The Mental Matchup

On today's episode, we welcome Collette Herring to The Mental Matchup! Collette is a senior at Kennett High School in Kennett Square, PA. She shares her unique story of dealing with complications with her brain health and how social isolation can contribute to depression and anxiety. Collette grew up playing field hockey and lacrosse and is also helping to coach younger girls while also spreading...

On today’s episode, we are joined by Glenn Østen Anderson. Glenn has been a professional media producer for over 20 years and is now an Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Catholic University. He grew up as an athlete and competed at some of the highest levels for race walking. He saw firsthand how the experience of mental health can alter an athlete’s performance and how ide...

In this week’s episode of The Mental Matchup, Kat sits down with Jerry Dorneker. Jerry lost his daughter to suicide in 2020 and speaks candidly about the grief you experience as a parent after losing a child. He also opens up about finding strength through faith and how he has found purpose in pain. In addition to him sharing his own side of the story as a parent, he shares what he would tell some...

#122: In our second episode of Season 7, Emily Monahan-Morang, M.Ed., LPCC joins The Mental Matchup. Emily shares her journey working with athletes and performers and helps talk through the difference between mental health services and sport and performance. She also helps talk through how student-athletes can help others who are struggling and how to find a therapist that is best for you.

Welcome back to Season 7 of The Mental Matchup! To kick off the new season, we are joined by Alexa Beyer. Alexa plays Division I lacrosse at Youngstown State and got inspired to start playing after watching her brothers pick up the sport. During the episode, Alexa and Kat talk about her experiences handling an injury and the mental health struggles that come with recovery. She also touches on how...

This week, we are joined by Rares Judele during our final episode of Season 6. Rares is a Morgan’s Message Ambassador and mental health advocate. He was born in Romania and attends Wooster High School in Wooster, OH. Rares is a multi-sport athlete who shares mental health's role in his own life. He speaks about switching sports, dealing with his emotions, and learning how to vocalize what he is go...

In this week’s episode, Abbey Sallila joins Kat on The Mental Matchup. Abbey is a junior at Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, majoring in psychology and is also a member of the women’s lacrosse team. During her sophomore year of college, Abbey faced multiple injury setbacks and talks us through how she dealt with each experience and overcame them. She highlights the importance of a strong suppor...

A special episode this week, Emily Weible joins The Mental Matchup to chat about brain health and mental health. Emily graduated from Washington State University in 2019 and is currently in grad school at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, teaching an undergraduate course and a lab each semester. Emily recently started a coaching business called Brain+Body Foundations where she offers strength...

This week, Emily Weible joins The Mental Matchup. Emily graduated from Washington State University in 2019 and is currently in grad school at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, teaching an undergraduate course and a lab each semester. Emily rowed in college at WSU and opens up about the importance of finding a community outside of sport, educating others about suicidality and self advocating fo...

This week on The Mental Matchup, Brooke Kelly joins the podcast. Brooke is on the women’s lacrosse team at Lander University. She opens up about how her love of lacrosse started, how she learned that it’s ok when things don't go perfectly, and what drew her to the school she eventually transferred to. Brooke emphasizes the importance of being grateful and we are so grateful that she is on The Ment...

#115: This week, Dan Maigler and Mags Roemer join Kat on The Mental Matchup. Dan and Mags both work for Paws for Patrick, a non-profit organization connecting young people with Emotional Support Animals and therapy dogs to help with their mental health. They discuss why the organization was founded, the benefits of having an emotional support animal and how Paws for Patrick works! Check out Dan’s...

This week, Cami Nelsen joins The Mental Matchup. Cami grew up in Lancaster, CA and attends Antelope Valley College, where she plays volleyball. Cami has had her share of ups and downs, both mentally and physically, and we get into everything during this episode. She shares her chronic kidney disease diagnosis, anemia episodes, and struggles with disordered eating. This past September, Cami spoke i...

#113 - This week on The Mental Matchup, we are joined by a mother-daughter duo, Kirsten and Joey Early. Kirsten, an Ambassador for Morgan’s Message, and her family moved from the US to England and throughout the episode, discusses the differences in culture, making new friends, and adapting to life across the Atlantic Ocean. The pair also shares both of their unique experiences when it came to Joe...

In this week’s episode, Paul Macrina joins The Mental Matchup. Paul is from Wrentham, Massachusetts. Growing up, he was on the football and lacrosse team as well as a member of student council. Paul started his own podcast called Smoove Talk Podcast after learning more about young athletes taking their own life. His mission is closely aligned with The Mental Matchup and we are honored to have Paul...

This week, we are excited to welcome Chibuike “ChiChi” Odo to the podcast. ChiChi is a first generation Nigerian-American, his parents being originally from Nigeria and eventually settling in McKinney, TX. After growing up in Texas, ChiChi went on to play football and was pre-med at Davidson College in North Carolina. He talks about the struggle to balance academics and athletics in addition to ex...

#110: This week, we are joined by Andrew Mackiewicz on the podcast. Andrew is a fencer who went to Penn State and graduated in 2018. Growing up, Andrew’s family bounced around between the US and Canada after immigrating from Poland. Andrew opens up about his own mental health struggles as a collegiate athlete and how important talking to others is when you're going through a darker period. Andrew...

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 experience...

#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 d...

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...

This week we are joined by John Armistead on The Mental Matchup. John is from northern California and went on to play college lacrosse at the University of Richmond before heading to grad school and using his 5th year of eligibility to play football at the University of Southern California. During the episode, John speaks with Kat about moving across the country to attend college and the social an...

#105: 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...

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 h...

#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 struggl...

#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 mecha...