Performance Psychology
As an athlete, dancer, musician, or artist, performance is key. And having the right psychological preparation is key to performance. Whether you’re at an elite level and looking for improvement to give you a competitive edge, or at an earlier level in your development looking to build a strong foundation of psychological skills, performance psychology can help.
Performance strategies and mental skills training may include:
- Managing anxiety, energy, and arousal
- Visualization and imagery
- Goal-setting
- Self-talk
- Pre-performance routines
- Finding your optimum performance state
- Relaxation, meditation, and/or hypnosis
- Managing perfectionism
- Skills for attention and focus
I also recognize that when you reach an elite level of performance, you may already excel in many mental skills. At the same time, other life stressors arise that can impact your performance. Some issues that we can work to address together include:
- Injury
- Performance slump or creative/artistic block
- Confidence
- Motivation
- Interpersonal conflict
- Maintaining sport-life or work-life balance
- Personal loss (like a difficult break-up or loss of a loved one)
- External pressure (e.g. from family or media)
- Considering retirement