Let's talk about…. mental fitness in sports

In this episode of Let's Talk About CBT, Helen Macdonald speaks with Phil Cooper, mental health nurse and co-founder of the charity State of Mind Sport, and Ian Knott, former professional rugby league player and State of Mind presenter. Phil shares how State of Mind was born out of tragedy and developed into an award-winning mental fitness programme, now reaching thousands of athletes across the UK and beyond. Ian talks candidly about his experience of severe injury, depression, and suicidal thoughts after retiring from sport, and how CBT helped him to rebuild his life. We hear how sports settings are being used to break down stigma, encourage conversations, and promote mental health support—particularly among men—and how brief interactions and powerful personal stories can save lives. Resources & Links: State of Mind Sport website Information on CBT and how to find a therapist If you or someone you know needs urgent help, reach out to Samaritans at 116 123 (UK) or visit samaritans.org Find our sister podcasts and all our other episodes in our podcast hub here: https://babcp.com/Podcasts Have feedback? Email us at podcasts@babcp.com Follow us on Instagram & Bluesky: @BABCPpodcasts Credits: Music is Autmn Coffee by Bosnow from Uppbeat Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/bosnow/autumn-coffee License code: 3F32NRBYH67P5MIF This episode was produced by Steph Curnow Transcript: Helen: Hello, and welcome to Let's Talk About CBT, the podcast where we talk about cognitive and behavioural psychotherapies, what they are, what they can do, and what they can't. I'm Helen MacDonald, your host. I'm the senior Clinical Advisor for the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies Today what we've got for you is an episode about mental health, mental fitness and sports, and I've got Phil and Ian here to talk to me today. Phil, will you just introduce yourself? Phil: My name's Phil Cooper. I'm a mental health nurse by background. I used to work as a nurse consultant in mental health and drug and alcohol misuse. I love sport. And, for some strange reason or quirk of random chaos, I became to be one of the co-founders of State of Mind Sport charity that focuses on mental fitness. Helen: Thank you, Phil. Ian, please, will you introduce yourself? Ian: My name's Ian Knott. I'm a former rugby league professional and I currently am a presenter for State of Mind. I talk about my story, my lived experience of having to retire through a serious injury and then developing mental illness. So I talk about that. Helen: Thanks very much, Ian, and I'm sure our listeners will want to hear more about that later in this episode. Firstly though, can I ask Phil to tell us a bit more? Phil, will you tell us about State of Mind and how it came to be and what it does? Phil: Sure State of Mind Sport began unfortunately on the back of a tragedy within the sport of rugby league, where a Great Britain Rugby League international called Terry Newton, unfortunately took his own life in September, 2010. Sent great shock waves, I think, through the whole sport for such a high profile player. At the time there was relatively little support or mental health support for players at that time. I suppose as a mental health nurse who loves rugby league and sport, I read a league paper on a Monday morning, somebody wrote an article saying how the NHS and the sport should get together to try and prevent suicide. Also, somebody also wrote a letter, again a mental health pro