Combat Performance Psychology
Ned Dickeson Clinical Psychology offers psychology and performance support to athletes training in combat sports, including Judo, BJJ, boxing, Muay Thai, and MMA. Targeted interventions include:
Setting and sticking to goals
Identifying strengths and weaknesses
Managing anxiety leading up to competition
Tracking motivation and burnout risk
Improving focus during live training and competition
Managing intrusive thoughts, self-criticism, or overthinking
Preparing for psychologically difficult situations (e.g. walkouts, setbacks, adrenaline dumps, crowd pressure).
About Me
I am a registered clinical psychologist with approximately 20 years of experience working in the mental health sector. I hold a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and have competed at a local level in grappling, boxing, Judo, and MMA.
Importantly, I am not a sports psychologist, which is a protected title associated with its own specialist postgraduate degree.
What to expect
The simplest way of gauging if psychology could be relevant to your current martial arts goals is to consider your current training. Presumably, its quality and your experience of it varies. Sometimes you’re training and your ability to learn and push yourself will feel easy, enjoyable and as though you are improving. Other times you will be feeling terrible, unmotivated and stagnant. When training in a negative mental state, you’ll be less likely to be improving, more likely to sustain an injury and crucially, less likely to perform well in competition.
Changes in the quality of your training that cannot be explained by your physical state or by environmental factors – must instead be due to psychological factors.
By applying psychological strategies, it is possible to gain more awareness of and the capacity to access optimal mental states, in both training and competition.
The strategies that I use are grounded in established psychological science and are practical, logical, and customised to the individual. You will need to be able to talk about yourself and be committed to undertake between-session tasks such as self-monitoring, mental exercises, and scenario training. Some interventions will likely require the support of your coaching team but I will typically ask for you to communicate this yourself and seek their input as to avoid in anyway undermining their role as your primary source of instruction.
Assurances and Limitations
Sessions are confidential and conducted within the same regulatory framework as standard psychological treatment.
I do not provide technical coaching advice (this is the role of your coaches).
To maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries, I will not specifically discuss any other combat athlete with you.
Upon commencing, it will be necessary for us to discuss and establish contingencies should we encounter each other outside of sessions. If either of us determines that potential dual relationships cannot be appropriately managed, any further sessions will be discontinued without fee.
Appointments
Appointments run for 50-mintues and can be had either online or in-person at my office, 55 Prospect Road, Prospect. You can view available times and schedule sessions via the following link:
https://www.neddickesonclinicalpsychology.com.au/appointments
Fees
Combat performance psychology is billed at $195 per 50-minute session.
If you have a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you will receive Medicare rebate of $145.25 per session. Please contact your GP to confirm your eligibility. (Medicare rebates apply to the assessment and treatment of mental health conditions and may not be applicable where the focus is solely on performance enhancement.)
Funding may also be claimed through private health funds (note that Medicare and private rebates cannot be claimed for the same session).