Mik Borsten

The 42 year-old Mik Borsten from Amersfoort, was trained as a physiotherapist. In the Netherlands, he is above all known as a running therapist and ultra-sportsman. Mik has now worked for 16 years as a sports therapist in the psychiatric sector. In an enthusiastic and stimulating presentation, Mik demonstrates how to deal with your own limits, and how to stimulate your own motivation. In a unique manner, he establishes a less than obvious link between sport and society. Running therapy; or relieving psychological or physical suffering through sport. As Mik explained, "I express my tremendous passion for sport every day, to people with a psychological handicap. Thanks to my approach, no less than thirteen (!) people from my group have now responsibly completed a marathon! Their performance demonstrates that people with a chronic handicap are also capable of great things!" Ambulatory care in the Netherlands is focused far too much on people’s inabilities. It is also important to specifically focus on the health aspect! Mik continued, "In the overall health scene, psychiatry is somewhat the 'ugly duckling'. But wrongly so; after all, every year almost one million people in the Netherlands seek out some form of psychological help. In my opinion, this help is far too verbally-oriented. Hence my sports-based approach. I aim to show that sport can have a special therapeutic effect on psychological disorders. Sport has also been proven to be an excellent alternative for medication; through sport it is for example possible to reduce a dependency on medication, and as a consequence to take more personal responsibility for your own health. "For example for burnout sufferers, sport can offer a great deal. We all know the ancient saying 'healthy mind healthy body', just another indication that sport can help reduce illness levels.".

Ultrasport.