Book Lessons with Coach Kacie

Hi! I'm Kacie, a Mental Performance Coach, Counselor, and Neuropsychology-Based Performance Specialist. But before any of those titles, I was an athlete.

As a former college basketball player, I know what it's like to carry the weight of expectations, constantly wonder if you're good enough, and feel like your value rises and falls with your performance. I know what it's like to pour so much of your identity into your sport that a bad game, a mistake, or a setback can make you question yourself. Those experiences are a big part of why I'm so passionate about the work I do today.

My goal is to help athletes understand how their brain influences confidence, pressure, focus, motivation, and performance. I combine neuroscience, neuropsychology, sports psychology, and practical performance strategies to help athletes perform at their highest level while also building a healthier, more confident relationship with themselves.

My philosophy is rooted in being limitless. I believe many of the limits we experience come from the beliefs, fears, doubts, and stories we've learned over time—not from what we're actually capable of. So many of the barriers athletes face aren't physical; they're mental patterns that can be understood, challenged, and changed. When athletes learn how their brain works and how to work with it instead of against it, incredible things can happen.

More than anything, I do this work because I never want an athlete to believe their worth is determined by their performance. You are so much more than your statistics, wins and losses, playing time, rankings, or mistakes. My goal is to help athletes build confidence, resilience, self-trust, and the mental skills they need to compete freely, perform at their best, and know their value extends far beyond the game.

A few fun facts about me: I have an 11-year-old Pomeranian named Nike who is basically my sidekick and brings a lot of joy (and personality!) to my life. I also play the drums, which is one of my favorite ways to challenge myself, relieve stress, and have fun. Whether I'm working with athletes, spending time with Nike, or sitting behind a drum set, I'm always fascinated by how we learn, grow, and push beyond what we once thought was possible.

Most athletes aren't being held back by a lack of talent—they're being held back by fear, pressure, overthinking, self-doubt, perfectionism, and the stories they keep telling themselves.

As a teacher and coach for nine years, I've worked with athletes of all ages, personalities, learning styles, and backgrounds. I know that every athlete is different, which means there is no one-size-fits-all approach to mental performance. I also competed as a college athlete myself, so I understand the expectations athletes face—from coaches, parents, teammates, and especially from themselves. I know what it's like to feel the pressure to perform, to be the best, and to tie your confidence to results.

I help athletes identify the mental and neurological patterns that impact performance and teach them practical ways to change them. Whether you're struggling with confidence, performance anxiety, mistakes, fear of failure, consistency, motivation, focus, emotional control, or performing under pressure, we'll work together to build skills that help you compete with more freedom and confidence.

My goal is to give athletes tools they can actually use—not just during our sessions, but in practice, competition, school, relationships, and everyday life. I help athletes learn how to manage pressure, respond to setbacks, handle criticism, and stop letting negative opinions define how they see themselves.

One of the most important things I help athletes do is separate their identity from their performance. A bad game, mistake, or disappointing result does not determine your worth as a person. Together, we work on building self-awareness, self-trust, and resilience so that confidence isn't constantly rising and falling based on outcomes. Athletes learn how to take feedback without feeling personally attacked, regulate the emotional intensity that often comes with criticism, and develop a healthier relationship with both success and failure.

My goal isn't to make athletes mentally tougher. It's to help them become mentally skilled. Confidence, focus, resilience, emotional regulation, and self-trust can all be trained—just like strength, speed, and endurance.

No two athletes are exactly alike, so no two sessions are exactly alike.

A typical session starts with a conversation. Together, we'll explore what's happening beneath the surface of performance—whether that's confidence struggles, pressure, overthinking, fear of failure, frustration, inconsistent performance, or emotions that seem to take over at the wrong time. My goal is to help athletes understand the "why" behind their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors so they can stop feeling stuck and start moving forward with confidence.

From there, we connect those experiences to how the brain, nervous system, emotions, and behaviors are working together. Rather than simply telling athletes what to do, I work alongside them to help them better understand themselves and develop skills that feel natural, effective, and sustainable.

Athletes leave each session with practical tools they can immediately apply in practice, competition, school, and everyday life. Depending on the athlete's needs, sessions may include performance psychology strategies, neuroscience-based techniques, visualization, confidence-building exercises, emotional regulation skills, focus training, Brainspotting-informed interventions, performance routines, and personalized mental performance plans.

If you're nervous before your first session, that's completely okay. In fact, it usually means you care. Starting something new can feel uncomfortable, but my goal is to create an environment where athletes feel safe, supported, and understood. Sessions are relaxed, honest, confidential, and completely client-focused.

I also want athletes and parents to know that I'm a pretty goofy, energetic, and genuinely happy person who loves working with people. While we absolutely tackle serious challenges and meaningful growth, I believe learning and self-discovery don't have to feel intimidating. My goal is to create a space where athletes can be themselves, ask questions, be honest about what they're experiencing, and leave feeling empowered with tools they can actually use.

Ultimately, I want athletes to walk away not only knowing what to do, but understanding why it works—and feeling confident in their ability to apply those skills both in sport and in life.

I bring a unique combination of coaching, counseling, neuroscience, and performance psychology experience to my work with athletes.

I hold Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Exercise Science and Kinesiology, as well as a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPC-A), Certified Sports Psychology Consultant, Mental Performance Coach, Life Coach, Certified Brainspotting Practitioner, Certified Neuroscience Coach, Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach, USA Track & Field Level 1 Coach, and USA Weightlifting Level 1 Coach. I also hold numerous advanced certifications in sports psychology, trauma, neuropsychology, and performance development.

In addition to running my own mental performance business, I work as an independent contract counselor in a private practice setting, supporting individuals in achieving greater mental health, personal growth, and performance outcomes. My background allows me to integrate evidence-based counseling approaches with mental performance training to help athletes and high performers thrive both on and off the field.

Before entering the counseling and mental performance fields, I spent nearly a decade coaching and teaching athletes at the high school level, including basketball, track and field, cross country, strength and conditioning, and performance development. I've coached state qualifiers, regional qualifiers, collegiate athletes, and athletes across multiple sports.

Today, my focus is helping athletes train the brain behind elite performance so they can compete with confidence, resilience, and freedom while also developing the self-awareness, emotional regulation, and mental skills necessary for success in sport and life.

The best coaches I've ever had are the ones who saw me as more than an athlete.

They believed in me before I fully believed in myself. They saw potential in me that went beyond my performance, statistics, wins, losses, or results. When I struggled, they didn't define me by a bad game, a mistake, or a setback. Instead, they continued to encourage me, challenge me, and remind me of who I was beyond the outcome.

What stands out most isn't what they taught me about sports—it's how they made me feel. They built me up, held me accountable, and created an environment where I felt supported while still being pushed to grow. They cared about me as a person first and an athlete second. Because of that, they helped me develop confidence, resilience, and self-belief that extended far beyond athletics.

Those experiences have had a huge impact on how I work with athletes today. I want every athlete I work with to know they are more than their performance. Yes, I want them to succeed and reach their goals, but I also want them to develop confidence that isn't dependent on results, self-worth that isn't tied to statistics, and the ability to trust themselves through both success and adversity.

The coaches who influenced me most helped me become a better person, not just a better athlete. That's the kind of impact I hope to have on the athletes I work with today.

Athletes and parents should know that I care deeply about the person behind the performance.

Of course, I want athletes to perform at their highest level and achieve their goals. But I also believe that an athlete's worth is a non-negotiable. It does not increase after a great game or decrease after a bad one. It is not determined by statistics, playing time, rankings, wins, losses, or the outcome of a single performance.

One of the most important things I help athletes understand is that sports are something they do—not who they are. Being an athlete can be an important part of their identity, but it should never be the only part. A bad game, a mistake, an injury, or a difficult season does not define them as a person.

I create an environment where athletes can be honest about their struggles, fears, frustrations, and challenges without judgment while still being supported and challenged to grow. Together, we work on developing confidence, self-trust, emotional regulation, resilience, and the ability to navigate adversity both in sport and in life.

My job is not to "fix" athletes because they are not broken. My job is to help them recognize their value, strengthen their relationship with themselves, and develop the mental skills needed to perform with confidence and freedom. When athletes learn that their worth is separate from their performance, they are often able to compete more freely, take healthy risks, recover from setbacks more quickly, and enjoy the game they love on a much deeper level.