Dr. Emily Israel Pluhar ’96, director of the Sports Medicine Behavioral Health team, Boston Children’s Hospital, and assistant professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School. Photo Credit: Bryan Goldberg Photography
When an athlete is injured, healing the mind is often as important as healing the body. Dr. Emily Israel Pluhar ’96 spends her days providing clinical care and researching injured adolescent athletes who are experiencing increased levels of anxiety, depression, and other emotional responses related to sports injuries.
She is the director of the Sports Medicine Behavioral Health team, part of Boston Children’s Hospital, and is an assistant professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, where she has also run an Adolescent Medicine Psychology Fellowship.
“What makes sports injuries particularly complex is the psychological impact is often underrecognized,” Pluhar explains. “Injured athletes frequently experience a profound sense of loss of physical function, structure, social connection, and identity. They lose the camaraderie with their peers, endorphins, and the high of exercise, their relationships with coaches, and the motivational focus that competition provides that is the driving factor behind their passion for their sport.”
“Many student-athletes thrive on the structure that school and sports provide. When that framework is disrupted by injury, they can struggle significantly. For many of them, their identity is deeply tied to their role as an athlete.”
The pressure to succeed in sports is intense, Pluhar says. “For middle and high school athletes, the focus is often on college recruitment. For college athletes, it’s the next step—semi-professional leagues or national teams. There is a constant drive toward the next milestone. The persistent pressure can be detrimental.” The need to be the top athlete in their sport can lead to injuries both physical and mental.
“These perfectionistic athletes [when injured] struggle with not being able to do what they love to do. You see it manifest in the recovery process.”
For example, a common injury—particularly injury to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)—can occur when young athletes overtrain. Pluhar’s research focuses on the link between ACL injuries and anxiety and depression in female adolescent and young adult athletes, who are more prone to ACL tears. “Our goal is to improve overall recovery—not just physically but emotionally as well,” she notes. “We want the best possible outcomes.”
Pluhar, far left, with her husband, Drew, and close friend Whitney Tremaine O’Brien ’96
Concussion—when a hit to the skull causes internal damage to the brain—is another area Pluhar studies. Both ACL damage and concussions can derail an athlete not only physically but emotionally as well, Pluhar’s clinical work and research has revealed.
“There has been substantial progress in recognizing and treating concussion,” she explains. “But even with improved protocols, many athletes still experience significant emotional distress. Still, athletes wonder ‘Am I ever going to get better?’ or they [express the] fear, ‘Am I ever going to return to my sport?’ These concerns can trigger underlying anxiety or depression caused by the injury.”
Pluhar has studied and consulted with many different competitive athletes. “I’ve [worked with] some really cool sports. I have had the opportunity to work with an extensive range of sports, including Olympic rowers, elite Nordic and alpine ski racers, fencers, and professional dancers.”
Much of the recovery process for injured athletes experiencing anxiety and depression involves educating the athlete on how the mind and body are integrated.
“Often in medicine we just focus on the physical healing, but understanding the mental health piece is crucial. When a [young person] is recovering from injury, they will benefit from meeting with a mental health professional. We want them to have a better understanding of the psychological recovery as well as the physical recovery,” she says.
“I love working with adolescents and young adults. That has been consistent throughout my career,” she says. Pluhar is also an active athlete who is passionate about tennis and skiing.
Pluhar, who also serves as a Taft trustee, credited a mentor in the field with igniting a passion for adolescent health, as well as her desire to mentor others.
“She mentored hundreds of women in the field of adolescent health,” Pluhar says. “If I can help promote other’s careers, if I can train other people the way my mentor did, that’s going to have a meaningful, long-lasting impact on mental health. The most meaningful, important part of my career is mentoring others and furthering the field.”