Anxiety Therapy for Athletes in Minneapolis, MN & Online

Anxiety therapy for athletes starts with taking your body seriously. The pounding heart at the start line, the replay of last week's miss, the knot in your stomach at 2 a.m. before game day: all of it is telling you something, and it deserves a real answer—not another pep talk to "just believe in yourself" or "just think positive."

Skadi Sport Psychology pairs sport-informed mental health therapy with mental performance coaching for competition and performance anxiety. We work with athletes ages 9 and older, plus coaches and sports parents. Meet us in person in New Hope, MN, or virtually from anywhere in Minnesota.

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

Performance Anxiety in Sport

You already know what sports performance anxiety looks like. Racing thoughts in the car on the way to the venue. Overthinking mechanics that used to run on autopilot. Dread the night before a game or a meet. The quiet fear of letting down your team, your coach, or your parents.

Sports culture often rewards playing through pressure and makes asking for help feel risky. Unfortunately, that pressure is part of the problem, and it's worth addressing. For a fuller look, read performance anxiety: what it is, why it happens, and how to manage it.

Anxiety is common among young people generally. Roughly 1 in 3 U.S. adolescents ages 13 to 18 have had an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. That's a general adolescent figure, not an athlete-specific one, but athletes aren't exempt from it.

Anxiety in Athletes vs. Everyday Stress

Pre-competition nerves are normal, and often useful. The American Psychological Association distinguishes stress from anxiety by one simple test: does the worry stick around after the stressor is gone?

Anxiety in athletes looks different from nerves. Sleep breaks down. Eating gets harder. You stop wanting to go to practice. Skipping a competition starts to feel like relief. When it reaches that point, it's worth talking to someone.

Sports Anxiety and the Fear of Failure Loop

Sports anxiety often runs on perfectionism. Fear of making a mistake leads to over-preparing or avoiding, and both crank the pressure up on the next performance. The loop tightens each time.

We work on the thinking underneath these patterns, not just the symptoms. 

A Sport Psychology Team That Works With Athletes

You get a sport psychology team that knows sport culture from the inside.

  • photo of Erin Ayala

    Erin Ayala, PhD, LP, CMPC

    OWNER & FOUNDER, SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST

    Holds the psychology license and mental performance credential behind the practice. Laurie and Avery are pre-licensed therapists supervised by Dr. Ayala while working toward their independent licensure.

  • Smiling Laurie wearing black with a colorful gradient background.

    Laurie Miller, MEd,

    PRE-LICENSED THERAPIST & MENTAL PERFORMANCE COACH

    A former competitive gymnast and USA Gymnastics coach, is now a pre-licensed therapist and mental performance coach. Her focus is perfectionism, anxiety, stress management, and fear of failure for athletes ages 9 to 25, with particular depth in figure skating, gymnastics, and dance.

  • 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

    Captained a Division III baseball team before becoming a pre-licensed therapist and mental performance coach. He works with athletes, coaches, and parents on anxiety, ADHD, stress, depression, and injury recovery.

Sessions run virtually for clients across Minnesota, with an in-person option based in New Hope, MN. Meet the full team to find the right fit.

How to Start Anxiety Therapy With Skadi

  1. Book a free call. Schedule a no-cost consult through the website and talk through what's happening and what support could look like.

  2. Start with the provider who fits your age and sport. Based on that call, you'll begin working with the team member whose age range and areas of expertise match your needs.

  3. Attend your first session. For athletes younger than 18, a parent or guardian sits in for the opening quarter-hour of that first appointment.

  4. Build a plan around your season. Together, you shape the work around where you are in your competition year.

Start with a free call
Volleyball players competing in a high-stakes match, illustrating performance anxiety in competitive team sports.

Adult amateur athletes carry the same pre-race dread without a team sport psychology program behind them. Runners, triathletes, cyclists, pickleball players, rec-league competitors: performance anxiety and race anxiety show up at every level.

Competition anxiety in this group usually looks like spiraling the night before, a stomach that won't settle on the start line, and one bad past performance replaying on a loop. Those physical signs are real, and they respond to real work. 

Race-Day and Competition Anxiety for Weekend Warriors

Long-Run and Pre-Race Anxiety

For distance runners, the anticipation often starts days before the long run itself. In sport-informed therapy and mental performance coaching, we work on the countdown, the 3 a.m. loop, the body signals at the start line, and the voice that shows up at mile 18. This work fits the first-time half marathoner and the veteran whose nerves get louder every year.

Individual Therapy and Mental Performance Coaching

Two tracks, clearly separated:

  • Mental health therapy. Delivered by our licensed psychologist and supervised pre-licensed providers, available only to clients located in Minnesota, in person or virtually. See individual therapy and coaching sessions.

  • Mental performance coaching. Not therapy. Available online anywhere, focused on mental skills training, confidence, focus, and mindset for sport.

  • Who we work with: Youth, high school, and collegiate athletes, masters and recreational competitors, elite athletes, coaches, and sports parents.

Unsure which track fits? The free Skadi Athlete Assessment is a useful first look at your health and wellness across sport and life. You can also explore biofeedback and HRV training or the Skadi Community.

Skadi is an out-of-network concierge provider. You pay the full session fee upfront, Skadi submits the claim on your behalf, and your insurance reimburses you. Reimbursement depends on your individual plan and benefits. How out-of-network benefits work for sport psychology.

Anxiety Therapy Across Minneapolis and Minnesota

In-person sessions take place at our New Hope office, serving families throughout the greater Minneapolis area. Virtual therapy is available to any client located in Minnesota, since clinical licensure is state-bound. Mental performance coaching carries no state limit and is available online anywhere. Athletes 9 and up, coaches, and parents are all welcome.

Crisis Support

If you or your athlete are in crisis or having thoughts of self-harm, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7. This page provides educational information, not emergency care.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Anxiety therapy is clinical mental health care, provided by our licensed psychologist and supervised pre-licensed providers, and it's available only to clients located in Minnesota. Mental performance coaching is not therapy. It focuses on mental skills and performance, and it's available online anywhere.

  • Sessions run about 53 to 60 minutes, and often 30 to 45 minutes for ages 9 to 14. Most are online, and some are in person at our New Hope office. You'll talk through what's going on, how your sport fits in, and what you want to change. If you're under 18, a parent joins the first 15 minutes. For those interested (and when MN weather cooperates), we can also provide walk and talk therapy in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

  • Yes. Virtual sessions are available to any client located in Minnesota. In-person sessions are offered in New Hope, MN only. More answers are on our frequently asked questions page.

  • Dr. Erin Ayala, PhD, LP, CMPC, is the licensed psychologist who supervises Laurie Miller and Avery Nelson. Her books are currently full. Laurie and Avery are the pre-licensed therapists and mental performance coaches who work directly with athletes, coaches, and parents. They keep Dr. Ayala up to speed on each and every client, and Dr. Ayala reads each and every session note to make sure all clients continue to receive the red carpet treatment.

  • Searching "anxiety therapist near me" will find you good generalists. A sport psychology practice adds the lens that matters here: competition pressure, performance identity, coach and team dynamics, and the calendar you actually live by. You spend less time explaining your sport and more time doing the work. Read how coaches can help athletes with performance anxiety.

See all frequently asked questions.

Book a Free Call

Athletes 9 and up, coaches, and sports parents: in person in New Hope, or virtual across Minnesota. Email erin@skadisportpsychology.com or Book a free call.