Frequently Asked Questions

Fully licensed clinicians: $225 per 53-60 minute session

Pre-licensed clinicians (master's-level providers in training): $175 per 53-60 minute session

Both rates include the same evidence-based, high-quality support—just at different career stages.

Short answer: We're out-of-network, but we make it easy.

Longer answer: We don't directly bill insurance, but if you have out-of-network benefits, we handle the paperwork for you. No superbills to chase. No phone calls to your insurance company. No confusing forms.

Here's how it works:

• We figure out if you're eligible for partial reimbursement during intake

• You pay us the full session fee upfront

• We submit the claim to your insurance

• Your insurance sends you a check in the mail (eventually—insurance moves slowly)

It's called concierge billing, and it means one less thing you have to manage.

Good question. Here's the breakdown:

Mental Health Therapy:

• You receive a formal diagnosis (if appropriate)

• We focus on reducing mental health symptoms—anxiety, depression, trauma, etc.

• Only available if you're located in Minnesota

• Insurance may partially reimburse you

Performance Coaching:

• No formal diagnosis

• We focus on mental skills—confidence, motivation, goal-setting, injury recovery, mental toughness, managing competition nerves

• Available anywhere (all U.S. states, Canada, other countries)

• Insurance won't reimburse (they don't consider this "medically necessary")

Still not sure which you need? That's what the free consult is for.

Performance psychology: Anywhere. All 50 states, Canada, and beyond.

Mental health counseling: Minnesota only (for now).

If you're outside Minnesota and need therapy-level support, we can help you find a local provider or explore performance psychology as an option.

It depends.

Some athletes come for a few sessions to work through a specific challenge—pre-race anxiety, a mental block, an injury comeback. Others work with us for months or even years as their go-to support system.

On average, clients see us for 7-8 sessions per year and 13-14 sessions total over their lifetime. But we have clients who've had 3 sessions and clients who've had 150+.

The point: there's no "right" number. We'll work with you as long as it's helpful, and we'll celebrate when you're ready to move on.

We work with athletes ages 9 and up.

For athletes under 18, we ask a parent or guardian to join the first 15 minutes of the initial session. We'll talk about expectations, confidentiality, and how we'll communicate with parents (short version: we'll keep your kid's trust while making sure you know if something serious comes up).

Everyday athletes.

We're not exclusively working with Olympians or Paralympians (though we've worked with several!). Most often, we're working with the high schooler who's anxious before every race. The collegiate athlete questioning whether to keep competing. The 45-year-old who's slower than they used to be. The 16-year-old gymnast with a mental block.

About half our clients are teens. The rest are a mix of collegiate, professional/elite, and recreational athletes.

If you're an athlete—or exercise on purpose and maybe compete but don’t really consider yourself to be an athlete—we're here for you.

Most of our sessions are virtual (via secure video).

We also offer in-person sessions at our Minneapolis office (4900 US Hwy 169, Suite 110, New Hope, MN 55428) if that's your preference and you're local.

Virtual sessions work great for athletes—you can meet from home, a hotel before a competition, or even your car in the school parking lot. Wherever feels comfortable.

We get it—life happens.

But here's the deal: if you need to cancel or reschedule, please give us 24 hours' notice. Call or email your provider directly.

If you cancel with less than 24 hours' notice, you'll be charged the full session fee. This is about respecting your provider and the time we've reserved exclusively for you.

If you're running late, we'll wait up to 20 minutes past our scheduled start time. After that, we'll need to reschedule.

No pop quiz. No judgment. Just conversation.

We'll talk about what brought you here, what you're hoping to get out of working together, and what's been going on in sport and life. We'll also talk about confidentiality, what to expect from sessions, and answer any questions you have.

For athletes under 18, parents join for the first 10-15 minutes to talk about expectations and communication.

By the end, you'll have a sense of whether this feels like a good fit—and we'll have a plan for where to start.

Short answer: Not usually, but it depends.

For athletes under 18, we'll ask parents to join the first few minutes of the initial session. After that, sessions are typically one-on-one so your athlete can speak freely.

That said, we're flexible. If it makes sense to bring a parent in for part of a session (or if your athlete prefers it), we can make that work.

We'll also check in with parents periodically (with the athlete's knowledge) to share progress and strategies—without breaking trust or confidentiality.

That's normal.

A lot of young athletes are skeptical at first—either because they think therapy is "for people with problems," or because someone else (a parent, coach) is making them come.

We get it. And we don't take it personally.

Our job is to make the first session as low-pressure as possible. We're not going to force them to talk about feelings or make them do anything uncomfortable. We'll meet them where they are, and if they decide it's not for them after giving it a real shot, that's okay.

But more often than not? They come back.

This isn't going to feel like what you see on TV.

There's no couch. No one's going to psychoanalyze your childhood (unless that's relevant and you want to go there). And we're definitely not going to sit in silence waiting for you to have a breakthrough.

Sessions are conversational. We'll ask questions, you'll talk, and together we'll figure out what's going on and what to do about it. We'll teach you practical skills, challenge unhelpful thought patterns, and help you build the mental tools to handle whatever sport (and life) throws at you.

Think of it less like traditional therapy and more like working with a coach—but for your brain.

Absolutely.

You don't have to be in-season to benefit from sport psychology. In fact, some of the best work happens in the off-season when you have space to reflect, reset, and build skills before things get intense again.

We also work with:

• Athletes recovering from injury

• Athletes considering retirement

• Former athletes figuring out life after sport

• People who aren't athletes at all but are dealing with perfectionism, anxiety, or high-achievement stress

If what we do resonates with you, you're welcome here.

We work across all sports, but our team has deep experience in:

• Endurance sports (running, cycling, triathlon, ultra-endurance)

• Aesthetic sports (gymnastics, figure skating, dance, diving)

• Team sports (soccer, hockey, volleyball, ultimate frisbee)

• Winter sports (alpine and nordic skiing)

• Parasports (especially for athletes with disabilities)

That said, we’ve worked with SO MANY other types! Historical European Martial Arts? Yep. Corn hole? You betcha. MMA Fighting? That too.

We’re quick learners and we do our homework to get a good understanding of your sport. Fortunately, the mental skills we teach apply across all sports. If your sport isn't listed, don't let that stop you from reaching out.

Both!

We offer team workshops, coach consultations, and organizational trainings on topics like:

• Mental skills for performance

• Managing pre-competition anxiety

• Team dynamics and communication

• Creating inclusive sport environments

• Preventing burnout in youth athletes

This matters to us. A lot. We're a mission-driven practice, which means we put our money and time where our values are. Here's what that looks like:

Financial commitments:

• A portion of proceeds from every session goes to nonprofits working toward equity in sport

• We offer one pro-bono workshop per month to organizations addressing gender and racial inequities

Research & advocacy:

• We conduct and publish research on gender, microaggressions, trans athletes, and DEI in sport

• Dr. Ayala has contributed to legal briefs supporting trans athletes' right to compete

Prioritizing marginalized athletes:

• BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and para athletes are moved to the top of our waitlist

• We sponsor races, teams, and organizations when our budget and bandwidth allow

• We provide free mentorship and internships to aspiring sport psychologists from historically excluded backgrounds

We're not perfect. We're still learning. But we're committed to showing up, doing the work, and making sport more inclusive—one session, one workshop, one research study at a time.

We're trained to work with a wide range of challenges—both sport-specific and life-related.

If you're not sure whether we can help, the free consult is the perfect place to ask. We'll be honest about whether we're the right fit, and if we're not, we'll help you find someone who is.