Can a sport development worker help people overcome their trauma? Common opinion holds that sport can contribute indirectly to the process of overcoming trauma. Sport activities lend structure to someone's daily life. They can also regulate the way in which people who have been through extreme and life-threatening situations relate to each other in groups. Sport also helps young people develop psychologically and integrate into a society. Sport is an excellent way to channel physical, psychological and social needs and it contributes to people's mental and physical health care (1998, Wolters, professor medical psychology for children and youth University of Utrecht).  Mark Bulthuis | Assess your own capacities However, all this does not mean that sport development workers are able, by virtue of their education, to help sportspersons with a trauma. There are certain competencies missing; after all, a sports instructor is not a psycho-social worker. But there are instances in which a sport development worker is expected to have some psychological skills and this may turn out to be problematic. Various trauma experts, including Professor De Jong of the Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation, Dr Simon of the Antares Foundation and professor Wolters (medical psychology for children and youth University of Utrecht), say that the first priority of a sport development worker should be the development and realisation of sport activities. By doing so, they can help people overcome their trauma, in an indirect way. Organisations working in the field are advised to take this into account when they design projects. Sport development workers themselves are advised to make a realistic assessment of their own capacities and vulnerabilities and find out whether they have not been traumatised in the past. They should do this before accepting an assignment abroad, as past traumas and present weaknesses can become a handicap once in the field.  Mark Bulthuis |