Dr Amy Izycky: Challenging the Champion Narrative

Everyone knows the mainstream narrative around elite athletes – that they are superhumans capable of achieving the truly incredible. True in many ways – but perhaps not the whole story. What if - in many cases - the drive required to become the best in the world comes from a place of internal disquiet? Dr Amy Izycky is a clinical psychologist and psychodynamic psychotherapist with a major interest in sport and author of the paradigm shifting book Skewed To The Right – Sport, Mental Health and Vulnerability. This episode starts with a premise - that we all need a loving gaze from our parents or caregivers as babies and children. Without it we may internalise a belief that there is 'something missing' - which leads us on a search to fill that void by finding it in the outside world - an unsustainable pursuit. That may be in a relationship, a car, a promotion... or an Olympic gold medal. In this epiosde we also talk about changing the narrative around mental health from 'It's okay not to be okay' - true of course - to 'It's okay to do the work to be ok'