Why this page exists
Performance is as much mental as physical. Sports performance therapy helps Hobart athletes master focus, manage pressure, and compete with confidence.
Mental performance work is not only for elite athletes. High-school, college, adult-league, and professional athletes in Hobart 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.
Life in Hobart moves fast, and the pressure adds up quietly until it starts to affect your sleep, your relationships, and your sense of self. Athlete/Sports Performance gives you a dedicated space to slow down, sort through it, and start feeling like yourself again.
Here is the local load, named without a brochure: The Region: steel-shift schedules, Chicago Skyway commutes, and fewer local therapists than the need. The old in-office version meant 61st Avenue or I-65 delay. Athlete/Sports Performance does not erase that — it gives Hobart 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 Hobart, you are in the right place — it is all part of the athlete/sports performance care we provide to Indiana residents.
Here's what that looks like in practice.
Naming What You Are Going Through
Before anything changes, it helps to name what you are carrying. For many Hobart 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.
That brings us to the part most people wonder about.
What to Expect From Your First Session
Performance work blends sport psychology with practical mental skills — visualization, focus, pressure management, and recovery from setbacks — tailored to your sport and your goals.
All you need is a private space and a reliable internet connection. Your therapist handles the rest — secure video, session notes, and a steady plan designed to help Hobart community members feel real relief.
The process is collaborative, not clinical-feeling. Your therapist asks, listens, reflects, and offers practical tools you can use between sessions — so the work continues even after you log off.
Every session happens over secure, HIPAA-compliant video. You log in from wherever you feel safe — your living room, your parked car, a quiet corner of the house — and your therapist meets you there. No waiting rooms, no commute across Hobart.
So what does getting help actually involve?
What You Gain From Athlete/Sports Performance
Here is what Hobart community members gain when they start athlete/sports performance with us:
No insurance games, no surprise bills
Straightforward self-pay pricing. You know exactly what you're paying before you book. No claims, no denials, no drama.
Your schedule, respected
Early morning. Lunch break. After the kids are asleep. We offer flexible hours because life doesn't pause for therapy.
What happens in therapy stays in therapy
HIPAA-compliant, encrypted, and completely confidential. Your private life stays private.
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.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
Why Our Approach Works
We measure success the way you do: by how you feel and function in your daily life. Your clinician revisits your goals throughout care to make sure the work is genuinely moving the needle.
Empower You Experts is built on experienced, licensed clinicians — not a rotating roster of the lowest bidder. Each therapist brings years of focused practice to athlete/sports performance, and every session is grounded in evidence-based methods.
Telehealth is not a compromise. Research consistently shows online therapy is as effective as in-person care for most concerns, and Hobart community members get the added benefit of consistency: it is far easier to keep an appointment you can attend from anywhere.
That brings us to the part most people wonder about.
Care That Reaches All of Hobart
We are proud to serve community members throughout Lake County, from the center of Hobart out to the surrounding communities. Wherever you are, quality athlete/sports performance is within reach.
Our Indiana clinicians understand the rhythm of life here. Lake George households and Lake County families.
Empower You Experts serves all of Hobart and the wider Indiana area. A Lake County lake town next to the US-30 strip. Festival weekends and mill-town roots, with Merrillville traffic next door.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
A Better Way to Start Athlete/Sports Performance
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.
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.
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 Hobart schedule.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
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.
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 Hobart community members, we change it.
Hobart 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.
Who this is for
Hobart athletes from high-school to adult-league who are choking, spiraling, or losing the love of the game.
And it is more accessible than most Hobart community members expect.
Credentials That Actually Matter
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.
But understanding the problem is only half of it.
Athlete/Sports Performance in Hobart: Common 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 Hobart 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 Hobart?
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 Hobart 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 Hobart 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 Hobart, 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 Hobart 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 Hobart 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 Hobart 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 Hobart — 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 Hobart 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 Hobart 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.