Therapy for competitive athletes in Durham, NC — and via telehealth.
You trained your body for this. Nobody trained your mind.
You’ve put in the reps. The film study, the early lifts, the away games, the recruiting calls. You know how to push through pain, manage a schedule, and show up. Now you just need to perform when it counts.
Maybe you’re playing well and still feel like you’re one bad outing away from losing everything. Maybe an injury sidelined you and the comeback is taking longer in your head than it is in your body. Maybe you’re not sure who you are when you’re not competing — or what happens when the games stop counting.
Or maybe nobody’s ever asked how you’re actually doing, and you wouldn’t know where to start if they did.
Cedarpath Counseling works with athletes who are used to being evaluated on performance — and need a place where they’re not. Come think clearly, train your mind with the same rigor you train your body, and figure out who you are on the field and off it.
You don’t have to perform in here. That’s the point.
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You don’t have to perform in here. That’s the point. ++
The Gameplan
01 The Mental Game
Performance anxiety, pressure, the yips, choking — these aren’t signs you’re not tough enough. They’re signs your nervous system needs a different kind of training. We work on what’s actually driving the anxiety, not just the symptoms that show up on the field.
02 The Comeback
Injury doesn’t just take time off the field — it takes a piece of your identity, your routine, and your confidence with it. Fear of reinjury is one of the most common reasons athletes never fully return to form, even after they’re medically cleared. We work through the parts of recovery that don’t show up on an MRI.
03 The Next Chapter
Every athlete eventually stops being one — through graduation, injury, a roster cut, or just time. If your sense of self has always run through your sport, that transition can feel like losing a limb. We figure out who you are besides your stats.
04 Running on Empty
Burnout doesn’t look like quitting. It looks like still showing up, still performing, and feeling absolutely nothing about it. We catch it before it costs you your health, your relationships, or the sport itself.
About Ian
I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in North Carolina. Before I was a therapist, I was a competitive athlete, and before that I worked in athletic training — on the sidelines and in the training room, not just behind a desk. My doctorate and master’s are both in Sport & Performance Psychology. This isn’t a side interest I picked up. It’s where I started, and I’ve spent the last 14 years working specifically with athletes.
That work has included helping build what was the only eating disorder program in the country built specifically for athletes at the time. I’ve seen firsthand how differently performance, identity, and mental health collide when your body is also your job, and how badly most therapists miss that. I’ve worked with every level of athlete - from Olympian to recreational, and collegiate and professional coaching staff. I will meet you where you are and help you get to the other side.
Sessions aren’t passive. I’ll ask questions about what’s actually going on, not just what shows up in your performance. I draw on evidence-based tools — cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and sport psychology techniques used at elite levels — to help you build a mind that holds up under pressure.
Outside the office, I’m a husband, father, and avid cyclist with my own competitive history — so I know what it’s like to chase a number that’s never quite good enough.