Megan Lane is a trainee sports psychologist at Liverpool John Moores University, as well as a dressage rider. Being on the doctorate at LJMU means that Megan can work with clients under supervision, which is great because her clients also get the support of a really experienced psychologist through their support of Megan.
Tell us about ML Sports Psychology
It is a sports psychology business, aimed at helping sports people and athletes navigate the mental side of sport. It is still a relatively new business; I only started it in January of this year. I am a very passionate trainee, continually engaging with CPD to make sure I can support the clients in the best way possible.
What are the different ways you can help a dressage rider?
One-to-one online sessions or face to face depending on location. In these sessions, literally anything can be worked on, such as nerves, confidence, well-being, peak performance. Literally anything, we can work on it. One to one sessions give support and being a dressage rider myself I know the ins and outs of the sport, which really helps me with making sure my support is in context and will be useful for the demands the riders are facing. I can also do group workshops; I have done some for BD North and East on goal setting. I have also done workshops on things like confidence and managing emotions in other sports, which are also such important topics for dressage.
As a sports psychologist what are some common things you see in the dressage world?
Burnout is really common. My masters research investigated this in a sample of dual-career athletes (working alongside horses). Half of the sample were currently burnt out, with the remaining participants having experienced it at some point. One of the most alarming findings to come out of that research was the perception that the equestrian industry has a stigma around being open and honest about mental health and struggles. Many of the participants felt like they were alone, because they worried that if they shared what they were going through, that they would be judged and seen in a negative way. This is something I am really passionate about changing, because the long-term impacts of burnout can be incredibly detrimental. I am currently continuing to research burnout as part of my doctorate and aim to create an intervention as this is something that is really lacking at the moment.
How do you think we as dressage riders can sometimes get in our own way?
Too much of a focus on the outcome. This can make it really hard to enjoy competing, as there are so many factors outside of our control that can impact the outcome and results. Often, riders don’t recognise these uncontrollable factors and then blame poor results on themselves.
How do we overcome this?
Set task focused goals, which don’t relate to the outcome, but relate to things you can do. They are focused on improvement. Examples for me include to get stronger in my core, to work on straightness. I find that if I set task goals for a show, I actually end up getting a better result than when I used to say my goal was to win. I think in sport; it is so hard to not get caught up in results. I am not saying never set goals related to scores, but it is important to balance them with improvement goals so that even if you didn’t get the score you want, you can still pick out some positives from the test.
How can we prepare ourselves for competitions?
Rehearse your test in your head in real time. By picturing the environment you will be in, it will feel more familiar to you when you get there. This can really help with nerves.
Remember why you started riding in the first place! This can really help with managing when things don’t go as well.
If someone wanted to work with you, what would be the first steps?
Contact me using my website mlsportspsychology.co.uk. We will then book in a 30 min free consultation. This is where we can get to know each other, talk about goals and why they want support. After this, there is no obligation to carry on to sessions, but if the client wanted to, we would then move into weekly hour-long sessions. I would develop a loose plan for these sessions, based on what we spoke about during the consultation. The plans very regularly change, as we work together more and uncover more. There is no limit on the number of sessions, it all depends on what is best for the client.