Discover the techniques sports psychologists use to guide retiring athletes, featuring Tom Trbojevic's story and expert advice.
An athlete's career can pivot on a single injury, and the emotional aftermath often pushes athletes toward premature retirement decisions. NRL star Tom Trbojevic, sidelined by his ninth hamstring tear at age 29, is the latest example of how injury-induced distress can cloud judgment. Sports psychologist Phil Jauncey urged him to avoid career decisions until after recovery, highlighting a core principle of retirement transitions: separating acute emotion from long-term planning. As athlete mental health gains recognition, sports psychologists are becoming indispensable in guiding retirement transitions.
Roughly one in four retired elite athletes experiences anxiety or depression. A systematic review and meta-analysis found a 26.4% prevalence of these disorders among former athletes at a single point in time (PubMed Central).
Athletic identity foreclosure occurs when a person invests so heavily in being an athlete that they avoid exploring other roles, interests, and possible selves. For many, sport provides a clear sense of purpose, a daily structure, and a social network. When retirement arrives, especially if forced by injury or deselection, the loss of that single identity can trigger an athlete identity crisis.
Without the athlete label, former competitors often describe an existential vacuum. The training schedule, team camaraderie, and performance goals vanish, leaving days unstructured and straining relationships that once revolved around sport. Self-esteem, tightly coupled to athletic achievement, can plummet. Research consistently links a narrow athletic identity to higher rates of depression, anxiety, and identity crisis after retirement. A recent synthesis of dozens of studies involving thousands of former elite athletes found that mental health challenges are significantly elevated in this population, underscoring the need for early support.1
In sport psychology, identity foreclosure describes the premature commitment to a single role without exploring alternatives. Athletes who foreclose on their sport identity often lack the career skills, hobbies, or social connections that could anchor them after competition. This makes retirement feel like a free-fall rather than a transition. Some scholars suggest that a temporary identity moratorium, a period of living in between roles, can be a necessary step before reconstructing a more balanced self.
Reclaiming a multifaceted identity requires deliberate effort. Psychologists help athletes reflect on values beyond sport, cultivate dormant interests, and reconnect with non-sport social groups, a holistic approach to working with the whole person. This process, sometimes called identity remigration, has been shown to reduce distress. In one qualitative study, retired athletes who tapped into existing group memberships outside sport, such as family, community service, or academic circles, reported smoother transitions. Early identity exploration, even while still competing, serves as a protective factor.
Real-world examples abound. From Olympic swimmers to professional footballers, the narrative repeats: the higher the exclusive athletic identity, the harder the adjustment. Many high-profile athletes have openly shared their struggles with purposelessness and depression after the final whistle. These stories affirm that identity loss is not a personal failing but a predictable psychological challenge that can be navigated with the right guidance.
When an athlete faces retirement due to a sudden injury like Tom Trbojevic's recurring hamstring tears, the sports psychologist's role differs markedly from that with an athlete who has planned a voluntary exit. The injury-forced path often demands immediate crisis intervention and grief processing, while voluntary retirement allows for a more gradual identity pivot. In both cases, the psychologist guides the athlete through a structured process of assessment, counseling, transition planning, and ongoing support.
The work begins with a thorough assessment of psychological readiness. Using in-depth interviews and validated questionnaires1, the psychologist explores cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains: how the athlete thinks about retirement, what feelings arise, and what actions they are taking or avoiding. An exit examination may screen for depression, anxiety, or other mental health conditions and evaluate whether the athlete has a realistic post-sport plan2. Key risks, identity confusion, plummeting self-confidence, loneliness, and lack of social support, are mapped early3. When injury forces retirement, the assessment pays extra attention to trauma responses; for a voluntary exit, it might emphasize identity expansion and future goal clarity.
With needs identified, individual counseling sessions create a confidential space to work through the loss of athletic identity, grief, and distress. Psychologists employ evidence-based techniques such as cognitive therapy to reframe unhelpful thoughts, rational-emotive behavior therapy to challenge irrational beliefs like “I'm worthless without my sport,” emotional expression to release tension, and stress inoculation training to build resilience4. This is not a one-off conversation. Effective counseling continues both during and after the retirement transition1. Group workshops with fellow retiring or retired athletes complement the individual work. They normalize the experience, reduce isolation, and let athletes share real-world coping strategies in a peer-supported environment4.
Collaborative transition planning starts well before the final exit1. Psychologist and athlete work together to identify transferable skills like discipline, leadership, and teamwork1, and explore job or educational pathways. Practical topics such as financial planning, continued education, and maintaining social support networks take center stage5. The process follows a stepwise progression: first, make sense of the retirement; second, cultivate a broader identity that extends beyond sport; third, establish a concrete future plan; fourth, build confidence in that plan5. For an injury-forced retirement, the psychologist often coordinates with health, wellness, vocational, and mental health professionals to create a holistic safety net2.
Sports psychologists also educate families, coaches, and support staff about the psychological stages of retirement. They explain that it is a process often marked by identity disruption and emotional volatility. When working within a team setting, confidentiality in sport psychology is paramount; psychologists navigate dual relationships with care, always prioritizing the athlete's well-being. Professional guidelines from sport psychology and mental health bodies underscore informed consent, clear boundaries, and ethical decision-making that puts the athlete first.
The median annual wage for clinical and counseling psychologists was $95,830, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sports psychologists, who often fall under this category, may earn within this range, with specialization and experience driving variation.
For athletes, the hardest part of retirement isn’t leaving the field; it’s rebuilding an identity that no longer revolves around competition. Sports psychologists draw on a blend of cognitive, behavioral, mindfulness-based, and narrative techniques to help athletes navigate this transition, tailoring an approach that fits the individual’s needs and timeline.3
Athletes often hold rigid beliefs like “I am nothing without my sport.” Cognitive restructuring teaches them to recognize these automatic thoughts and examine the evidence against them. A psychologist might ask: “What qualities made you a great athlete, and how can those same qualities transfer to a new role?” By practicing this skill, clients learn to replace self-defeating narratives with more balanced, realistic views, reducing anxiety and depression during the transition.1
Just as training schedules brought structure during a career, behavioral activation counters the withdrawal and aimlessness that can follow retirement. Psychologists work with athletes to schedule rewarding, non-sport activities, like joining a recreational club, learning a new skill, or volunteering, that restore a sense of purpose and routine.5 Goal setting in non-athletic domains (e.g., education, career exploration) helps align daily actions with emerging values, while stress-inoculation techniques equip athletes to handle predictable hurdles like job interviews or unfamiliar social settings.1
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) teach retired athletes to sit with grief or anxiety without becoming overwhelmed. Through breathwork, body scans, and cognitive defusion exercises, they learn to observe difficult thoughts rather than react to them. This nonreactivity is crucial when facing the identity loss that injury-forced retirement can bring, allowing space to mourn the career while staying open to what comes next.2
Identity broadening helps athletes see themselves as multi-dimensional: a former athlete who is also a mentor, student, creative, or family member.3 Narrative therapy takes this further by inviting them to tell their life story in a way that honors the sports chapter but also gives shape to a new, meaningful arc. Some programs combine CBT, narrative identity exercises, and lifestyle redesign, such as a structured 18-session program that has shown promise in helping athletes craft a coherent post-sport identity.4
Using performance profiling adapted for life after sport, psychologists guide athletes to identify what truly matters now: autonomy, connection, creativity, service. Values clarification exercises map these priorities onto concrete steps: enrolling in a degree program, pursuing a coaching certification, or dedicating time to family. This proactive mindset replaces reactive decision-making and frames retirement not as an ending, but as a strategic pivot toward a life built on personal meaning.6
When a high-profile athlete is sidelined by yet another injury, two distinct paths emerge: making a snap decision about retirement while still in the grip of frustration and pain, or pausing to recover physically and mentally before evaluating next steps. The unfolding situation around Tom Trbojevic, a 29-year-old NRL star for the Manly Sea Eagles, as covered in a Racing and Sports report, vividly illustrates why sports psychologists stress the latter. With nine career hamstring injuries and his most recent setback prompting a 2-4 week absence, retirement chatter has intensified. But rather than rushing to a conclusion, Trbojevic has been urged to let the emotional dust settle first: a principle that runs through the core of injury-forced retirement support.
Trbojevic's résumé is littered with soft-tissue setbacks, and each recurrence fuels public and personal doubt about his longevity. The latest injury came during a critical phase for his team, which has been on a three-match losing streak, amplifying the psychological effects of losing streaks on athletes. Coach Kieran Foran has publicly backed him to return to fullback once fit, yet the question of how many more times his body can endure the rehabilitation cycle looms. At 29, Trbojevic is not past his prime, but the cumulative physical toll and the psychological weight of repeated comebacks create a perfect storm for impulsive career decisions.
Sports psychologist Phil Jauncey offered a clear directive: avoid making career-defining choices while in a state of emotional distress. He underscored that acute injury recovery is a period of heightened vulnerability, when judgment is clouded by pain, disappointment, and fear. Jauncey's approach advocates for a deliberate waiting period, a "cooling-off" window, before even discussing retirement. By contrast, prominent rugby league figure Phil Gould suggested a longer-term perspective: using the upcoming off-season to systematically address injury concerns and then make a measured plan. While Gould's view acknowledges the need for planning, it still separates immediate recovery from long-range decisions, aligning with Jauncey's core message to not let the rawness of a fresh injury dictate the future.
Injury-forced retirement is inherently more psychologically taxing than voluntary retirement. Where voluntary retirement allows athletes to craft an identity transition on their own timeline, an injury-imposed exit strips away control and often plunges individuals into a crisis.4 A study of professional rugby union players found that those who retired because of injury were more than twice as likely to experience significant psychological distress compared to their counterparts who chose to step away.1 Other research shows that former elite athletes who underwent injuries or surgeries face a risk of common mental disorders that is 2 to 7 times higher.2 A 2024 analysis of athlete wellbeing trajectories confirmed that surprising or injury-driven retirements cause significant declines in wellbeing, whereas retiring at the "right time" or to pursue a new goal does not.3 The early transition window (those first weeks and months after the news) is generally the most difficult, marked by sleep disturbance, disordered eating, and substance misuse in some cases.5 Jauncey's advice to Trbojevic, then, is not merely pragmatic; it is a protective measure grounded in these patterns.
Avoid making any career decisions while you're still hurting. Wait until you've recovered both physically and emotionally.
Retirement from sport is not a single event but a gradual process of psychological adjustment that can last months to years. Athletes move through phases of shock, coping, and eventual redefinition of their identity. Understanding this timeline and having a structured plan can make the difference between a rocky transition and a fulfilling next chapter.
Adjustment typically unfolds in overlapping stages. Immediately after retirement, many athletes experience shock or emotional distress; this acute phase often lasts from a few weeks to about two months. A coping and exploration period follows, usually between two and five months, where the reality of the change sets in and early strategies are tested. Stabilization tends to occur around six to twelve months; longitudinal studies suggest elite athletes reach a new equilibrium after about twelve months on average.1 For deeper identity integration and a true sense of purpose beyond sport, plan on one to three or more years. Some research suggests full adjustment can take two to five years for those with very high athletic identity.1 These timelines are not rigid; they vary greatly depending on the individual, the nature of the retirement (voluntary vs. forced), and the support system in place.
Sports psychologists often use validated screening tools to assess how strongly an athlete identifies with their sport and how prepared they are for life after competition. The Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS) is frequently administered before retirement and again at three- and twelve-month follow-ups to track changes in self-concept.2 The Sports Retirement Inventory helps evaluate practical and emotional readiness across domains like finances, social networks, and career plans. These tools give practitioners a clearer picture of who may be at risk for a difficult transition and where to focus interventions. For amateur athletes, similar assessments are used but with less standardized norms, so the professional’s clinical judgment becomes even more important.
Several concrete actions can ease the psychological and logistical burden:
When retirement is forced by injury, the transition is often more abrupt and distressing. Unlike a planned farewell, there is no time to prepare emotionally or practically. Athletes in this situation may struggle with unresolved grief, anger, and a shattered sense of self. The loss of the athlete role can feel like an existential crisis. Immediate intervention is critical to prevent spiraling mental health declines. Coaches and families must prioritize the person over the player, offering unconditional support and encouraging professional help without delay.
Support networks play a vital role. Coaches and family members should:
Retirement planning is not a one-time checklist but an ongoing process of redefining who you are beyond the game.
For the elite professional, retirement can trigger an identity crisis with financial peril; for the recreational athlete, it may feel like a slow drift from a beloved hobby. The psychological weight of leaving sport depends heavily on the level of competition, how central athletics are to identity, and the support networks in place. Sports psychologists tailor retirement counseling to these differences, recognizing that a one‑size‑fits‑all approach ignores critical context.
Elite athletes invest years of singular focus into their careers, often from childhood. Their public identity, income, and social circles are inseparable from sport. A review found that between one-third and one-half of professional athletes retire involuntarily, often due to injury or deselection, and this involuntary exit is strongly tied to poorer adjustment.1 Elevated rates of depression and anxiety are well‑documented in this group, especially when retirement is sudden and unplanned.2 Although professional leagues or player unions may offer transition programs, many athletes still face a long, crisis‑like adjustment because their athlete identity was all‑consuming.3 Financial strain compounds the issue, as retirement often comes early and demands a rapid career shift.
College athletes occupy a unique middle ground. They are dual-career athletes, balancing sport with academics, which can provide a broader identity foundation. However, when eligibility ends, whether through graduation, injury, or deselection, the loss of structured support and team belonging can be profound.4 Financial dependence on sport is typically lower than at the pro level, but many student‑athletes have not fully explored career paths outside athletics. Research on this population is thinner, but evidence points to identity disruption and lost social networks as primary challenges. Unlike their professional counterparts, collegiate athletes often lack formal retirement programs, leaving them to navigate the transition in isolation.
Amateur and recreational athletes generally face the least financial disruption, yet retirement can still exact a psychological toll. For those whose social life, routine, and sense of purpose were built around a sport, stepping away can feel like a quiet but persistent loss. The research base here is sparse, but clinicians report that isolation and a diminished sense of belonging are common.4 Because these athletes may not see themselves as having a “career” to retire from, they might not seek support, making the adjustment a largely invisible struggle.
Psychologists can adapt retirement counseling by assessing three key factors at each level: - Athletic identity centrality: How much of the athlete’s self‑concept is woven into sport? Elite athletes typically score highest, requiring deeper identity reconstruction work. - Reason for retirement: Involuntary exits (injury, cut) demand grief processing and crisis intervention, while voluntary retirements allow for more proactive planning. - Support and resources: Pro athletes may engage with league‑backed programs; collegiate athletes benefit when counselors coordinate with academic advisors and career centers; amateurs often need help building fresh communities and routines.
For elite professionals, phased approaches that include career counseling and psychological skills training are effective.5 Collegiate athletes frequently respond well to workshops that bridge their sports experience to job markets. Amateurs may need simple, structured encouragement to find new activities that restore a sense of mastery and connection. Recognizing these distinctions allows practitioners to meet athletes where they are, turning a potentially destabilizing life event into a manageable transition.
Where can athletes, coaches, and families find reliable mental health support during retirement or injury transitions?
Navigating retirement from sport requires more than personal resilience. A network of organizations, helplines, and online tools, including comprehensive sport psychology resources, exists to provide direct guidance, whether you are an athlete facing the end of a career, a coach supporting a team member, or a family member seeking how to help.
Digital platforms can supplement professional help. The AIS website offers free mental health screening tools, while the NCAA provides a series of downloadable workbooks on topics like managing setbacks and planning for life after college sports. Many sports psychology organizations also host webinars and podcasts featuring retired athletes who have successfully navigated the transition.
Waiting until a crisis hits can deepen feelings of isolation. Encourage athletes to explore these resources during their playing career, not only after retirement. Parents and coaches play a key role in normalizing conversations around mental health; sports psychology for parents emphasizes that seeking professional support is a sign of strength, not weakness. Early intervention helps build the coping skills necessary for a smoother, more fulfilling post-athletic life.
