MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING FOR ATHLETES
Mental health is part of the training plan.
Neumo offers counseling services for athletes who are struggling with mental health concerns.
THE STATISTICS
Several different sources* have found that current athletes have been found to experience the following:
58% have a diagnosable mental health condition
23 to 34% have depression and/or anxiety (Women were twice as likely to report depression symptoms than men)
19% with some form of alcohol misuse
Studies go on to suggest that these numbers increase during periods of increased stress, such as a major life experience like athlete retirement. Furthermore, athletes tend to practice avoidance as a primary coping skill, increasing the effects of such problems.
* US Olympic and Paralympic Commitee (2020), Gouttebarge et al. (2019), and Wolanin et al. (2015)
Unlock Your Mental Edge with Mental Health Counseling for Athletes
Success in athletics is more than physical strength—it requires mental resilience, mindfulness, and balance. If stress, performance anxiety, or life transitions are affecting your game, mental health counseling for athletes can help you regain clarity, focus, and confidence.
Neumo offers virtual counseling for athletes in Colorado and Arizona, designed to fit seamlessly into your training and competition schedule.
Why Athletes Choose Counseling
- Performance Pressure – Manage game-day nerves, stress, and anxiety.
- Sleep – Practice healthier sleep hygiene for better sleep architecture. See our blog post about sleep and athletes to get started.
- Burnout & Overtraining – Learn recovery strategies and mental balance.
- Injury & Transitions – Rebuild identity, confidence, and direction. Our blog post has tips to get an idea of how to approach injuries.
- Anxiety & Depression – Address underlying challenges that affect both sport and daily life. Find out how you can get started on working through depression here.
- Retirement – Consider changes to identity to approach life after sport with acceptance and confidence. See more about athlete retirement here.
Services Tailored to Athletes
- Performance Anxiety Coaching – Calm nerves and increase focus.
- Sleep and Recovery Routines – Build habits for peak performance.
- Confidence Building – Reclaim your edge after mistakes or injuries.
- Transition Support – Navigate identity shifts and career changes.
- Stress and Life Balance – Manage relationships, academics, and athletics.
By choosing mental health counseling for athletes, you’ll gain tools to succeed not just in sport, but in every area of life.
Common Interventions and topics covered in athlete counseling
- Depression and Grief screening and treatment (see our depression counseling and grief counseling services)
- Anxiety screening and treatment (see our anxiety counseling services)
- Substance use screening and treatment
- Providing skills for decision making about retirement
- Processing the narrative of your athletic career
- Exploring your old identity as an athlete as you learn skills and practice a new identity of your choosing (see our blog on sport and therapy)
- Identify strengths and skills developed throughout your experience as an athlete
- Assessment of pain and psychological pain management tools
- Development of a new social network given the potential loss of teammates, coaches, trainers, etc., including review of skills for healthy communication, boundary setting, assertiveness training, and relationship skills
- Career assessment and career counseling
- Review of body image expectations as a result of no longer keeping up with a demanding workout and diet schedule
- Review of expectations about new habits as a retiring athlete, and education and skills to develop new habits, i.e., sleep (see our sleep counseling services or our blog dedicated to athlete sleep), diet, exercise, etc.
- Time management skills now that you are on your own schedule
- Skills, support, and practice to manage emotional experiences
- Exploration of anger and relevant anger management skills
- Mindfulness and relaxation training (This blog may help you get started)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT ATHLETE COUNSELING
Who does Neumo work with?
We work with competitive and driven individuals who struggle with pre-game anxiety or stress, feel stuck in recovery from injury, burnout, are facing retirement, and want strategies for mental toughness and resilience. They may also be looking to find balance between athletics, school, or career. As a result, they often are generally experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other mental health condition.
Where does virtual counseling take place?
Because we are licensed in both Colorado and Arizona, you can receive counseling that complies with state laws and ethical standards. Whether you’re in Denver, Boulder, Phoenix, Tucson, or anywhere in between—you’ll have consistent support.
What results can I expect to see?
Athletes who work with Neumo often report greater confidence during competition, reduced stress and fewer intrusive thought, improved sleep and recovery cycles, better focus and emotional control, and a stronger sense of balance in life and sport.