Permission to Compete
A Mental Performance Workshop for Girls in Sport
Girls are not underperforming because they lack skill or talent.
They are navigating cultural messaging that makes dominance feel socially risky.
Sport demands decisiveness, physicality, and taking up space.
Culture rewards girls for shrinking, accommodating, and staying palatable.
When those two forces collide, performance suffers.
She hesitates on the open shot. She doesn’t call for the ball when she’s open.
She apologizes after contact. She dominates one game… and disappears the next.
You know she has it in her.
But game after game, she struggles to fully compete.
She’s Ready for the Next Level
But the next level requires more than skill.
It requires:
Competing without hesitation.
Calling for the ball without second-guessing.
Playing with edge without softening it.
Leading without worrying who feels threatened.
You Know Something Is Holding Her Back
She works hard.
But in big moments, she plays soft.She cares deeply, but worries too much about how she’s perceived.
She’s capable of leading, but hesitates to take up space.
She wants to win, but doesn’t always compete with the tenacity you know she has.
You see her shrinking to make other people comfortable and you want to stop that in its tracks.
The Moment the Rules Changed
My turning point didn’t happen in a therapy office. It happened in a gym. After years of coaching girls in sport, I began noticing a shift that had nothing to do with skill. Specifically, when middle school hit something changed. Suddenly they were more cautious, more collaborative, and more aware of how they were being perceived by teammates, coaches, and even the crowd.
They hesitated before calling for the ball. They softened their leadership. They apologized for intensity. Not because they lacked ability, but because the social rules had changed. They were now expected to compete but not too much, lead but not look bossy, care about the team but not outshine it. Time and time again I have watched capable, strong girls begin to shrink themselves to make others more comfortable, and once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it.
The same patterns I help adult women untangle in therapy were showing up on middle school courts and fields and that is when I knew this conversation needed to start earlier.
Middle school and high school are not just developmental years.
They are formative competitive years.
Confidence patterns are being built, identity is being shaped, and habits under pressure are solidifying.
This is not the season to hope she grows into it. This is the season to lock in.
To strengthen the mental edge now, while it is still forming, so hesitation does not become her default.
Hi! I’m Cara
I am a mom of two girls in competitive sports. I hold a professional youth coaching license through the U.S. Soccer Federation, and I am a competitor at heart in business, and in life. Coaching girls sharpened something I had already been seeing in my clinical work. The mental mindset is what is holding so many female competitors back.
I became deeply passionate about untangling girls from the cultural messages that shape them. The ones that say be agreeable, be collaborative, be likable, do not be too intense, do not be too proud, do not be too much.
Most girls absorb these messages without even realizing it. They start adjusting. Softening. Editing themselves. If they do not learn to recognize that conditioning early, it becomes part of their identity.
I believe girls need language for what is shaping them so they can decide who they want to be instead of unconsciously shrinking to fit.
Those messages do not just limit performance in sport. They limit leadership in life.
I believe in teaching girls to be DAWGS on the court and on the field. Focused. Relentless. Confident. Grounded. I believe girls can compete with tenacity and still stay relationally strong. The problem is not talent. It is social conditioning.
We know girls who stay in sport are more likely to move into leadership roles later in life, including executive and C-suite positions. Sport builds resilience, strategic thinking, and confidence under pressure. But only if we protect their edge while they are young.
This workshop is about helping girls compete fully now so they do not have to reclaim their voice later.
Your Athlete Will Build the Mental Edge To:
Compete Fully -Without Fear
Talent isn’t the issue. Permission is.
When girls feel socially safe to expand — to take the shot, call for the ball, lead with edge — their performance changes immediately.
This workshop gives them the psychological tools to stop shrinking and start competing at full capacity.
Strengthen Her Competitive Identity
Skill development is visible. Identity development is not.
When a girl knows who she is separate from approval, she stops editing herself mid-play. She moves faster. She competes without calculating how it will be received.
Replace Hesitation With Decisiveness
Hesitation isn’t a skill problem. It’s a permission problem.
When girls stop negotiating how they’re being perceived and start trusting their instincts, reaction time improves. Confidence stabilizes. Performance sharpens.
Regulate Emotions Under Pressure
Sport requires expansion: voice, physicality, decisiveness.
But many girls have learned to contract, and to soften.
When that internal conflict is removed, intensity becomes natural instead of forced.
This workshop gives athletes the clarity and tools to compete without shrinking.
Lead Without Being Swallowed by Likability
You cannot command the floor while managing everyone’s comfort.
Girls who feel responsible for how they’re perceived often dilute their voice and power in critical moments.
This workshop helps athletes separate leadership from likability , so they can lead with edge, not apology.
Reduce the Social Risk of Competing
Many girls don’t hold back because they lack ability.
They hold back because competing fully feels socially risky.
When that risk is reframed, their edge returns. Their voice strengthens. Their presence stabilizes.
This workshop teaches girls how to compete boldly.
The Competitive Shift
✔ Psychological permission to expand in competitive spaces
✔ Decisiveness that overrides hesitation
✔ Intensity that doesn’t require an apology
✔ Emotional regulation that supports — not suppresses — performance
✔ The ability to lead without fear of social backlash
✔ A stronger internal identity separate from public perception
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5 Sessions | $500
Ready to build the practice you’ve been dreaming about and actually enjoy the process? These sessions are designed to take you from overwhelmed to organized and confident with practical tools, honest conversations, and a little fun along the way.
What We’ll Cover:
Confidence + Mindset
I promise this is doable. We’ll get clear on what’s holding you back and talk through the pros and cons of taking insurance versus staying private pay. Either way, you’ll leave knowing you can make it work.Finding Your Niche
This is the foundation of everything. There’s a right way and a wrong way to niche, and we’ll make sure you land on the one that actually feels aligned and profitable.Marketing
You don’t have to be a social media influencer (unless you want to be). We’ll focus on authentic marketing that fits your personality and brings in the clients you actually want to work with.The Nitty Gritty
We’ll cover all the business-y details: setting up your PLLC, choosing an EHR, and getting your EIN. Don’t worry, I’ve got checklists for you and you DO NOT need to pay an attorney.Website Building
Yes, you can DIY your website — and save yourself a ton of money. I’ll show you what matters most so you can create something beautiful and functional without losing your mind in the process.Plus You’ll get added to our private Facebook group with other therapists who are launching and running their private practices. Here we all support each other as a group and share resources to help each other build thriving practices and careers.
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2 Participants | 5 Sessions | $350 each
Same content as Private 1:1 Mentorship — just at a discounted rateWant to go through this process as a group? I offer mentorship for groups of two so you can learn, grow, and build alongside someone else while saving money. The sessions cover the same content as my individual mentorship, with the added benefit of shared insight and support.
What We’ll Cover
Confidence + Mindset
Clarity, courage, and a plan. We’ll unpack the big questions — from insurance or private pay — so you can move forward with confidence either way.Finding Your Niche
Discover who you’re meant to serve and how to position yourself intentionally. A well-defined niche is the foundation of a thriving practice.Authentic Marketing
No gimmicks, no pretending. You don’t need to be an influencer to stand out — just aligned and consistent.The Essentials
All the practicals, simplified: PLLC setup, EHR selection, and your EIN. I’ll share my favorite tools and checklists to make it easy and you DO NOT need to pay an attorney.Website Building
Design a site that feels like you. DIY-friendly, elegant, and effective — without the overwhelm or the extra cost.Plus You’ll get added to our private Facebook group with other therapists who are launching and running their private practices. Here we all support each other as a group and share resources to help each other build thriving practices and careers.
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$175/hour booked as needed
This Is About More Than Sport
You want her to:
Trust her instincts.
Speak up.
Handle pressure.
Compete fully.
You want her to leave the field knowing
she showed up as the best version of herself,
not the version that felt the safest.
I’m not just a therapist.
I’m a sports mom.
A coach.
And a clinician who works every week with grown women untangling the pressure to be agreeable, accommodating, and small.
Most of that conditioning starts in girlhood.
In subtle messages about how we’re supposed to show up.
This workshop helps girls recognize those patterns early so they don’t spend the next 20 years unlearning them. And it helps them compete the way you already know they can. Fully. Fiercely. Without shrinking.