Peak Performance Coaching in Scottsdale, Arizona
Performance anxiety causes tightness of muscles, fast and shallow breathing, loss of focus and choking under pressure.
What is Performance Anxiety?
An excess of energy experienced as anxiety in a performance situation that often causes the person to tighten muscles, breathe fast and shallow, lose focus and typically “choke” under pressure.
Signs and Symptoms
- Fear of failure, unsure of ability to perform
- Shame, letting others down
- Fear of success; is this level of success or attention sustainable?
- Lack of confidence
- How will it change my life in ways that will create more stress or pressure?
- Overthinking things
What is the Cause?
Worrying about the outcome of a performance; putting one’s attention in the wrong place at the wrong time (e.g., thinking about the consequences of winning/losing before it occurs)
Too much energy: Impedes performance by tightening muscles, breathing fast and shallow, losing focus and typically “choking” under pressure.
Losing focus on the appropriate target.
The other side of performance anxiety is coming into a performance with too little energy; usually leads to a lack of motivation, insufficient energy to complete the task/performance, feeling fatigued/drained
What happens if it goes untreated?
You don’t live up to your full potential, you won’t achieve your dreams. Time and resources are wasted – time, money, relationships etc.
You might lose your job.
You could lose your identity, your reputation and legacy.
Dr. Petta and Michael were instrumental in transforming me back to my “old self.” After a long
and difficult pandemic experience and my status as busy working mom, I felt spent from an
exhausted lifestyle which no longer was sustainable. I had lost my energy and mostly the
former “me.”
I had stress ruling my life. I knew I needed both counseling to reset and reframe
my habits but also neuropsych support to bring balance back to my brain. Dr. Petta and Michael
tailored neurofeedback to those areas of the brain misfiring or down-regulating. Surprisingly
after about 10 sessions I had small but important changes such as improved sleep and less
rumination.
Over time and coupled with therapy I regained my myself piece-by-piece. It took
time and several sessions, but I can honestly now say I am back to my old self and more
resilient. They also provided exceptional service, reliability, and support. I highly recommend
their services.
– Marie T.
Treatment for Performance Anxiety
What many people don’t realize is that what and how they think has a direct impact on the quality and consistency of their performances.
Mental Skills Training
Effective Thinking Skills
Thought Performance Relationship: there is a predictable and scientific relationship between our thoughts and ultimately how we perform. What many people don’t realize is that what and how they think has a direct impact on the quality and consistency of their performances.
We teach you how to identify the thoughts that are getting in your own way, so you can ultimately perform at higher and more consistent levels.
Attention Control: What are “Attention Thieves”?
Anything that steals your attention from the task at hand; these are usually internal and/or external distractors, such as worry, fear, pain/discomfort, environmental factors (i.e., heat, cold, rain) etc.
We teach strategies for helping you focus your attention where it needs to be, so you can consistently obtain the results you desire.
Goal Setting: learn to set SMART goals; What are SMART goals?
A checklist for ensuring you include all of the important components that help you attain your goals. Anyone can set goals, but not everyone achieves their goals. We teach you the proven methods for achieving successful outcomes with your goals!
Imagery: also known as Mental Practice;
Research has proven that what we vividly imagine has a direct effect on our physiology. For example, if I asked you to close your eyes and imagine yourself standing at your kitchen countertop, with a ripe, juicy, lemon on a cutting board in front of you.
Then I ask you to imagine cutting into that lemon, bringing it up to your lips, and then taking a big bite into it… what happened? If you’re like 99% of people, you had a physical reaction. You likely salivated, and experienced that strong bitter sensation that would happen if you actually bit into the lemon.
But you didn’t, you only imagined that you did! This is the power of imagery! We can trick our bodies and brains into thinking something is real just by vividly imagining an outcome.
We use this same strategy to teach you how to mentally rehearse your skills before you perform. Then, when it’s time to actually perform, your body and brain has had a chance to practice, multiple times depending on your practice schedule, so your performance is more fluid and natural.
Combining mental practice with physical practice speeds up the mastery of your skills.
Energy Management
Energy is a performer’s most valuable currency! Too little, and your performance will usually be “flat”; causing a lack of enthusiasm, motivation and a lackluster drive to perform; too much, and you can’t focus, you typically are fearful or anxious to perform, and you end up “choking” under the pressure.
We teach you the proven methods for identifying and sustaining your optimal energy levels for your specific performance demands.
What Medications Are Used?
NONE
No Medications
Rather, we teach you how to stimulate your body’s natural chemicals (e.g., adrenaline, endorphins etc.) to enhance performance.
We use Biofeedback and Neurofeedback as the primary tools to help you access your body’s natural ability to heal from injuries and calm your nervous system for improved sleep, recovery and mood regulation.
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