New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz hosted Emmett Gill from Athlete Talk Wednesday on campus who spoke with Hawks student-athletes about mental health.
 
Gill held two sessions with student-athletes before meeting with administration, as he discussed mental toughness and the importance of breaking the stigma in mental health especially among men. Nearly every team was represented throughout the day for the two, one-hour sessions which were held in the Lecture Center.
 
"Emmett focused on mental toughness for the whole presentation," said Hawks Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Mental Health Co-Chair and field hockey junior Morgan Woolley. "He went into detail about how you have to fully commit to focusing on yourself before you can excel in other aspects of your life such as school and sports. I thought that was very beneficial to break down the different aspects of mental toughness into smaller points of focus."
 
Gill's mental health workshop comes off the heels of the SUNY New Paltz Athletics Department partnering with Athlete Talk, which Gill is the founder. Athlete Talk is a student-athlete mental health and wellness app, which officially launched for the Hawks in February of last year. The app utilizes a social media wellness feed, multi-day wellness plan, wellness videos and more to engage athletes in mental health workouts, which has been used by numerous student-athletes and teams.
 
"After talking to several other athletes and teammates they thought that it was important to hear that you don't have to be diagnosed with a mental disorder in order to work on your mental health," Woolley said. "They also brought up that in order to be the best teammate possible, you have to make sure you are taking care of yourself before you can help others."
 
Gill has held a multitude of workshops throughout college campuses. He and Athlete Talk add to the mental health initiative the department hopes to continue as Woolley and Co-Chair Michael Devoe (senior, men's lacrosse) helped launched the first mental health subcommittee of SAAC this fall with the two leading numerous events including "Green Out" mental health awareness games for each sport, partnering with The Hidden Opponent, and, most recently, a tie-dying event for all-student athletes.
 
"I think it is an awesome opportunity that the New Paltz Athletic Department has given us," Woolley added. "After listening to the session, I saw a lot of people pulling up the app and signing in or text Emit to fix their account. It shows that athletes are interested in making a change."
 
To learn more about Athlete Talk, click here.

*******************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.