Unpacking Depth Sport Psychology Case Studies in the Unconscious

1. The Freudian Playbook

2. Psychoanalytic Theories Applied to Athletes

3. Psychoanalytic Techniques Used with Athletes

4. The Athletes’ Motivation Viewed as a Repetition Compulsion

5. The Cause and Cure of a Golfer’s Chipping Yips

6. Mediocrity and the Fear of Success

7. Serving Yips in Tennis

8. An Olympic Swimmer who Froze in the Blocks

9. Anxiety, Overthinking and Loss of Flow in a Hockey Player

10. The Tennis Player who Choked because of Guilt

11. A Boxer with Mind-Numbing Anxiety

12. The Championship Boxer with Too Much Guilt

13. A Long-Distance Swimmer with Survivor Guilt

14. Narcissistic Collapse in an Athlete

15. Depression After Winning the Rookie of The Year Award in Major League Baseball

16. Depression used as Defense in Basketball

17. Unresolved Grief in a Tennis Player with the Serving Yips

18. Regression in Sports Teams or Why Players Act like Children

19. How Athletes Use Psychological Defenses in Sports

20. Dissociation and The Zone

21. Choking and The Repression of Aggression

22. Gamesmanship and The Use of Projective Identification

23. Sublimation, Creativity, and Fun in Sports

24. Joking, Laughter, and Banter as Helpful Defenses in Sports

25. Using ‘Identification with The Aggressor’ to Overcome Anxiety

26. Altruism and Sportsmanship

27. The First-Born Child, The Scars of Dethronement and Fear of Failure

28. The Middle Child Syndrome in a Baseball Player with The Throwing Yips

29. A Tennis Player Who Was Youngest in The Family and Who Took Pity on Weaker Opponents

30. The Influence of Twinship on Personality and Performance

31. An Athlete’s Dream Analysis

32. Focus and Learning Problems in Athletes

33. The Psychological Causes of Sports Injuries

34. Resistance to Sport Psychology: What are Athletes so Afraid of?

35. The Self-Conscious Golfer Unable to Handle Fame

36. What it is like to Work with A Super Star and The Problem of Countertransference

37. The Coming Paradigm Shift in Sport Psychology

Biography

Dr. Tom Ferraro is a Psychoanalyst and Sport Psychologist living in New York, USA and working with professional athletes, Olympians and professional teams in a variety of sports. In addition, he is an award-winning writer whose work has been featured in The New York Times, The London Times and The Wall Street Journal and is a frequent guest on national television shows.

"This book is another step forward in the science of sport psychology and the even newer initiative of Depth Sport Psychology. Routledge are now leading publishers in the field and Dr. Tom Ferraro has utilised his considerable experience to put together a unique collection of insights and intriguing case studies, which provide a window into the mind of the amateur and professional athlete. Dr. Ferraro writes with and attractive style which is easy to read, and easy to understand. He explores new subjects in the field such as the relevance of birth order as well as a fascinating section on psychological defences (yes, players really do sabotage themselves!). In an age which has provided so much technological advance, statistical analysis and data it is time for any progressive scientist involved in sport to look at the opposite, the soul, the spirit and the unconscious of the athlete."

Dr. David Burston, PCH Treatment Center, USA, and author of In Depth Sport Psychology: Reclaiming the Lost Soul of the Athlete (Routledge, 2019).

"Tom Ferraro understands what it really takes to improve in athletics. He’s watched the best in the world try and fail and try again until they beat their demons and succeed. This book will give you an appreciation for what that takes. It will open your eyes.　

Bob Carney, Golf Digest Contributing Editor and Co-Author of How to Feel a Real Golf Swing.