PAGING DR. E

During the pandemic lockdown, Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo found herself frustrated and exhibiting behaviors that, she says, were “not me at all.” So, she gathered herself and wrote the book, Get Out of the Red Zone, to answer the question of why good people do bad things. The book helps athletes—and non-athletes—discover how to manage stress, transforming them from the inside out where they feel happier and more confident both personally and professionally.

Lombardo, or “Dr. E” as she’s known to clients, is one of the premier sports psychologists in the country and is the founder of EleVive Sports Psychology, a practice that helps athletes and others manage the mental aspect of their games and lives. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a master’s degree in physical therapy and is also a regular media contributor and professional speaker.

Lombardo works with athletes, and partners with parents and coaches, to help athletes reach their full potential. The “red zone” referred to in her book is the space in the brain where negative thoughts are allowed to creep in. The underlying cause of the “red zone” is stress.

Parents, she says, can play a critical role in helping kids avoid the red zone because parents are the biggest influences in their children’s lives. It’s important they have the tools to guide their kids in situations where stress can be a big factor. This is particularly vital in an era where parents are financially and emotionally invested in their kids’ success. Parents have their own red zones, too.

“Once we give parents some training, it’s very useful in helping them better support their children,” she says. “When parents lose it, that’s a great example of being in that psychological red zone—the high level of stress, not thinking and acting rationally.”

“Parents badly want their child to be successful so when their children’s performance is not going the way they want, sometimes they react in a particular way,” Lombardo says. “If they took a step back, they would realize that is probably not the best approach.”

“I have a philosophy, my view of the world, that the majority of people are very good people,” she says “We just don’t always act all that great and we don’t always act that great because we get in the red zone. The best thing as a parent that you can do is empathize with your child when they don’t do well and support them emotionally.”

Lombardo says the lessons she shares in Get Out of the Red Zone—and in her practice—don’t just apply to athletic activity. Stress is always hovering, whether it be at work or in our personal lives. It’s a fact of life. Best coping with it requires the tools and discipline to keep it under control.

“I work with professional athletes, and I will tell you my athletes who retire, if they haven’t had this sense of purpose or sense of worth outside of their sport, we’ve got a lot of work to do,” she says. “We want to help our children see that sport is part of their lives and there’s a lot they can learn from it that will help them in life, such as perseverance, teamwork, and overcoming challenges.”

Lombardo got her start as a physical therapist but pivoted to psychology because she realized the importance of mindset. Scientists estimate we have 60,000 thoughts a day and the majority are not objective and are not fact-based. They are beliefs or interpretations or assumptions. She says we act on those and a lot of times they’re not even true.

“What is completely lacking for kids and parents is mind skills training— how to really make the mind work for instead of against you,” she says. “My relationship with my children has been completely transformed since I started applying them in my life, and I see it consistently when my parent clients start using them in their households.”

Contact EleVive today by visiting elevive.com.