The Power of Mind-Body Connection
Meet Dr. Larry Ford
When an athlete neglects their mental health, it can directly impact their physical health and performance. But many people in the sports world fail to recognize this connection between the mind and the body.
Dr. Larry Ford is working to change this. He’s an expert in the field of integrated care and population health and the founder of Hands to Guide You, a patient-centered practice focused on integrating behavioral health and primary care services. Dr. Ford also created Let’s Play Sports, a non-profit organization that equips young athletes with the tools they need to live happy and healthy lives. He’s a provider with both the National Basketball Players Association and the Becoming Counseling and Wellness, the official national counseling service provider for the Hall of Fame Behavioral Health. We are proud to partner with clinicians like Dr. Ford.
In this article, Dr. Ford explains how mental health impacts an athlete’s performance and describes how integrated care can dramatically improve healthcare outcomes. He also discusses his passion for investing in young athletes.
Discovering the benefits of integrated care
Dr. Ford first realized the implications of the mind-body connection when working as a respiratory therapist for patients suffering from chronic pain and mental illness.
“I was in a perpetual state of questioning, ‘Can more be done?’ Treating individuals who were there so they could receive oxygen — take a deep breath of air, expand those lungs, over and over again, day after day — something was missing,” he shared. “Taking an integrated care approach, identifying the root cause, and treating the whole patient seemed logical — more so than administering oxygen and managing medication repeatedly.”
This realization led Dr. Ford down a path of finding ways to bridge the gap between mental and behavioral health issues and physical health implications. He opened Hands to Guide You in 2011 out of the conviction that “There is no physical health without mental health.”
Since then, Dr. Ford has seen incredible results from his patient-centered, integrated care methods. His approach has been proven to decrease hospital re- admission by 30% in southwest Oklahoma City, leading to reduced healthcare costs and insurance coverage denials.
“Research has shown that the mind and body are connected,” Dr. Ford explained. “When a person feels sad and blue, it can impact their energy levels and motivation to participate in treatment, and negatively impact outcomes such as improving independent functioning. To achieve desired outcomes, it is essential to support the patient’s emotional health as well as their physical health.”
A safe space for athletes
A father of two athletes, and a life-long sports fan, Dr. Ford recognizes that athletes face unique challenges and pressures that can have lasting mental and physical effects.
He is committed to creating an environment where athletes can receive treatment from an expert who understands the athlete experience and the connection between mind and body in sports.
“Athletes endure wear and tear on the body like no other profession. They’re trained to be tough, to endure and be resilient. Athletes have pre and post-game routines for physical maintenance such as saunas, massages, etc., but what are they doing for their mental health care?” he asked.
Dr. Ford assures athletes that if they come to him for treatment, they can expect:
Confidentiality, trust, and integrity that exceed the highest care standards
Professional and personalized treatment
Access around the world; he will travel anywhere to work with an athlete
A safe place to receive treatment
Dr. Ford also wants to bring the conversations about mental, physical, and emotional health to the forefront of discussion in both the mental health space and the sports world.
This mission aligns closely with the work of HOFBH, so he decided to partner with The Becoming Counseling and Wellness to provide his behavioral health services to athletes, former athletes, and their families through the program.
“We’re looking forward to this partnership and hope to reach athletes from all walks of life whom we can help in their mental health journeys. Athletes are near and dear to our hearts. We intend to make a difference,” he shared.
The connection between injury and mental health
Dr. Ford works with athletes who deal with various physical and mental health concerns, but some of the most frequent issues he sees are depression, performance anxiety, and anxiety related to an injury.
In some cases, athletes may fear getting hurt, which in turn affects their performance. In other cases, athletes who endure an injury may struggle with depression or anxiety because they cannot play or because their career changes drastically after the injury.
These concerns are often exacerbated by the fact that athletes deal with enormous pressure, Dr. Ford argued.
“Unlike other professions, athletes are held to higher standards and must deal with the weight the world puts on their shoulders. Performance anxiety, depression, and mental health issues arise – not only when their career is impacted, but what about when life happens? What about when failure or not meeting expectations creeps in? Mind, body, spirit – it’s all connected, and each deserves attention and care.”
To combat these challenges, Dr. Ford will work with an athlete to build a personalized treatment plan that addresses one or more of the following areas of focus:
Anxiety
Depression
Family Services
Psychological Assessment
Substance Abuse Treatment
Trauma
Investing in young athletes
Though he enjoys working with adults, Dr. Ford also wanted to help young athletes develop skills that would help them thrive both now and later in life, whether they continue in sports or not. To accomplish this, he created Let’s Play Sports, a non-profit organization that coaches young athletes and equips them with tools they can use to live happy, healthy, and celebrated lives both on and off the field.
“Our schools are where young people spend 2/3 of their day. Extracurricular sports, whether it be through the public school system or other youth organizations are a proven outlet for learning how to become a team player, to be self-disciplined, and to be self-motivated,” he explained.
The Let’s Play Sports team works one-on-one with players to help them build healthy mindsets and learn skills that will serve them in sports and in life. They also educate coaches on topics like cultural diversity, performance anxiety, trauma, depression, communication skills, and more.
Dr. Ford believes this work is especially timely and important today, as children face more pressures and mental health challenges than ever before.
“Onsite and virtual classrooms define these modern times for all students — kids from all walks of life, of all ethnicities and socio-economic experiences. The pressure these days is unbelievable,” he shared. “Couple that with the pandemic, and it is important now more than ever to nurture our kids and help them navigate through uncertainty and behavioral health issues.”
As a result of working with Let’s Play Sports, young athletes are better equipped to cope with performance anxiety, return to play after an injury, mentally prepare for a competition, develop healthy pregame routines, improve practice efficiency, and more. Dr. Ford explained:
“This organization is providing opportunities to help people of all ages ‘power through’ the challenges of mental health diagnoses.”
To learn more about Hall of Fame Behavioral Health and the services The Becoming Counseling and Wellness provides as their official national counseling service provider, visit hofbh.com, or call us right now at (866) 901-1241.