BURLINGTON, Vt. – Director of Athletics Jeff Schulman '89 has announced the creation of Catamount Sport Psychology and Counseling (CSPC), a joint initiative between UVM's Center for Health and Wellbeing and the Department of Athletics. CSPC will provide a wide range of sport psychology and mental health services for UVM student-athletes, coaches, and staff.
 
"Support for sport psychology and mental health is a critical component of a highly competitive Division I athletic program," said Schulman. "This initiative is designed to change that and better support the overall wellbeing of our student-athletes, coaches, and programs, and our collective drive to maximize potential in every way. There's great enthusiasm for this new initiative and the positive impact that it will have on Catamount student-athletes now and for many generations to come." 

RELATED LINKS
CatamounTV: CSPC Video
 
CSPC will focus on the following:

• Helping student-athletes optimize their personal, social, emotional, academic, and athletic growth & performance through individual and group counseling sessions
• Consulting with coaches and athletics staff on issues impacting student-athlete wellness, performance, and team dynamics
• Providing educational programming to teams and student-athletes on topical issues impacting wellness and performance
• Integrating sport psychology and mental health counseling into a collaborative and comprehensive continuum of care for student athletes
• Utilizing sport psychology interventions and strategies to enhance the overall sport experience

The CSPC staff is comprised of Kelly Thorne, PsyD, Ari Shapiro-Miller, M.A., and Sheila Stawinski, M.A., CSCS:

Thorne most recently served as the Director of Living Well at UVM. She will continue as part of the Center for Health and Wellbeing's Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS), but will be housed in Athletics and work full-time providing counseling and sports psychology services to student-athletes while also being available to consult with coaches and athletics staff.  Kelly is a licensed psychologist, having received her Master's in Sport Psychology from Purdue University and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver.  Her professional interests include developmental issues of college students, stress management, depression, eating disorders, substance use on college campuses, sport psychology, and wellness. 
 
Shapiro-Miller, a former Director of Operations for the men's basketball program, returns to UVM Athletics in a full-time capacity as the Assistant Director of Athletics, Sport Psychology and Counseling.  Ari earned a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Masters in Clinical Psychology from St. Michael's College in nearby Colchester.  He will provide counseling and sport psychology services for the general student-athlete population and be available to consult with coaches and athletics staff.  Shapiro-Miller will also serve as the academic advisor for men's basketball as a member of the Student Athlete Development Team.
                
Stawinski will continue in her part-time role as a Sport Psychology Consultant. Stawinski, a former collegiate cross country and track athlete, received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Exercise Science and her Master's degree in Sport Psychology. Sheila has more than 25 years of experience in performance enhancement training collegiate, national and Olympic level athletes. Her career began in Lake Placid, New York, where she trained athletes from the Olympic Training Center, National Sports Academy, Northwood School and the Olympic Regional Development Authority. Locally, Sheila has been serving UVM athletes since 1996.
 
"In the world of sport, the culture itself hasn't always supported talking about mental health," said Thorne. "The nice thing now is that we are hearing athletes at all levels talking about mental health issues they've encountered, and how they've sought help.  So I think we're starting to see the stigma decrease. It shows a commitment to the whole person, not just the person as an athlete."
 
Senior student-athletes Kelly Lennon (Swimming, Chair of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council) and Trae Bell-Haynes (Basketball, SAAC Vice Chair) laid the foundation for the CSPC initiative through their work in creating last year's "Rally Around Mental Health" program. That effort was instrumental in highlighting the need for far greater mental health support in Athletics and served as an important impetus for this new initiative.
 
"This was our big ask. If we had one giant wish that could come true with no obstacles, what would it be," said Lennon. "It was that we needed more sports psychology and regular clinical psychology right in the athletic department readily available to student-athletes. To have this form over the summer and to have people tell us that we played a big role, that means a lot to us. But it's really not about us, it's about what the student-athletes needed."
 
"We wanted mental health to be viewed in a similar manner to a physical injury," said Bell-Haynes. "If you get hurt in a game, you're going to tell somebody. If something is bothering you, we want you to be just as willing to tell somebody."

Lennon and Bell-Haynes have also engaged in discussions with America East about a conference initiative to address mental health awareness.