Why this page exists
Mental performance work is not only for elite athletes. High-school, college, adult-league, and professional athletes in La Porte all choke, spiral, or lose the love of the game.
Performance is as much mental as physical. Sports performance therapy helps La Porte athletes master focus, manage pressure, and compete with confidence.
The difference between good and great often lives between the ears. Mental performance coaching gives La Porte athletes the tools to stay composed, motivated, and resilient.
The hardest part is often just deciding to start. If you are ready, a licensed Indiana clinician is ready too — offering athlete/sports performance by secure video to La Porte residents who want real change without the logistics of an in-office visit.
Here is the local load, named without a brochure: Lake Michigan mill towns and seasonal tourism layered on factory schedules. The old in-office version meant US-35 drive to Michigan City or South Bend. Athlete/Sports Performance does not erase that — it gives La Porte 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 La Porte, 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.
Benefits LaPorte County residents Notice
Here is what La Porte residents gain when they start athlete/sports performance with us:
What happens in therapy stays in therapy
HIPAA-compliant, encrypted, and completely confidential. Your private life stays private.
Therapy from your couch, car, or closet
No commute. No waiting room. No judgmental receptionist. Log in from wherever you feel safe and comfortable.
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.
Your schedule, respected
Early morning. Lunch break. After the kids are asleep. We offer flexible hours because life doesn't pause for therapy.
And it is more accessible than most La Porte residents expect.
A Better Way to Start Athlete/Sports Performance
Think about the LaPorte 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.
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.
Some people worry that video sessions feel less personal. In practice, most La Porte residents find the opposite — being in their own space helps them open up faster and feel more at ease.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
Who Can Legally See You in La Porte
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.
Here's what that looks like in practice.
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.
Confidentiality is built in from the start. Sessions run on encrypted, HIPAA-compliant software, and what you share stays between you and your Indiana-licensed therapist, exactly as it should.
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.
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.
That brings us to the part most people wonder about.
From La Porte to Every Corner of LaPorte County
We are proud to serve residents throughout LaPorte County, from the center of La Porte out to the surrounding communities. Wherever you are, quality athlete/sports performance is within reach.
Because care is delivered online, your location in La Porte is never a barrier. Lake-town families and LaPorte County households.
Living near Pine Lake or out toward the edges of LaPorte County makes no difference to the quality of your sessions — online athlete/sports performance reaches every corner equally.
There is a clear path forward from here.
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 La Porte residents, we change it.
Licensure is the floor. You must be physically in Indiana during the session. We will not pretend a video call erases a state line.
Who this is for
La Porte athletes from high-school to adult-league who are choking, spiraling, or losing the love of the game.
And this is where the difference really shows.
When It Feels Like Too Much
Before anything changes, it helps to name what you are carrying. For many La Porte 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.
Results only matter if they last — which is why the next part matters.
Evidence-Based Athlete/Sports Performance You Can Rely On
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.
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 La Porte residents get better.
Results come from relationship plus method. We pair proven clinical techniques with clinicians who actually connect with their clients, because the bond between you and your therapist is one of the strongest predictors of success.
Here is why that matters for you.
What La Porte residents Ask Most
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 La Porte 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 La Porte?
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 La Porte 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 La Porte 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 La Porte, 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 La Porte 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 La Porte 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 La Porte 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 La Porte — 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 La Porte 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 La Porte 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.