Meet Dr. Shane Saenz
I work with athletes, professionals, parents, and teams navigating pressure, performance challenges, leadership demands, burnout, injury, and identity-related stress.
My goal is not simply to help people achieve more.
It is to help people perform in healthier, more sustainable ways while feeling more grounded, confident, emotionally connected, and aligned with themselves.
About Dr. Saenz
Dr. Shane Saenz is a licensed psychologist and the Director of Sport Psychology and Scholar-Athlete Mental Health Programs at UC San Diego.
His work focuses on supporting athletes, high performers, leaders, and teams navigating the emotional and psychological demands that often come with high-stakes environments.
Dr. Saenz combines clinical psychology, sport psychology, and performance-focused work to help people strengthen confidence, emotional resilience, communication, leadership, and sustainable performance.
He is especially interested in the deeper emotional patterns that can emerge under pressure, including perfectionism, self-criticism, burnout, fear of failure, identity-related struggles, and emotional disconnection.
His work integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS) informed approaches alongside sport psychology and clinical therapy to help people better understand themselves while creating meaningful and lasting change.
Performance is Personal.
Performance challenges are rarely only about performance.
Under pressure, people often encounter different parts of themselves:
The perfectionistic part
The fearful part
The exhausted part
The part trying to hold everything together
The part that no longer feels confident or connected
Many high performers become trapped in cycles of pressure, over-functioning, self-criticism, or emotional exhaustion while continuing to appear successful externally.
My work helps people better understand those patterns so they can respond differently instead of feeling controlled by them.
This creates space for:
healthier confidence
resilience
emotional flexibility
stronger relationships
sustainable achievement
greater self-trust
Media, Speaking, and Professional Education
I provide speaking engagements, workshops, and educational presentations focused on topics including:
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performance under pressure
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athlete mental health
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confidence and resilience
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burnout and recovery
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emotionally intelligent leadership
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communication and team culture
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Internal Family Systems (IFS) in sport psychology
Speaking and workshop opportunities are available for:
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athletic programs
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teams and organizations
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schools and universities
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leadership groups
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healthcare and mental health professionals
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