PsychEdge Club

New on the blog — and this one answers a question I get all the time. 📖

"How do I even find the right sports psychologist near me?"

Searching is the easy part. Knowing what actually matters — that's where parents and athletes get stuck. So, I wrote the guide I wish existed:

✅ The difference between a sports psychologist, a mental performance coach, and a sports therapist
✅ The 5 questions to ask before you book anyone
✅ What a first session really looks like (it's not a couch and a clipboard)
✅ Why "near me" can mean in-person OR online — and when each makes sense

If you're in the Naperville or Chicago area and you've been meaning to look into this, start here.
🔗 https://www.psych-edge.com/post/sports-psychologist-near-me-how-to-find-the-right-one-and-what-to-expect

What's the #1 thing that's held you back from reaching out before?

Swimmers — summer long course season is here. 🏊‍♀️

The walk to the blocks is where a lot of races are quietly lost. Too much time, too much silence, too much room for your brain to spiral.

Here's the between-heats routine I teach:

🔵 Same sequence every time — towel, slides, cap, goggles, stretch, shake out, breathe, step up. Repetition tells your brain "We know this."
🔵 One body reset between races: roll the shoulders back while inhaling for 4, head up, stand tall, long exhale, drop the jaw.
🔵 A 10-second "win review" before race 2 — recall swimming this race WELL in the past and all the hard work you've done recently to be prepared. Inhale preparation for confidence for 4 counts, exhale anything not serving you for 6.

That last one matters most. Most swimmers carry a bad swim into the next one. The pros flush it and reset the story.

Your routine should be boring and identical. Boring is what holds up under pressure.

Swimmers — what's your between-heats ritual? And if you're NOT a swimmer, tell me your sport so I can make one for you. 👇

Most athletes wait to FEEL confident before they compete.
That's backwards. 🔄

Confidence isn't a mood that shows up on the right days. It's evidence you've collected — reps you've banked, hard moments you've survived, preparation you can point to.

The athletes who stay confident through a slump have one thing in common: their confidence isn't tied to their last result. It's tied to their effort, their process, and their preparation.

So they don't lose it after a bad game. And they don't need a perfect warm-up to compete fully.

The goal was never to feel confident before every competition. The goal is to compete fully even when you don't.

That's the whole game.

When was the last time you competed well WITHOUT feeling confident going in?

Calling Naperville and Chicago-area athletes (and the parents in their corner). 📍

Summer is the best time to build the mental side of your game — no in-season pressure, just space to install the skills that hold up when it matters.

At PsychEdge, I work with local competitive athletes — high school, college-bound, and collegiate — on the things coaches rarely have time to teach: managing pressure, building real confidence, and bouncing back fast after a mistake.

As a Naperville local and a parent myself, I understand the power of online learning, so summer travel and tournament schedules don't get in the way. That’s why I offer remote sessions and online learning programs.

If you've ever searched "sports psychologist near me" and weren't sure where to start — start here.
🔗 https://www.psych-edge.com/onlinecourses

Interested in getting a discount on mindset training online??? DM me!!

Nerves before you compete aren't a problem. They're information. 🧠

Here's the 60-second reset I teach every athlete — do it in the bullpen, on the blocks, at the line:

1️⃣ Long exhale breath: inhale 4, exhale 6 (twice)
2️⃣ One power word — yours, personal, non-negotiable
3️⃣ Eyes up, shoulders back, stand tall. Your body leads your brain.

This isn't woo woo. It's how you shift a spiking nervous system back into your performance zone.

Want the full set of tools — including what parents can do (and what makes it worse)? I broke it all down in this free blog lesson!
🔗 https://www.psych-edge.com/post/tame-performance-anxiety-6-tools-for-student-athletes-parents

Which step is hardest for you to remember in the moment?

New month, fresh lane. 🏊‍♀️
Summer is the season most athletes coast. It's also the season the great ones quietly pull ahead.

I'm using June to reset my own training — not just the body work, but the mental reps too. New process goals. A cleaner pre-set routine. One word I come back to when a set falls apart.

The athletes I coach hear me say it constantly: the off-season is where the mental game is built, because there's no scoreboard pressure to hide behind.

So, here's my honest question for you 👇

What's the ONE thing you want your mind to do better by the end of summer?

I got a DM from a college freshman last month. “I was the best player on my high school team. Now I can’t even make the starting lineup. I don’t know what happened.”
I do.
What happened is the jump from big fish to bigger pond. The physical gap closes at higher levels. Everyone is talented. Everyone is trained.
The differentiator becomes the mental game. And most athletes have never been taught one.

That’s why I built the 5-Module Online Mental Training Program:
📋 Module 1: Mindfulness / Awareness for Self-Regulation & Performance Anxiety
📋 Module 2: SMARTER Goals for Motivation and Focus
📋 Module 3: Self-Talk — Confidence & Focus When It Matters
📋 Module 4: Emotional Intelligence & Growth Mindset —Managing Pressure & Resilience
📋 Module 5: Visualization — Your Superpower
Self-paced. Science-backed. Built for competitive athletes at the high school and college level.

Go into summer READY — not reactive.

🔗 Course details + enrollment: link below.
https://www.psych-edge.com/coachingservices

DM me “MENTAL EDGE” and I’ll send you the full breakdown. 📲

Your body doesn’t know the difference between excitement and fear.
Read that again.

Same racing heart. Same sweaty palms. Same butterflies. Same adrenaline dump. The ONLY difference is the story you tell yourself about what’s happening.

“I’m nervous.” = threat mode. Body tightens. Focus narrows. You play safe. You play small.
“I’m excited.” = challenge mode. Body activates. Focus sharpens. You compete. You attack.

This isn’t positive thinking. It’s called ANXIETY REAPPRAISAL — and it’s one of the most replicated findings in performance psychology.

Harvard researchers found that people who said “I’m excited” before a stressful task performed significantly better than those who said “I’m calm” or “I’m nervous.”
Why? Because your body is ALREADY activated. Telling it to calm down fights the physiology. Redirecting the activation USES it.

Next time you feel those butterflies:

Instead of “calm down” → say “I’m ready.”
Instead of “don’t mess up” → say “let’s go.”

🔥 Try this at your next competition. Then come back and tell me what happened.