Dr. Ulrika Tranaeus is a physiotherapist who worked with various Swedish national team athletes and Olympians competing in a variety of winter sports such as skiing, speed-skating, and ice-hockey. Helping athletes with their physical recovery, she realized that psychological factors had a huge impact on sport performance.   Recognition of the importance of mental factors, led her to do her PhD at the world-renowned, Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Her research has focused on the psychological factors associated with injury risk. Dr. Tranaeus highlights the role of psychological factors such as stress in increasing injury risk. She also discusses the importance of various strategies to manage stress – both before and after injury – such as breathing techniques, goal-setting, and relaxation and imagery. Dr. Tranaeus talks about the value of internal motivation for athlete recovery, the long-term benefits of injury, and the fact that overdoing rehabilitation exercises can delay, rather than expedite, injury recovery. For further assistance dealing with the challenges of injury or for performance enhancement consulting visit: podlogconsulting.com