Gratitude Intervention for Athletes after Injury Rehabilitation
Undergoing sport injury rehabilitation can be rigorous and challenging, both physically and mentally. Fortunately, athletes often receive support from other people that helps them through the rehabilitation period. Research has shown that when athletes express gratitude to someone who was especially kind to them during rehabilitation, they report enhanced interpersonal relations and subjective well-being (Salim & Wadey, 2019).
Based on the work of Seligman, Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005), Salim and Wadey (2019) developed the Gratitude Intervention for Athletes after Injury Rehabilitation. In the intervention, athletes in the process of returning to sport after injury rehabilitation are given one week to:
- (a) reflect back on their injury experience;
- (b) write a letter expressing their gratitude to someone who was especially kind to them during their injury experience but was not properly thanked; and
- (c) deliver the letter to the person, read the letter out loud, and spend some time with the person talking about what they wrote.
References
Salim, J., & Wadey, R. (2019). Using gratitude to promote sport injury-related growth. Journal of
Applied Sport Psychology. doi:10.1080/10413200.2019.1626515
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress:
Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60, 410-421. doi:10.1037/00003-066X.60.5.410
