Three Ways Exercise Physiologists And Psychologists Can Collaborate

Not to brag, but if our company had a resume, “Team Player” would be front and center on our list of skills.

Multidisciplinary team – the all golden approach to rehabilitation. No matter the condition, no matter the research or the governing body, the recommendation for a multidisciplinary approach will be there, and we are all about it. We’ve told you about how we love to work with occupational therapists, physiotherapists, general practitioners and rehab providers… And we can add psychologists to the list too!

In 2021, 17% of our total referrals were mental health. On top of that, many other conditions we worked with involved mental health considerations or even a secondary mental health diagnosis. It’s safe to say, we are no strangers in the mental health space. It’s also safe to say that the majority of those claimants have a psychologist working with them, so ‘Psych + EP’ collabs on a program are nothing new. 

If you take a moment to consider the two roles, it makes sense that the two professions working together would make for the best outcomes right? Right. We love a good collaboration, and we know from experience how much more powerful an approach it is!

The ‘Collab’ Approach

The psychologist is, without a doubt, the expert when it comes to mental health conditions. They are responsible for coordinating and executing the best psychological treatment to help that client. Where psychologists hone in and address the specifics of the mental health condition (such as identifying and correcting any self limiting thoughts or behaviors), we use exercise as our medium to support this process. 

Exercise has benefits for both the body and the mind – it helps with improving sleep, increasing energy levels, improving mood and positivity, increasing self-confidence, stress management, resilience… We can all benefit from it, mental health condition or not! But the advantage of working with an exercise physiologist as opposed to sending someone to a personal trainer at the gym goes beyond all this.

So we’ve summarised three ways we see psychologists and exercise physiologists working together, to elevate the effectiveness for both, and most importantly, for our clients. 

Three Ways Exercise Physiologists And Psychologists Can Collaborate

1. The Feedback Loop 

As far as ‘collaboration’ goes, communication has to be the most important thing, right? 

Taking a ‘community-based’ approach with clients – in their homes, in the gym, in their day-to-day – gives us invaluable insight that a psychologist often doesn’t get glimpses of from the clinic. This open communication loop between ourselves and the psychologist on file means that we can let them know how the client is going from a more ‘behind the scenes’ view. Simply watching someone interact in their usual life can provide a lot of extra contextual information! 

2. Reinforcing Positive Routines 

Psychologists often provide recommendations for clients to implement between sessions, where there may be a week or even two-week gap. We all know that breaking old habits (mental or behavioral!) takes practice, practice, practice. If we are aware of any recommendations the psychologist is making, we can include and encourage them alongside our own recommendations. Routine is something we often focus on in the mental health space, so let us help solidify those positive changes!

3. Collaborating For The Path Forward

Imagine if you were on a road trip, with two different GPS systems on your dashboard, taking you on two completely different routes. How confusing would that be?! We like to not only work alongside the psych on the case, but with them to determine the best path forward. All it takes is a quick phone call here and there to make sure you’re on the same route, with questions like “what are your thoughts on the next steps for X?”

 A multidisciplinary team really is the gold standard to get great outcomes for clients and this is even more important in the often complex, mental health space.

So if you’re a psychologist and you see an EP on your case list, don’t be afraid to reach out! We would love to have you on “the team”. 

Author: Tessa Nielsen

Editor: Yolanda van Vugt

Clinical Exercise Physiologists and Content Creators at Specialised Health

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