Unpacking Depth Sport Psychology

This book utilizes a wealth of case studies to demonstrate the importance of using depth sport psychology to explore and understand athletes' unconscious feelings and fears, and provides the knowledge needed to help athletes deal with pressures faced throughout their sporting career.

Dr. Tom Ferraro is a Psychoanalyst and Sport Psychologist living in New York, USA and working with professional athletes, Olympians and professional teams in a variety of sports. In addition, he is an award-winning writer whose work has been featured in The New York Times, The London Times and The Wall Street Journal and is a frequent guest on national television shows.

1. The Freudian Playbook 2. Psychoanalytic Theories Applied to Athletes 3. Psychoanalytic Techniques Used with Athletes 4. The Athletes' Motivation Viewed as a Repetition Compulsion Part 1: Case Studies of Anxiety in Sports 5. The Cause and Cure of a Golfer's Chipping Yips 6. Mediocrity and the Fear of Success 7. Serving Yips in Tennis 8. An Olympic Swimmer who Froze in the Blocks 9. Anxiety, Overthinking and Loss of Flow in a Hockey Player 10. The Tennis Player who Choked because of Guilt 11. A Boxer with Mind-Numbing Anxiety Part 2: Case Studies of Athletes with Guilt 12. The Championship Boxer with Too Much Guilt 13. A Long-Distance Swimmer with Survivor Guilt Part 3: Case Studies of Depressed Athletes 14. Narcissistic Collapse in an Athlete 15. Depression After Winning the Rookie of The Year Award in Major League Baseball 16. Depression used as Defense in Basketball 17. Unresolved Grief in a Tennis Player with the Serving Yips Part 4: Case Studies of How Athletes Use Psychological Defenses 18. Regression in Sports Teams or Why Players Act like Children 19. How Athletes Use Psychological Defenses in Sports 20. Dissociation and The Zone 21. Choking and The Repression of Aggression 22. Gamesmanship and The Use of Projective Identification 23. Sublimation, Creativity, and Fun in Sports 24. Joking, Laughter, and Banter as Helpful Defenses in Sports 25. Using 'Identification with The Aggressor' to Overcome Anxiety 26. Altruism and Sportsmanship Part 5: Case Studies of The Way Birth Order Influences an Athlete's Performance 27. The First-Born Child, The Scars of Dethronement and Fear of Failure 28. The Middle Child Syndrome in a Baseball Player with The Throwing Yips 29. A Tennis Player Who Was Youngest in The Family and Who Took Pity on Weaker Opponents 30. The Influence of Twinship on Personality and Performance Part 6: Odds and Ends 31. An Athlete's Dream Analysis 32. Focus and Learning Problems in Athletes 33. The Psychological Causes of Sports Injuries 34. Resistance to Sport Psychology: What are Athletes so Afraid of? 35. The Self-Conscious Golfer Unable to Handle Fame 36. What it is like to Work with A Super Star and The Problem of Countertransference Part 7: Conclusion 37. The Coming Paradigm Shift in Sport Psychology