When should I seek help?

As a mountain bike coach, I work closely with people from all walks of life, with a wide and diverse range of skills and goals as athletes. While we know that exercise is shown to produce positive mental health and wellbeing benefits, many athletes suffer from a wide range of significant mental-health needs. For many athletic people, well-being can become intertwined with performance. While this can feel good when you are performing well, injuries, demanding training schedules, balancing school or work and training, and pressure and setbacks are associated with higher risk of depression, anxiety, burnout, and eating disorders. Research shows that typically, only 22% of athletes seek mental health support, despite mounting evidence showing the benefits of mental health not only for your wellbeing, but for overall performance in your sport.

Whether you’re a pro-athlete or amateur, therapy enhances resilience and mental wellness.

Athletes face demanding physical, emotional and psychological challenges, and therapy can help them perform, stay well and extend their careers. Attending therapy is not only about treating illness or crisis, but about proactively supporting mental health, refining coping skills and enabling consistent peak performance.

Athletes are exposed to high levels of stress, from injury, performance pressure, public or family scrutiny, transitions (e.g., retirement), and overtraining. These stressors increase the risk of anxiety, depression, burnout and other mental‑health issues. Therapy gives athletes a confidential, structured space to address these pressures, enhancing resilience and mental wellness.

Furthermore, therapy supports performance directly: by working with evidence-based strategies, athletes can improve self‑talk, goal‑setting, focus, emotional regulation and confidence. These skills help athletes translate their physical training into optimal competitive output. Therapy also helps manage the psychological impacts of injury, fear of reinjury, loss of identity, and disruption of routine, which often undermine recovery and return‑to‑play outcomes.

Attending therapy helps athletes build long‑term career and life sustainability. Mental health support isn’t just for the field or court, it’s for life. Athletes who build strong psychological foundations are better positioned to navigate transitions, maintain wellbeing after sport, and avoid mental‑health crises.

In short: attending therapy is a smart investment for an athlete’s performance, wellbeing and longevity. It equips you to handle stress and uncertainty, sharpen your mind for competition, bounce back from setbacks and build a strong foundation for what comes after sport. Therapy isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a proactive strength move.

Why work with Liz?

As a mountain bike coach and athlete who has battled with significant injuries and setbacks, Liz understands the pressures, fears, and mental health impacts faced by athletes. She takes a person-centered approach that focuses on developing mental resilience, building safety in feeling and expressing emotions, processing grief from injuries, setbacks or changing identities, and overall developing and maintaining a healthy relationship with exercise. Liz offers virtual therapy across British Columbia, allowing access even when managing a busy training or life schedule.

• Identity loss when transitioning out of sport;

• Burnout, exhaustion, loss of joy, or falling out-of-love with your sport;

• Performance anxiety, perfectionism, or developing a healthier relationship with sport;

• Managing injuries, chronic pain, and fear post-injury recovery.