Sports Performance Therapy
Have you ever wondered why you feel so confident during practice, but during the game, you choke?
Have you ever been hit with a catastrophic injury and wondered how you will make your way back from it?
Are you an athlete who is about to move on from the sport you love and don’t know where you’ll go next?
We’re Here to Help You Reclaim Your Mental Edge
At The Center for Empowerment and Resilience, we know that being an athlete means more than just performing—it’s part of who you are. But even the strongest competitors face moments when confidence fades, injury strikes, or the next chapter feels uncertain.
What Is Sports Performance Therapy?
Sports Performance Therapy is a specialized, integrative approach designed to help athletes and active individuals enhance both their mental and physical performance. It combines psychological therapy, performance coaching, and evidence-based modalities to address not only the physical demands of sport but also the mental and emotional barriers that impact peak performance.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, Sports Performance Therapy focuses on mental conditioning, emotional regulation, and the mind-body connection to help athletes unlock their full potential—both in competition and in life.
Understanding Sport and Performance Psychology
At The Center for Empowerment and Resilience, we believe sport and performance therapy isn’t just for elite athletes striving for a championship—it’s for anyone who wants to perform at their best, manage pressure, and find fulfillment in what they do.
Our therapists and performance specialists work with individuals across a wide range of settings and experience levels, including:
- Athletes and coaches at the youth, high school, collegiate, professional, and Olympic/Paralympic levels
- Exercisers of all ages and activity levels who want to build motivation, consistency, or body trust
- Tactical professionals, such as military personnel, firefighters, and law enforcement officers
- Performing artists, including dancers, musicians, and stage performers
- Business leaders and executives aiming to enhance focus, communication, and confidence
We use evidence-based approaches, including Sports Performance Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Approaches, to address both the mental and emotional aspects of performance.
Our work is grounded in respect for each client’s background, identity, and experiences—recognizing that culture, environment, and life events all shape how we perform and recover.
Depending on your goals, we offer individual and group sessions to help you strengthen focus, manage stress, set meaningful goals, and develop the mental skills needed to perform consistently and confidently—both in your field and in everyday life.
Our Work Together
Together, we will figure out where the root of your mental struggles lies and how to create change for the future. Resilience is built from the inside out—and it all happens with sports counseling.
Mental health struggles among student-athletes are more common than people think. The American College of Sports Medicine (2024) recently revealed that nearly a quarter to a third of student-athletes face mental health challenges such as depression or anxiety.
Athletes are human too. The sources of these struggles can vary—often stemming from injury, recovery, or the pressure to perform. Whether it’s a sprain, break, concussion, or another physical setback, recovery can take a toll on both body and mind. Even once cleared to play, anxiety can linger—fear of re-injury, doubts about performance, or uncertainty about the future.
Sports counseling helps athletes work through these challenges, rebuild confidence, and manage both the on-field and off-field pressures that come with competitive performance.
Targeting Limiting Beliefs
Many athletes carry subconscious or internalized beliefs that limit performance—such as “I’m not good enough,” “I always choke under pressure,” or “If I fail, I’m worthless.”
Sports Performance Therapy helps athletes identify these beliefs, understand where they come from, and reframe them into empowering, realistic perspectives that enhance confidence and resilience.
By addressing these thought patterns, athletes develop self-trust, discipline, and mental flexibility—all essential ingredients for sustainable success.
What to Expect
Our Process: Strengthening Mindset and Performance
- Initial Assessment
We begin by taking a detailed look at the challenges you’re currently facing—whether it’s performance anxiety, confidence issues, recovery after injury, or balancing life and sport. This helps us understand your unique experiences and goals. - Goal Setting & Treatment Planning
Together, we create a personalized treatment plan that outlines what you (and your athlete, if applicable) want to accomplish in therapy. We’ll clarify what success looks like and develop actionable steps to get there. - Progress Reviews & Adjustments
Every 90 days, we review your progress to assess growth and make any needed adjustments. This ensures therapy remains focused, effective, and aligned with your evolving goals. - Building Long-Term Tools
Our goal is not only to help you perform and feel better now but also to equip you with lifelong tools for managing stress, emotions, and performance challenges in the future. - Confidence Through Adversity
At the heart of our work is helping athletes handle adversity with confidence—transforming setbacks into opportunities for growth, both in sport and in life.
Sessions can be tailored for elite athletes, student-athletes, or active adults, and often complement physical training, physical therapy, or coaching programs.
How It Helps
Sports Performance Therapy helps athletes to:
- Improve focus, motivation, and emotional regulation
- Overcome performance anxiety, fear of failure, and perfectionism
- Recover mentally and emotionally from injuries or setbacks
- Strengthen confidence, resilience, and mental endurance
- Build a balanced, sustainable relationship with competition and achievement
Ultimately, this approach helps athletes perform not just harder—but smarter—with greater awareness, consistency, and inner calm.
Meet Our Sports Counselor
My name is Chris Burgenson, and I am the sports counselor here at The Center for Empowerment and Resilience.
As a former student-athlete, I faced my own mental struggles—often in silence. It’s my mission to let athletes know they don’t have to face theirs alone. You have a teammate here who will support you every step of the way.
References
The American College of Sports Medicine. (2024). The American College of Sports Medicine Statement on Mental Health Challenges for Athletes.
Retrieved May 26, 2024, from https://www.acsm.org/news-detail/2021/08/09/the-american-college-of-sports-medicine-statement-on-mental-health-challenges-for-athletes
