An injury psychologist supports the psychological side of injury, rehabilitation and recovery. Injury can affect much more than your physical abilities, it can change your confidence, identity, motivation, relationships, mood and sense of the future.

Psychological support can help you understand and navigate these changes, manage difficult thoughts and emotions, rebuild confidence and self-trust, cope with setbacks, and develop ways of responding that support your recovery.

You don't need to be struggling with a mental health diagnosis to benefit from psychological support. Sometimes you simply need space to make sense of what has happened and work out how you want to move forward.

Injury can disrupt many of the things that help us feel like ourselves. Sport or physical activity might provide structure, purpose, connection, confidence and a sense of identity. When injury takes these things away, sometimes suddenly, it can create a significant psychological impact.

You may experience anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness, isolation, loss of confidence or uncertainty about the future. These responses don't mean you're failing to cope. They are understandable responses to a significant change in your life.

Yes. Psychological difficulties are a common part of the injury and rehabilitation experience, although everyone's response is different.

You might feel relatively positive one day and overwhelmed the next. You might feel fine physically but struggle emotionally. You might become frustrated with how long recovery is taking, worry about whether you'll ever get back to where you were, or feel disconnected from the person you were before your injury.

Recovery isn't always a straight line. Struggling at times doesn't mean you're going backwards.

Yes. Fear of re-injury can remain even when your physical rehabilitation is progressing well.

You may know intellectually that your body is ready, while another part of you still feels unsure about trusting it. Psychological support can help you understand the fear, notice how it influences your thoughts and behaviour, rebuild confidence and gradually develop a different relationship with uncertainty.

The goal isn't necessarily to eliminate fear before you return. Sometimes it's about learning that you can move forward while fear is still there.

For many athletes and active people, their sport or physical activity is more than something they do. It can be an important part of who they are.

Injury can suddenly interrupt that role and leave you asking questions such as, Who am I if I can't do this? What am I working towards now? Where do I fit?

This can create a genuine sense of loss. Psychological support can help you explore what your activity has given you, understand what has been disrupted and begin developing a broader sense of yourself that isn't entirely dependent on what your body can currently do.

Psychological support can be helpful for people living with persistent or chronic pain.

This doesn't mean that the pain is imagined or that psychology is being used to suggest that pain is 'all in your head'. Pain is real, complex and influenced by a range of biological, psychological and social factors.

Psychological support can help you understand your relationship with pain, respond differently to difficult thoughts and emotions, manage the impact pain has on your life, and find ways to move towards the things that matter to you even when pain is present.

You don't have to wait until things become overwhelming.

Psychological support can be useful at different points in recovery, shortly after an injury, during a long rehabilitation, when progress stalls, when confidence drops, before returning to sport, or when you're struggling to adjust to changes in your life.

You might consider seeking support if you're feeling stuck, increasingly anxious or low, losing confidence, struggling with motivation, finding setbacks particularly difficult, or feeling that the psychological side of recovery is becoming harder to manage on your own.

Sometimes getting support earlier simply gives you more space to work with what is happening before it becomes more difficult.

Yes. I work with athletes and active individuals across different sports and levels of participation, as well as people whose identity or wellbeing is closely connected to movement, exercise or physical activity.

I also support people navigating injury, pain, surgery, illness and significant changes to their physical capabilities.

You don't need to be a professional athlete or competing at an elite level. If being injured has affected your life, your confidence, your identity or your sense of what comes next, psychological support may be relevant to you.

Yes. 1:1 psychological support is available online, allowing you to access support wherever you are.

Online sessions can be particularly useful when you're already managing appointments, rehabilitation and the practical demands of recovery. Sessions provide a confidential space to talk through what is happening psychologically and work together on practical ways forward.

If you're unsure whether psychological support is right for you, you can start with a Recovery Consultation to explore what you're experiencing and what support might be helpful.