How to Build Athletic Confidence: A Person-Centered Therapy Guide for Sports
- Dr Paul McCarthy
- 4 minutes ago
- 10 min read
Athletes with approach-oriented goals report higher levels of mental toughness and autonomous motivation. Person-centered therapy in sports makes this internal drive central to an athlete's development.
The approach offers a fresh perspective that differs from traditional sport psychology literature. Athletes are encouraged to discover their own insights and solutions instead of following external techniques and assessments. Young athletes in school settings benefit greatly from this method as they shape their identities. Three essential elements create an environment that promotes openness and growth: congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy.
This therapeutic framework builds on each athlete's natural ability for self-understanding and personal growth. Athletes develop a more compassionate self-relationship when they experience unconditional positive regard. This reduces their self-criticism and builds lasting confidence. In this piece, we'll explore how this powerful approach helps athletic performance by building confidence from within.
Understanding the Person-Centered Approach
Carl Rogers introduced a revolutionary framework in the 1940s that changed how therapists interact with clients. This new person-centered approach marked a departure from traditional therapeutic models. Rogers moved the focus away from therapist expertise to recognize clients as authorities of their own experiences.
What makes this approach different from others
The person-centered approach stands out from typical sport psychology methods through its non-directive position. This approach doesn't follow the traditional expert-driven model where practitioners diagnose problems and prescribe solutions [1]. Practitioners let athletes choose their own path and make their own decisions to respect their independence [1].
Most sport psychology literature takes a directive viewpoint. Practitioners label athletes as anxious, poorly motivated, or not confident, then teach ways to "fix" these problems [1]. Person-centered practitioners take a different path. They skip formal assessment and intervention techniques to create psychological conditions that let athletes heal themselves [1].
The terminology sets this approach apart. Humanistic counselors use "clients" instead of "patients." This choice shows that therapists and clients work as equal partners rather than experts fixing problems [2].
On top of that, it aims to have minimal influence over the client [2]. This is quite different from directive approaches where practitioners set specific goals and guide clients toward particular outcomes [1]. The non-directive quality helps practitioners focus on understanding the client's viewpoint completely [2].
Core principles: empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard
Rogers found six conditions needed for therapeutic change. Three of these became known as the "core conditions" that create an environment for growth:
Empathy means understanding clients' feelings from their viewpoint – stepping into their shoes while staying objective [3]. Practitioners need to understand their clients' experiences accurately in the present moment [2]. Athletes often feel truly heard and understood for the first time in their competitive environments.
Congruence (genuineness) means therapists must be real and authentic [3]. Rogers believed congruence was crucial in counseling [2]. Therapists don't hide behind professional masks but bring their true selves to the relationship [3]. Athletes can then feel safe enough to drop their performance masks.
Unconditional positive regard means accepting athletes completely without judgment [3]. Therapists create a warm space where athletes feel accepted whatever they say or do, even when their views differ [4]. A 2018 study showed that athletes who received unconditional positive regard from coaches had better motivation, confidence, and resilience during tough times [4].
These principles work together to create a special psychological environment. The relationship becomes the main driver of positive personality change [2]. Athletes can reconnect with their natural tendency to grow and reach their full potential [5]. Their confidence comes from within rather than being pushed from outside.
Why Athletes Struggle with Confidence
Elite athletes often struggle with confidence issues, even at their career peaks. Research shows all but one of these athletes report symptoms of at least one mental health problem. These rates match those found in the general population [6]. Learning about these challenges is a vital part of using person-centered therapy in sports.
Common sources of self-doubt in sports
Several connected factors can shake an athlete's confidence. Perfectionism can trap competitors in an endless cycle of unrealistic expectations. Athletes who are perfectionists set impossible standards. They become too critical when they miss these targets [7]. Their harsh self-judgment damages their confidence and ties their self-worth to how well they perform.
Athletes face another big hurdle - the fear of failure. This shows up as high expectations, anxiety, tension, and too much worry about results [8]. Athletes who fail often feel less worthy and emotionally drained [9]. These experiences can trigger depression, anger, and low energy [9].
Looking at others' success can eat away at athletic confidence. An athlete might feel completely sure of themselves against weaker opponents. Yet they question everything when facing tougher competition [10]. Social media makes this worse by showing endless highlight reels of their peers [11].
Bad performances recently can become a confidence trap. Some athletes base their confidence mostly on recent results. Their self-belief soars after wins but crashes after losses [10]. Then mistakes during competition can start a downward spiral of doubt, especially when athletes can't stop thinking about their errors [10].
The role of external validation and pressure
External validation shapes how athletes deal with confidence. They face unique pressures from scoring goals, winning games, dealing with media, and meeting fan expectations [12]. Questions haunt their careers: Will I move up? Could I get dropped? What about my contract? What if I get injured? [12]
Many athletes judge their worth entirely by how well they perform [7]. This creates a shaky foundation because their self-image depends on what others think [13]. Chasing perfection for external rewards rarely brings lasting happiness or stable confidence [13].
Money worries add to the pressure. One poor showing might cost an athlete their spot and financial support [12]. Retirement brings its own challenges. Athletes who've built their identity around sports suddenly face losing that core part of themselves [12].
The biggest problem might be how athletes feel they can't ask for help with confidence issues. Sports culture pushes the idea that athletes should handle mental pressure on their own. Many see asking for help as weakness [12]. Sports organizations don't deal very well with mental health issues either [6].
Person-centered therapy is a great way to get support for young athletes in school as they develop their identity. This approach creates judgment-free spaces where athletes learn to build real confidence based on their values rather than outside approval [13].
How Person-Centered Therapy Builds Confidence
Person-centered therapy gives athletes a completely different path to building confidence—one that emerges from within rather than being imposed from outside. This approach shows that sustainable athletic confidence needs more than performance techniques or positive self-talk. Athletes need a supportive environment to reconnect with their intrinsic strengths.
Creating a safe space for self-exploration
Psychological safety serves as the life-blood of person-centered therapy in sports. Athletes can take risks, express concerns, ask questions, and acknowledge mistakes without fear of potential risks in a psychologically safe environment. Research shows that psychologically safe teams aid both high performance and team members' wellbeing.
Therapists create this safety through consistent presence and nonjudgmental acceptance. A practitioner notes, "a safe place is a consistent space" where athletes can trust they'll be accepted whatever the performance outcomes. This consistency builds the foundation for authentic self-exploration.
Traditional coaching environments often emphasize correction and improvement, but person-centered therapy offers unconditional love. Athletes dealing with anxiety or performance blocks need validation rather than pressure. One source explains, "They don't need a push. It's not a lack of motivation. A bribe won't help. Those things actually become counterproductive."
Encouraging internal motivation and self-trust
Person-centered therapy helps athletes develop what researchers call "self-trust"—justified confidence in knowing how to make good decisions. Athletes with high self-trust make better decisions in competition and experience fewer poor performances consistently.
This approach moves focus from external rewards to internal satisfaction. Extrinsic motivation like trophies, praise, and recognition can provide the original drive. Yet intrinsic motivation sustains performance over time. Self-Determination Theory shows that motivation exists on a continuum from extrinsic to intrinsic, with intrinsic motivation representing the highest form of self-determined motivation.
Person-centered therapy deepens intrinsic motivation by supporting three simple psychological needs:
Autonomy: Athletes participate in setting personal goals and strengthen their sense of ownership
Competence: Therapists help athletes recognize their capabilities and progress to build confidence
Relatedness: The therapeutic relationship provides genuine connection and understanding
Shifting from external to internal locus of evaluation
The most powerful confidence-building mechanism in person-centered therapy helps athletes move from an external to an internal locus of control. Locus of control reflects an athlete's beliefs about how much control they have over outcomes in their lives.
Athletes with an external locus attribute performance to forces outside themselves—referees, weather, luck, or opponents. This provides short-term comfort after setbacks but gradually undermines confidence by creating a sense of helplessness.
Athletes with an internal locus believe outcomes result from their own actions, preparation, and choices. Research shows these individuals use time more effectively and react more constructively when facing obstacles.
Person-centered therapy in school settings and beyond teaches athletes to distinguish between controllable and uncontrollable factors. They redirect energy toward what lies within their control instead of denying external influences. This transformation changes their fundamental question from "What happened to me?" to "What can I do next?"—the hallmark of sustainable athletic confidence.
Practical Techniques for Sport Psychologists
Sport psychologists who use person-centered therapy need practical tools to build athletic confidence. The approach seems simple, but it's sort of hard to get one's arms around when you put it into practice in competitive environments.
Active listening and reflective questioning
Active listening is the foundation of person-centered therapy in sports. This skill requires complete focus on athletes to understand their message, respond thoughtfully, and remember information for future reference. Active listening goes beyond just hearing words - it means watching body language and tone while keeping everyone involved in the conversation.
Here's how to practice active listening:
Maintain eye contact and offer visual cues like nodding
Ask clarifying questions to ensure understanding
Avoid potential interruptions from technology or other people
Keep an open mind without jumping to conclusions or offering opinions
Reflective questioning techniques help athletes dig deeper into their experiences. Sport psychologists can show understanding through "reflection" or "mirroring" by paraphrasing key points. This approach demonstrates emotional intelligence and builds trust - essential elements for therapy to work. Open-ended, clarifying questions encourage athletes to reflect rather than defend their position.
Facilitating athlete-led goal setting
The person-centered process works best when athletes set their own goals instead of following external objectives. This approach respects their independence and boosts motivation. Sport psychologists can guide athletes to write down specific, observable and measurable goals with clear timeframes.
Athletes need the right mix of structure and freedom to set effective goals. The psychologist's role is to help them create challenging but achievable targets. Short-term goals serve as stepping stones toward long-term plans, similar to climbing a mountain one step at a time. The athletes must own their goals to succeed, regardless of the practitioner's expertise.
Avoiding directive interventions
Person-centered practitioners take a step back from directive interventions. They trust athletes' ability to grow and heal themselves. Most practitioners avoid playing the expert role because they believe it can hold clients back. Of course, this doesn't mean abandoning structure - it means creating the right psychological environment for athletes to explore within reasonable boundaries.
Using person-centered therapy in school settings
School environments offer great opportunities for this approach, especially with developing athletes. Young competitors need space to build identities beyond their athletic roles. Self-charting and journaling help student-athletes balance academics and sports. Questions about strengths, areas for improvement, and next steps before competitions help build both athletic confidence and life skills at the same time.
Long-Term Benefits for Athletes
Person-centered therapy's effect reaches way beyond the reach and influence of immediate performance gains. Research shows athletes who focus on approach-type goals report higher levels of autonomous motivation and mental toughness [14].
Improved self-awareness and autonomy
Athletes need self-awareness as a fundamental mental skill to build self-confidence and self-esteem [15]. Athletes develop better recognition of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through person-centered therapy in school settings. This awareness helps them identify their strengths and weaknesses, which leads to improved performance under pressure [16].
Greater resilience and emotional regulation
Person-centered approaches promote resilience by meeting simple psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness [3]. Athletes develop stronger emotional regulation and learn to monitor, review, and modify their emotional reactions to achieve goals [2]. Research proves that stronger emotional regulation skills help reduce performance anxiety, improve focus, and boost resilience during competitive stress [2].
Sustainable performance growth beyond sport
Person-centered therapy creates benefits that surpass athletic careers. Research shows self-aware people experience lower stress levels and higher overall well-being [16]. A positive relationship exists between simple needs satisfaction and adaptive outcomes like intrinsic motivation, enjoyment, well-being, physical health, and improved performance [3]. This approach prepares athletes for life after sports by teaching skills they can use in academics, careers, and relationships.
Conclusion
Person-centered therapy provides a robust alternative to traditional sports psychology approaches. This therapeutic framework builds sustainable athletic confidence by recognizing an athlete's natural capacity for growth. Traditional directive methods try to "fix" problems, but person-centered therapy gives athletes the ability to build confidence from within.
Athletes face confidence challenges due to perfectionism, fear of failure, and too much dependence on external validation. Person-centered therapy tackles these issues by creating three vital conditions: empathy, congruence, and unconditional positive regard. Athletes can explore their experiences without judgment in this therapeutic environment and gradually move from external validation to internal trust.
Without doubt, the benefits reach way beyond the reach and influence of immediate performance gains. Athletes who undergo person-centered therapy develop better self-awareness, emotional regulation, and improved resilience. These skills become valuable assets in academics, careers, and relationships. Young athletes in school settings benefit significantly from this approach.
Person-centered therapy values the athlete's autonomy above all. Practitioners create safe spaces where athletes reconnect with their intrinsic motivation instead of forcing external techniques. This move from external to internal evaluation forms the foundation of lasting athletic confidence.
The person-centered approach brings unique value to today's performance-focused sports culture. Genuine confidence doesn't come from techniques alone - it grows naturally when athletes feel truly seen, heard, and accepted. This simple yet profound transformation changes not just athletic performance but also the athlete's self-relationship. It creates resilience that continues long after the final whistle.
Key Takeaways to Build Athletic Confidence
Person-centered therapy offers a transformative approach to building athletic confidence by focusing on the athlete's internal growth rather than external fixes. Here are the essential insights for sport psychologists and athletes:
• Create psychological safety first - Athletes need unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuine acceptance to explore their potential without fear of judgment.
• Shift from external to internal validation - Help athletes develop confidence based on their own values and self-trust rather than performance outcomes or others' opinions.
• Use non-directive techniques - Facilitate athlete-led goal setting and self-exploration through active listening and reflective questioning instead of imposing solutions.
• Focus on intrinsic motivation - Support athletes' basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness to build sustainable confidence that lasts beyond sports.
• Develop transferable life skills - Person-centered therapy builds self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience that benefit athletes in academics, careers, and relationships.
This approach is particularly valuable in school settings where young athletes are developing their identities. By trusting in athletes' innate capacity for growth and providing the right psychological conditions, practitioners can help build authentic confidence that emerges from within rather than being imposed from outside.
References
[1] - https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/20434/1/Person-Centered Approach.pdf[2] - https://thementalgame.me/blog/the-emotionally-intelligent-athlete-staying-calm-when-pressure-hits[3] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10374325/[4] - https://www.drpaulmccarthy.com/post/building-the-therapeutic-relationship-a-sport-psychologist-s-guide-to-person-centered-practice[5] - https://www.counseling-directory.org.uk/articles/what-are-they-comparing-and-contrasting-the-three-main-counseling-approaches[6] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4996886/[7] - https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni38a6.htm[8] - http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/youth-sports-psychology/common-mental-game-challenges-for-athletes/[9] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6624795/[10] - https://www.successstartswithin.com/sports-psychology-articles/athlete-self-confidence/managing-self-doubt-in-sports/[11] - https://www.phasesvirginia.com/life-in-phases/confidence-in-athletes[12] - https://www.mind.org.uk/media/4354/mental-health-and-elite-sport.pdf[13] - https://peaktopeaktherapy.com/the-dangers-of-external-validation-in-athletics/[14] - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7856560/[15] - https://jennifercumming.com/2015/04/10/a-sport-psychologists-guide-for-helping-athletes-develop-better-self-awareness/[16] - https://philandfriends.co.uk/importance-of-self-awareness-in-sports-enhancing-performance-confidence-and-mental-resilience/
