“Not Just Mental Toughness” with Dr. Jessica Bartley

An identity built on toughness and strength can make it devastatingly difficult to ask for help. That is why support can’t depend on athletes reaching breaking points; it must be built into the world around them. In this episode of The Quiet Tension, host Dr. Sharon Chirban speaks with Dr. Jessica Bartley, who leads psychological services for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), about the urgent work of building crisis response systems for Olympic athletes. Together, they explore how the invisible pressures that athletes face, such as income struggles, meteoric rises to fame, or mental health pressures, can easily rival the pressures they face in the games. Before joining the USOPC, Jessica was already more than familiar with the demanding worlds of performance, from eating disorders and body image work to Colorado Ballet and professional bull riding.  Across these varied worlds, she saw the same need for care that reaches the person beneath the performance. As Jessica reminds us, everyone has performances, and the work of building healthier systems around them is never finished.Listeners will hear Jessica talk about: (04:00) Building the system athletes needed(05:46) What crisis looks like at the olympic level(7:22) The difficulty of asking for help(12:01) The myth that Olympians don’t need help(14:06) When opportunity becomes just another pressure(20:14) Building healthy systems for every pivot (26:52) Behind the person building the system(39:33) Why everyone has performancesNew episodes of The Quiet Tension are released every other week. If you’d like to stay updated, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen. To learn more about topics like today’s, follow Sharon on Substack or visit the show website.