A 6-week small group for people who’ve stopped having fun with climbing. You avoid the route you might fall on, you compare your numbers to what other climbers are doing, and even when you send something, it feels like it took too long. If climbing has turned into dread instead of joy, you’re not alone, and it’s not permanent.
Let’s work on it so you can feel psyched about climbing like you used to.
This group is for you if…
You’re an experienced climber and climbing has started to feel like a source of stress instead of fun:
You’ve plateaued and know it’s mostly mental
You’re coming back from an injury and climbing differently than before
You’re getting older and comparing yourself to your younger self
You have less time to climb than you used to
Your sense of self is tied to the grade you climb
You just feel burnt out on climbing
Here’s What You’ll Feel
After 6 weeks, you’ll notice:
Climbing feels more like play again, instead of a test you have to pass
Less dread before a session and more excitement to get on the wall
A quieter inner critic, so comparison stops running the show
Confidence on climbs you’ve been avoiding, not just ones you already know you can do
Relief knowing other climbers feel exactly what you feel
A sense of who you are that isn’t tied to the grades you’ve climbed
A nice side effect is climbing even better and harder than you were before
Get Your Psych Back: The Details
We’ll meet 6 times, every Monday evening from 6:00-7:30pm Mountain, starting November 2 and running through December 7.
Each session includes a short teaching segment, hot seat time to work through individual struggles, and one experiment to try before we meet again.
These sessions take place over Zoom, so you can join from wherever you are.
There will be no more than 9 people in the group.
The 6-Week Plan
Week 1:
Where the “should” came from: naming the grade you think you should climb, and whose standard that is
Week 2:
What pressure does to performance: fear of failure, avoidance, overgripping, and injuries
Week 3:
Identity beyond the grade — who you are as a climber when the number is removed
Week 4:
Comparison: partners, Instagram, and your younger self
Week 5:
Redefining a good day: process goals and experiments to run at the crag to remember why you love this sport
Week 6:
Keeping the goodness: what to do when the pressure comes back, because it will
Session will NOT be recorded for confidentiality purposes.
During Hot Seat Time, We Learn from Each Other
Each week, we’ll spend a portion of the time working with one person in the group. That person will share vulnerably and receive personalized coaching to help them overcome their struggles.
This is a time to learn vicariously through other group members and then share their thoughts afterward.
Ready to love climbing again?
kind words from clients
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"Working with Neely completely transformed my mindset around rock climbing. She asks incredible questions, helps you sift through your most uncomfortable feelings and thoughts, and shares actionable advice for you to work on so that you can feel your best while out there on rock. I highly recommend Neely for any mindset coaching needs, in or outside of rock climbing."
– Emily Holland
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"I am so glad Neely is my coach! She has helped me gain valuable insights about myself, which has helped me move forward in achieving my goals. She creates a safe place for me to address what is important to me, asks thought provoking questions that allow me to look deeper, and helps me hold myself accountable. I have struggled for many years in a particular area of my life, and with her expert skills, she helped me process and move through it! I highly recommend her to anyone who is looking to achieve their goals and live the life they truly desire."
- KD
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"Neely’s gentle, yet straightforward approach to exploring my struggles made it easy for me to open up and name some of the things that I had been judging myself for feeling and not wanting to say aloud. Through our time together, I was able to peel back the layers on what the real feeling behind my lack of motivation: I hadn’t allowed myself the time and space to process the changes from the past year."
– Christina Asai
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"I had a chat with Neely about my redpoint jitters heading into a weekend on my project - my last chance to send for the season. Neely was an amazing sounding board for me to process the stress, joy, and excitement of the redpointing process. I left our call with clear, actionable steps to take in my final session on the project to manage my nerves both on and off the wall. So glad I got to sit down with Neely, she was incredibly supportive, understanding, and helpful. Thanks again, Neely!"
– Lauren Abernathy, Climbing Coach
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"You cut through the noise and summarized how I was feeling and what was holding me back. You provided insights that I couldn't see for myself that really helped me understand things clearly, evaluate my own behavior patterns, and decide how I wanted to proceed. I felt like you helped me gain back my agency and it was so impactful."
Jocelyn Lavallee
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"Working with Neely was a fantastic opportunity that I recommend to anyone. She led every session with a professional air that made me feel safe, understood, and heard. I brought forth delicate items in our sessions that I hadn't even been able to release, even into professional therapy spaces, and she helped me move forward and past some deeper blocks that I had around self-care and food. I live a busy life, and knowing that my time spent with her would be efficient and well-respected made our coaching sessions something I honestly looked forward to. Her consistency and compassion will be something I will never forget, and being my first coaching experience, I finally realized why having a coach was a must-have staple in today's modern, go-get-'em world. Thank you, Neely!!"
- Salem
YOUR COACH, NEELY QUINN
Certified Professional Coach
I am a Certified Professional Coach with a specialization in Performance. I graduated from iPEC, which is an ICF accredited institution. I also have a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I am a Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate student, and I have been doing coaching, therapy, and other emotional work myself for the past 30 years.
I have been a high-achieving climber since 1997, and I’ve used coaching to upgrade my own bad attitude about climbing in order to love this sport again.
GET YOUR PSYCH BACK
Frequently Asked Questions
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Each 90-minute session takes place on Zoom with the full group (max 9 people). We’ll start with a short teaching segment on that week’s topic, then move into group work, and then hot seat time where we will work through an individual’s struggles. You’ll leave with one small experiment to try before we meet again the following Monday.
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I am a Certified Professional Coach with a specialization in Performance. I graduated from iPEC, which is an ICF accredited institution. I also have a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. I am trained in Non-Violent Communication and I am a Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate student. I have been a passionate, high achieving climber since 1997. As a perfectionist myself, I understand intimately what it feels like to be burnt out on climbing AND what it feels like to start loving it again. I have been doing coaching, therapy, and other emotional work myself for the past 27 years.
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Six weeks is enough to interrupt the pattern and give you language and tools for what’s happening. It won’t erase years of pressure overnight, but most people leave with a better relationship to their climbing identity and a concrete plan for what’s next.
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Great question! Therapy and coaching have a lot of similarities and some differences, so you can decide for yourself. Therapists and coaches both hold a safe space for clients to explore their thoughts and feelings. Both are going to help you understsand yourself better so you can move through life being less reactive and more empowered.
Therapists are equipped to diagnose and help you work through serious trauma and mental health disorders. As a coach, I may touch on your past traumas but just for the purpose of bringing more understanding to your current situation.
Therapists can diagnose mental disorders and I can not. As a coach for high achieving perfectionists and athletes, I will bring my unique mentorship to our sessions to help you reach your goals, while therapists generally don’t offer mentorship. -
This cohort is sold as the full 6-week series rather than individual drop-ins. The group builds trust and continuity each week, and the experiments build on each other, so it works best when everyone is there from week one. I am not currently offering one-on-one sessions to new clients while I am in school, so this is the only way to work with me.
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Try to make it to each session if you can, since the continuity of the series is so important. Sessions will not be recorded for confidentiality reasons, so if you miss a session, you will not be able to view it later.
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No, for confidentiality reasons, the sessions will not be recorded.
The tools I’ll use with you…
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Intuitive Questioning
You are wise - you just need the right questions to provide a better understanding of yourself. I use my training and intuition to ask useful questions that get to the core of the issue.
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Acknowledge & Validate
Ignoring and invalidating our emotions and experiences just leads to pent up frustration. You’ll have a safe space to see and hear your emotions so you can move beyond them.
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Gremlin Work
Your gremlin is the voice in your head that tells you in some way that you aren’t good enough. We’ll identify your gremlin and learn exactly what it needs to hear to give you some peace.
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Mentorship
I used to throw tantrums, cry, and hate myself because of rock climbing. I don’t do that anymore and I genuinely love climbing now. I will teach you everything I know to help you do the same.
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Communication Education
I have training in Non-Violent Communication and extensive knowledge of other tools that will help you advocate for yourself without causing conflict with your climbing partners, friends, family, and co-workers. I will teach you everything that is relevant to you.
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Growth Mindset
I am a COR.E Performance Dynamics Specialist, which means I've done specific training on sports performance. I will teach you how to focus more on the process and less on the outcomes in climbing so you can be present, calm, confident, and content in your climbing sessions.
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Fear of Falling
I have a fear of falling and have to constantly work on it and use tools to compensate for it. I am now a brave onsighter and take giant falls on projects. I have figured out tactics and strategies that really work, and I will teach you everything I know to make you a protocol for your specific situation.
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Homework & Accountability
In each of our sessions we’ll come up with things you can do in the coming weeks to put our discoveries and insights into action. I will assign you “homework” and check in with you at the beginning of each session to hold you accountable. This will help concretize our work.
Pricing
$360
6 weekly sessions for $360 — that’s $60 per session, less than the cost of most private coaching. You’ll get a short teaching segment, hot seat time, and one experiment to run at the crag each week, plus the benefit of hearing other climbers work through the same pressure you have.
After you reserve your spot, you’ll get a confirmation email with the Zoom link and what to expect for week one.
Sample Coaching Sessions
Listen in on my work with clients
Overcoming Fear of Climbing above Bolt - Coaching Session
Dealing with Negative Body Image in Climbing - Coaching Session
Decreasing Performance Anxiety on a Climbing Project - Coaching Session