Therapy for athletes and former athletes
You know how to train through pain. That gets complicated when the pain isn’t physical: the dread before a race, the way food and your body got tangled up with performance, the strange quiet after your last season.
Athletes rarely say this stuff out loud, even to teammates. Two of our therapists focus on this world. Lily Dumas competed as a Division I heptathlete at Brown and knows it from the inside. Patsy Iannico ran collegiate track and has specific training in working with athletes.
What it can sound like
Athletes don’t usually come in saying "I need therapy." It sounds more like:
- "I’m fine in practice and I fall apart before competition."
- "I can’t eat a meal without calculating what it does for my performance."
- "I got hurt, and I don’t know who I am if I’m not training."
- "I retired two years ago and I still feel lost."
- "Nothing I do is ever good enough for me."
Underneath there’s often anxiety, perfectionism, a complicated relationship with food or your body, and an identity built almost entirely around one thing.
How therapy helps
This isn’t sports psychology or performance coaching. It’s therapy for the person wearing the jersey. Performance often improves anyway, because you stop fighting yourself.
Depending on what’s going on, your therapist might work on:
- What’s happening in your nervous system under pressure, so the anxiety stops feeling random
- CBT, DBT and trauma-focused work for the thoughts that hijack competition, recovery and rest
- Body image and eating in a way that respects how much your body has been asked to do
- Identity after sport: injury, getting cut, graduating, retiring
- Self-compassion for people who were coached never to let up
Who we see
- Current athletes in high school, college and beyond (13 and up)
- Former and retired athletes still figuring out life after sport
- Dancers, runners, lifters and other people whose identity is tied to performance
- High achievers outside sports who know the same pressure
Meet your therapists
Lily Dumas, MA, MHC-LP, is a former Division I heptathlete at Brown with a background in cognitive neuroscience and a master’s in mental health counseling from Boston College. She founded a peer-support community for athletes dealing with body image and disordered eating, and she’s trained in Trauma-Focused CBT.
She’s direct and kind at the same time, which athletes tend to appreciate. Lily practices under the clinical supervision of a licensed therapist at our practice. Online in New York.
Patsy Iannico, LMHC-D, LPC, CCTP, C-DBT, ran collegiate track herself and works with athletes under performance stress, along with people who are used to holding everyone else up. She holds a certificate in Working with Athletes from Adelphi University’s School of Social Work, and she’s certified in trauma treatment and DBT, which gives athletes concrete skills for the moments when pressure spikes.
She builds trust fast, and she wrote our guide to athlete mental health. Online in New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Online, around your training schedule
Sessions are by secure video, so you can fit them around practice, travel and class. Lily sees clients anywhere in New York. Patsy sees clients in New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Insurance and cost
We work with a range of insurance plans, sliding scale spots are available, and the whole practice is in network with Northwell Direct. Coverage depends on your plan and your therapist, so reach out and we’ll check your benefits and walk you through your options. See cost and insurance details.
Therapy for athletes FAQ
Do I have to be a current athlete?
No. A lot of the work happens after sport ends, when the structure and identity that came with it disappear.
Is this the same as sports psychology?
Not quite. Sports psychology usually focuses on performance. This is mental health therapy for anxiety, perfectionism, body image, injury and identity. Performance often improves as a side effect.
Can therapy help with eating or body image concerns?
Yes, this is a big part of Lily’s work. If you need a higher level of care, we’ll help you find it.
My teenager is an athlete. Can they see one of you?
Yes. Lily and Patsy both work with teens, and parents stay appropriately in the loop.