In this deeply personal solo episode, Kat opens up about losing a close friend to suicide — and how grief reshaped every part of her life. She reflects on what it means to live through unimaginable loss, the ways grief shows up in the body and mind, and how healing isn’t about “getting over it,” but learning to carry it differently.

Kat also shares insights from her own journey and the science behind grief — how it impacts the brain, why it changes us, and what helps along the way. This conversation is raw, real, and a reminder that grief is both deeply human and deeply personal. Whether you’ve experienced loss or are supporting someone who has, this episode offers space, compassion, and hope.

Learn more about Morgan’s Message here
Follow Morgan’s Message on IG here
Follow The Mental Matchup on IG here

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Erin Devine, a current member of the Rutgers Women’s Lacrosse team, to talk about resilience, identity, and finding yourself beyond the setbacks. After enduring multiple knee injuries, Erin opens up about what it was like to shift into a new role on her team, the mental toll of recovery, and how she learned to listen when she stopped feeling like herself.

Erin shares her journey through vulnerability and strength. From redefining success to learning that healing is not just physical, but emotional too. Her story is a powerful reminder that your worth as an athlete isn’t measured by stats or playing time, but by the courage it takes to keep showing up for yourself and others.

Connect with Erin on IG here and here
Follow The Mental Matchup on IG here
Follow Morgan’s Message on IG here
Learn more about Morgan’s Message here

This week, Kat sits down with Gabby Pelfrey to talk about the pressures of college athletics, the challenges of graduating, and the journey of rediscovering joy after sport. Gabby shares how she found healing in new routines, self-discovery, and building a life beyond competition by offering encouragement to anyone navigating the transition out of athletics.

Connect with Gabby on IG here
Learn more about Morgan’s Message here
Follow Morgan’s Message on IG here

This week on The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Lisa Isenman, a psychotherapist with the Wake Kendall Group in Washington, DC. Lisa’s career journey is anything but traditional—after decades in communications and education, she returned to school to become a psychotherapist, guided by her belief that “mental health care isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity.”

In this episode, Lisa shares how curiosity and empathy shape her work with adolescents, adults, couples, and families as they navigate trauma, identity, and life’s toughest transitions. She also dives into her passion for collective action—serving on the board of Champions for Children, where she helps address the children’s mental health crisis in the DMV area, and her role as an executive officer with the International Association for Counselling, working toward global mental health equity.

Together, we explore:

• Lisa’s personal journey into mental health and why she chose to change careers.

• The role of curiosity and empathy in guiding young athletes, students, and families through adversity.

• How Champions for Children and international collaboration are expanding access to care and breaking stigma.

Lisa’s story is a reminder that one person’s decision to lean into passion and purpose can ripple outward to change lives and communities.

Learn more about Champions for Children here
Follow Champions for Children on LinkedIn
Learn more about Morgan’s Message here
Follow Morgan’s Message on IG here

This week on The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Paula Widerlite, Co-Founder and Chair of Champions for Children, a nonprofit led by women dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to thrive. With over 40 years of experience in nonprofit healthcare leadership, including 25 years as Chief Strategy Officer for a major DC-area health system,  Paula brings deep expertise and a personal passion for advancing children’s mental health.

In this episode, Paula shares:

• Leadership & Vision: What Champions for Children’s mission means to her personally, and how she fosters the collective energy of strong women leaders.

• Understanding the Crisis: Why children’s mental health is a growing crisis and how her organization turns awareness into action through grants, events, and collaborations.

• Programs & Community: The story behind “Be a Champion on World Mental Health Day,” plus how their panels and education series expand awareness and reduce stigma.

• Reflections & Looking Ahead: What Paula is most proud of, where she sees the greatest opportunity to expand access, and how listeners can support this critical mission.

Through Champions for Children, Paula has convened partners, advocates, and leaders to shine a light on youth mental health and build solutions that matter. Her story is a powerful reminder that when passion meets purpose, and when women lead boldly, real change is possible.

This week on The Mental Matchup, Kat chats with Kaylin Ricci. Kaylin is a Division I soccer player and fierce advocate for resilience. Just one day after her final season opening game, Kaylin’s world shifted unimaginably with the sudden loss of her mother. Through unimaginable grief, she made the courageous decision to return to the field, playing out her senior season in her mother’s honor. In this episode, Kaylin shares her journey of loss, strength, and what it truly means to keep going when everything feels like it’s falling apart.

In this week's episode, Kat chats with Alec Ingold about identity, creating locker room culture, and leadership. Alec plays professional football for the Miami Dolphins. Alec grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he was adopted into a close-knit and supportive family. He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers. In 2019, he signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent, and in 2021 signed with the Miami Dolphins. He is a gifted motivational speaker, and while his accomplishments are remarkable on their own, it’s Alec’s story of overcoming adversity that has inspired thousands. Through his Ingold Family Foundation, Alec works to empower underserved youth through accessible and impactful learning experiences. 

Learn more about the Ingold Family Foundation here
Learn more about Alec here
Learn more about Morgan's Message here
Follow Morgan's Message here

Hannah Conner is a licensed clinical professional counselor based in Chicago, IL, with a Master of Arts in Counseling and a specialization in Sport and Health Psychology from Adler University. She specializes in supporting athletes, particularly those navigating the transition out of collegiate or elite sports.

In this episode, Hannah joins Kat to explore emotionally unsafe environments in athletics: how to identify them, their impact on mental health, and how athletes can begin to heal.

Learn more about Hannah here
Get in touch with Hannah here
Learn more about Morgan’s Message here
Follow Morgan’s Message on IG here

This week on The Mental Matchup, we’re joined by Lysander Rehnstrom, a former walk-on at George Mason to Navy Men's Basketball Captain, and U.S. Marine Corps Ground Officer in training. Lysander shares his deeply personal journey with mental health: from growing up under pressure, navigating a life-threatening injury in high school, walking on at George Mason, and ultimately transferring to the Naval Academy.

He opens up about the mental toll of early expectations, the value of vulnerability, and the moments that nearly made him quit the sport he loves. Now a trained Peer Advisor and advocate, Lysander uses his platform to share that athletes are more than their stats — and that asking for help is a sign of strength.

We talk about:

• Mental health challenges in high-performance environments

• Impact of coaching and injury on athlete identity

• The power of peer support in recovery

Connect with Morgan’s Message here
Follow Morgan’s Message on IG here

In this episode of The Mental Matchup, we’re joined by Alex Heishman, a former DIII women’s lacrosse player, campus liaison for Morgan’s Message, and now a licensed social worker. Alex opens up about her 4+ year journey with Morgan’s Message and her own experience navigating mental health challenges as a student-athlete.

From battling self-criticism and panic attacks to a difficult coaching relationship that made her fall out of love with lacrosse, Alex shares her path to rediscovering joy, purpose, and identity — both on and off the field. Now working as a middle school counselor, she reflects on the importance of vulnerability, mental health advocacy, and the ongoing impact of Morgan’s Message.

Topics covered:

• Mental health and sport performance

• Navigating negative coaching relationships

• Athlete burnout & recovery

• Finding identity post-graduation

• The power of sharing your story

Follow Morgan’s Message on IG here
Learn more about Morgan’s Message here

Catie-Reagan King, Ed.D., is the Director of Mental Health Education at the Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation. She joins The Mental Matchup to discuss the foundation and its resources, including free digital toolkits designed to support individuals and organizations focused on mental health. These toolkits offer practical strategies for starting conversations, coping with challenges, and creating supportive environments for those who are struggling.

Find out more about the CKG Foundation here

Find out more about the digital toolkits here

Follow the CKG Foundation on IG here

Find out more about Morgan's Message and submit your story here

Follow Morgan's Message on IG here

This week's guest is Lindsey Wilson, a mindset and mental performance coach best known as The Sports Hypnotist. With a professional basketball career spanning close to a decade, Lindsey took her knowledge of the mental game to work with collegiate athletes, professional athletes from Olympians and players in the NFL and WNBA all the way to youth athletes. 

She is the founder of Positive Performance and The Mindset Coach Academy where she helps aspiring mental performance coaches start their dream business and impact lives.  She’s also the author of the upcoming book Think Like an Athlete which teaches the critical and undertrained skill of belief and how to build it to be successful on the playing field and off.

Lindsey believes in the transformative power of sports and that coaches and athletes need simple, effective mental performance training tools that don’t take a lot of time. Her mission is to teach these tools so that coaches can have a massive impact on athletes performance, enjoyment of competing and life. 

On today's episode we discuss the power of the brain, visualization, goal setting and Lindsey's passion for helping athletes succeed. Listen to Episode 166 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts now!

Connect with Lindsey on IG here
Learn more about Positive Performance Training here
Connect with Morgan’s Message on IG here
Learn more about Morgan’s Message here

Redefining Strength: Megan Shaver on Recovery, Rowing & Changing the Culture

In this episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat chats with Megan Shawver, a former collegiate rower and current graduate student studying Nutrition and Dietetics. Megan shares her personal journey with disordered eating, her experience navigating mental health challenges as a student-athlete, and how finding supportive communities like Morgan’s Message helped shape her recovery.

From rowing at Franklin Pierce to pursuing a career in nutrition, Megan opens up about the realities athletes face, the connection between sport and disordered eating, and why it’s so important to challenge outdated cultural norms in athletics.

Find out more about Morgan’s Message here
Follow Morgan’s Message here

#164: Catholic University field hockey player Mary Rojack joins us to talk about her journey with mental health, being part of the Morgan’s Message community, and the impact of building support both on and off campus. 💙From New Jersey to Catholic U, Mary’s passion for advocacy and connection shines through. Tune in to hear her story!

In this episode, Kat chats with Clare Kehoe, the Director of Education and one of the co-founders of Morgan’s Message. Clare opens up about her friendship with Morgan Rodgers—the memories they shared, the support she tried to offer, and the heartbreak of losing someone you love to suicide. She shares what drove her to help launch Morgan’s Message and how that loss forever changed the direction of her life.

Through grief, Clare has built something deeply meaningful: a movement that empowers student-athletes to speak up, support one another, and normalize conversations around mental health. We dive into how the Ambassador Program was created, how it’s grown to over 1,500 campuses, and the role it plays in changing culture—one conversation at a time.

• Learn more about Morgan’s Message here

• Follow @morgansmessage on IG here

• Apply to join or start an Ambassador Program at your school here

Marina Paul is the founder of SPRHRA, a women's sportswear brand built on real female athlete data. A former Division 1 soccer player and All-American at Georgetown University, Marina overcame significant challenges—depression, eating disorders, and ACL injuries—to become the program’s first-ever three-time captain, leading her team to the first-ever College Cup Final Four. Through SPRHRA and her advocacy, she is dedicated to empowering female athletes.

You can shop the SPRHRA x MM Short here

Find SPRHRA on IG here

Interested in Team Uniforms? You can find out more here

Connect with Morgan's Message on IG here

Learn more about Morgan's Message here

In this episode of The Mental Matchup, we sit down with Emma Kilbride, co-founder of Here for You Clothing, to talk about her lifelong journey with anxiety, depression, and tic disorder, and how stepping away from college became the turning point in her healing. Emma shares her raw and honest story of hitting pause on life as she knew it, doing the inner work through therapy and reflection, and ultimately rediscovering her purpose in mental health advocacy. Now, through Here For You Clothing, Emma is building community and connection through powerful storytelling and wearable reminders that no one is ever alone.

We discuss:

• The reality of living with anxiety, depression, and tics

• Why leaving college became a critical act of self-care

• The healing power of therapy and community

• How Emma turned pain into purpose through Here For You Clothing

Shop Here For You Clothing at hereforyouclothing.com
Use code MENTALMATCHUP for 20% off your order!
You can find here for you at @hereforyouclothing

Follow Morgan's Message at @morgansmessage
Learn more about Morgan's Message here

#160 - This week on The Mental Matchup, we sit down with Ben Redlener, a sophomore lacrosse player at Emerson College, to talk about the pressures that come with being a student-athlete—and the quiet battles that often go unseen.

Ben opens up about his mental health journey, reflecting on how constantly comparing himself to other athletes and peers impacted his confidence, academic life, and athletic performance. Through vulnerability and growth, Ben has found strength in accepting his own path and is now using his voice to support others doing the same.

#159 - In this episode, I sit down with Ellie Haney, a 26-year-old mental health advocate and founder of Here For You Clothing. Born out of her own mental health journey during the height of the pandemic, Ellie's mission is to create meaningful conversations and community through intentional fashion.

Ellie opens up about her struggles, the healing power of creativity, and how a simple phrase—“Here For You”—became the foundation of a movement. Alongside her best friend and managing partner, Emma Kilbride, Ellie has turned a powerful message into a brand that shows up on college campuses, in classrooms, and on streets across the country.

Shop Here For You Clothing at hereforyouclothing.com
Use code MENTALMATCHUP for 20% off your order!
You can find Ellie at @e_hanes
You can find here for you at @hereforyouclothing

Follow Morgan's Message at @morgansmessage
Learn more about Morgan's Message here

In this episode of The Mental Matchup, we sit down with Emma Reen, to discuss her journey through sports, mental health challenges, and the lessons she's learned along the way. She opens up about resilience, self-discovery, and the importance of breaking the stigma around mental health in athletics. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that reminds us all that we are never alone in our struggles.