The Equestrian Athlete Advantage™
EMDR-Based Performance Psychology for Equestrian Athletes
The Equestrian Athlete Advantage™ is an EMDR-based approach to the psychological factors that affect rider performance. It addresses performance anxiety, previous mistakes, falls, injuries, fear of reinjury, negative imagery, confidence loss, freezing under pressure, self-doubt, public failure, humiliation, and conditioned responses that emerge during riding or competition. Trauma may be part of the work, but it is not the entire scope. The purpose is to help equestrian athletes process what is interfering so they can access the skills they already possess when those skills matter most.
Who is this for?
The Equestrian Athlete Advantage™ is for athletes whose ability to train, compete, recover, or return to sport is being affected by something that feels bigger than technique alone. It is particularly designed for equestrian athletes, where performance requires not only managing your own body, attention, emotions, and nervous system, but doing so while working with an autonomous animal. This may include competitive and recreational riders, dressage riders, jumpers, eventers, Western riders, endurance riders, professional equestrians, trainers, and riders returning after injury, a fall, loss of confidence, or a frightening experience. You do not have to be an elite athlete to experience an athletic performance block.
THE ATHLETE MAY NOT NEED ANOTHER TECHNIQUE
The athlete may not need another performance technique. They may need to process what is interfering with performance: performance anxiety, sports injury, fear of reinjury, negative imagery, loss of confidence, public failure, humiliation, performance blocks, freezing under pressure, or a previous mistake that will not leave their mind. They may say, “I can do it in practice, but I can’t do it when it counts,” “Ever since the accident, my body reacts differently,” “I know I’m physically cleared, but I don’t trust my body,” “I keep seeing it happen again,” or “I know how to do this. I just can’t make myself do it anymore.” The Equestrian Athlete Advantage™ examines what happens when distressing experiences, memories, imagery, beliefs, or conditioned responses interfere with athletic functioning.
What Brings Athletes to EMDR
The The Equestrian Athlete Advantage™ may be used to address performance anxiety, sports-related trauma, fear after an accident, fear of reinjury, loss of confidence, performance blocks, freezing under pressure, negative or intrusive imagery, competition anxiety, fear of failure, public mistakes or humiliation, difficult experiences with coaches or trainers, perfectionism, anticipatory anxiety, avoidance, and difficulty returning to sport after injury or trauma. For equestrians, this can also include fear after a fall, riding accidents, inability to canter or jump despite having the skill, fear of a particular horse or movement, traumatic horse-related injuries, loss of trust in your body, loss of trust in your horse, competition-related blocks, trainer-related experiences, traumatic horse loss, veterinary emergencies, euthanasia, horse-rider relationship disruption, and difficulty returning to riding or competition.
You may know how to do it.
You may have done it hundreds of times before. But something is now getting in the way. That is where the work begins.
What We Treat
Performance anxiety • Sports trauma • Fear after an accident • Fear of reinjury • Performance blocks • Freezing under pressure • Loss of confidence • Negative performance imagery • Competition anxiety • Fear of failure • Public failure or humiliation • Perfectionism • Anticipatory anxiety • Loss of trust in your body • Difficulty returning to sport
For Equestrian Athelets
Fear after a fall • Riding accidents • Fear of cantering or jumping • Loss of confidence in the saddle • Fear associated with a particular horse • Competition blocks • Horse-related injury • Fear of reinjury • Loss of trust in your horse • Trainer-related trauma • Traumatic horse loss • Veterinary trauma • Euthanasia • Equestrian identity disruption • Return to riding • Return to competition
How long does it take?
Every athlete is different, so treatment length varies. When working on one specific incident or performance-related experience, I have seen athletes show improvement and decreased performance anxiety in approximately 3 to 8 60-minute sessions, although some athletes may need fewer or more sessions depending on complexity, history, and current stressors. Standard sessions are 50 minutes for $150 or 90 minutes for $190, and EMDR intensives are also available in 2- and 3-hour blocks.
Available in Virginia and Florida
Who facilitates The Equestrian Athlete Advantage™?
The Equestrian Athlete Advantage™ is facilitated by Dr. Esther “Linsey” Adams, a Doctor of Psychology, published scholar, trauma-informed psychotherapist, and Certified EMDR Therapist. A lifelong equestrian, Esther competed at the world, national, and regional levels during her youth and understands the psychological demands of training, competition, injury, confidence loss, and returning after difficult experiences from inside the sport.
Esther holds a Master of Social Work from Arizona State University and is also an American Riding Instructor Association Level III Certified Dressage Instructor, Certified EAGALA Equine Psychotherapist, and EquiLateral EMDR Equine-Assisted Therapist. Her combined experience in psychology, trauma treatment, EMDR, and competitive equestrian sport allows her to understand both sides of performance: the skills an athlete has developed and the experiences, beliefs, memories, or conditioned responses that may prevent those skills from being fully accessible when they matter most. She is a licensed LCSW in Florida and Virginia.