care of their well-being and recovery.
01:15My typical day entails support,
01:18mostly to the athletes and coaches,
01:20which involves a variety of activities.
01:23For example, consultations with the athletes.
01:26Sometimes when it involves teams
01:28or when it involves larger groups of athletes,
01:30then that would be in the form of workshops.
01:32Other than these direct contact,
01:34there are also different things that I do on the ground.
01:38For example, going down to the training
01:40just to check on the coach, just to check on the athletes,
01:42see how they're doing and how training is going
01:45and whether there's anything that I can help them
01:47in terms of sports psychology.
01:51I'm currently working with Contessa, who is an archer.
01:54I've been working with her for about a year or so.
01:57So this is something that we've been working on
01:59through consultations, trying to see how she's doing,
02:02trying to see how she's preparing well for competitions.
02:07I started working with JJ, I think, back in August 2023.
02:11Mostly because I needed a lot of help
02:12dealing with the stress that came up
02:15from competition preparation and from my injuries.
02:19The good thing about working with JJ is he's very flexible.
02:22He listens and then he puts things into, okay, A, B, C.
02:25It just makes it easier for me to comprehend, understand.
02:28And for me personally, an athlete doesn't come up
02:31just by myself, an athlete is produced
02:33through the efforts of the whole team.
02:34So all the different areas that sports science covers
02:37basically helps an athlete to target all the different areas
02:40to better improve the athlete's condition.
02:43It also gives me the assurance
02:44that when I step out onto the world stage,
02:46I will know that actually it's not just me, myself.
02:49I still have a whole team behind me.
02:51Those people who love me, they support me.
02:53They're all actually there with me on the line.
02:57Besides just preparing the athlete for competition,
03:00I think helping the athlete with the other life stages,
03:03be it in education, life after sport, before sport,
03:07these are really key areas.
03:09Because for athletes,
03:10we don't want to have to keep thinking about so many things
03:13when we are on the line, be it when we're in the court
03:15or even like pre-game, post-game.
03:18Because having the assurance
03:20that if you want to do sports and studies together
03:23or even to focus on sports first
03:24and then do your studies afterwards,
03:26that actually takes a lot off the mind.
03:29I feel it will make the athlete feel a lot better
03:31about their future as well.
03:38Sometimes when it comes to competitions or major games,
03:41then that's where we will share about different skills
03:43relating to the competition.
03:45Some athletes may have competitive anxiety, for example,
03:48and that's normal.
03:50That's part of the process.
03:51So it's more on us to kind of share
03:53what these skills might look like.
03:55For example, through different breathing techniques
03:57or different keywords to help them to focus
03:59on what they need to do at the moment in time.
04:05I think for me, it is a very fulfilling experience
04:09because I see myself as a facilitator of their experiences
04:15because they know themselves best.
04:18All I can do is to provide
04:21what I know about sports psychology
04:22to help inform these processes.
04:25While facilitating, I help to create that space
04:28for them to be able to process some of these things
04:30that they might be going through.
04:31And that helps empower them
04:34to be able to make the decisions that they can,
04:37that they have to in the future.
04:39In terms of sport, I would say
04:42you can't always win all the time
04:43and naturally there'll be ups and downs.
04:45So it's more of like treating it as a journey
04:47and moving together with the athlete.
04:50And I think when they come back
04:52and share about some things, I'm happy to hear
04:55because that means they are a bit more aware
04:57of what their thoughts are.
04:58So I think that's something that I take pride in
05:00when it comes to working as a psychologist.
05:04Compared to other sports sciences,
05:05I would say sports psychology is something
05:07that is not as objective
05:09as what other sports sciences would do.
05:12It's kind of between a science and an art.
05:14And I think it's a bit difficult to quantify
05:18that leads to different doubts
05:20over whether sports psychology is truly effective or not.
05:24Naturally, there's still a stigma in our society.
05:28People have the assumption that
05:30when I come to see a psychologist, I have a problem.
05:33But that's not the case.
05:34I think at SSI, what we do in sports psychology
05:38is able to help athletes with their wellbeing,
05:41helping them with these issues,
05:42but at the same time, we also help them with performance.
05:45So even if they're not having a problem
05:46or having an issue that they are facing,
05:48we can come in to help them to improve their performance.
05:52That being said, I don't think it's the only solution
05:55because we're just one of many factors
05:58that contribute to an athlete's eventual performance
06:01on the stage.
06:03We have to work together with the other teams
06:04so that we can help provide the best support to the athletes.
06:09One of the things that we work closely with
06:12is the medical team, sports medicine,
06:14because athletes, in their career,
06:17they are bound to have injuries one way or another.
06:20The sports psychology team would work
06:21with the sports medicine team to identify these athletes
06:24and help them to facilitate that process back
06:27as they recover and go back into competing eventually.
06:33There are many things that have been happening
06:34in the past few years that brought sports
06:36to the public attention.
06:38Compared to other countries,
06:40there's a lot of space to grow in Singapore
06:42in terms of the different ways we innovate.
06:46I think as a sports psychologist,
06:47I've seen that the sports sector is growing in Singapore.
06:51Especially after COVID,
06:52I think there's greater conversations around mental health,
06:56athletes and coaches alike.
06:57And I think that has helped to normalise
06:59some of the conversations about mental health.
07:01I think it also grew and gained a lot of attention
07:05because of high-level athletes.
07:07For example, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps,
07:10these are different athletes who have came forward
07:12and shared very candidly about their experiences
07:15with the mental health that they are facing.
07:19I started this job as a sports psychologist three years ago,
07:22but I've already loved it so much
07:24because of the different things that I've done.
07:26Managed to see, managed to work with athletes and coaches
07:30throughout these two years.
07:30And there's always the gratification that comes
07:33when athletes and coaches come back to you and say,
07:36whatever that I've shared with them
07:38has helped them in their competition
07:39or in their training.
07:41So that really keeps me going in my job.
07:44In the future, definitely what I would really hope
07:47is for everybody to have more conversations
07:50about mental health.
07:51And personally, in my role as a sports psychologist,
07:55then what I would hope to see
07:56is that when athletes and coaches come into this space,
07:59they will find a sports psychologist
08:00just like how they come and find a sport dietician,
08:04a strength and conditioning coach, a biomechanist,
08:06improving their performance and enhancing their performance.
08:09Of course, there's still the idea that we are here
08:12when they are facing any situation or facing any issues
08:15that they might be experiencing.
08:16But I would really love it if they can also come in
08:19with the idea that, hey, I want to improve my performance
08:22and I know you can help me.
08:24Let's try to work together to continue this journey.
08:27And this is my dream.
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