Why this page exists
Skills: attention, pre-performance routines, recovery after a bad outing without a character assassination.
If the block is bigger than sport — panic, depression, an identity that only exists in the jersey — we treat that as therapy, not a pep talk.
Licensed in Illinois. Honest about when you need a clinician more than a coach.
Therapy should fit your life, not the other way around. For clients in Bloomington and the surrounding McLean County area, Empower You Experts delivers athlete/sports performance online — flexible, private, and grounded in evidence-based care.
Here is the local load, named without a brochure: Insurance-headquarters culture and a twin-city college town (Bloomington–Normal). The old in-office version meant Veterans Parkway hop between Bloomington and Normal for every session. Athlete/Sports Performance does not erase that — it gives Bloomington clients a licensed place to stop carrying it alone.
Whether you have been searching for athlete therapy, sports performance coaching, or mental coaching for athletes in Bloomington, you are in the right place — it is all part of the athlete/sports performance care we provide to Illinois residents.
Here's what that looks like in practice.
The Difference Online Athlete/Sports Performance Makes
Here is what Bloomington clients gain when they start athlete/sports performance with us:
Your schedule, respected
Early morning. Lunch break. After the kids are asleep. We offer flexible hours because life doesn't pause for therapy.
Licensed experts with 25+ years of experience each
Illinois-licensed experts serving the Chicagoland area and beyond.
Train your brain like you train your body
Mental performance coaching gives you the psychological edge. Visualization, focus, pressure management—the mental game makes champions.
Zero judgment, 100% acceptance
Bring your mess. Your secrets. Your shame. This is a space where you can be fully human without fear of rejection.
And this is where the difference really shows.
Why Bloomington clients Are Choosing Telehealth
Traditional therapy means traffic, parking, time off work, and a waiting room. Online athlete/sports performance removes every one of those barriers while keeping the quality of care identical. For busy Bloomington clients, that difference is what makes therapy sustainable.
Think about the McLean County commute, the parking, the time carved out of an already-full day. Online athlete/sports performance gives all of that time back to you while delivering the same evidence-based care.
There is no waiting room and no drive home afterward. You finish a session and step right back into your day, which makes online athlete/sports performance far easier to weave into a busy Bloomington schedule.
Let's look at how that plays out.
How Online Athlete/Sports Performance Actually Works
Performance work blends sport psychology with practical mental skills — visualization, focus, pressure management, and recovery from setbacks — tailored to your sport and your goals.
Because everything is online, scheduling flexes with your life. Early mornings, lunch breaks, evenings after the McLean County commute — your athlete/sports performance sessions fit the hours you actually have.
Confidentiality is built in from the start. Sessions run on encrypted, HIPAA-compliant software, and what you share stays between you and your Illinois-licensed therapist, exactly as it should.
You stay in the driver seat the whole way. You decide the pace, you help shape the goals, and your therapist provides the structure, tools, and accountability to keep you moving forward.
Here is why that matters for you.
Athlete/Sports Performance Wherever You Are in Bloomington
No matter which part of Bloomington you call home, the same standard of care follows you. We proudly serve Bloomington clients across Downtown Bloomington, East Bloomington, Golden Prairie, Hawthorne Hills, and beyond.
From Grossinger Motors Arena to the neighborhoods you call home, Bloomington clients can connect with a licensed therapist without crossing town.
Living near Grossinger Motors Arena or out toward the edges of McLean County makes no difference to the quality of your sessions — online athlete/sports performance reaches every corner equally.
So what does getting help actually involve?
Credentials That Actually Matter
Illinois-licensed clinicians may provide telehealth to clients who are physically located in Illinois during the session. That is the legal line — not a slogan. Empower You Experts will not see you for athlete/sports performance unless you are physically in Illinois during the session.
Dr. Lisa Lavella, PsyD, BC-TMH (Arizona and Illinois) and Christina Liakopoulos, LCSW, BC-TMH (Arizona, Illinois, and Indiana) are named clinicians, not a rotating intern pool. Credentials are on the about pages. We do not invent board affiliations.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
You're Not Alone in Bloomington
Before anything changes, it helps to name what you are carrying. For many Bloomington clients, it sounds something like this:
Your mind is your biggest competitor?
You've trained your body to peak performance. But the mental game? That's where you're losing. Performance anxiety, self-doubt, and pressure are stealing your edge.
The good news is that none of this is permanent.
Tools We Use — Not Slogans
Pre-performance routines and attention skills.
Recovery after a bad outing without a character assassination.
Clinical therapy when anxiety or depression is wearing a jersey.
Between sessions, you leave with something small enough to actually do. The work is supposed to live in Bloomington, not only inside a 50-minute window.
We review progress in language you can feel — sleep, conflict, panic frequency, follow-through — not a vague “how was your week.” If a method is not moving the needle for Bloomington clients, we change it.
Who this is for
Bloomington athletes from high-school to adult-league who are choking, spiraling, or losing the love of the game.
That brings us to the part most people wonder about.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sports performance work only for elite athletes?
No. High-school, college, adult-league, and professional athletes all choke, spiral, or lose the love of the game. Mental performance work in Bloomington covers focus, pressure, injury identity, and the anxiety that shows up as a missed free throw or a tight chest before a start. It is not a pep talk. It is skills — visualization, attention, recovery after a bad outing — plus therapy when the block is bigger than sport.
Do you have a therapy office in Bloomington?
Our home office is real: 20715 North Pima Road, Suite 108, Scottsdale, Arizona 85255. We do not invent a storefront in every city on this site. Athlete/Sports Performance for Bloomington residents is licensed Illinois telehealth — you meet by secure video while you are physically in Illinois. That is a service-area practice, not a fake local clinic. If you need the address for records or a map pin, it is North Scottsdale. It is not a Bloomington waiting room we pretended to open so a page would rank. The clinician is named. The license is the state you sit in during the session.
Are your therapists actually licensed to treat people in Illinois?
Yes. Telehealth is licensed by the state where you are sitting during the session, not by the city on the URL. Dr. Lisa Lavella, PsyD, BC-TMH is licensed in Arizona and Illinois. Christina Liakopoulos, LCSW, BC-TMH is licensed in Arizona, Illinois, and Indiana. If you live in Bloomington, you simply need to be physically in Illinois when we meet. We do not “see” clients in states where we are not licensed, and we will not pretend a video call erases that rule. The free consult is also where we confirm fit, timing, and whether self-pay or an accepted plan makes sense for you.
Who would I actually work with for athlete/sports performance?
Dr. Lisa Lavella, PsyD, BC-TMH (Arizona and Illinois) and Christina Liakopoulos, LCSW, BC-TMH (Arizona, Illinois, and Indiana). They are named clinicians with decades of practice — not a matching engine and not a new intern every month. The free consult is how you meet the person, ask about athlete/sports performance, and decide if the fit is right. Credentials live on the about pages. We will not hide behind a brand voice when you deserve a human being. If the pairing is wrong, we would rather say so than keep a mismatched hour.
Is online athlete/sports performance in Bloomington as real as sitting in an office?
For most of the concerns we treat, the research says yes — outcomes track the relationship and the method, not the waiting room. What changes in Bloomington is logistics. You skip the commute, the parking, and the “who saw me walk in” problem. Sessions run on encrypted, HIPAA-compliant video. You still get a named clinician, a plan you both can explain, and homework that lives in your actual week. If video is a poor fit (safety, technology, or preference), we will say so in the consult rather than force a format that does not serve you.
Do you take insurance for athlete/sports performance in Illinois?
We are primarily a cash-pay practice and currently accept some insurance plans. Many clients in Bloomington choose self-pay for privacy (sessions do not automatically hit a medical record the way a fully billed insurance episode can) and for simplicity — no surprise denials mid-treatment. We will tell you, before you commit, whether your plan is one we can bill and what a self-pay session costs. We do not advertise “we take everything” because that would be untrue. Call or use the consult form and we will be specific about fee, frequency, and whether a superbill is available. If money is the only barrier, say so in the consult; we would rather have an honest conversation than a bait-and-switch about coverage.
What actually happens in the first athlete/sports performance session?
The first session is an honest conversation, not an interrogation. We cover what brought you in, what you have already tried, how athlete/sports performance has (or has not) helped before, and what “better” would look like in your life in Bloomington — sleep, work, relationships, the stuff you can feel. You will leave with a sense of the clinician, the pace, and whether the fit is right. There is no pressure to unload your whole history on day one. If it is not a fit, we would rather help you redirect than keep a mismatched pairing.
If I live in a smaller Bloomington community, is this actually private?
Your sessions are protected by law and by ethics, with the usual mandated-reporting exceptions (risk of harm, abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult). Telehealth adds a practical privacy layer a storefront office cannot: nobody in Bloomington watches you park at a clinic. You still need a closed door and headphones on your side. We use encrypted video. We will not discuss you in the grocery store, on a sideline, or in a Facebook group. If you share a house or a campus, we will help you plan a setting that is actually private — a parked car with a headset counts.