A private, collaborative space to work through the mental side of sport, even if you are not sure it is "serious enough" to bring to counselling. Psychologists registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP). Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW), Canadian Certified Counsellors (CCCs) certified by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists. In person in Edmonton and St. Albert, or virtual across Alberta.

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You Might Be Wondering Whether Sports Performance Development Counselling Is Right for You

You may not be sure that what you are dealing with in sport is a real reason to talk to someone. Nothing is obviously wrong. You still train, you still show up, and your results might look fine from the outside. So it is hard to tell whether this is what counselling is for, or just part of competing.

Maybe you replay one mistake on the drive home long after everyone else has moved on. Maybe you feel loose and sure of yourself in practice, then tighten up when it counts. Or the sport you used to look forward to has started to feel like one more thing to get through.

You might also be reading this for someone else. A parent or caregiver may wonder whether a young athlete's frustration after games is worth raising with a professional, or whether they would be making too much of it.

These reactions make sense. Sport asks a lot of people: time, effort, mistakes made in front of others, constant feedback, and the feeling of being watched. Responding with doubt, tension, or frustration is a common human reaction to real demands. It does not mean you are weak, and it does not mean you are not cut out for your sport.

If you are trying to work out whether talking with someone could help, the sections below explain what this service involves, who it tends to suit, and what it does not cover. You may wish to read on and decide for yourself.

Who We Help

This service may be a good fit if you are:

• an athlete, recreational or more competitive, who wants a private place to think through goals, routines, or pressure
• preparing for a new season, a tryout, a tournament, or a change in role
• finding it hard to reset after mistakes, setbacks, or a disappointing result
• trying to balance sport with school, work, rest, and relationships
• thinking about how sport fits into your life, including whether to continue, change direction, or step back
• a parent or caregiver gathering information for a young athlete

This service may not be the right fit if:

• You are in crisis or worried about your immediate safety. Please use the crisis resources below.
• You need a legal, forensic, or court-related service. These needs are outside this counselling service. Psychological assessments are a separate service.
• You are looking for medical care, injury rehabilitation, physiotherapy, nutrition services, or sport-specific coaching. Counselling does not replace these. With your consent, a clinician can help you think about how counselling fits alongside them.
• You are being harmed or feel unsafe in a team or sport setting right now. Your safety comes first, and the resources below can help. Counselling can be a place to talk about what is happening, but it is not an investigation or a reporting service.

If You Need Help Right Now

Counselling is not set up for emergencies. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, or you are thinking about harming yourself, please contact one of these services:

• Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department if there is immediate danger.
• Alberta Mental Health Help Line: 1-877-303-2642 (24/7)
• 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline: call or text 9-8-8 (24/7)
• Crisis Text Line: text CONNECT to 686868 (24/7)

Wholesome Psychology is not an emergency or crisis service.

What Sports Performance Development Counselling Is

Sports performance development counselling is a private, collaborative space to talk about the mental and practical side of taking part in sport. Sessions start from what you bring. That might be what is happening in training or competition, how you respond to pressure, or how sport fits with the rest of your life.

Depending on your goals and the clinician you work with, sessions may include:

• setting realistic goals that focus on the process, not only the result
• building routines before practice or competition
• noticing where your attention goes, and practising ways to bring it back
• looking at self-talk and confidence-related experiences
• responding to mistakes, feedback, and setbacks
• communicating with coaches, teammates, or family
• reflecting on motivation, enjoyment, and identity in sport

What This Service Does Not Do

• It is not coaching. It does not evaluate athletic ability or direct sport-specific training.
• It is not medical care, injury rehabilitation, physiotherapy, or nutrition care.
• It is not a legal service, an investigation, or crisis intervention.
• It does not include psychological assessments. Assessments are offered as a separate service.
• It does not promise better results, team selection, playing time, scholarships, or any other sport outcome.

You set the pace. Your clinician will not push you to talk about anything before you are ready, and the focus can shift as your season or goals change. Counselling is private, with legal and ethical limits your clinician will explain at the start (see Confidentiality and Privacy below).

Clinicians work within the limits of their training and professional regulation. When a concern falls outside what counselling can offer, your clinician may suggest other supports. If you are comparing options, you may also want to read about sports psychology, sports performance enhancement, or sports team performance.

Signs Sport Pressure May Be Affecting You

You do not need a diagnosis or a crisis to look at how sport is affecting you. Some people notice patterns like these:

• replaying mistakes or criticism for hours or days afterward
• feeling tense, restless, or unsettled in your body before games, tryouts, or evaluations
• playing very differently in competition than in practice
• trouble sleeping before big events
• harsh self-talk after a bad shift, round, or game
• losing interest in a sport you used to enjoy
• feeling as though your worth depends on how you played
• pulling away from teammates or friends after a poor result
• tension at home around sport, such as arguments in the car after games

Noticing these patterns does not mean something is permanently wrong with you. They are understandable responses to real demands. Talking them through with a clinician may help you make sense of them and decide what you want to do next.

How Treatment Works Here

• Find your therapist. You can use the Match Tool or browse profiles on Our Therapists. If you would rather talk it through, the admin team can help at 780-904-4880.
• Book your first session. Your first appointment covers consent, confidentiality and its limits, and what you hope to work on. It is also a chance to ask questions and see whether the fit feels right.
• Build your plan together. You and your clinician decide what to focus on, based on your goals in sport and outside it. The plan is shared, not handed to you.
• Ongoing sessions. Sessions are 50 minutes, usually weekly or every two weeks. Frequency can be adjusted around your training and competition schedule.
• Progress check-ins. Your clinician reviews how things are going with you regularly, and the plan changes as your needs change.

There is no fixed number of sessions. Your voice shapes the work at every stage, including when to pause or stop. You can read more on Getting Started with Therapy and Our Unique Approach.

Evidence and Approaches

This page draws on one research source: an umbrella review of psychological skills training for sport-related outcomes ("Psychological Skills Training," n.d.). An umbrella review looks across earlier reviews rather than reporting a single study. The record available for this page did not confirm the review's specific findings, so no performance results are claimed below.

The approaches below describe what sessions may include, along with plain notes on what the evidence here can and cannot show.

Goal Setting

What it helps with: Turning broad hopes, such as "play better," into clear goals you can work on between sessions.

Evidence summary: Psychological skills training is a researched area in sport-related practice ("Psychological Skills Training," n.d.). The source available for this page does not report results specific to goal setting, so no particular benefit is claimed here.

Limitations: Evidence tied directly to this service was not available. How useful goal setting feels can vary from person to person.

Routines, Attention, and Focus

What it helps with: Building steady routines before practice or competition and noticing where your attention drifts.

Evidence summary: An umbrella review of psychological skills training for sport-related outcomes exists in the research literature ("Psychological Skills Training," n.d.). Because the readable record did not confirm which interventions it examined, this page does not claim that routine or attention work leads to a specific result.

Limitations: What helps one athlete may not help another. Evidence specific to routines and focus was not available for this page.

Self-Talk and Confidence-Related Experiences

What it helps with: Looking at how you talk to yourself during and after competition, and how that connects with how confident you feel.

Evidence summary: The umbrella review's title indicates it weighed both sport-related outcomes and the credibility and methodological quality of the underlying research ("Psychological Skills Training," n.d.). That attention to evidence quality is a reason to treat claims about confidence with care.

Limitations: Confidence is shaped by many things outside counselling, including team environment, health, and life away from sport. No approach can promise a change in confidence.

Responding to Pressure, Mistakes, and Setbacks

What it helps with: Working out how you want to respond to mistakes, criticism, and disappointing results.

Evidence summary: Psychological skills training has been studied for sport-related outcomes and reviewed at the umbrella level ("Psychological Skills Training," n.d.). No finding about pressure or setbacks specifically could be confirmed from the record available for this page.

Limitations: Counselling cannot remove the pressure that comes with competition. Responses vary from person to person.

What Results to Expect

Progress in counselling is rarely a straight line. Some weeks feel like a step forward, and a rough game can feel like a step back. A setback like that does not necessarily mean counselling is not working.

Some people notice shifts within a few months. Others find longer-term work through a season, or several seasons, more useful. What you get from it may depend on:

• what you hope to work on
• what else is happening in your life, at school, at work, or at home
• your sport environment, including team culture and schedule
• the fit between you and your clinician

No counselling service can guarantee outcomes, including performance results, team selection, playing time, or scholarships. Fit matters. Changing clinicians or trying a different approach is always an option.

Confidentiality and Privacy

What you share in counselling is private. Consent and confidentiality are discussed at the beginning of care, and your clinician will explain the limits clearly in your first session. You are welcome to ask questions about privacy before you share anything personal.

Psychologists at Wholesome Psychology are regulated by the College of Alberta Psychologists (CAP) and follow the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists. Registered Social Workers are regulated by the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW).

Two Alberta privacy laws are relevant. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) generally applies to private clinics. It sets rules for how personal information is collected, used, and disclosed, with consent at its centre. The Health Information Act (HIA) governs health information held by health custodians, such as Alberta Health Services, and may apply when your care involves those organizations.

There are a few situations where a clinician may be required to share information without your consent:

• a risk of serious harm to you or someone else
• suspected abuse or neglect of a child, which must be reported under Alberta law (the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act)
• a court order or subpoena

In sport, many people are involved in an athlete's life. Information is not shared with coaches, teams, parents, schools, or other professionals simply because they are part of that environment. Sharing generally requires informed consent, except where the law, professional obligations, or immediate safety require otherwise. For younger athletes, privacy and caregiver involvement are explained in an age-appropriate way and discussed together.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to go over every bad game or difficult moment in detail?

No. You decide what to share and when. You can start with what is happening now, such as how you feel before games or how you react after a mistake, rather than going back over past events in detail. Your clinician will follow your pace, and you can say "not yet" at any point.

Will my coach, team, or parents find out what I say?

Counselling is private. Information is not shared with coaches or teams without informed consent, except where the law, professional obligations, or immediate safety require it. Examples include a risk of serious harm, suspected abuse or neglect of a child, or a court order. For younger athletes, how much caregivers are told depends on age and circumstances, and this is explained openly at the start. You can read more in Confidentiality and Privacy above.

How many sessions will I need?

There is no fixed number. Someone with a focused question, such as getting ready for a tryout, may find a shorter stretch of support is enough. Others prefer to keep meeting through a season or longer. You and your clinician review progress regularly and decide together.

What if the therapist is not the right fit?

Fit matters, and it is okay to say so. If the first clinician does not feel right, the admin team can help you find someone else. New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

Can I have sessions online?

Yes. Virtual sessions are available across Alberta, which can make it easier to fit counselling around travel, tournaments, and busy training weeks. The same confidentiality standards apply to virtual and in-person sessions.

Is this only for elite or high-level athletes?

No. People with many different relationships to sport may explore this service. The focus is on your goals and your situation, not your level of competition.

Will counselling improve my performance?

No one can promise that. Counselling cannot guarantee a better result, a spot on a team, more playing time, or a scholarship. It offers a structured space to explore goals, routines, focus, and how you respond to pressure, and to decide what you want to try next.

Can a parent or coach be part of sessions?

That depends on the athlete's age, preferences, consent, and what the conversation is for. Involving a caregiver, coach, or other support person is discussed together rather than assumed. If you are a parent gathering information, you can call the admin team at 780-904-4880 to ask what options exist for your family.

Meet Your Clinicians

The team at Wholesome Psychology includes Registered Psychologists, Registered Provisional Psychologists, Registered Social Workers, Canadian Certified Counsellors, Mental Health Therapists, and Student Therapists. All psychologists are registered with the College of Alberta Psychologists. Registered Provisional Psychologists practise under the supervision of a senior registered psychologist. Student Therapists are master's-level practicum students.

Clinicians' training and areas of focus vary. Individual profiles on Our Therapists describe each person's background, and the Match Tool can help narrow your options. If you would like to know who currently works with sport-related concerns, the admin team can help at 780-904-4880.

Children and Youth

Sport development often starts young, so this section is for parents, caregivers, and young athletes themselves. Wholesome Psychology offers counselling for children, adolescents, and young people. Clinicians who work with younger clients use age-appropriate approaches. For the age range this particular service supports, please check with the admin team.

Clinicians can work with caregivers to support a young athlete, for example by talking about how to respond after games or how to keep sport enjoyable. Privacy and caregiver involvement are explained in a way the young person can understand. You can learn more about child and youth counselling.

Taking a Next Step

If you would like to learn more, you can take the next step in whichever way feels easiest:

• Book a session online
• Match with a therapist
• Call the admin team at 780-904-4880
• Email info@wholesomepsychology.ca
• Read Getting Started with Therapy

A first appointment is a chance to talk about fit, goals, and what you want from this work. Starting the conversation is enough.

New clients may access their first session at 50% off to help find the right therapeutic fit.

References

• Psychological skills training for sport-related outcomes: An umbrella review of evidence credibility and methodological quality. (n.d.).