Sports Counseling

Career Counseling: women and ageism

Most companies don’t give ageism the same attention as other forms of bias. Nearly two out of three workers in the United States over the age of 45 experienced or witnessed age discrimination. Fifty-five percent say discrimination starts in their 50s. Women over 50 experience it earlier than their male colleagues. As women show visible signs of aging in a society that emphasizes the importance of beauty and youth, they’re perceived as less competent and less valuable in the workplace. These assumptions—often unchallenged—form the basis of decision-making about hiring, firing, and promoting. As a result, older women are diminished, marginalized, and pushed out. It happens every single day, but it’s not on most people’s radar. That’s because companies often disguise these terminations as downsizing, consolidation, and other reasons to mask the unfairness and potential legal liability.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90365272/why-diversity-initiatives-need-to-tackle-age-discrimination

Brainspotting and Sports Therapy: healing athletic problems that do not respond to traditional treatments

Some athletes developed problems that appear to be motor coordination issues but do not respond to traditional treatments like cognitive-behavioral therapy, physical therapy, or strength and conditioning. The technique of Brainspotting was developed in recognition of the fact that eye positions correlate to inner neural and emotional experience. These eye positions, or Brainspots, may lead to a healing and resolution of issues held deeply in the non-verbal, non-cognitive areas of the neurophysiology.

http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/2011/02/04/brainspotting-part-1-a-neurological-treatment-for-trauma/

Brainspotting: as a client why would I choose it?

Brainspotting is a specialized therapy for individuals who either have a history of trauma or feel they are not progressing as they should with traditional treatment approaches. Brainspotting allows access to the deepest regions of the brain that are not reached by talk therapy, because upsetting memories are not stored in the cognitive/thinking part of the brain that uses language. Brainspotting helps to decrease depression, anxiety, phobias, addictions, sport freezes, all types of traumas, and many other conditions.

Brainspotting uses a Mind/Body approach to psychotherapy that evolved from Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and the Somatic Experiencing (SE) Traditions. Brainspotting is unique from other therapeutic approaches in that it is being used not only in trauma and healing work, but also in the areas of peak performance and spiritual consciousness. Therapists are utilizing Brainspotting with athletes of all abilities, actors, writers, musicians, as well as with public speaking and healing physical conditions.  Meditation practices can also be enhanced through the use of Brainspotting.

The power of Brainspotting is that one does not necessarily have to relive the traumatic event at the same level of intensity as the original trauma. Because of this, it is possible to resolve the trauma in a more contained manner. Trauma and stress can often overwhelm the nervous system. With the support of the therapist, Brainspotting helps the client discharge the trauma and calm the nervous system.