Sports Performance Counseling in Naperville, IL
Mental performance work for collegiate, competitive & high-performing athletes
Gryzbek Therapy offers sports performance counseling in Naperville and across DuPage County — for collegiate, competitive amateur, and high-performing athletes working with performance anxiety, focus, identity, injury, or competitive transition.
- ACT and performance psychology for competition anxiety
- Identity, injury, and retirement-from-sport work
- In-network with BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, UHC PPO, Medicare
Matched to your clinician within 1 business day.
Serving Naperville · DuPage County · Lisle · Warrenville · Wheaton · Aurora · Statewide Illinois telehealth
Common performance blocks we work with
Performance anxiety and choking
Pre-competition anxiety that’s interfering with execution. Choking patterns in high-stakes moments. Anxiety that’s worse than the actual performance reality warrants. Common across collegiate athletes whose mental-game work hasn’t kept pace with physical and tactical development. ACT teaches you to perform with anxiety present rather than waiting for anxiety to disappear before performing.
Focus, concentration, and “the zone”
Persistent attention drift during practice or competition. Inability to enter “the zone” reliably. Pre-shot or pre-pitch routines that feel mechanical rather than centering. Often paired with overthinking and over-analysis. Attentional focus training and pre-performance routine work address the layer pure mental toughness coaching often misses.
Confidence and self-efficacy
Skills are there in practice but missing in competition. Confidence that fluctuates with results rather than process. The “imposter” feeling among high-achieving athletes who outperformed expectations to get where they are. CBT and ACT work on the cognitive patterns that drive confidence collapse without dismissing the real evidence the athlete has accumulated.
Injury and return-to-play psychology
The psychological work of injury — identity disruption, fear of re-injury, return-to-play anxiety, the existential question of who you are when sport is temporarily inaccessible. Often integrated with sports medicine and physical therapy. The mental layer of rehab matters as much as the physical layer for full return to competition.
Identity-performance fusion + retirement from sport
Athletes whose self-worth, social identity, or sense of meaning is bundled tightly with athletic performance. Healthy enough during good seasons; vulnerable during slumps, injuries, or transition out of competitive sport. Retirement from competitive athletics — voluntary or forced — is one of the highest-need transition contexts in sports psychology. ACT and narrative-based identity work give the reorganization structure.
Three performance approaches, matched to the work
ACT for competition
(Defusion + values + committed action under pressure)
ACT for performance is a strong fit for competition contexts. Athletes learn to defuse from performance-anxious thoughts, clarify what sport means beyond outcomes, and act on values under pressure even when the anxiety is present. Particularly effective for athletes who’ve been trying to eliminate anxiety before performing — the wait itself is what’s holding back the performance.
CBT for performance-anxiety patterns
(Cognitive restructuring for catastrophic thinking)
CBT for performance anxiety identifies the cognitive patterns driving the issue (catastrophizing about competition, all-or-nothing thinking about wins and losses, mind-reading about coach or teammate evaluation), tests them, and changes the behavioral patterns that maintain the cycle. Strong fit when cognitive patterns are clearly driving performance anxiety more than nervous-system reactivity.
Performance-psychology techniques
(Pre-routine, imagery, attentional focus, arousal regulation)
Pre-performance routines, imagery and visualization, self-talk modification, attentional focus training, arousal regulation. The standard sports-psychology toolkit applied through a clinical lens by a doctoral psychologist — not generic mental toughness coaching. Sport psychology techniques layered onto clinical training is what makes this work different from pure performance coaching.
What’s actually happening when performance work starts moving
How ACT lets you perform with anxiety present
Performance anxiety runs a predictable loop. The athlete tries to eliminate the anxiety before competition. The fight against anxiety consumes the bandwidth needed for execution. Performance suffers. The next competition arrives with the same pattern plus the evidence of the last failure. ACT intercepts at the willingness layer. You stop waiting for anxiety to disappear and start executing with it present. The performance returns because the bandwidth returns.
Why doctoral training matters for performance work
Generic mental toughness coaching often misses the clinical layer. Performance anxiety crossing into clinical-anxiety territory needs clinical intervention. Depression interfering with sport needs depression treatment, not motivational coaching. Identity collapse around injury or retirement needs depth-oriented work. A doctoral psychologist with collegiate-athlete background can run the full range — pure performance coaching, clinical work, or the integration of both.
What changes functionally over a season of performance work
Pre-performance routines become automatic enough to center the nervous system without conscious effort. The relationship to performance anxiety shifts from “obstacle to remove” to “present condition to perform within.” Recovery from setbacks — bad games, slumps, injuries — gets faster because identity has somewhere to live beyond pure athletic outcomes. You feel this as something specific: competition costs less of you per appearance.
From first call to feeling shifts
Evaluate
You reach out via the form or call (630) 474-1006. We schedule an intake session, 55 minutes, in-person or telehealth — to understand your sport, your competition context, your performance history, what’s been tried, and what you want to work on.
Match
By session two or three, we agree on the right modality — ACT, CBT, performance-psychology techniques, or some integration — based on your specific performance issue and goals. We also confirm whether the work is therapy, mental performance coaching, or both. If something isn’t landing, we adjust.
Treat
Acute work for a specific competition or performance problem can run a short, focused course. Season-long work with a competitive athlete runs across training, taper, competition, and recovery phases. Identity-and-transition work typically runs 6 to 9 months. You’ll practice routines and skills between sessions.
Gryzbek Therapy Services offers in-person sports performance counseling at our Naperville office, conveniently serving clients from Warrenville, Lisle, Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Woodridge, Downers Grove, Hinsdale, and Aurora. We also provide secure telehealth therapy for adults across Illinois.
Signs it’s time
You don’t have to be in crisis to qualify for therapy.
MODALITY
Same performance work. In office or via PSYPACT telehealth across 40+ states.
ACT, CBT, and performance-psychology techniques — in-person at 1979 N Mill Street or via secure Illinois telehealth, plus PSYPACT telehealth for athletes in 40+ states.
Why the mental side is its own training — and why “just be tougher” never worked
Inherited patterns
Mental performance is a trainable skill set distinct from physical and tactical training. Athletes who’ve trained the physical and tactical sides exhaustively often have an under-trained mental side — not because they lack toughness, but because nobody trained it. The work is teachable. It just hasn’t been taught.
High-achiever cost
Perfectionism and high standards are often what got the athlete to the competitive level. The same traits become liability when winning becomes the only acceptable outcome. Sport psychology distinguishes adaptive perfectionism (high standards, process-focus) from maladaptive perfectionism (outcome-fixation, catastrophic response to error). The work shifts the relationship without dismantling the standards.
Unprocessed life transitions
Injury and forced retirement often surface identity work that the athletic identity was holding at bay. Years of “I am an athlete” leaves a sudden gap when sport is no longer available. The grief is real, the identity reorganization is real, and the work to navigate the transition is real. Sport psychology covers this territory specifically.
Neurobiological wiring
Some athletes are more arousal-reactive than others — nervous-system temperament that shows up under competitive pressure. That’s not a flaw. It’s information. Arousal regulation work and pre-performance routine training help the athlete perform within the wiring they have, not against it.
Other Therapy Services
More services at Gryzbek Therapy
Individual Therapy · Couples Therapy · Marriage Counseling · Family Therapy · Co-Parenting Therapy · Adolescent Therapy · Telehealth Therapy · Psychological Testing · ADHD Testing & EvaluationOUR LOCATION
Visit us in Downtown Naperville
Gryzbek Therapy & Psychological Services
1979 N Mill Street, Suite 204
Naperville, IL 60563
Hours
Mon–Fri: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Sat: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Sun: Closed
Clients connect with our Naperville practice from Winfield, Westmont, Darien, Lemont, Romeoville, Plainfield, and Montgomery, along with surrounding neighborhoods like Fox Valley, Eola, Wolf’s Crossing, Churchill Woods, and Lakewood Valley.
Frequently asked questions about sports performance counseling
How long until I feel better?
Acute performance work for a specific issue (upcoming competition, specific block, return-to-play) often runs a short, focused course. Season-long work runs across training, taper, competition, and recovery phases. Identity and transition work typically runs 6 to 9 months. We don’t drag work out artificially. When the routines hold and the athlete is performing independently, we taper.
Will my insurance actually cover this?
We’re in-network with BCBS PPO, Aetna PPO, United Healthcare PPO, and Medicare. For other plans, we bill out-of-network benefits on your behalf — you don’t submit anything yourself. Coverage depends on your specific plan. We verify benefits at intake so you know what you’re walking into.
What if I don’t click with my therapist?
Sports performance counseling is Dr. Gryzbek’s specialty at the practice — you’ll work with him directly. If pure mental performance coaching is what’s needed and a different fit would serve better, we can refer to a sport-psychology specialist in the broader network. Fit is fit; the work matters more than ego about it.
Is sports performance work therapy or coaching?
Both, depending on what you’re working on. Performance anxiety crossing into clinical-anxiety territory is therapy. Skills-building for routine, focus, and confidence is coaching. Identity work around injury or retirement is depth-oriented therapy. Dr. Gryzbek works in all three modes and shifts framing as the work evolves — the doctoral training is what makes the full range available without re-referring.
Do you work with athletes recovering from injury?
Yes. Injury-related psychology is a core part of sports performance work — fear of re-injury, return-to-play anxiety, identity work during forced layoff, and the rehab process itself. Often coordinated with sports medicine and physical therapy. The mental layer of rehab matters as much as the physical layer for full return to competition.
Do I have to be “elite” to come for this work?
No. We work with competitive athletes across many performance levels and many sports. The threshold is whether the mental side of your sport is meaningfully affecting performance or whether your performance is meaningfully affecting your mental health — not whether you’re at the elite level. Collegiate, masters, amateur competitive, high school with college aspirations — all welcome.
Will you prescribe medication?
No. We’re a therapy and coaching practice — no prescribers on staff. If anxiety, depression, or sleep concerns warrant medication, we coordinate with your psychiatrist or primary care provider. We work alongside the prescriber.
Can sports performance work be done via telehealth?
Yes — and often advantageous. Sessions can be timed around competition schedules, training cycles, and travel. Many collegiate athletes prefer telehealth during season for the flexibility. Dr. Gryzbek is PSYPACT-credentialed and reaches athletes in 40+ states via secure-video telehealth.
Related Specialties
Sleep Disorder Therapy · Anxiety Therapy · Depression Therapy · OCD Therapy · Trauma Therapy · Postpartum Therapy · Grief & Bereavement · Stress Management · Life Transitions · LGBTQ+ Affirming · Multicultural Counseling · Executive Function · Women’s Issues · Caregiver Therapy · Faith-Based TherapyREADY TO START
Train the mental side like the rest. Doctoral psychologist mental performance work for serious athletes.
Start with a doctoral psychologist with collegiate-athlete background. Naperville office or PSYPACT telehealth across 40+ states.