Reducing the fear of re-injury during rehabilitation through mental imagery as a mental health strategy in sport and exercise

Abstract Returning to sport and exercise following injury requires the athlete to become more confident in the ability to gradually explore the use of the injured area in increasingly complex and challenging ways. Emotional responses, such as fear of re-injury, are a key mental health barrier to a performer’s return to sport and exercise. To navigate such psychological responses, performers need well-developed psychological strategies, like mental imagery (MI), to facilitate a successful return to pre-injury levels of sport and exercise. MI is a well-established strategy for dealing with negative symptoms associated with injury, providing a safe and less intimidating environment to practice movements that may be perceived as risky and otherwise performed within physical training due to the fear of causing further injury. This paper aims to provide sport psychologists with recommendations on how to utilize MI to reduce fear of re-injury during the rehabilitation process to successfully facilitate return to sport and exercise. Specific examples are also outlined and discussed.