At Horizons Counseling and Coaching, we specialize in helping you level up your game.
We use evidence-based practices — with a strong emphasis on EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) — to enhance performance, recover from an injury, alleviate performance anxiety, and improve your ability to lock in when it matters most.
Whether you are an athlete, coach, or professional in a high-pressure environment, our work is designed to help you remove internal barriers so you can perform with clarity, confidence, and composure.
Elevating performance through evidenced based strategies
Why EMDR?
Many performance struggles aren’t about skill — they’re about unresolved experiences stored in the nervous system.
A missed opportunity.
A public mistake.
A serious injury.
A high-stakes moment that didn’t go as planned.
A critical incident in a demanding profession.
Even when you consciously “move on,” your body and brain may still react as if the moment is still happening — leading to anxiety, hesitation, overthinking, or difficulty locking in.
EMDR helps the brain reprocess these experiences so they no longer interfere with present performance. Rather than just teaching coping strategies, EMDR addresses the root of the block.
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We use EMDR to help your brain process past setbacks, pressure moments, and performance blocks so they no longer disrupt how you compete. When your nervous system isn’t stuck reacting to the past, you can perform with clarity, confidence, and control.
Through this work, we help athletes:
Strengthen focus and concentration
Build confidence and competitive edge
Improve consistency under pressure
Develop intentional pre-performance routines
Increase mental toughness and motivation
Regulate nerves and use adrenaline productively
Whether you’re preparing for competition, coming back from a setback, or striving for your next level, we help you train your mind with the same commitment you bring to your sport.
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Performance anxiety doesn’t mean you’re not prepared—it means your nervous system is reacting to pressure like it’s a high-stakes moment that hasn’t passed. In big moments, that can show up as tightness, overthinking, hesitation, second-guessing, or playing smaller than you’re capable of.
Often, those reactions are wired to past high-stakes experiences—missed plays, injuries, losses, or moments that hit your confidence harder than you expected.
EMDR helps retrain your response to pressure by fully processing those moments at the root level. When the emotional charge is resolved, your body no longer overreacts—and you can compete with clarity and control.
The result: calmer intensity, sharper focus, steady confidence, and the ability to trust your training when the spotlight is on. You don’t just manage anxiety—you perform through it.
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Injury recovery is not only physical — it is neurological and emotional.
Athletes and high performers often experience:
Fear of re-injury
Loss of trust in their body
Identity disruption
Anxiety about returning to competition or full capacity
EMDR can help process the injury event itself, reduce fear responses, and restore confidence in movement and performance. Our goal is simple: when your body is ready, your mind is ready too.
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We also work with individuals in demanding, high-performance careers — including coaches, executives, entrepreneurs, medical professionals, first responders, and other leaders operating in high-stakes environments.
Repeated exposure to pressure, critical incidents, or high-consequence decisions can create accumulated stress that impacts focus, sleep, confidence, and clarity.
EMDR is highly effective for:
Processing critical incidents
Reducing chronic stress activation
Improving emotional regulation
Enhancing decision-making under pressure
Restoring a sense of control and confidence
Peak performance requires a regulated nervous system. EMDR helps create that foundation.
Meet the Horizons Team
At Horizons Counseling and Coaching, we specialize in working with athletes, coaches, and high performers who want to strengthen their mental game and perform at their highest potential. Our clinicians are extensively trained in EMDR and bring advanced experience in treating trauma, anxiety, injury recovery, and chronic pain. We provide compassionate, evidence-based care tailored to the unique pressures, goals, and identity of competitive athletes.
Jennifer Schmidt, Co-Founder, Registered Marriage and Family Therapy Intern
Jennifer combines clinical expertise with a distinctive high-performance background. Having attended the United States Military Academy and served as an Army Officer, she understands the discipline, pressure, and expectations that come with elite environments. As a hobbyist ultramarathon runner, she brings firsthand insight into endurance, mental toughness, and the deep connection between physical strain and emotional resilience. She specializes in helping athletes work through performance anxiety, enhance performance, and navigate injury recovery so they can elevate their abilities and return to sport with confidence. Her work supports athletes in processing setbacks, building confidence, and performing under pressure with clarity and strength.
Kathryn Large, Co-Founder, LMHC-S
Kathryn brings extensive clinical experience supporting individuals navigating trauma, anxiety, chronic illness, and chronic pain—challenges that often intersect with identity and performance. As someone who lives with chronic pain herself, she brings a depth of empathy and lived understanding to this work, integrating both professional expertise and personal insight into her clinical approach. She works with athletes recovering from injury, managing health conditions, or overcoming mental barriers that impact competition. Her approach is grounded, practical, and focused on sustainable growth, helping athletes develop the psychological tools necessary for both peak performance and long-term wellbeing.
At Horizons Counseling and Coaching, we believe mental health care is performance care. When the nervous system is regulated and past experiences no longer interfere, athletes are free to compete with confidence, focus, and resilience.
What are the next steps?
You’re not built like everyone else—your care shouldn’t be either. We customize treatment to meet the distinct needs of athletes, coaches, and leaders who want to perform at their highest level. Reach out to learn more about our process. Take the next step today.