What Happens When the Game Ends? Resilience, Recovery & Redefining Success with Laura HS Collins.

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"You don't have to erase your struggles to heal—it's about learning to understand and care for them." - Laura Collins

In this episode, I sit down with Laura Hans-Segundo Collins, a former elite gymnast and diver turned psychotherapist. We explore what happens when the identity you’ve built around a passion, career, or pursuit suddenly shifts, leaving you unmoored. Laura shares her sojourn from high-stakes athletics to navigating depression and ultimately finding purpose in mental health advocacy.

Her story reveals the hidden emotional toll of elite sports, the importance of trauma-informed coaching, and how we can reshape competitive environments to prioritise performance and well-being. Whether you’re an athlete, coach, leader, or someone traversing a major life transition, this episode offers powerful insights into resilience, identity, and healing.

What We Cover in This Episode

• The pressures of high-performance athletics and how they impact mental health
• Why many young athletes struggle with purpose after their sports careers end
• The role of community and storytelling in healing and self-discovery
• The importance of trauma-informed coaching and creating safer sports environments
• How we can balance competition with compassion in both sports and leadership

Key Takeaways

• Identity isn’t defined by a single pursuit—expanding your perspective helps with transitions.
• Healing is about integrating, not erasing, past struggles and learning from them.
• Competitive environments can be high-performance and high-support at the same time.
• Emotional well-being is as critical as physical conditioning in elite sports.
• Having a strong community and trusted mentors can make all the difference in resilience.

Bio

Laura Hahn-Segundo Collins' mission is to: "Cultivate whole-person well-being to develop healthier, more resilient, compassionate and connected athletes, coaches, and community." 

A proud first-generation Korean-Filipina American, Laura's journey as a former elite athlete and two-decade career as a psychotherapist deeply informs her philosophy on personal growth and transformation. Her practice integrates psychoanalytic psychotherapy with trauma-informed care, narrative therapy, mindfulness, and practical tools for comprehensive healing and optimal performance.

As a distinguished mental health professional in New York City, Laura has built an impressive legacy across public, nonprofit, and private sectors. She provides specialized training at institutions including NYU Medicine and Health and Hospitals, while mentoring emerging practitioners from Columbia, NYU, and other leading academic programs.

Connect

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lcollinslcsw/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theathletepsychotherapist/

Website:  https://lcollinslcsw.com/

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