The Mental Matchup

#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...

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 h...

#100: 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 losi...

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...

In this week's episode of The Mental Matchup, Brock Turnbaugh joins the podcast. Brock grew up in Northern Maryland and was a three sport athlete at Hereford High School. He went to play lacrosse as a goalie at Johns Hopkins University and discusses the transition from high school to college and how he was often hyper focused on other people versus focusing on himself. During the episode, Brock op...

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 ex...

For this week’s story submission episode, we’re highlighting 2 incredible stories. First off we have “Finding My Purpose” by Lily Parker who shares her experience with the college recruiting process and how it affected her overall mental health. Next up, Alexandra Castro Iberico wrote a story titled “Ambivalence”. As a competitive rower, she discusses the unrealistic expectations of perfection as...

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 suicid...

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 intell...

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 abo...

Show Notes: 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...