A once high-flying side comes crashing down to earth with a series of devastating losses. A press conference is called. The side’s coach announces the appointment of a sport psychologist.

Unfortunately, as many readers will know, the above scenario is more fact than fiction (just take a look at the build-up to Sascha Lense’s spell as Manchester United’s…

Electrodes pinned to people’s heads. Screens showing everything from neural activity to heartrate variability. Lab technicians making minute adjustments to polygraph machines.

The stereotypical image of a sport psychology laboratory is well-worn. But are images of AC Milan’s Mind Room (the inspiration behind this newsletter) still relevant to running a …

"You're the best sport psychologist I have ever worked with…because you didn't do psychology with me, you treated me.....normally. When I was having a dip in form, you knew what to say, but most of all, when I had some personal issues away from football, you literally just sat with me, did nothing, said nothing, and I can't tell you how much that meant".

'Sam, what's going on?’

Four fairly innocuous words that changed the course of Sam Winnall's career. The ex-Derby County striker was speaking to the club's doctor about symptoms that had seen him feeling low and withdrawing from friends and family, when the question came. The conversation that followed would end with a referral to mental health therapy.

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It’s not often you speak to someone who’s gone from working with British bobsledders to Australian rowers, so when Bianca Fermi talks about the challenges of establishing a nationwide wellbeing program, you know it’s not an exercise in hyperbole.

In an exclusive interview with The Mind Room, Fermi, who moved to Australia in 2019 after after a two-year s…

“Africa is 10 years behind in addressing mental health.”

Ex-Botswana national team psychologist Dr. Tshepang Tshube, speaking to Jonathan Harding

The days of the Africa Cup of Nations being derided as some kind of second-rate tournament are largely over. The 2024 tournament was watched by an estimated audience of more than 2 billion people. Over the next …

This is the second half of a two-part conversation with Team Europe & Wigan Warriors psychologist Tom Young. To catch up on Part 1, click here or use the embedded link below.

It’s not often that the Ryder Cup and rugby league are mentioned in the same breath. The contrast between the sun-drenched fairways of Bethpage and rain-soaked pitches in Wigan is s…

It’s not often that the Ryder Cup and rugby league are mentioned in the same breath. The contrast between the sun-drenched fairways of Bethpage and rain-soaked pitches in Wigan is stark, to say the least.

But, in the form of Luke Donald and Matt Peet, the competitions share two standout leaders. Psychologist Tom Young has been fortunate enough to work w…