New Initiative Focuses on Student-Athlete Mental Health

Recognizing the unique pressures facing student-athletes, Saint Joseph’s last fall launched a series of initiatives to support their mental health.

Led by Director of Athletics Jill Bodensteiner and Eric Laudano, D.A.T., senior associate athletics director for high performance, the new resources are designed to help support athletes’ emotional, psychological and social well-being, and position the University as a national leader in this area.

The department hired its first dedicated sport psychologist, Andrew Wolanin, Psy.D., distributed the popular sleep and meditation app Calm to all student-athletes, and launched a new mental health peer support group, Hawks-Minded, which was inspired by senior women's track and field standout Caroline Duffy ’20.

A team captain, three-time medalist at the Atlantic 10 Track and Field Championships and SJU record holder in the 400 meters, Duffy is an influential member of the St. Joe’s community and does so while living with functioning anxiety.

Understanding her own personal mental health challenges and realizing many of her teammates and friends had similar concerns spurred Duffy to meet with Laudano to create Hawks-Minded. The group provides a platform for student-athletes to talk about mental health issues at monthly meetings, be visible at campus and community mental health events, and promote leadership and stigma breakdowns on the SJU campus.