Today we’d like to introduce you to Donna Roybal.
Hi Donna, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My road to becoming a doctor was never straightforward – more like a scenic detour with a few costume changes.
Medicine may be my second career, but it was always my first love. I still remember making a doctor’s kit out of cardboard when I was five. At that time, I was also a competitive ice skater on an Olympic development track, until my parents’ wallets decided that wasn’t sustainable. So I became a ballet dancer and a competitor on the high school dance team.
By the time I hit college, I had the instinct to be a doctor, but I also had the fear that I couldn’t survive the demand of pre-med science classes. So I took what felt like the “responsible” route: I graduated from UCLA with a degree in business economics and joined Arthur Andersen (yes… that Arthur Andersen – the Enron chapter of that story was not my doing). From there, I jumped excitedly into a career in database marketing during the internet boom, and I spent seven years at Oracle Corporation and several Silicon Valley startups.
And then, somewhere around age 29, I had what I like to call an early mid-life crisis. I was climbing the ladder into mid-level management and suddenly realized I did not want the jobs of the people above me. Meanwhile, on weekends, I was a ski instructor, and I volunteered in adaptive ski programs, working with people who had physical or cognitive challenges. That work inspired me in a way spreadsheets never could. It reminded me of that cardboard doctor’s kit that I had quietly packed away.
So I unpacked it.
And I sent myself to medical school (how I did that at 29 is another story) at UCLA.
During residency, I trained at Stanford, a D1 NCAA institution with athletes who excelled both athletically and academically. Taking care of the mental health needs of student-athletes opened the door to what would eventually become my passion: sports and performance psychiatry.
After completing residency and a child/adolescent fellowship, I also received specialized NIH training to study complex mood and anxiety disorders in youth. I was then recruited to UT Health San Antonio. There, I earned a prestigious NIH K award to continue my research and run my own lab, all while raising two young boys who would go on to become serious athletes themselves. I was also Director of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for Medical Injury Clinic, where I treated concussion, traumatic brain injury, and other psychiatric symptoms resulting from medically injured children and adolescents.
When their athletic schedules became intense enough to require a NASA-level logistics system, I made the decision to leave academia. I took on roles that allowed me to be both a physician and the mother of two dedicated competitive athletes, while also staying active in sports myself. I worked with athletes from all ages, backgrounds, and levels, from young kids to Division I and beyond.
Fast-forward to today:
I’ve raised one son who swam on the USA Swimming National Championship circuit and another who is now a World Champion in ITF Taekwondo as well as an AAU basketball player. Somewhere between packing swim bags, polishing medals, and cheering through countless tournaments, I realized that it was time to build something of my own.
That “something” became Resolve Sports and Performance Psychiatry — San Antonio’s only private sports psychiatry practice. I’m bilingual in Spanish and English, and I bring to this work not only years of clinical experience, but a lifetime of being an athlete, coaching as a parent of athletes, and understanding what peak performance really demands. At its core, sports psychiatry is problem-solving. By understanding what’s getting in the way of peak performance and helping athletes clear that path, they can perform at their best when it matters most. Sometimes it’s anxiety or thoughts – other times it can be more serious mental health issues.
I’ve also returned to UT Health San Antonio, now UTSA, as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, where I teach residents about sports psychiatry and will assist with the new Performance Medicine Clinic, set to open near the Spurs training facility in 2026. In 2025, I also joined the International Society for Sports Psychiatry and am part of their committee on youth sports. I also joined the International Olympic Committee’s Diploma Program in Mental Health in Elite Sport, continuing to learn from and collaborate with experts around the world. Recently, Resolve partnered with Modern Movement Sport and Spine, a physical rehab clinic that works not only to heal injured athletes but also to keep well athletes at peak performance – to offer full-spectrum services — mind, body, and performance, all under one roof.
If the road to medicine wasn’t linear for me, it was certainly meaningful. Every twist and seemingly bump in the road since making that initial doctor’s kit as a kid – from accounting to being a professional ski instructor to medical school and motherhood – led me right here.
To be honest, I wouldn’t trade the scenic route.
Because it turns out the long way around gives you the best stories and the greatest gratitude. Every detour adds to your potential superpower. You have to just keep moving forward with purpose and resolve, and these are the perfect ingredients for helping athletes reach their potential.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I entered medical school 4 months shy of turning 30. I was older than most, though not the oldest, in my entering class. I also had one kid in medical school and one in residency, and juggling pregnancy, motherhood, and training keep me always on my toes.
We’ve been impressed with Resolve Sports and Performance Psychiatry, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Resolve sports and performance psychiatry is the only private practice sports and performance psychiatry in San Antonio. I provide full spectrum psychiatric services for children, adolescents, and adults who are also athletes (sports, including dance) or performers (e.g. theater, musicians). Services include mental performance skills, evaluation and treatment of psychiatric symptoms in athletes/performers, management of performance anxiety, eating disorders, psychiatric support during injury/concussion, rehabilitation, and return-to-play, and substance use and behavioral concerns impacting play. I also work with teams to problem solve team issues, improve team cohesiveness, confidence, and readiness to perform. I have a unique perspective in that I have not only expertise in the athletic and performance arena as a performer myself, I have also raised two high level athletes (national and international level), and I also have the additional expertise in evaluating and treating mood and anxiety disorders and their comorbidities. I have specialized training by the National Institutes of Health fellowships for this and am also part of the International Olympic Committee’s Diploma Program in Mental Health in Elite Sport.
Any big plans?
I am looking forward to my further collaboration with Modern Movement Sport and Spine, a chiropractic, soft tissue and functional medicine center. I recently moved my office to share space with theirs, providing a full spectrum of mind and body services for athletes. I am also excited about the new UTSA performance medicine clinic to open in 2026 as I am an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry there. We are thrilled about expanding sports and performance medicine to San Antonio.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.resolvesportspsychiatry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resolve_sportspsychiatry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579180834204
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-roybal-md-dfaacap-115b771/
