Next Steps Forward Symposium: The Mind of the Game: Where Athlete Mental Health Stands and Where It Has to Go
Athlete mental health is finally in the collective bargaining agreements, the press conferences, and the policy manuals. But has the care caught up with the conversation?
In this Next Steps Forward Symposium, Chris convenes a panel of leaders in the athlete mental health space for an honest assessment of where athlete mental health and sport psychology actually stand at the professional and collegiate levels.
They trace the real progress of the last 15 years and what drove it: collective bargaining agreements, players associations, athlete advocacy, and hard -won institutional buy-in, then turn to the harder questions:
▸ What still stands in the way of real change?
▸ Why is wellbeing so often bolted onto the high-performance environment instead of built into it?
▸ Why do sport organizations keep getting drawn to confident voices and quick fixes that don't help athletes?
▸ Is there even an adequate supply of competent, licensed sport psychologists to meet the demand?
A conversation about moving from awareness to actual care: valuable for athletes, coaches, administrators, parents, and anyone building a high-performance culture.
MEET THE PANEL
Dr. Robin Scholefield — Dr. Robin Scholefield is a licensed clinical psychologist, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, and a longtime leader of culture, wellbeing and sport psychology services within USC Athletics. Olympic bronze medalist (swimming, 1976).
Dr. Tom Golightly — Dr. Tom Golightly is a clinical Sport Psychologist with Intermountain Healthcare assigned to work exclusively with the Real Salt Lake organization, which includes MLS, NWSL, and MLS Next Pro teams. He is also the Mental Wellness and Mental Performance Consultant for the Utah Mammoth.
Grace Shirley — As a member of the University of Wisconsin women’s hockey team, Grace Shirley and her teammates won the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championships in 2021 and 2023. While competing for Providence College as a graduate transfer in 2023/2024, Grace pursued a master’s degree in counseling to become a licensed mental health counselor. She is currently an academic success coordinator at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts.
Dr. Lani Lawrence — Dr. Nohelani (Lani) Lawrence serves as the Senior Director of Performance Psychology, Wellness & Clinical Services for the New York Giants, where she oversees mental health and crisis services, mental performance development, and pre-draft assessments. In this role, she leads initiatives that support the psychological well-being and performance optimization of players, coaches, and staff across the organization.