Why this page exists
Skills: attention, pre-performance routines, recovery after a bad outing without a character assassination.
The difference between good and great often lives between the ears. Mental performance coaching gives Urbana athletes the tools to stay composed, motivated, and resilient.
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.
Mental health is health. In a city the size of Urbana — home to roughly 38,000 people — countless neighbors quietly wrestle with the same things you do. Athlete/Sports Performance is how many of them are finally turning the corner.
Here is the local load, named without a brochure: Big-Ten academic pressure sitting next to rural county life ten minutes off campus. The old in-office version meant campus-to-downtown hop for every session. Athlete/Sports Performance does not erase that — it gives Urbana 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 Urbana, you are in the right place — it is all part of the athlete/sports performance care we provide to Illinois residents.
That brings us to the part most people wonder about.
How Athlete/Sports Performance Works in Urbana
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.
There is no one-size-fits-all here. Your clinician draws on proven, evidence-based methods and tailors them to you, checking in regularly to make sure the approach is working and adjusting when it needs to.
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.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
Evidence-Based Athlete/Sports Performance You Can Rely On
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.
Credentials matter here. Every clinician serving Urbana is fully licensed in Illinois and trained in the approaches best suited to athlete/sports performance — so you are getting genuine expertise, not guesswork.
Telehealth is not a compromise. Research consistently shows online therapy is as effective as in-person care for most concerns, and Urbana community members get the added benefit of consistency: it is far easier to keep an appointment you can attend from anywhere.
Let's look at how that plays out.
From Urbana to Every Corner of Champaign County
From UIUC Quad (adjacent) to the neighborhoods you call home, Urbana community members can connect with a licensed therapist without crossing town. We proudly serve Urbana community members across Downtown Urbana, Campus neighborhood, Yankee Ridge, East Urbana, and beyond.
Our Illinois clinicians understand the rhythm of life here. University households, downtown Urbana residents, and Champaign County families.
Living near UIUC Quad (adjacent) or out toward the edges of Champaign County makes no difference to the quality of your sessions — online athlete/sports performance reaches every corner equally.
And this is where the difference really shows.
Online Athlete/Sports Performance vs. Traditional In-Office Visits
Telehealth also widens your options. Instead of choosing from whoever happens to be nearby, you are matched with a clinician licensed in Illinois who genuinely specializes in what you need.
The best therapy is the therapy you actually attend. By meeting you where you are, online athlete/sports performance in Urbana removes the friction that causes so many people to cancel, delay, or never start.
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.
And it is more accessible than most Urbana community members expect.
Why Urbana community members Choose Empower You Experts
Here is what Urbana community members gain when they start athlete/sports performance with us:
Therapy from your couch, car, or closet
No commute. No waiting room. No judgmental receptionist. Log in from wherever you feel safe and comfortable.
Licensed experts with 25+ years of experience each
Illinois-licensed experts serving the Chicagoland area and beyond.
Your schedule, respected
Early morning. Lunch break. After the kids are asleep. We offer flexible hours because life doesn't pause for therapy.
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.
That is exactly where athlete/sports performance comes in.
Why Urbana community members Reach Out for Athlete/Sports Performance
Before anything changes, it helps to name what you are carrying. For many Urbana 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.
Here's what that looks like in practice.
Methods Urbana community members Can Feel
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 Urbana, not only inside a 50-minute window.
Named clinicians matter here: Dr. Lisa Lavella, PsyD, BC-TMH and Christina Liakopoulos, LCSW, BC-TMH are not a rotating intern pool. You keep a person, not a matching algorithm.
Who this is for
Urbana 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.
Common Questions About Athlete/Sports Performance
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 Urbana 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 Urbana?
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 Urbana 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 Urbana 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 Urbana, 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 Urbana 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 Urbana 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 Urbana 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 Urbana — 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 Urbana 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 Urbana 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.