Therapy for athletes

Your body is ready. Your mind is overthinking.

You've put in the work. The hours of practice, the film study, the conditioning. Physically, you're prepared. But when the moment comes — the big game, the meet, the match — something gets in the way. You tighten up. You overthink. You play not to lose instead of playing to win. Or you're coming back from an injury and can't shake the fear of getting hurt again, even when your body is fully healed.

The mental side of sport is where performance is won or lost at the highest levels — and it's the side that most athletes spend the least time training.

What brings athletes to mental performance work

You don't have to be in crisis to benefit from this work. Athletes come in at all levels and for all kinds of reasons:

  • Performance anxiety — nerves that go beyond healthy activation and start hurting your game

  • Mental blocks — inexplicable breakdowns in skills you've done thousands of times

  • Loss of confidence — a slump, a bad stretch, or a string of mistakes that's gotten in your head

  • Overthinking and paralysis — too much analysis during competition, not enough instinct

  • Cracking under pressure — playing well in practice but falling apart when it counts

  • Injury recovery — cleared physically but mentally stuck, fearful, or disconnected from your body

  • Identity and burnout — questioning your relationship with your sport, feeling empty despite success

  • Transition out of sport — graduating, retiring, or losing a sport you built your identity around

Whether you're a teen competing for a college scholarship, a college athlete navigating the pressures of D1 competition, or an adult athlete who competes seriously and wants to perform at your ceiling, this work is for you.

The mental skills that separate good from great

Physical talent gets you to the table. Mental skills determine what you do when you sit down. The athletes who consistently perform under pressure aren't just tougher — they've trained their minds the same way they've trained their bodies.

Mental performance work builds skills like:

  • Focus and present-moment awareness — staying locked in instead of drifting to outcomes or mistakes

  • Confidence that isn't dependent on results — building a stable internal foundation that holds even in a slump

  • Emotional regulation — managing nerves, frustration, and pressure in real time

  • Resilience — bouncing back from errors quickly instead of letting one mistake become five

  • Pre-performance routines — consistent mental preparation that primes you to compete at your best

  • Identity beyond sport — knowing who you are separate from your stats, position, or performance

How therapy for athletes works

This isn't traditional talk therapy where we spend most of the time processing emotions. Sessions are structured, practical, and sport-focused. Using approaches drawn from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and sport psychology, we'll work on:

  • Identifying the specific mental patterns and triggers that are affecting your performance

  • Building a personalized mental skills toolkit tailored to your sport and your goals

  • Developing pre-competition routines and in-game reset strategies

  • Working through injury fear, identity questions, or burnout at a deeper level

  • Translating mental skills work directly into your training and competition environment

Sessions are online, which means we can work together whether you're in season, traveling, or anywhere in California.