Anything has an "psychological effect," and tricking a person into thinking any old junk is "better than therapy" is trivial - look at all the people who spend time and money on AI chatbots. It's also pretty clear it's not actually _good for them_.
And there's zero surprise here it would be used to manipulate potential athletes.
When I was in grade school I got the whole pitch on visualization: picture yourself making the free throw and you're more likely to make the free throw.
And there's zero surprise here it would be used to manipulate potential athletes.