
FAQ
What’s the best way to make an appointment?
The best way to make an appointment is to use our online scheduling system. The online scheduler is accurate and up to date. Everything that is available for Ashley, Christa, and Aja is shown on the calendar. Ashley tends to book up several months out, so patience getting on her schedule is appreciated. If the day on the calendar is “greyed out” there are no more appointments available on that day. Please plan ahead and book a few out at a time.
Click on the turquoise ‘Schedule an Appointment’ button at the top right hand corner on the page. Click the blue button for the type of appointment you want. Click on the calendar day you want. Scroll down and choose a time you want by clicking on that blue button. Enter your information and enter a credit card to reserve the appointment. This credit card is for no show protection, you may always pay with a different card and you won’t be charged until after the appointment. You may email your practitioner if you’d like to be added to the waitlist for cancellations.
What’s the fastest way to hear back from you?
Email is the fastest way to get a response. Please email [email protected] to ask any questions about our services that you feel aren’t listed in our FAQ. You may also reach out to Ashley at [email protected], Aja at A[email protected] or Christa at [email protected]. Keep in mind, we are with clients typically back to back all day and may only have a few minutes between sessions, so an email is the quickest way to get back to someone when we don’t have adequate time for a phone call. Emails are best because everything can be documented and referred back to for sessions. This also allows us to provide information any time of day as well.
How do I convince my teen this is a good idea if they aren't real sure?
While teenagers have many reasons to seek this mental edge, remind them if they want to bolster their athletic record to impress college admissions officers, this is one more advantage. I think more athletes are realizing this more & more, seeking help is not just for people who are struggling, but for those who want to gain an edge or perform more consistently, be more confident. Usually this helps ease the idea of talking to someone. I teach researched based scientific tools & concepts. I don’t believe in the “positive thinking” strategy, I teach my clients actual tools they can implement.
Talking about sport psychology with a resistant athlete may be tough, but here are a few tips that will make it easier for you and your athlete:
- Ask if they would like to have more fun in their sport or not worry as much? Asking for permission to help before making suggestions allows them to hear you better.
- Athletes need to know nothing is wrong with them. Ashley helps athletes get stronger, improve performance, make it more fun to compete/less stressful, and have the advantage over competition by working on their mental game.
- Talk about coming in for a mental performance session as a ‘mental muscle training’ session. Explain to them that the brain is just another muscle that needs training too.
- Explain that she is a coach, not a therapist, not a counselor, and she’s not going to analyze them. She likes to teach tools and show young individuals how to use them in different situations. She has heard all sorts of stories in her career, and she will never judge an individual.
- Emphasize that professional, Olympic, college, and high school athletes use sport psychology to become stronger and get better at their sport. Explain to them that it’s an opportunity, like having a hitting coach, a swing coach, a pitching coach, strength coach, etc.
- Tell them that Ashley has played many sports growing up and is still currently competing in triathlons and marathons, so they understand that she can relate to them and their sport. She hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be scared, anxious, nervous, or how to come back from an injury.
- Emphasize that everything they share in their session is confidential. Ashley will keep whatever they choose to share between them. Their teammates, coaches, and other parents do not have to know they are going to sport psychology sessions if they do not want them to.
- Let them know that they won’t be bored. Ashley uses high energy and is very interactive in her sessions. They will be doing a variety of activities.
- Ashley finds that a lot of athletes don’t even realize how to rid the lingering comparison, fall, or mistake, and things like that, so share that it’s common to not know how to deal with emotions. Knowing how to cope better in competition, always helps in the sport, but also helps them in life, with school, eventually work, and how they interact with others too.
- Ashley doesn’t teach ideas that ‘might’ help; all her techniques are scientifically backed and have a proven track record.
Do you take insurance?
The office doesn’t do 3rd party billing and we aren’t diagnosing or coding so we don’t accept insurance directly. However, we can accept Health Care Spending accounts/cards or Flex Spending accounts as a form of payment.
What is your cancellation policy?
It’s the office policy to provide at least a 48 hour notice of cancellation. If 48 hours is not given, a $50 cancellation fee is required. Emergency situations (deaths, illness, accidents) will be handled on an individual basis. If a client “no shows” an appointment, they will be charged the full amount of the appointment. Please be considerate of the long cancellation waitlist for others trying to get in.
What forms of payment do you accept?
We accept all major credit cards (Visa, Master Card, Discover, Amex), or Health Care/Flex Spending accounts (HSA cards), or exact cash (we don’t have change in the office). We can securely store your financial information on file as well, so you or your youth athlete don’t have to worry about payment after each session.
How do you see clients?
We offer a couple of different options:
- Face-to-face in office sessions
- Virtual sessions (Zoom or FaceTime)
- Team Workshops
- Team or Group Presentations
- Corporate Presentations
We don’t live in the Houston area, do you work with clients remotely?
We work with individuals all over the country and internationally. We can do a phone call or virtual sessions via Zoom or Face Time. We really like the video calls so we can see body language, build rapport, see the client thinking, writing, or demonstrate things to do. Some clients only do sessions through video conferencing, but some who typically see us in office can also take advantage of this, for example, if an athlete is traveling for a competition or can’t fit in the travel time to the office that week, we can still connect and stay consistent with our work.
Do you speak to groups or schools?
Yes, we love speaking to groups, but our schedule books up several months out so you need to contact us early about an event. Ashley finds it really fun to spread knowledge to more than one person at a time and was a high school teacher and coach for several years before going into private practice. She likes to incorporate team building exercises, group activities, and games when she works with teams. She can also just do a short presentation on a motivational topic. She has spoken to groups of managers, employees, administrators, teachers, coaches, teams, and parents. Please send her an email to inquire about booking her at your event.
List of speaking topics Ashley has done previously (but not limited to):
- To Parents – about how they support or place pressure on their athlete, and specific strategies on how to help their athlete be successful, bettering communication between the athlete and parent.
- Maximizing Productivity – women in leadership
- Self Concept – developing who you are and what you value
- Prepping for a marathon or triathlon – channeling nerves and performance tips
- Relaxation Tips and balancing stress
- Beating Anxiety – tools to tackle worry
- Personality in performance – learn how we hold onto comments, letting things go, how we compare ourselves to teammates too much, doing things to impress others, and taking care of your job vs. worrying about others
- Developing emotional intelligence as a team – becoming self-aware, knowing your role in your company
- Creating team culture in the workplace or an athletic team: personal responsibility, build a team culture so everyone is part of the group, how to operate as a team more effectively
- How to build confidence, enhancing self talk and maintaining focus
- Managing our emotions – recognizing what sets us off
- Stress management – balancing responsibilities, utilizing our energy better
- Getting over mental blocks
- Setting goals – for the season or year, how to actually achieve them and measure progress
- Perfectionist mindset – the damages of this, learning how to be okay with mistakes
- Communication among the team – how your perception, your tone, your body language, your intention, and your attitude is received, and how to interact effectively
- Transitioning – to college, retiring from sport, how to find balance
- Avoiding burnout (in sport or work)
- Sports injury recovery – addressing the mental and emotional impact of sports injuries and coming back without hesitation and fear
- Social Media affecting athletes and college recruitment
What ages do you work with?
Short response: 10 and up is best, but that depends on maturity level. We work with all ages and all abilities of individuals. We have worked with athletes as young as 7 years old up to their 70’s. Based on our experience, we find starting around 10 years old typically allows the client to understand and apply the concepts well, but we have had success with 8-9 year olds willing to use the tools we teach. We believe that getting started teaching coping strategies and how to think productively is so beneficial early on – when we aren’t undoing years of poor habits, we make progress faster and then the young athletes are eager to apply the tools because they see improvement so quickly. We will be upfront and honest if we believe a client is too young or not yet mature enough to apply the concepts after the first session. It’s important that the client want to learn tools and it not be forced upon them by the parent, but know this – we have experienced resistance by the client when he or she walked in the door, but by the end of the first session they were on board and genuinely excited to start the process.
Where are you located?
16718 House Haul Rd. Suite K Cypress, Texas 77433
We are in the northwest side of Houston, in the Cypress Sports Complex behind Black Horse Golf Course, in the general vicinity of Hwy 290/Fry Rd and The Grand Parkway. In our complex, there is Cypress Academy Gymnastics, Inspire Rock Climbing, Fins Swim Academy, Louetta Automotive Basketball & Volleyball Facility, Ollin Athletics & Sports Medicine, and other smaller businesses. We are on the backside side of the shopping center with large ‘Maximize the Mind Performance Coaching’ letters above our space directly across from Cypress Academy Gymnastics.
Who have you worked with previously?
This is a popular question, unfortunately due to confidentiality laws, Ashley can’t say who she has worked with unless the client chooses to tell people they have worked with her. Ashley gives examples or tells stories to clients all the time of others she has worked with, but she won’t use a name. Sometimes it’s nice to know others experience the same situations we go through or to be able to understand how a tool could work for you, so she might give you ideas of what has worked for previous clients. She can say that she has worked with Olympic athletes, professionals, and people that may be just like you.
I’m not an athlete, is this for me?
It can be, if you’re looking to improve your mental strength & learn how to mentally prepare for your performance. As long as you are preparing for a competition or performance, we will work with you. We base our practice like coaches, not therapists and we often have to refer people to traditional therapists if their need isn’t performance related.
I’m not an elite athlete, is this for me?
Why not? We work with athletes from youth through professionals. Ashley has also worked with adult weekend warriors who are triathletes, runners, tennis players or golfers wanting to see if they can improve or make their sport more enjoyable. Once you learn what’s in your sub-conscious and your conscious part of your brain, you become empowered. You learn how to not force movement and how to relax your body. You can do so much more than you ever thought attainable.
From Ashley: I think a common misconception is that sport psychology is just for top athletes, but the truth is, learning mental skill strategies helps everyone is all areas of life. I find that a lot of my clients have a hard time learning how to deal with emotions & compartmentalizing; we all have weaknesses- we just need to learn how to not let them define us. I’ve had a lot of success teaching coping mechanisms, understanding coaching comments, how to make decisions quicker & be more assertive & getting used to new expectations that they haven’t been used to before. It’s important to teach people how to balance stress, manage emotions, learn how to trust training & ease tension if they want to get more out of their sport. The voices in our head tend to be loud when we don’t know how to handle them, but we can work on that.
How often do I need to meet with you or how many sessions do I need?
We conduct 50 minute sessions. When working on gaining mental strength, it’s crucial to meet multiple times & build a foundation. Please know 1 or 2 sessions will never cover the material needed to make a significant impact, it’s just not enough time to teach multiple tools needed to create new habits. Keep in mind a person can’t absorb everything in one hour nor can a coach teach them how to retrain their brain in a 1-2 sessions. It often takes multiple revisits to be guided through change & typically we are working on more than one area. Please expect to come at least a few times to accomplish significant results.
We respect your financial commitment and will try to fit as much as possible into one appointment. People like to know how many appointments may be needed, but understand it all depends on what’s going on and what they need to learn. On average, athletes benefit best talking to us around 5-6 times. We want the tools to become second nature to the individual and automatic in competition, which takes reinforcement and practice. We want clients to learn the tools and be able to apply them on their own. Having a few sessions planned at the beginning builds a really solid foundation and allows us enough time to teach several exercises and concepts. We want to allow enough time to discuss what’s going on specifically with the client so it is individualized and specific to them.
Ashley has been doing this for several years and you can’t break poor habits overnight. She wants clients to practice their strategies and communicate to us what worked and what was difficult. They’ll have successes and they’ll fail, but the feedback is what’s so important.
Some clients seek help in more than one area, so it depends on everyone’s scenario. She has some clients come every other week, some come once a month, some come quarterly, and some problem solve in a few sessions and come back when the status quo changes or a try out comes up to refresh. Please understand it’s not a quick fix, but a process and the strategies work if you commit.
Once we get started, we like to see people about 1.5 – 2 weeks apart, so they can absorb the information and start to apply it a little bit at a time. If we need to do 3-4 weeks apart from each session because of time and financial commitments, that’s okay too, but the more consistent we are, the faster you’ll see progression and confidence grow. We can even do once a month to teach concepts, then taper off once new habits are formed. The most important thing is to be consistent in your appointments so that you see progress swiftly and trust the process. We give homework and exercises to work on after the appointments too.
What sports do you have experience with?
If you’re curious what Ashley has personally competed in: she grew up spending most of her time as a competitive swimmer. This is where she excelled the most naturally, but she also played golf, ran track, played volleyball, tennis, and gymnastics. Christa grew up as a competitive swimmer as well, and also rowed in college. Aja was a level 10 gymnast and went on to compete at the club level in college too.
However, if you’re curious if we’ve worked with your sport specifically, we’ve worked with athletes in golf, football, soccer, baseball, softball, fencing, clay shooting, rifle shooting, ice-skating, equestrian, dancers, gymnasts, tennis, pickle ball, cross country, basketball, volleyball, swimmers, lacrosse, field hockey, hockey, triathlons, cycling, runners, trampoline, track, rodeo, karate, jujitsu, cheerleading, tumbling, parkour, ninja warrior, wrestling and rock climbing. Based on our experience over the years, we’ve found youth through professional athletes deal with a lot of the same issues no matter what the sport is.
Things are going well, do I still need to come in?
If things are going well – you still want to come in so we can hone into what’s going right for you. We want to lock in what’s going well and capture how you got there. Every performer goes up and down in their career, so you may start to struggle again, and we want to remember everything you’re doing now that’s working for you. This session might cover what all you have changed, how to keep it up, review what we’ve covered, evaluation, setting future goals, and how to maintain this over time. That might be the last session you have, but it’s so valuable to have.
What is the investment?
You might only have one shot at making Varsity. One shot at that Olympic trials cut. One shot to get a scholarship. One shot to compete at the next level. One shot to get the call back. I invite you to become the best version of yourself and invest in your future. You will see results on the field, but you’ll also see them in your relationships and all areas of your life. Imagine what it will feel like to discover the secrets of performing well.
The first session with Ashley is $195. The first session with Aja is $180. The first session with Christa is $180. All fees are based on the practitioner’s credentials and experience. This session can be anywhere from 70 – 100 minutes depending on what we need to go over. We really want to spend adequate time in getting to know the client and we want to create an individual plan for each client. Nothing we do is generic, we really love to connect with the client and build the relationship to earn trust.
Existing client sessions with Ashley are $175. Existing client sessions with Aja are $165. Existing client sessions with Christa are $160. These sessions are 50 minutes.
After we have been working together for awhile and have taught multiple concepts, we may offer a 30 minute session; these sessions are $90.
When working on gaining mental strength, wanting to improve performance, and developing a stronger mindset, it’s crucial to meet multiple times to see an impact. Please know 1 or 2 sessions will never cover the material needed to make a significant impact, it’s just not enough time to teach multiple tools needed to create new habits. It often takes multiple revisits to grasp a concept and be guided through change. We respect your financial commitment and time, therefore we will try to fit as much as possible into each appointment.
We like to see people about 1.5 -2 weeks apart when we’re first getting started and working on something specific, so they can learn all the concepts and start to apply it a little bit at a time. The quicker you see results, the more likely it is for you to continue using the tools. It’s difficult to expect results if your visits are inconsistent. Then it’s reasonable to taper off aand potentially come every quarter or when you have a big tournament coming up, try outs, or your situation changes. We’ve seen so much client success when following the suggested timeline and allowing adequate time to problem solve.
What if I can't find any evening or after school appointments for a while?
We offer school excused absence notes. You might have to schedule a few during the school day. We suggest coming during lunch, an elective, or leaving a little early. This process is crucial to be consistent at the beginning, but then we taper off. After you get started, you can plan ahead to get those highly sought after evening appointments. You can book online 120 days out.
It took a while to get in for my first appointment, what do I do now?
Due to our current client volume, we recommend you schedule out at least 2 sessions about 1-2 weeks apart BEFORE you come to your initial session. By the time you come to your initial session, our schedule can be booked up several weeks out. It’s not ideal to then have to wait several more weeks to continue our work. We need to go back over previous content too much and our time isn’t used effeciently. We want to make sure you stay on track and learn as much as you can to apply immediately. The closer your sessions are together, the faster you’ll see results, which creates more buy in for younger atheletes as well! When you schedule follow up sessions, choose the next appointments about 2 weeks apart and select ‘existing client session.’ We know this requires planning and is often difficult to do, but it’s the only way to ensure your investment is most effective. You can always cancel it, but this way you get something that works better for your schedule as well.
What is the earliest or latest you can make an appointment?
Our earliest appointment time is at 8am and the latest appointment time is at 6pm. Of course, the earliest and latest go the fastest. Days vary on what we offer. Planning ahead is crucial. You may always email your practitioner and ask if they can accomodate another time you can’t find online- sometimes we can, sometimes we can’t.
Is your online scheduler correct?
We love helping new athletes, but yes, the online scheduler is CORRECT and updates in real time. Ashley tends to book up several MONTHS out for a new client appointment and about 4-5 weeks out for an existing client session. She fits as many athletes in a day that she can handle 5 days a week often back to back. The initial session for a new client is much longer, so please understand an existing client cancellation can’t always accomodate a new client appointment. She meets with athletes and a parent or parents (for the 1st session) in person or virtually. She specifically allots more time for the first session to accommodate this. It’s important for her to connect with each athlete she works with and invest so much in making sure what she teaches them is perfect for them. We welcomed Christa to our practice in August 2022, and Aja to our practice in July 2023, so you can make a new client appointment with both of them a little bit quicker. As the news travels and results spread, your great practioners book up, please plan ahead for tryouts, big tourneys, meets, and events to properly mentally prep!
We appreciate your patience in getting on our schedule; we know it’s frustrating not to be able to problem solve immediately, but we hope that tells you we’re good at what we do and our clients have seen great results with the amount of referrals we receive : ) We also continue to have doctors and coaches refer to us, so although the wait time is often not ideal, we believe it’s worth the wait : )
Why can't you give me a quick call to discuss my situation?
Due to our current schedule demands, client volume, and shared office space, we no longer have the bandwidth to do phone calls outside of appointment time. We try to fit as many athletes in a day that we can 5 days a week often back to back, hence why it also takes a minute to respond to emails. Email is the most efficient form of communication for us. It’s imperative that we have everything documented and ultimately will be able to apply it all to you or your athlete without leaving anything out.
Jumping on a call with as many requests as we receive in a week takes time away from athletes that have been waiting to get on our schedule and ultimately means seeing less people. We often get requests to call someone on the way home; this is difficult to concentrate and obviously makes keeping notes impossible. Email allows us to respond any time of day and avoid phone tag, as we may only have 5 minutes between clients. It’s not that we don’t want to talk, we specifically allot more time for the first session to accommodate all the things you want to share with us. It’s so very important to consider everything you or your athlete have going on, get the backstory, and make sure what we teach is applied to you. If you’d like to ask a question before scheduling, email is the fastest way to get a response.






