The Student Athlete Mental Health (SAMH) Program was established to eliminate barriers and reduce stigmas related to student-athlete mental health. The program was created by Samantha Silver in spring of 2022 and launched its pilot year fall of 2022. Now in its fourth year, the program continues to grow and develop. The program’s focus is to provide mental health support for student athletes and athletic staff.
Student-athletes receive mental health check-ins twice annually that were created using the SMHAT-1 (Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool 1) as a guide. The SMHAT-1 is an assessment developed by the International Olympic Committee to monitor their athletes' mental well-being. The information collected through these assessments assists the SAMH program coordinator in prioritizing referrals and scheduling follow-up support with team counselors.
Prioritizing referrals involves regularly checking in with athletes to assess their well-being, encouraging them to utilize counseling clinic services regardless of whether they see their designated team counselor, and identifying priority referrals—specifically when an athlete indicates thoughts of suicide. In such cases, it is essential to conduct follow-up in a calm, compassionate, and professional manner.
Each team is assigned a dedicated counselor who attends at least one practice per week and provides support during competitions. Team counselors conduct psychoeducational group sessions for their teams on topics such as burnout, team dynamics, and performance anxiety. They often exceed the minimum requirements by attending additional practices or games. This approach encourages ongoing engagement, reduces barriers to accessing mental health support, and facilitates relationship development within the team environment.
This is one model that was implemented at Bushnell University. Here is the exciting news, you can purchase this model from Samantha for your school in a variety of ways! She can also help you develop a similar but different model that better suits your athlete and athletic staff needs!