Sports Psychologists for Athletes, Coaches & Parents in Minneapolis

Sport asks a lot of your head as well as your body. That's where we come in.

Skadi Sport Psychology is led by Dr. Erin Ayala, a licensed psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant serving the Minneapolis area. We offer therapy and mental performance coaching for athletes, coaches, and sports parents, in person in New Hope, MN, or online. Coaching is available online, anywhere.

Book a free call

or reach us at +1 (612) 208-2347.

Competing well takes more than physical training, and you're not meant to sort out the mental pieces alone. The racing mind before the start gun. Motivation that disappears halfway through the season. An injury that pulls at your identity as much as your body. These are ordinary parts of athletic life, not character flaws. And you're not meant to sort them out alone.

We work with individuals and teams across Minnesota and beyond: gymnasts, cyclists, runners, ultimate frisbee players, figure skaters, and more. Youth athletes, college athletes, masters athletes, and pros all bring their own versions of the same questions. We work on the whole person. The performance takes care of itself from there.

How Skadi Sport Psychology Helps With the Mental Game

Why Athletes Choose Skadi Sport Psychology

Dr. Erin Ayala holds a PhD in counseling psychology, is a licensed psychologist (LP), and is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. She's U.S. Center for SafeSport Trained and participates in PSYPACT. She founded Skadi in 2023 to build the kind of practice she wanted to see.

  • A team dually trained in mental health and sport psychology — therapy and performance work under one roof

  • Athlete-first care that treats you as a whole person, not just a performance

  • Both therapy and performance psychology under one roof

  • A team that shows up for the athletes from historically excluded communities in sport. Skadi invests in changing who belongs in sport and has directed over $10,000 of revenue to nonprofits

  • Dr. Ayala has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, including award-winning research on women and gender-diverse athletes

  • Each month, proceeds from individual sessions are donated to 501(c)(3) organizations

  • Trusted by athletes, collegiate teams, and referring providers (read what they say below)

How to Get Started

  1. Book a free call. Reach out through the site for a no-cost intro conversation.

  2. Share your goals. Tell us what's going on and what you want support with: performance, mental health, or both.

  3. Get matched. We match you with a therapist or mental performance coach whose specialty, age range, and sport fit what you need.

  4. Begin sessions. Start in Minneapolis, MN, or online, at a pace that fits your season.

Schedule your consultation 🡲

Sports Psychologist Services in Minneapolis, MN

Our services span individual care, ADHD assessments, biofeedback, teamwork, and coach support, so you can get help with the mental game and the life around it. See the full range of ways to work with our team and pick the format that fits your season.

ADHD Therapy for Athletes

Focus, routine, and executive function show up everywhere in sport: practice plans, film study, travel, school. We help athletes build systems that work with their brain, not against it. Read more in our guide on ADHD in athletes.

If you're wondering whether ADHD explains a lifetime of being called scattered, lazy, or "so much potential," we also offer comprehensive ADHD testing through Dr. Quincy Guinadi, who works with our team as a contractor. Her written reports meet NCAA requirements for Therapeutic Use Exemptions if stimulant medication becomes part of your treatment. We don't prescribe medication, but we can refer you to trusted colleagues who do.

Eating Disorder Therapy for Athletes

Sport culture has opinions about your body and your plate, and it's rarely shy about sharing them. Our eating disorder therapy takes fueling, training load, and performance seriously — without reducing you to a body. Food isn't earned. Bodies aren't projects.

When it helps, we coordinate with dietitians and physicians who specialize in eating disorders, and if you need a higher level of care, we help you get there. Many athletes keep working with us through treatment to stay connected to their athletic identity.

Anxiety Therapy for Athletes

Anxiety doesn't clock out when practice ends. It follows you into sleep, school, work, and relationships. We help you build tools for competitive life, so the worry doesn't outlast the season.

Performance Anxiety

Performance anxiety often peaks in the minutes before competition, or mid-event when perfectionism takes over. We work on the mental skills athletes need to perform under pressure, including visualization and pre-competition routines, so pressure stops running the show.

Depression Therapy for Athletes

Low mood doesn't respect the competition calendar. We offer mental health therapy shaped around athletic identity, life transitions, and the structure of a season, including the quiet stretch after it ends.

Sports Injury Psychology

Injury is physical and mental at the same time. We support athletes through rehab, setbacks, fear of reinjury, and return to play, including access to our Mindful Comeback program.

Sports Psychologist Near Me: In-Person in New Hope & Online

One in-person location in the Minneapolis area. Mental health therapy is available in Minnesota only, either in person or online for Minnesota clients. Virtual mental performance coaching is available globally.

Every therapist on our team offers virtual sessions for youth, teens, and adults in Minnesota, over secure video. That helps when you're mid-season, traveling for meets, or living a drive away from the Twin Cities.

Virtual sessions run over secure video, which helps when you're mid-season, traveling for meets, or living a drive away from the Twin Cities. Format and pacing look the same as in person: real conversation, practical tools, no clinical distance. Here's what to expect from one-on-one sessions.

Online Sessions

Coaching is performance-focused and non-clinical: mental skills, confidence, focus, and routines that help athletes maintain a healthy relationship with sport. Coaching is available online, anywhere, from youth sports through professional sports. If you want therapy instead, that stays within Minnesota.

Mental Performance Coaching

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A woman in athletic wear standing in a gym, with a serious expression, and other people in the background.

Meet the Team Behind Skadi Sport Psychology

We’re not just providers — we’re athletes, too. Every member of our team brings deep experience in both sport and psychology, offering guidance grounded in empathy, expertise, and lived experience.

  • photo of Erin Ayala

    Erin Ayala, PhD, LP, CMPC

    OWNER & FOUNDER, SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST

    is a licensed psychologist (LP), a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), and is currently pursuing her BCIA certification in biofeedback with a focus on HRV Training; she leads a team dually trained in mental health and sport psychology. Therapy and mental performance coaching are provided by pre-licensed therapists and mental performance coaches, each dually trained in mental health and sport psychology.

  • Smiling Laurie wearing black with a colorful gradient background.

    Laurie Miller, MEd,

    PRE-LICENSED THERAPIST & MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACH

    Works with athletes ages 9 to 25 on perfectionism, anxiety, stress management, fear of failure, and eating disorders, especially in figure skating, gymnastics, and dance, She holds a dual-master's degree.

  • A young man with red hair and beard, wearing a dark sweater over a white shirt, smiling against a colorful blurred background.

    Avery Nelson, MS,

    PRE-LICENSED THERAPIST & MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACH

    Holds two master's degrees and specializes in working with male athletes, coaches, and parents.

  • Person smiling in front of a colorful gradient background.

    Staci Mannella, MA, MS

    PRE-LICENSED THERAPIST & MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACH

    Is a 2x Paralympian completing her PhD in Counseling Psychology.

Learn more on our team page, or read about Dr. Erin Ayala. Questions about scheduling, insurance, or billing go to our Client Care Coordinator.

As Featured In

Dr. Ayala has been quoted in or contributed to coverage of the mental side of sport, including:

  • IRONMAN, on building confidence in endurance sport

  • Bicycling, on getting through hard rides when you want to quit

  • Runner's World, on overcoming long-run anxiety

  • Star Tribune Varsity, on how Minnesota families can help teen athletes manage stress and anxiety

Iron Man logo with black text and a red dot and red block over the letter 'M'.
Text logo with the words 'RUNNER'S WORLD' in black, bold letters on a white background.
The word 'Bicycling' written in bold, black letters.
The New York Times logo in blackletter font.
Text logo reading 'Women’s Health' in bold black letters.
Logo of Striv Varsity with a blue geometric star design and black and blue text.

What our athletes say:

  • “You truly have been a pivotal role in my swimming career. It has always been a dream of mine to go to the NCAAs ever since I could wrap my head around what college swimming was. I give huge thanks to you and your program. You have given me tools I will use for the rest of my life and I am forever grateful.”

  • “We’ve seen such a difference in her mental attitude and can’t thank you enough for your work with her. I can see the confidence growing in her dramatically.”

  • “You played a huge beneficial role on my mental health & recognizing the warning sings of burnout.”

  • “Your lessons were beyond helpful & educational. You’ve made my season more mindful & intentional. Thank you!”

  • “I have never felt more welcome or understood. Erin has changed my life for the better.”

  • “I have been using the strategy to shake hands with fear before my races and it has helped me in my mile specifically so much!”

  • “I have loved working with you for the past few years, and I’ve grown so much as a person because of it. I’ve learned the importance of enjoying what I’m doing, and how to attack obstacles with curiosity.”

  • “I’ve been through therapists (forced though) and have a sport psychologist at my school I tried going to and in the nicest way, they kind of sucked, did not help me at all. Erin genuinely helps address every issue I have, even if the solution doesn’t work to the extent I hoped it would, she is SO good.”

  • “I had a realization the other day after we spoke…I think I am in one of the best spots mentally I’ve ever been in. I couldn’t have done it without you!

    …Not I think. I know that I’m mentally in the best place I’ve ever been in in my life.”

We're not a crisis service. If you or someone you care about is in crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.

Crisis Support

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes. Therapy is offered online for clients in Minnesota, and mental performance coaching is offered online anywhere. Sessions run over secure video.

  • Fees depend on the service and provider, and we go over them on your free call. See how much a sports psychologist costs for details.

  • We're out-of-network and use concierge billing for mental health therapy clients. Insurance does not cover mental performance coaching. Intake is where we figure out together whether you qualify for partial reimbursement. From there, you cover the session fee at the time of service; our office handles submitting the claim to your insurer, who then issues a reimbursement check on their own timeline. No superbills land in your inbox to track down. More on out-of-network benefits for therapy.

  • A sports psychologist is a licensed mental health provider and can offer therapy for anxiety, depression, disordered eating, and more. A mental performance coach works on performance skills only. Our team includes a licensed psychologist and pre-licensed therapists who are also trained as mental performance coaches, so you can get both without switching practices.

  • If you're feeling stuck, dreading competition, or carrying something that practice can't fix, a conversation with a therapist or a mental performance coach is a reasonable next step. Our guide on how to find the right sport psychologist is a good place to start.

  • In person in the Minneapolis, MN area, or online. See the service area section above for details.

See all frequently asked questions.

Ready to Get Started?

Whether you're an athlete, coach, or parent, bring us what's actually going on, and we'll work through it together.

Book a free call, call +1 (612) 208-2347, or email hello@skadisportpsychology.com.

Wanna hang? Find us on Instagram to discover little pearls of wisdom every day!

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