Why this page exists
Skills: attention, pre-performance routines, recovery after a bad outing without a character assassination.
Mental performance work is not only for elite athletes. High-school, college, adult-league, and professional athletes in Columbus all choke, spiral, or lose the love of the game.
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.
Something brought you here today, and that matters. Whether it is a long-standing struggle or a recent shift you cannot quite shake, athlete/sports performance in Columbus gives you a confidential place to work it through with someone qualified to help.
Here is the local load, named without a brochure: A design-and-manufacturing city (Columbus) with high expectations and a small-town spotlight. The old in-office version meant US-31 or I-65 drive to Indianapolis for weekly care. Athlete/Sports Performance does not erase that — it gives Columbus community members 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 Columbus, you are in the right place — it is all part of the athlete/sports performance care we provide to Indiana residents.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
When It Feels Like Too Much
Before anything changes, it helps to name what you are carrying. For many Columbus community members, 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.
So what does getting help actually involve?
Care That Reaches All of Columbus
Empower You Experts serves all of Columbus and the wider Indiana area. A small city with world-class architecture and manufacturing expectations. The spotlight is local; privacy is precious.
No matter which part of Columbus you call home, the same standard of care follows you. We proudly serve Columbus community members across Downtown, East Columbus, North Christian, Rocky Ford, and beyond.
With roughly 50,000 people calling Columbus home, the need for accessible mental health care has never been greater. Empower You Experts helps meet it, one session at a time.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
How We Actually Practice Athlete/Sports Performance
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.
Columbus community members do not need another article about self-care. They need a plan they can explain to themselves on a Tuesday: what we are targeting, why, and how we will know it moved.
Between sessions, you leave with something small enough to actually do. The work is supposed to live in Columbus, not only inside a 50-minute window.
Who this is for
Columbus athletes from high-school to adult-league who are choking, spiraling, or losing the love of the game.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
Why Columbus community members Choose Empower You Experts
Here is what Columbus community members gain when they start athlete/sports performance with us:
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.
Licensed experts with 25+ years of experience each
Indiana-licensed therapists bringing world-class care to the Hoosier state.
What happens in therapy stays in therapy
HIPAA-compliant, encrypted, and completely confidential. Your private life stays private.
Your schedule, respected
Early morning. Lunch break. After the kids are asleep. We offer flexible hours because life doesn't pause for therapy.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
Telehealth vs. the Drive Across Columbus
Telehealth also widens your options. Instead of choosing from whoever happens to be nearby, you are matched with a clinician licensed in Indiana who genuinely specializes in what you need.
In-office visits ask you to rearrange your life around an appointment. Telehealth athlete/sports performance does the opposite — it fits into the life you already have. The therapeutic relationship is just as real; only the commute disappears.
For parents, caregivers, shift workers, and anyone short on time, online athlete/sports performance is often the only version of therapy that actually fits. That accessibility is exactly why so many Columbus community members choose it.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
Getting Started With Athlete/Sports Performance in Columbus
Performance work blends sport psychology with practical mental skills — visualization, focus, pressure management, and recovery from setbacks — tailored to your sport and your goals.
After the free consultation, most clients begin weekly sessions. As you build momentum and skills, you and your clinician may space sessions out — the goal is always lasting change, not endless appointments.
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.
Your therapist builds a plan around your goals, not a generic script. Progress is reviewed together, sessions are scheduled around your week, and the work adapts as you do. Most Columbus community members notice meaningful change within the first month.
That brings us to the part most people wonder about.
Why Licensure Is Not a Fine Print Line
Indiana-licensed clinicians may provide telehealth to clients who are physically located in Indiana 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 Indiana 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.
And it is more accessible than most Columbus community members expect.
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 Columbus 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 Columbus?
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 Columbus residents is licensed Indiana telehealth — you meet by secure video while you are physically in Indiana. 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 Columbus 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 Indiana?
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 Columbus, you simply need to be physically in Indiana 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 Columbus 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 Columbus 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 Indiana?
We are primarily a cash-pay practice and currently accept some insurance plans. Many clients in Columbus 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 Columbus — 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 Columbus 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 Columbus 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.