In this week’s episode, Kat is joined by Niki Castle. Niki grew up in San Diego and went to a top-ranked high school for women’s basketball. She went to Washington State, where she played basketball and graduated in 2000. During her freshman year, Niki began to experience changes in her health but had difficulty explaining what was wrong. Throughout the episode, she opens up about these experiences and a diagnosis that she ran from for years. Niki now works with organizations like NAMI's Ending the Silence program, where she speaks with student-athletes about mental health. We are grateful to have Niki join us, and you won’t want to miss her story! After listening to the episode, check out Niki’s story here.

TW: suicide

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#108: In this week’s episode, we have Part 2 of Emily Perrin’s conversation with Kat. After discussing her own student-athlete journey during Part 1 of her episode, this episode touches on her work with athletes and her company, Perrin Wellness and Performance. It’s clear that Emily’s passion is to spread mental health awareness and we are so appreciative that she works with Morgan’s Message! We discuss using mindfulness to check in and gain awareness, validation, compassion, breath work, and movement.

#107: Show notes: This week we are joined by Emily Perrin, LMSW. Emily is the Director of Medical Advisory Council for Morgan’s Message and owns her own company, Perrin Wellness and Performance. She played collegiate soccer at University of Virginia before becoming a D1 coach and understands the importance of mental health awareness and recovery for athletes. During Part 1 of Emily’s episode, she opens up about her own student-athlete experience and how that has impacted her work now.

This week, Kat sits down with Kristen Vacca, a student athlete and Morgan's Message Ambassador at McKendree University. Throughout the episode, Kristen opens up about her experience as an international student both through the recruiting process and also as a student living in a new country for college. Kristen talks about her own struggles with mental health and how she has helped spearhead initiatives to bring about changes at her school to give student athletes more safe spaces around campus.

Tara Kerr is our guest on The Mental Matchup this week. Tara grew up in NYC and is currently a senior on the women’s lacrosse team at William and Mary. Tara discusses how she struggled at the beginning of college with loss, injury, and dealing with the strict rules of COVID. She used journaling and affirmations as constructive ways to help deal with difficult times and has created her own mental health and wellness Instagram to help record her journey, @tsgoodvibes. Tara also touches on opening up to her teammates and sharing her personal story with them.

#103: In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Brandon Allen connects with Kat. Brandon was born and raised in the Bronx, NY, and then moved to Lancaster, PA, when he was ten years old. He went on to play college football at Towson University and is now a mental health advocate after going through a difficult period in college when he questioned his self-worth. Brandon talks about his struggles with mental health and how his passion helped him create his brand @loveyourself.

#102 - During this episode, we are joined by Hannah Terry. Hannah is a Morgan’s Message Ambassador and a member of the Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse team. Throughout the episode, Hannah speaks about her experiences with the recruiting process, working through people pleasing and learning how to combat intrusive thoughts. Kat and Hannah also touch on the importance of learning healthy coping mechanisms when you experience negative thoughts or experiences. In Part 2 of our conversation we focus on Hannah’s journey through injury, advocating for herself and her healing journey.

#101: Welcome back to Season 6! During this episode, we are joined by Hannah Terry. Hannah is a Morgan’s Message Ambassador and a member of the Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse team. Throughout the episode, Hannah speaks about her experiences with the recruiting process, working through people pleasing and learning how to combat intrusive thoughts. Kat and Hannah also touch on the importance of learning healthy coping mechanisms when you experience negative thoughts or experiences. We can’t wait for you all to listen to all of the amazing guests we have lined up for Season 6!

In our 100th episode of The Mental Matchup, we are excited to have Dennis Gillan join the podcast. Dennis is the Executive Director of the Half a Sorrow Foundation, a foundation that strives to improve the mental health of individuals and organizations through conversation. He also has a TedX Talk and is the author of the book Nice Shoes!: A Little Compliment Can Go a Long Way, which we will link below. During the episode, Dennis speaks about losing two of his brothers to suicide and how that impacted his own mental health. He truly embodies the belief that an open dialogue with others will help break the stigma surrounding talking about your own mental health and we are honored to have him as our guest for such a milestone episode!

TW: Suicide

#99: Dr. Madison Bailey joins The Mental Matchup this week! Madison grew up in Phoenix, AZ and was a three sport athlete who ultimately focused on softball. She went to Manhattan College and graduated in 2016 before going to grad school to get her Masters and Doctorate at California Lutheran University. During the episode, Madison discusses how her experience with anxiety and control issues was one of her first introductions to the world of mental health and how she dealt with a series of life altering events. She is such a great advocate for mental health and we can’t wait for everyone to hear this episode!

This week on The Mental Matchup Glory Johnson joins the podcast. Glory grew up in Syracuse, NY and graduated from Old Dominion University in 2020 as a member of the Women's Lacrosse team. As an athlete, she experienced many ups and downs including performance anxiety, falling out of love with the sport and transferring schools. She now works as a breathwork facilitator and life coach and we are excited to welcome her onto the podcast!

This week on The Mental Matchup, Kat and Schuyler are joined by Sydney Zeszotarski. Sydney grew up in New Jersey and currently swims at Stevenson University. Throughout the episode, she gives us a closer look at her experiences dealing with a chronic illness, Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and how that negatively affected her mental health to the point where she attempted suicide. She talks about how the community around her was unaware of how to start the conversation regarding mental health and her message is that any struggle an individual is going through will eventually pass. We are lucky to have Sydney share her story with our community and help bring awareness to the importance in holding onto the hope that things will get better!

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Matt Graham and Taylor Mead. Matt is a Special Olympics athlete, health messenger and athlete leader and Taylor is the Director of Health programs for Special Olympics New York who oversees health programming across the state. Special Olympics New York is a sports organization that provides inclusive opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities while also focusing on their overall health and wellness. Throughout the episode, they discuss the implications of living with intellectual disabilities and how that can impact an individual’s mental health. A huge thank you to Matt and Taylor for joining us this week!

#94: In this week’s episode, Leah Jantzen joins The Mental Matchup. Leah is the creator of Train Your Brain, a program that she uses to help athletes achieve their goals by focusing on their mental fitness. She works with high school students and helps them work through an array of differing realities - finding their identity outside of athletics, performance and more. During the episode, she talks about her experience as a triathlete and competing in Ironmans! Leah is such a great resource to highlight the importance of mental health specifically in athletes and we are so lucky to have her on the podcast!

#93: This week we are joined by Betsy Brenner on The Mental Matchup. Betsy grew up in western NY and currently resides outside of Providence, RI. She is an author, speaker, and mentor who opens up about her journey with an eating disorder and ultimately helps others with their recovery process by sharing her own story. Betsy’s memoir, The Longest Match: Rallying to Defeat an Eating Disorder in Mid-Life, is an incredible message and her openness helps normalize the idea that eating disorders can happen to anyone at any time and that it’s never too late to begin the journey to recovery. Throughout the episode, Betsy also talks with Kat about dealing with her parents’ challenging divorce, the pressures of being a student-athlete and her identity being tied to a sport. We are so grateful to have Betsy join us this week!

TW: This episode talks about disordered eating, anxiety, and depression

#92: In this week’s episode, Caitlin Beacom joins The Mental Matchup. Caitlin grew up in Naperville, IL and graduated from Wofford College this past May. She started playing lacrosse in third grade and medically retired from collegiate lacrosse at the beginning of her senior year. Throughout the episode, Caitlin walks us through her mental health journey and how she has learned how being compassionate towards herself ultimately helps her understand her mental wellness even better. She also expresses how important it is to look back on hard times and consider how far you’ve come, whether that be mentally or physically!