“Being a high performance athlete is NOT healthy”

Interview with Licensed Iván Tcherkaski, psychologist of high-performance athletes in football, players from the professional tennis circuit (WTA and ATP), car drivers (TC, TN, TC2000), high-performance golf players (AAG) and the First Rugby Club Alumni.- What is sports psychology?It is a branch of psychology that addresses the problems of athletes around the development of mental abilities necessary for their performance in a sport. Try to optimize your capabilities for the best performance.- What are the most salient psychological characteristics in a high-performance athlete?The high-performance athlete is NOT a healthy individual. For example: he coexists with physical pain and remains willing to do much more for the race; resign his childhood and adolescence, because his productive life is very short (except in golf) .- Is it possible to locate typical features of Argentine athletes?Yes, certain narcissistic features that differentiate them from other countries. They throw away their roots a lot, family, friends. They miss. When they live outside, they need to make their home a small Argentina, they don't finish adapting to a new culture, they need to keep doing Argentine life.- What are the reasons for consultation of an Argentine athlete?In principle, they consult because they have the idea that they should solve their problems; then there are topics such as pressures, anxiety management, injuries, not knowing why they don't improve. Argentinean athletes are not prepared to retire; they are idols and overnight they are forgotten. This is a very complex issue that generates a lot of distress.- What kind of relationship is established in the therapeutic bond?What generates the link is the ability to work on what is not pleasant. The Argentine athlete needs to generate an affective bond, he attaches more importance to the relationship than to the process.