Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Owls Celebrate Mental Health
10/8/2019 7:17:00 PM | General, Academics
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic University's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), led by president Kelsey Witkay, prioritized mental health at this summer's Conference USA SAAC meetings in Dallas.
Those efforts are coming to realization during National Mental Health Awareness Week.
On Thursday, World Mental Health Day, FAU student-athletes will distribute green ribbons to staff and students across campus to promote mental health awareness. The ribbons will be available at FAU's three Friday home games – women's soccer, men's soccer and volleyball – as well.
The volleyball game also is FAU's first "green out," in which both teams will wear green shoelaces and wristbands as part of a conference-wide initiative for mental health awareness.
Nicole Alderson, a SAAC advisor and the associate director of FAU's Student-Athlete Center for Academic Excellence, believes student-athletes are becoming more cognizant of their mental health needs. And she says that's paramount to their success in all facets of life.
"If you're not mentally prepared or in the zone, making sure that you are locked in and focused or taking time for yourself, it's going to impact academics, it's going to impact your sport, it's going to impact your social life," said Alderson, also FAU's director of student-athlete development and career programming. "So, I think you have to focus on yourself. You have to have your mental health, otherwise everything is going to be impacted."
Alderson organizes Student-Athlete Survival 101, a program in which Laura DiPasquale, assistant director of the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) center, leads a group of individuals to "talk about things they may be experiencing as a student-athlete, or just as a student transitioning into college."
Student-athletes must balance class, homework, exams, practice, meetings, games, their social lives and more – often hours away from home. A former student-athlete herself, Alderson knows it's a rewarding yet stressful lifestyle.
But she sees a benefit in the regimen.
"One benefit of being on a team is that you have that tight support system, and that you're with your teammates day-in and day-out," Alderson said. "You're with your coaches. You have advisers, trainers, strength and conditioning coaches; there's a lot of people that see you every single day. So, when there are some changes, people take notice, and you almost have an accountability system, which I think is really important."
FAU swimming and diving coach Lara Preacco upholds an accountability system of her own. And because she sees her players daily and for up to 40 hours per week, it's an effective one.
"As coaches, [we] can often tell there's something going on," Preacco said. "We can often tell if they're having a good day or a bad day. After that, it's them trusting us to open up. And for us to kind of discuss it, figure it out, and to let them know we're a safe place to open up to, and together we'll figure out if there's something we can do."
Preacco is uniquely qualified in identifying and handling such situations: she owns a doctoral degree in counseling psychology.
However, Preacco describes the line between coach and counselor as fine but strong – and tries her best not to break it. She helps guide her players through day-to-day life; but when their mental health problems become more extensive, she refers them to CAPS.
That two-pronged approach, Preacco says, ensures student-athletes get the support they need.
"If they get to talk to us and get to talk to CAPS, then that's two helping," Preacco said. "And that's way better than one, so it's never too much."
In addition to CAPS, which is available to all students, FAU has a licensed team psychologist on staff in Dr. Raphi Wald.
Wald's office is in FAU's training room, so student-athletes can work on their mental health in the same place they treat their physical health. To Wald, the two are more than equally important; they actively affect one another.
"Their mental health, their sleep, their diet, it's the beginning of everything," said Wald, who described the connection between mind and body as inseparable. "It's like the soil that everything grows out of. And if the soil is no good, then you're not going to be able to sprout plants. It's just the foundation for everything that works in their lives, academically and athletically."
While mental health issues have obvious implications outside of athletics, Wald says they can also "destroy performance" within it. Wald said athletes suffering from depression, for example, can have increased feelings of pain and disrupted sleep architecture.
Wald is licensed to treat mental illnesses, like depression, as a clinical sports psychologist but is also trained to enhance athletes' performance-related attributes – things like confidence and focus – as a mental skills specialist.
Wald says it's uncommon for universities to employ someone who can do both. He thinks that more schools should follow FAU's lead in doing so though, because it creates a consistent and meaningful rapport between the professional and student-athlete.
"It's important for me to be a licensed psychologist who's equipped to deal with mental health issues and also be certified in sports psychology, because I do want to feel like coaches and players can count on me for anything," Wald said.
FAU has resources like Wald and CAPS in place, but there is always more that can be done.
Alderson is also starting a program called Winning in Life, which is designed to prepare student-athletes for life after sports, with mental health being one of its focuses.
Through their respective jobs, FAU faculty like Alderson and Wald work to see their student-athletes prosper off the field. Wald, though, never gets tired of seeing what they can do on it.
"These kids, Division I athletes, whatever they do, they're better than 98 percent of the population that tries to do it," Wald said. "So, being able to see them do what they're built to do and what they do best… it's beautiful."
Those efforts are coming to realization during National Mental Health Awareness Week.
On Thursday, World Mental Health Day, FAU student-athletes will distribute green ribbons to staff and students across campus to promote mental health awareness. The ribbons will be available at FAU's three Friday home games – women's soccer, men's soccer and volleyball – as well.
The volleyball game also is FAU's first "green out," in which both teams will wear green shoelaces and wristbands as part of a conference-wide initiative for mental health awareness.
Nicole Alderson, a SAAC advisor and the associate director of FAU's Student-Athlete Center for Academic Excellence, believes student-athletes are becoming more cognizant of their mental health needs. And she says that's paramount to their success in all facets of life.
"If you're not mentally prepared or in the zone, making sure that you are locked in and focused or taking time for yourself, it's going to impact academics, it's going to impact your sport, it's going to impact your social life," said Alderson, also FAU's director of student-athlete development and career programming. "So, I think you have to focus on yourself. You have to have your mental health, otherwise everything is going to be impacted."
Alderson organizes Student-Athlete Survival 101, a program in which Laura DiPasquale, assistant director of the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) center, leads a group of individuals to "talk about things they may be experiencing as a student-athlete, or just as a student transitioning into college."
Student-athletes must balance class, homework, exams, practice, meetings, games, their social lives and more – often hours away from home. A former student-athlete herself, Alderson knows it's a rewarding yet stressful lifestyle.
But she sees a benefit in the regimen.
"One benefit of being on a team is that you have that tight support system, and that you're with your teammates day-in and day-out," Alderson said. "You're with your coaches. You have advisers, trainers, strength and conditioning coaches; there's a lot of people that see you every single day. So, when there are some changes, people take notice, and you almost have an accountability system, which I think is really important."
FAU swimming and diving coach Lara Preacco upholds an accountability system of her own. And because she sees her players daily and for up to 40 hours per week, it's an effective one.
"As coaches, [we] can often tell there's something going on," Preacco said. "We can often tell if they're having a good day or a bad day. After that, it's them trusting us to open up. And for us to kind of discuss it, figure it out, and to let them know we're a safe place to open up to, and together we'll figure out if there's something we can do."
Preacco is uniquely qualified in identifying and handling such situations: she owns a doctoral degree in counseling psychology.
However, Preacco describes the line between coach and counselor as fine but strong – and tries her best not to break it. She helps guide her players through day-to-day life; but when their mental health problems become more extensive, she refers them to CAPS.
That two-pronged approach, Preacco says, ensures student-athletes get the support they need.
"If they get to talk to us and get to talk to CAPS, then that's two helping," Preacco said. "And that's way better than one, so it's never too much."
In addition to CAPS, which is available to all students, FAU has a licensed team psychologist on staff in Dr. Raphi Wald.
Wald's office is in FAU's training room, so student-athletes can work on their mental health in the same place they treat their physical health. To Wald, the two are more than equally important; they actively affect one another.
"Their mental health, their sleep, their diet, it's the beginning of everything," said Wald, who described the connection between mind and body as inseparable. "It's like the soil that everything grows out of. And if the soil is no good, then you're not going to be able to sprout plants. It's just the foundation for everything that works in their lives, academically and athletically."
While mental health issues have obvious implications outside of athletics, Wald says they can also "destroy performance" within it. Wald said athletes suffering from depression, for example, can have increased feelings of pain and disrupted sleep architecture.
Wald is licensed to treat mental illnesses, like depression, as a clinical sports psychologist but is also trained to enhance athletes' performance-related attributes – things like confidence and focus – as a mental skills specialist.
Wald says it's uncommon for universities to employ someone who can do both. He thinks that more schools should follow FAU's lead in doing so though, because it creates a consistent and meaningful rapport between the professional and student-athlete.
"It's important for me to be a licensed psychologist who's equipped to deal with mental health issues and also be certified in sports psychology, because I do want to feel like coaches and players can count on me for anything," Wald said.
FAU has resources like Wald and CAPS in place, but there is always more that can be done.
Alderson is also starting a program called Winning in Life, which is designed to prepare student-athletes for life after sports, with mental health being one of its focuses.
Through their respective jobs, FAU faculty like Alderson and Wald work to see their student-athletes prosper off the field. Wald, though, never gets tired of seeing what they can do on it.
"These kids, Division I athletes, whatever they do, they're better than 98 percent of the population that tries to do it," Wald said. "So, being able to see them do what they're built to do and what they do best… it's beautiful."
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