Known as The Greatest Of All Time - like everyone else right now, I'm in complete admiration of Simone Biles. Her performances at the Paris Olympics this year have been off the scale and what's interested me the most as a registered counsellor, is the ownership she's placed on getting herself back in the headspace where she felt she could not only train and perform again; but become awarded as the world's most decorated gymnast.
Now just as a disclaimer, I'm unfortunately not Simone's therapist - I don't know Simone and the ins and outs of her mental health journey. This blog is formed from my own personal interest and inspiration, based off what I've read, watched and listened to and of course my own skills and knowledge as a therapist; what I would imagine would have helped Simone if she were in my therapy room and why.
Looking back three years ago when Simone withdrew midway through the women's team final in the Tokyo Olympics, it was reported that she felt she may never step foot on the gymnastics floor again. So how did she get through the dangerous mental block of the 'twisties' and come out the other side stronger than ever? And if you don't happen to be an Olympic athlete nor have a therapist, can you still reap the benefits of building up your mental strength and wellbeing? In short, yes and I'm going to explain all below.
Before this years Olympics started I eagerly watched her new documentary 'Simone Biles Rising', which follows the gymnast as she balances her personal life, mental health and training (worth the watch if you haven't seen already!) From here I got a glimpse into the kind of things Simone was doing to build her mental resilience. Pair this with the insight I already have a practising therapist and I could see how some of the key factors of therapy had enabled Simone to find her feet again and rebuild her confidence and trust; and how these techniques can benefit us all. Let's take a look:
Visualisation: Simone talks about how she's spoken to her therapist multiple times about ways that she can stay calm when she's starting to feel in trouble at any of her meets. She says her therapist asked "What's one thing that makes you not stressed out?" and "What makes you feel powerful?" The purpose of these questions is so that Simone can use a therapy technique called visualisation, which is a form of meditation. In visualising the calmness of your favourite place or something that makes you feel powerful it helps take you out of your head and focus on the present moment to ground your body in the here and now. By regularly guiding yourself to a special place or calming sensation, you can make a daily or weekly habit of returning to that image whenever you need to relax or recalibrate. Take a look at more visualisation examples here.
Goal Setting - In a previous article Simone talks about the importance of setting her goals, writing them down and breaking them into short and long term goals. A technique I use with clients to help them find their focus in this way is looking at SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Having clear achievements in mind allows you to better visualise and work towards the things that you want in your life, it also helps with starting and sticking to new habits. If we think about the sheer volume of expectations and outside noise Simone had to deal with we can also see why writing things down may have helped her as it offers an alternative form of therapy. Another technique I often use, which Simone has spoken about, is a worry diary. This is where you can keep a journal/piece of paper somewhere easy to access like the kitchen table and whenever you notice yourself worrying about something you write it down on that piece of paper. Give yourself a designated 'worry time' once a day, for no longer than 30 minutes. In that worry time you can look at all the thoughts you've written down and try to think through them rationally: who can help, how true is the thought, what evidence do you have, how likely is it on a scale of 1-10, etc. Doing this can help to limit the time spent ruminating on thoughts and anxious cycles.
Trust and Empowering - Simone had to learn how to trust herself again and her ability. This is no small feat. But a professional therapist can help by providing a safe, comfortable environment where you can learn to just be - no expectations, no mask, just you and exploring your thoughts to try and make sense of them. I imagine that Simone's therapist was able to help her rebuild her strength and confidence by using skills in the sessions such as reflection, paraphrasing and summarising, to help Simone see things in another perspective. Another skill used in the therapy room is empowerment - allowing the client to realise their qualities and see their achievements, positive attributes etc. As she states in her documentary, her therapist had said "you can only shove stuff down for so long", eventually we get to a point where everything gets too much and it's only when we sit down and talk that we realise just how much we have 'shoved' down.
Switching off - Simone talks about turning off her comms on Instagram and deleting Twitter off her phone on the run up to competitions, to try and protect her mental wellbeing. This is a form of self care, something we can all benefit from. The reason we can find ourselves facing burn out or getting completely overwhelmed is often because things build up over time and we don't know how or what to do to give ourself relief. Having a self care routine or knowing what little habits you can do to minimise stress and help you relax, is so important. Think about your nutrition, movement, sleep, social connection; if we can find something to make at least one of those areas healthier it will impact all the other areas. For quick and easy 5-minute plan ideas to improve your self care, take a look at Dr Chatterjee's book.
Hopefully I've explained some of the core components of therapy and just how beneficial it can be for our mindset to have someone to talk to who can help build our own toolkit of techniques, for when we face any challenges. It hasn't just been Simone who has outwardly praised therapy for getting her where she is today, there have been many other sports professionals, business entrepreneurs etc who have talked about the importance of our mental health and looking after it as much as we do our physical health.
If you've felt inspired by any of this and would like to chat about what's involved in therapy sessions, please head to the contact page and send me a message. You can also follow my Instagram page @littleoasistherapy for more mental health content, tips and techniques.
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