Would you seek a psychologist?

[Momateur]

I sought out a sports psychologist, but became annoyed and frustrated because I felt they weren’t listening. Not everyone’s issue is standard show-ring nerves. In fact, not everyone’s issue is fear/anxiety at all. My issue was being lost/stuck in my riding. One psychologist wanted me to follow a step-by-step program for conquering fear. The other wanted me to sell my heart horse. So anyways, whatever you do, I hope you’re better than they were.

I agree your price point is very high, even for this wealthy demographic.

[RAyers]

I saw a riding oriented sports psychologist after a XC crash that nearly killed me. It took about a year to get my head back into the game. They never charged the rates you intend. And she set her office up in her rig so she would show and then have sessions. I would also meet her at her regular office.

My advice is that if you have a standard clinic that allows you to live and do the things you want, you should branch out into this as a service and not a for profit activity. As a PhD, I charge $350 an hour for my expertise in a given area. However, for the things I love to do (research etc.) I charge about $35 an hour.

[Pokerface]

I would absolutely seek out a sports psychologist for my riding. Maybe not right now as I have a young horse and we are doing just flatwork right now, which doesn’t scare me in any way. I was the first one to back this horse, that kind of stuff just doesn’t bother me. But once I start jumping above 3’/3’3, especially at shows, my nerves tend to take over even though I am a competent and able rider. It’s not logic, it’s anxiety ;).

That said, I have to budget carefully to be able to keep and show my horse, so that would be out of my price range. If I couldn’t find someone who took insurance, I would maybe be comfortable spending $100/session if the person was really good.

[Jealoushe]

@mvp

If you are a regular poster here, then you know that COTH does not allow advertising. This entire thread and your alter were built to do that. Please remove it.

The thread is two years old

[173north]

I would definitely seek out a sports psych if I was having major riding issues, and I would want it to be someone focused on equestrians who had riding experience. I’m sure a lot of general sports psych principles translate across sports, but I have a hard enough time explaining riding to my sports medicine doc / physical therapists that I’d rather not spend a session wondering if the sports psych actually knows what I’m talking about!

It might be worth doing some market research to see what other riding-focused sports psychologists charge - I have a barnmate who works with Tonya Johnston, who is very well known.

For context, I do pay $300 out of pocket to see my psychiatrist every 3 to 4 months. It’s a frustrating expense because plenty of psychiatrists do take my insurance, but he’s exceptional and I (literally) trust him with my life, so I budget it in and shell out. I would not be willing to pay $200/session for sports psychology out of pocket, especially as I assume I’d want weekly sessions for a period of time.

[skrosenthal]

I think it’s a super useful service, and in our area, there are at least three notable names who work with riders (and I think have other clients, but prefer to work with equestrians). All are riders themselves with that “been there done that” kind of street cred, and do a range of work with folks, from really just focusing on a really standard mental skills curriculum to being more of a sounding board for specifics that come up as people ride. It’s expensive, and usually isn’t covered by insurance, but it’s a vital resource for a lot of people and I think at least the record here shows people are more than willing to pay for it.

[SillyHorse]

@mvp

If you are a regular poster here, then you know that COTH does not allow advertising. This entire thread and your alter were built to do that. Please remove it.

Advertising for an as-yet non-existent business? That’s a good one.

Plenty of people have asked similar questions, testing the water, finding out whether there’s a market for this or that. You are out of line.

[TheJenners]

@SillyHorse

Advertising for an as-yet non-existent business? That’s a good one.

Plenty of people have asked similar questions, testing the water, finding out whether there’s a market for this or that. You are out of line.

The thread is two years old, I suspect there was another post mvp was responding to that has been deleted. Mvp doesn’t make a habit of snarking off unnecessarily…

To add to the post: as someone who has been fighting unreasonable fear of one horse and not another, which might actually be connected to my increasingly unreasonable fear of heights (16h but rides bigger v 13.1h chonky pony), yes I have been thinking about a sports psychologist or maybe even some chemical assistance. But that is way out of my budget. $250? When my copay for low-dose xanax would be $5 or so for what? 10 or 20 rides? Yeah sorry…