身体について語る意味

―心理的強化を求めて来談したアスリートへの心理サポート―

抄録

The purpose of this study was to discuss the meaning of psychological counseling to an athlete in his effort to develop mental toughness as well as the meaning of talking about his body through the counseling process. Psychological counseling was conducted for 14 sessions over a 3-month treatment period for an injury. During counseling, the subject spoke mainly about his injury and body movement. Talking about his body provided the athlete with insight on his body movement and playing style and enabled him to discover points for movement improvement. Finally, he was able to develop new actions. The counseling process was then dicussed, and the main findings were as follows:
1. An attitude to keep listening to athletes talking about their body supports their efforts to attain independence. This psychological support also enables a change in attitude toward competition and assists with the development of mental toughness.
2. Giving athletes the opportunity to talk about their body and body movement has the same effect as image training and promotes the development of subjectivity in the athlete's individual way.
3. Listening to how athletes describe their body for maintaining the mind-body connection provides effective psychological support.
These findings will be useful for the psychological support of athletes in the future.