Mental skills for athletes
Sports performance coaching
I'm Chris Meaden, a hypnotherapist and a Licensed Sports Performance Coach. This is mental skills work for people who play sport, for leisure or at a competitive level. We look at focus, confidence, performance anxiety and staying consistent under pressure. It sits inside The Meaden Method®, with clinical hypnotherapy.
What people come with
The mental side of the sport.
Training the mind matters alongside physical training. People come because something in that mental side is in the way. Some want to get into the zone, or flow, and stay there for longer. Some want a way past a block they can already explain. This is a way of working on that. It comes with no promise of a result, and no set number of sessions.
Attention, when it slips.
Holding your attention on what you are doing. People come when focus slips, in training or when the result matters.
Belief, before and after.
The drop in belief before you play, or after a mistake. We look at how that response runs, not only at the story of it.
The feeling before you perform.
Nerves that arrive before you compete, and a fear of failure. Hypnotherapy is one way I work with that feeling. I can't tell you that the feeling will go.
The point you keep stopping at.
A place you stall, even when the skill is there in training. We work with the pattern that shows up at that point.
Going through it in mind.
Some people ask to rehearse the performance in mind before they do it. Visualisation can be part of the session. It is practice. It is not a prediction.
Staying with it when it counts.
Consistency when the pressure is on is one of the things people want to work on. I can't promise that you will be consistent.
How I work
One plan. The tools I'm qualified in.
The plan is The Meaden Method®. Clinical hypnotherapy is part of it, including sports performance hypnosis when that fits what you came for. I use the approaches I am trained in, and I leave out what doesn't fit. Each of these has its own page.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming
NLP looks at how you think, the language you use, and the pattern that follows. The useful question is often how a thought runs, not only what it is about. That can be the thought before you play, or the words you use with yourself.
Havening Techniques®
Havening Techniques® were created by Dr Ronald Ruden. I am a Certified Havening Techniques® Practitioner. I use Havening inside The Meaden Method® when fear or anxiety is part of what you have brought.
Clinical hypnotherapy
Clinical hypnotherapy is a calm, focused state. You stay awake, aware and in control. Sports performance hypnosis is that same hypnotherapy, used for the mental side of sport. It sits inside The Meaden Method®.
Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning
Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® is hypnotic work created by Dr Richard Bandler. It starts with feeling. I use it when you already understand the problem, and the feeling still arrives first.
Design Human Engineering
Design Human Engineering® is Dr Bandler's later work. He describes it as creation, where NLP was replication: designing a strategy or a state, rather than only copying one. I trained in it with him and John La Valle.
A session with me
We talk first.
I want to understand the sport, what happens under pressure, and what you would like to be different. The work is tailored to you. If we use hypnosis, you stay awake, and we go at your pace.
Havening Techniques®, NLP, Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® and Design Human Engineering® join the same plan when they fit. I can guide the session. I can't do the work for you, and I can't tell you how far it will go.
Sessions can be online, or in person in Tunbridge Wells. Online sessions are by video. There is a page on online hypnotherapy.
- We start by talking.
- You stay awake throughout the hypnosis.
- You won't be asked to relive anything you don't need to.
- The Meaden Method® is the plan. Hypnotherapy is part of it.
Who I see
Leisure, or competitive.
I work with adults, 16 and over. You might play for leisure, or at a competitive or professional level. The sport can be golf, tennis, football, racing, running, cycling, swimming, or another sport.
Whatever you actually play.
I don't work from a list of teams, and you don't need a particular level. We start from what is happening in the sport you do.
This is not sports psychology.
People have often spoken to a sports psychologist first. This is mental skills coaching, with clinical hypnotherapy inside The Meaden Method®.
Keep the help you already have.
This does not replace your coach, a sports psychologist, or your doctor. It is not a medical treatment, and it is not a cure.
Where I trained
Licensed Sports Performance Coach.
I trained as a Licensed Sports Performance Coach™ with the International NLP Sports Academy, with Anders Piper, in Malaga. I also qualified there as a Cert. LAB Profile Practitioner, in Language and Behaviour. The Society of NLP licenses that training.
The same plan uses the rest of my training. I am a clinical hypnotherapist, and a Certified Havening Techniques® Practitioner. I am a Licensed Master Practitioner of NLP™ and a Licensed Trainer of NLP™. I trained in Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® and Design Human Engineering® with Dr Richard Bandler and John La Valle.
The training, as I record it
- Licensed Sports Performance Coach™, with Anders Piper, in Malaga
- Cert. LAB Profile Practitioner (Language and Behaviour)
- Clinical hypnotherapy
- Certified Havening Techniques® Practitioner
- Licensed by the Society of NLP™
The same list, with the rest of my training, is on the qualifications page.
Questions
Questions I get asked.
What is sports performance coaching?
Sports performance coaching, here, is mental skills work for people who play sport. Physical training still matters. This is the mental side: focus, confidence, and how you perform when there is pressure. It sits inside The Meaden Method®, with clinical hypnotherapy. It is not sports psychology, and it comes with no promise of a result.
What do people bring to this?
Focus that slips. Confidence that drops. Performance anxiety, and a fear of failure. A mental block they can't think their way past. Wanting to be more consistent when the pressure is on. Some people also ask about visualisation, or about getting into the zone, or flow, and staying there. We work with what you actually bring. I can't tell you how far it will go.
Which approaches do you use?
The plan is The Meaden Method®. Clinical hypnotherapy is part of it, including sports performance hypnosis when that fits. I also use Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Havening Techniques®, Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning® and Design Human Engineering®. I use what fits, and I leave out what doesn't.
Is a session hypnotherapy?
Yes. I am a clinical hypnotherapist, and hypnotherapy sits alongside The Meaden Method®. You stay awake, aware and in control. There is a page on what hypnotherapy is like.
Do you only work with certain sports?
No. People come with golf, tennis, football, racing, running, cycling, swimming, and other sports. Some play for leisure. Some compete, including at a professional level. I don't work from a list of teams.
Can sessions be online or in person?
Both. Sessions can be online, or in person in Tunbridge Wells. Online sessions are by video. There is a page on online hypnotherapy.
How many sessions will it take?
I can't say until we have talked, and I won't guess. People differ. I can't guarantee a result, or a timescale.
Does this replace my coach, a sports psychologist, or my doctor?
No. Keep the support you already have. This is mental skills coaching with hypnotherapy. It does not replace your coach, a sports psychologist, or your doctor. It is not a medical treatment, and it is not a cure.
Who do you work with?
Adults, 16 and over. If I'm not the right person for you, I'll say so on the consultation call.
A first conversation
Book a consultation call
We can talk about the mental side of your sport, and whether this work is a fit. If I can't help, I will tell you.
The Meaden Method® is the name of how I put this work together. Havening Techniques® was created by Dr Ronald Ruden. Neuro-Hypnotic Repatterning®, NHR®, Design Human Engineering® and DHE® are registered trademarks of John La Valle. Licensed Sports Performance Coach™ is the qualification I record from the International NLP Sports Academy.