Therapy for Athletes

In Atlanta and virtually throughout Georgia & North Carolina

Supporting athletes who feel trapped by perfectionism, anxiety, and food & body struggles.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

Does it feel like your worth depends on how well you perform (or how your body looks?)

Maybe you’re constantly pushing yourself, but it never feels like it’s enough. Or perhaps your identity feels so tied to your performance that you don’t know who you are without your sport.

You’re exhausted from constantly pursing good grades, keeping up appearances, or “proveing” yourself—to coaches, teammates, or even your own inner critic. Perhaps you’re secretly struggling with food, eating, and body image.

Whatever it is that you’re experiencing, you’re beginning to notice the impact of this not just in your sport, but in every part of your life:

  • Anxiety before practices, competitions, or games that feels impossible to shake

  • Feeling like your worth depends on your performance, weight, or body

  • Struggling to manage emotions, and feeling pressure to keep the “strong” mask on at all times

  • Losing joy in training, and wondering if you even love your sport anymore

  • Feeling disconnected from friends, school, work, or other parts of life outside athletics

I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.

Therapy can help.

It might feel out of reach right now, but change is possible.

  • You can learn tools to manage anxiety and emotional stress.

  • You can rebuild a healthy relationship with food, training, and your body.

  • You can rediscover the joy and meaning in your sport and in life beyond it

  • You can feel capable and trust that you can handle whatever life throws you

I’m here to help you get there.

How Therapy Helps Athletes

  1. Get to the root of your struggles: We’ll explore how perfectionism, needing to be in control, and striving to meet expectations have shaped your experience with food, body, and your sport

  2. Break free from harmful cycles: We’ll work through anxiety, rigid routines, or disordered eating patterns that keep you stuck

  3. Reconnect with yourself: Build a foundation of self-compassion and resilience that extends beyond competition, helping you navigate life transitions, relationships, and the challenges of day-to-day life

My approach combines evidence-based therapy with an understanding of the unique culture and demands of athletics. Whether you’re dealing with performance anxiety, recovery from injury, or disordered eating, we’ll tailor each step to your individual needs.

So how do I know if my relationship with food and my body is a problem?

Great question! Eating concerns in athletes can be hard to spot because strict routines, body monitoring, and training demands are often normalized in sports culture. Together, we’ll sort out what’s healthy for you and what may be causing harm.

We’ve listed some of the symptoms you may experience with each type of eating disorder. Remember, it’s possible to experience symptoms of several types of eating disorders, or to not meet the diagnosis of an eating disorder but still experience similar symptoms due to chronic dieting.

    • Rigid food rules that cause guilt or anxiety if broken

    • Exercising despite injury or illness

    • Intense fear of weight gain or body changes

    • Using exercise to “make up” for food eaten

    • Skipping meals, restricting intake, or obsessing over macros/calories

    • Feeling preoccupied with body size, shape, or weight-class demands

    1. Recurrent episodes of binge eating, which is consuming large amounts of food within a short period of time

    2. Compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or other medications, fasting, or excessive exercise

    3. Feelings of lack of control during binge eating episodes

    4. Self-esteem heavily influenced by body shape and weight

    1. Recurrent episodes of binge eating, characterized by eating large amounts of food within a short period of time while feeling a loss of control over eating

    2. Feelings of distress, guilt, or embarrassment after binge eating episodes

    3. No regular use of compensatory behaviors like purging, fasting, or excessive exercise

    4. Eating more rapidly than normal

    5. Eating until uncomfortably full and/or eating large amounts of food when not physically hungry

    6. Eating alone due to embarrassment about the quantity of food being consumed

    1. Significant weight loss or failure to gain weight

    2. Lack of interest in eating or food

    3. Fear of adverse consequences of eating, such as choking or vomiting

    4. Avoidance of certain foods or textures, leading to limited food intake

    5. Nutritional deficiencies, which might lead to dependence on nutritional supplements

    1. Constant preoccupation with food, calories, and weight

    2. Following restrictive diets for extended periods, often cycling between different fad diets

    3. Feeling guilty or ashamed after eating certain foods

    4. Obsessive calorie counting or tracking of macronutrients

    5. Avoidance of social situations involving food

    6. Yo-yo dieting, characterized by cycles of weight loss followed by weight regain

    7. Negative body image and dissatisfaction with one's appearance

    8. Low self-esteem linked to body weight or shape

    9. Mood swings or irritability related to food or body image

    10. Physical symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, dizziness, or hair loss due to inadequate nutrition

You don’t have to keep fighting this alone.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

FAQs

  • Initially, we'll work together to establish a space of trust, safety, and collaboration through learning more about you and your world and answering any questions you have.

    As we begin to work on your goals, I’ll be active in the session, asking you questions to dig deeper, helping draw connections, and gently challenging you (I promise you got this!). 

    At times, I may invite you to engage in experiential practices in session that aim to help you connect with yourself and learn to manage difficult emotions.

  • I understand the unique culture of sports, where pushing through pain, ignoring needs, and tying worth to performance are often normalized. We’ll address these challenges directly, and work to find realistic ways for you to manage the challenges you’re experiencing.

  • My goal is to have you stay in your sport. Together, we’ll look at any medical concerns to determine if it’s safe to continue training. Then, we’ll work to help you engage in training in a balanced and healthy way that respects your body.

  • Not at all. Many athletes struggle with food, body image, or anxiety without meeting criteria for an eating disorder diagnosis. If it’s distressing or interfering with your life, therapy can help.

  • There's no set timeline for therapy for an eating disorder as treatment is based off your unique circumstances and needs. In our first session, we'll identify what goals are most important to you and discuss how we're going to approach them. While there's still no set time to this process, typically, it takes about 6-12 months to see relief from your symptoms and to notice major changes in behaviors.

  • Yes, this is normal! In therapy, we're often shining a light on thoughts, feelings, and experiences you may not have spent time with before. This process can bring uncomfortable feelings to the surface. However, with the guidance and support of a therapist, these difficult moments can lead to breakthroughs and long-term healing.

  • Reach out here today to schedule your free consultation call. In the call, I'll ask you to share about what is bringing you to therapy and if there's anything specific you're hoping to work on. I'll answer your questions, and tell you more about my approach.

    If it feels like a fit for both of us, we'll look at scheduling your initial session. Then, after the call, I'll send you an invite from my free client portal where you'll have access to all intake forms.

Here’s how it works…

1

Reach out

Reach out today to schedule your free consult. We’ll hop on the phone, and chat about your goals, answer any questions you have, and make sure we’re a good fit.

2

We’ll explore what’s been working for you—and what hasn’t. From there, we’ll set a course for our work, and start helping you develop the tools you need to start reconnecting with yourself.

Get support

3

Start trusting yourself

Through our work, you'll better understand yourself, your body, and your relationships. You'll be able to drop the constant second guessing and move forward in your life from a place of self-trust.

Schedule Your Free Consultation