The Mental Matchup

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Dan Wolfe. Dan has worked in education for over 20 years and is currently a Vice Principal for a school in Pasco County, Florida. He focuses on Social Emotional Learning (SEL), which is an aspect of education that highlights the importance of taking care of the social and emotional needs of a student. Throughout the episode, we touch on his own experience of writing a book, “Becoming the Change: Five Essential Elements to Being Your Best Self”, geared towards the importance of an individual’s social and emotional well-being. We are so excited to have Dan on the podcast to share his knowledge!

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Nicolette Caneda. Nicolette is currently a sophomore soccer player at Manhattan College in New York City. Throughout this episode, Nicolette speaks on her experience growing up as an athlete dealing with the pressures of perfectionism and living with an eating disorder. She unpacks her own journey and also touches on the importance of supporting and understanding triggers for others who may be going through similar experiences. We also talk through the pressures that we can put on ourselves, the stigma surrounding food and athletes, and how to properly fuel your body. Nicolette is candid and open throughout the entire episode and doesn’t forget to check out her article titled “Regaining Life” on The Mental Matchup website under Stories!

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Kimber Hower. Kimber is a lacrosse goalie who grew up in Utah and is currently on the Syracuse Women’s Lacrosse team taking her 5th year. She graduated high school early to play college lacrosse at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before transferring to Syracuse. In the episode, Kat and Kimber touch on many different aspects of college lacrosse such as the recruiting process, the emotional transition to freshman year, and transferring to a different school. Kimber’s article, “Falling Out of Love to Fall Back In” is featured on The Mental Matchup website and we are so lucky to now have her on the podcast!

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, our guest is Nick Dunlop. Nick grew up in Australia and moved to the US in 2020 to attend the University of Washington as a member of the Men’s Rowing team. Nick had the unique experience of moving to the US and starting on a new rowing team during the COVID pandemic. He shares some valuable background on rowing and how he got into the sport in the first place. Nick also shares his thoughts on parental support surrounding mental health and therapy and the importance of opening up to teammates.

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat speaks with Trey Moses. Trey grew up playing basketball, continued his collegiate career at Ball State, and currently plays professionally abroad. Throughout the episode, Trey opens up about how a close friend and teammate’s suicide has impacted his life. In 2020, he was awarded the NCAA Inspiration Award for his dedication to inspiring others to prioritize the conversation surrounding mental health. He also touches on the importance of finding things that spark joy, medication, and his relationship with God. We are so lucky to have Trey on the podcast to share his story and it is clear that he has impacted many others by opening up about his own journey.

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat talks with Megan Campbell. Megan grew up as a competitive gymnast and earned a full-ride scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Throughout the episode, we talk about her experience growing up as a gymnast, sustaining an injury in college that ultimately ended her career, and the impact that a coach can have on individuals on their team. Megan also opens up about how the Larry Nassar case shaped her into the aspiring clinical psychologist she is today. She is currently working on getting her PhD and we are so lucky to have her on the podcast!

In this week’s episode, we are joined by Wes Woodson. Wes is a professional public speaker and the founder of thehidden company. His company is a media platform that aims to use the power of storytelling to share experiences and empower everyone to love every part of who they are. As a public speaker, Wes has traveled around the world speaking to students, parents, and teachers about the importance of prioritizing mental health. In this episode, Kat and Wes speak about some of his early childhood experiences dealing with anxiety and feeling different from other kids while also touching on the impact that parents have on their own children. Wes is a wealth of knowledge and we are lucky to have him share his own story on the podcast. Don’t forget to check out his instagram @weswoodson and thehidden company’s @thehiddenco!

This week on The Mental Matchup, we are joined by Chelsi Battle. Chelsi is currently interning at Northwestern University as a Pre-Doctoral Psychology intern and attends Auburn University as a doctoral student in their Counseling Psychology program. Beyond being a student, Chelsi is a Graduate Assistant for Student-Athlete Support Services, a program that helps with the development of skills for student-athletes facing academic challenges. Within the episode, she touches on the nonprofit she created called The Playbook Foundation, which is geared towards mentoring and mental health awareness in minorities. Chelsi plans to pursue a career in sport psychology after graduating and we cannot wait to watch her impact countless athletes at the collegiate and professional level. We are so lucky to have Chelsi share her own experiences and research with us!

We are lucky to have Sarah Fischer join us for this week’s episode. Sarah is a professional dancer living and working in New York City. Throughout the episode, we dive into many different topics including an athlete’s relationship with their body, the constant strive for perfection, and the impact that injury has on a career. She also teaches us more about the world of dance and what goes into becoming a professional dancer. The lessons that Sarah talks about in this episode can be applied to any athlete playing any sport, not just dance. She shares her own story and is a great resource for anyone else experiencing a similar journey or mental health obstacle. Thank you for sharing your story with us Sarah!

In this episode, Kat is joined by Reid Meyer. Reid is a former collegiate baseball player and the founder of a program called Athletes to Athletes (A2A). Due to Reid’s own college recruitment process, which he speaks about in the episode, he created A2A to help athletes navigate their own college recruiting process more smoothly. The program focuses on helping athletes make a more holistic decision when it comes to picking a college and also providing athletes with tools and resources for life after school. Throughout the episode, Reid discusses his own baseball experience and the importance of learning how to find the joy in what you do. After you listen to this episode, check out Reid’s story titled “Isn’t It Supposed to Be Fun?” featured on The Mental Matchup website!