A Team USA Psychologist Pulls Back the Curtain on Working With Olympians

Nowadays, Olympic athletes are often open about their mental health. World-famous athletes have spoken up about seeking therapy, experiencing mental blocks, and dealing with depression and anxiety. But that wasn't the case until recently. In fact, the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) only introduced a dedicated psychological services team in 2020, bringing licensed psychologist Jessica Bartley on board to develop a structure and team to support the unique mental health needs of Team USA athletes.

"We often say there doesn't need to be something 'wrong' with you to come see us," Bartley says. "We have a ton of tools to be able to help improve your performance." And since 2020, she's seen the conversation change firsthand. "My office had to be tucked around the corner where no one could see an athlete walking in my office. And I think that's shifted a bit. I've [now] seen athletes literally talk to me on a sideline. It's a little more open now." But while the stigma around mental health has certainly "lifted," she says it's still there.

As a psychologist for Team USA, Bartley's goal is to support athletes in any circumstance leading up to the Olympics, at the Games themselves, and in the years following, whether that's helping them manage stress and impostor syndrome as an elite athlete, adjust their sleep schedules to allow for better performance, or cope with issues in their personal lives. A few weeks ahead of the Paris Olympics, she spoke with PS about how USOPC's psychological services works with Team USA athletes, common mental health challenges they face, and ways she helps them build mental resilience. Read the conversation below.

Jessica Bartley, PsyD, MSSW, LP, LCSW, CMPC, is the senior director of psychological services at the USOPC.

PS: How are you and the providers on your team supporting Team USA's athletes in Paris?

JB: We'll have nine of our providers there to support Team USA. We're familiar faces they've often seen at camps when they come to training centers, or we go out to them. We're a part of their health histories, so we're doing mental-health screens and always asking them about how their mental health is. Even if they have no relationship with us, we're there. If something comes up or if they have a therapist back home, we can step in or coordinate. There's been a number of things that have come up — in the past, we've had athletes experience losses — where we've been able to step in and really provide some psychological support in that moment for whoever is at the Games in that moment.

PS: Olympic athletes are often considered to be some of the most mentally resilient people in the world. How do you help athletes at the elite level build mental resilience?

JB: I've found that we're often really striving for psychological flexibility, which is being present, taking whatever thoughts and emotions that come up, and understanding where they fit. You're more than just trying to accept the thought; you are trying to understand what it's telling you, what it means, but you don't push it away or avoid it. And then you have the tools to be able to understand what that means.

That's often what I'm trying to work with athletes on, being flexible in those thoughts. Instead of going for that perfect practice or game, we have to know that doesn't happen and that there's always going to be something that comes up — your shoe doesn't feel right or you feel a little bit off. How do you overcome that? I'm trying to help them get into their zone. When do they feel like they're at peak performance? That could be a quick meditation exercise, music to really pump you up, a phone call with a friend, looking at puppies on YouTube or TikTok, whatever they need in that moment.

PS: What are some of the techniques you use to work towards that psychological flexibility?

JB: What we try to do is build toolboxes and have athletes rate their zone on a scale of one to 10. Any given athlete on any given day could say, I need to be between a four and a six. Four would be a super zen, totally meditative state, and a 10 would be jumping around and adrenaline pumping. Some athletes need to be at an eight to perform in their particular sport, and some want to be at a two. I would work with an athlete on what those ideal numbers are, and then what to do if they need to be at a five and they're too amped up at an eight. So how would we build in these tools, like meditation and mindfulness, into their toolbox and help the athlete understand when to pull out that particular tool to get into their zone?

And oftentimes, I hate to say this, but in the moment, if somebody thinks that I'm going to say something magical, what I would actually say is, do what you've been doing. You've got this. You've got the tools. You've been preparing for this. I think that's often the most powerful.

PS: What are some of the most common mental health challenges that you see Olympians and Paralympians face?

JB: Right now, the number one issue is actually sleep. Because they travel internationally and balance so much, more than half of our athletes struggle with sleep. So in response to that, we created a Team USA sleep optimization plan for each of the athletes. They get tailored sleep programming. We've worked with some of the coaches on like, "Hey, we just had a late flight the night before. Let's push practice the next day into the afternoon instead of an 8 a.m." Sleep can highly impact mental health and wellness, so that's been one big project we've wrapped our arms around.

The thing that comes up just below that is what we would call flags on disordered eating and body image. Despite these athletes being in phenomenal shape, they're on display for the world. We've developed a lot of programming around that and worked with interdisciplinary teams with medicine, nutrition, and strength and conditioning to make sure that the athletes feel really supported in that space as well and feel really good about their bodies heading into the games.

PS: What do you find unique about working with athletes at the Olympic level?

JB: I think what's so unique is this four-year cycle where some of these sports only get attention to this magnitude every four years. We also have such a wide range of ages. We have some athletes who are in their teens, so a number of minors, and we have athletes that are in their fifties. You also have such a huge span of athletes in the different sports. How different is an equestrian athlete from a skateboarding athlete or break dancing?

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Yerin Kim is the features editor at POPSUGAR, where she helps shape the vision for special features and packages across the network. A graduate of Syracuse University's Newhouse School, she has over five years of experience in the pop culture and women's lifestyle spaces. She's passionate about spreading cultural sensitivity through the lenses of lifestyle, entertainment, and style.