My mental health journey

More than anything I wanted to help others around me. As the former Co-President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, I wanted to see our athletes thrive on and off the field, court, track, pool, etc. That is why we were sure to make mental health awareness a top priority for our student-athletes. This is where I got the pleasure of meeting Erin Trujillo, Director of ASU Counseling Services. She was instrumental in coordinating the mental health programming for our student-athletes, working on projects for mental health awareness within the athletic department, and hiring a full-time sports psychologist.

As I worked in collaboration with Erin, I had never actually seen a therapist or knew most of the information we were learning about mental health and how to destigmatize the thoughts that come with it. I was preaching about all things that I knew were incredibly important, but had no anecdotal evidence behind what I was saying until my senior season of track and field as a Sun Devil. The season was not going to plan, I was a high jumper and I was not reaching the marks that I was expected to that season. My performances were awful and I felt like I was running out of time to reach all the goals I had set out for myself. I was talking through these struggles with a teammate, who had been quite successful the year before and he said, “Well, have you talked to the sports psychologist yet? Helped turn my whole season around last year”. Of course, I had neglected the exact thing that I had been saying is helpful. I had been giving in to all the thoughts that I knew weren’t true, “I don’t need it”, “I’d be taking up someone’s time that needs it more than me”, “I’ll get through this on my own”. And all it took for me was a teammate saying, “It helped me a ton” for me to be convinced to step into Counseling Services and talk to someone.

The week before going to Counseling Services I had just no-heighted at a meet, maybe the worst feeling as a high jumper. Essentially, you did not clear any height and that means you typically didn’t clear a bar that you usually do. I had a session with one of the sports psychologists at the time and we focused on sports performance. I walked out of the session feeling relieved and able to fully explain all the things that I had been thinking in my head. 

That week we had a meet in Lubbock, Texas and wouldn’t ya know it, I ended up jumping a new personal best of 6’9. Now, I’m not saying that one session of therapy and talking through things can literally take you to new heights, but I am also saying that. Sometimes it is just taking the first really uncomfortable step in order to take you to new places.

I continued to do sessions after that and I am so thankful. I was able to reach many of the goals I had set out for myself and become a better athlete, as well as a true advocate for mental health, by working as an ASU Counseling Services management intern helping with outreach and focusing on the Devils 4 Devils program that gives students training on how to be a better friend, classmate, community member and points people to the right resources when they do need help, just like my teammate did for me. 

Mason Ford, Sports Law and Business, MSLB ‘21, ASU Counseling Services management intern, Devils 4 Devils ASU student organization president