Why this page exists
Mental performance work is not only for elite athletes. High-school, college, adult-league, and professional athletes in Hoffman Estates all choke, spiral, or lose the love of the game.
The difference between good and great often lives between the ears. Mental performance coaching gives Hoffman Estates athletes the tools to stay composed, motivated, and resilient.
Skills: attention, pre-performance routines, recovery after a bad outing without a character assassination.
Whatever you are facing, it is valid — and it is workable. Online athlete/sports performance in Hoffman Estates pairs you with a licensed therapist who listens without judgment and helps you build a way forward, one session at a time.
Here is the local load, named without a brochure: Dense urban and inner-suburban life: winter darkness, transit or expressway commutes, and high-pressure careers. The old in-office version meant I-90 or Prairie Stone parking maze. Athlete/Sports Performance does not erase that — it gives Hoffman Estates residents 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 Hoffman Estates, you are in the right place — it is all part of the athlete/sports performance care we provide to Illinois residents.
So what does getting help actually involve?
From First Call to 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.
Booking is simple: choose a time that works, complete a brief intake, and meet your Illinois-licensed clinician by video. No referrals to chase, no parking to find — just focused care from wherever you are in Hoffman Estates.
It starts with a free consultation — a no-pressure conversation to understand what you are facing and whether we are the right fit. From there, you are matched with a clinician licensed in Illinois who specializes in athlete/sports performance.
In the first session, your therapist takes time to understand your history, your goals, and what brought you in. Together you set a direction, and from there each session builds steadily on the last.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
What You Gain From Athlete/Sports Performance
Here is what Hoffman Estates residents 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.
What happens in therapy stays in therapy
HIPAA-compliant, encrypted, and completely confidential. Your private life stays private.
Licensed experts with 25+ years of experience each
Illinois-licensed experts serving the Chicagoland area and beyond.
Therapy from your couch, car, or closet
No commute. No waiting room. No judgmental receptionist. Log in from wherever you feel safe and comfortable.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
Why Licensure Is Not a Fine Print Line
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.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
The Clinical Work Behind 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.
Methods are not a menu of buzzwords. For athlete/sports performance, we pick tools that match the problem — cognitive work, skills you can use the same day, and a relationship honest enough to tell you when something is not working.
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 Hoffman Estates residents, we change it.
Who this is for
Hoffman Estates athletes from high-school to adult-league who are choking, spiraling, or losing the love of the game.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
Licensed, Experienced, Local to Illinois
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.
Decades of research back what we do. Modalities like CBT, mindfulness-based approaches, and other evidence-based methods are not buzzwords for us — they are the backbone of how we help Hoffman Estates residents get better.
Consistency is where progress lives. Because online athlete/sports performance is so much easier to attend, Cook County residents are far more likely to stick with it — and sticking with it is what produces lasting change.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
A Better Way to Start Athlete/Sports Performance
Think about the Cook 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.
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 Hoffman Estates residents choose it.
Some people worry that video sessions feel less personal. In practice, most Hoffman Estates residents find the opposite — being in their own space helps them open up faster and feel more at ease.
There is a clear path forward from here.
Naming What You Are Going Through
Before anything changes, it helps to name what you are carrying. For many Hoffman Estates residents, 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.
Here's what that looks like in practice.
Before You Begin: FAQs
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 Hoffman Estates 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 Hoffman Estates?
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 Hoffman Estates 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 Hoffman Estates 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 Hoffman Estates, 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 Hoffman Estates 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 Hoffman Estates 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 Hoffman Estates 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 Hoffman Estates — 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 Hoffman Estates 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 Hoffman Estates 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.