Athlete Wellness and Team Support

At Birch Hill Behavioral Health, we offer athlete-centered mental wellness services designed to support performance, resilience, connection, and overall well-being. Our work helps athletes navigate the emotional demands of sport while building practical skills they can use in training, competition, and everyday life.

These services are led by Alayna McGarty and Symone Bennett, who bring clinical expertise, warmth, and a deep understanding of the pressure, identity, and mental demands that often come with athletic participation.

Whether support is needed for an individual athlete, a full team, coaching staff, or a broader athletic program, we aim to provide thoughtful, actionable services that strengthen both individual wellness and team culture.

Services

  • Description text One-on-one, sport-informed support to help athletes manage anxiety, burnout, performance pressure, fear of failure, confidence challenges, and other emotional stressors connected to sport.

    These sessions are designed to provide practical tools and personalized strategies based on the athlete’s specific needs, sport, and stage of the season. Support may be offered as pre-scheduled in-season wellness check-ins or on an as-needed basis during higher-stress periods such as playoffs, tryouts, injury, or transition points.goes here

  • Facilitated group conversations focused on shared challenges such as playing time, team dynamics, communication, and self-worth.

    These discussions are designed to create a safe, inclusive space where athletes can speak more openly, feel less alone in their experiences, build peer support, and reduce stigma around mental health.

  • Interactive workshops that help athletes build practical mental skills before and during the season.

    Topics may include managing pressure, building confidence, navigating setbacks, and supporting teammates more effectively. Workshops can include mindfulness, breathing and distress-tolerance strategies, visualization, pre-performance routines, and in-game reset skills to help athletes stay grounded and focused in high-pressure moments.

  • Training and consultation to help coaches and staff recognize signs of mental health challenges and respond with empathy, clarity, and appropriate boundaries.

    This may include education on warning signs, referral points, trauma-informed principles, and practical language for difficult conversations.

  • Consultation for coaches and staff navigating the emotional demands of leadership in competitive environments.

    This work may focus on athlete concerns, team culture challenges, coach burnout, communication, and aligning performance goals with a culture of care and psychological safety.

  • Collaboration with teams and programs to embed mental wellness into everyday routines, rituals, and team culture.

    This may include season-specific mental health planning, check-in structures, wellness days, guided reflection periods, and conversation tools that help make mental wellness part of the fabric of a team.

  • Broader consultation and systems-level support for schools, colleges, and athletic departments.

    This may include crisis management and referral systems, liaison support with counseling centers, policy and program development, and anti-stigma initiatives that support athlete mental health across an entire athletic program.

Testimonials

“It is extremely beneficial and needed to have a pulse on your team and how to be a better coach on and off the court.”

  • Jenna Cosgrove, Head Coach

“It was very important for us to have that space and I think it helped us work through some things during the season.”

- Athlete Testimonial