​​​Creating New Narratives Through Football
​​Creating New Narratives Through Football
As an experienced psychotherapist and someone that is passionate about football, I have developed a therapeutic football programme for children experiencing difficulties that might find traditional mental health methods unappealing or not a good fit for them.
Alongside a professional football coach, we work with children in schools who may have a narrative about themselves that is negative, unhelpful, and affecting their self-esteem. Through football and in a gradual, non-intrusive way we can find supportive ways to help change the narrative into something positive and encouraging for the future.
As a trauma therapist that works with the body and drawing on psychodynamic and narrative based principles, we use the football pitch as a platform to work through current challenges and frustrations as a group, whilst also providing 1-1 support in a more informal way yet effective way.
En vivo, we challenge young people to think before they act and reflect on how they manage this, work together as a team, encourage meaningful connections and in time, improve confidence and resilience.
Whilst we may not necessarily talk to young people about their histories in this space, we are able to work with aggression, shame and overcome challenges through a game of football, whilst also embracing moments of joy, positivity, and pride. By noticing children’s play, we can notice how they experience the world and innovative ways of working alongside them to their personal goals.
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My name is Ant, I am a football coach, scout and mentor, I possess A BSc (First class Honours) in Football Science & MSc in Strength & Conditioning. I utilise these in my coaching and mentoring practise to help holistically develop young minds into well-rounded people by utilising the "four corner model" - focusing on Psychological, Physical, Tactical and Technical development. By conditioning practices and tuning them towards a specific topic, I look to gain real outcomes from each activity to teach and develop not just football skills but social and life skills as well. I believe that by purposefully using football and other sports as a catalyst for change and learning can create impactful lessons and memories on our young people of today.