Ingenuity and Adaptation: Mental Health Counseling Spread Across Globe – MGoBlue

By Steve Kornacki

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There will be a gathering offered to the nearly 1,000 student-athletes who call themselves Wolverines late Monday afternoon (March 30). However, it won’t be at Michigan Stadium, Crisler Center, Yost Ice Arena, Fisher Stadium or Alumni Field.

It will be on the Internet — a webinar hosted by University of Michigan assistant director of athletic counseling Abigail Eiler — and they will congregate on their laptops, phones and other devices to learn and discuss what they’re all dealing with. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the NCAA canceling the remainder of the winter and spring sports seasons March 12, and life has been an adjustment ever since.

The webinar, focused more on seniors but available and relatable to every class, will connect them all again, the vast majority of whom have left campus and are now in nearly every state in the U.S., and countries on different continents.

“It’s called ‘Managing My Mental Health After Collegiate Athletics,’ ” said Eiler, who works with counseling director Greg Harden and oversees day-to-day counseling operations. “It’ll be live next Monday. I mean, there are a lot of moving pieces, right? We’ve got a lot of student-athletes who have located back to home, those remaining in off-campus housing and the dorms.”

That webinar is just one example of what staffs in various athletic department offices are offering Michigan student-athletes as coping mechanisms.

Eiler said: “We quickly went into a crisis-management approach, figuring out what kind of help they needed academically, mental health, nutritional, medical, those on rehab. We had to consider all of that. So, we are trying to support them to the best of our ability regardless of where they are.”

Athletes, perhaps as much anyone, are creatures of routine and habit. But now they have no games to play, facilities open to them for conditioning and practice or even classes to attend. They take those classes online now.

Eiler and other mental health counselors attended all of the team meetings held by head coaches to announce what had happened two weeks ago, and she’ll never forget them. She recalled the “sadness” and the “stages of grief and denial” that come with traumatic life events.

“The women’s gymnastics team broke two records this year for their season (highest team scoring average, 197.128, and vault, 49.32),” said Eiler, “and were on the way to do big things at the NCAA (Tournament as the No. 5-ranked team nationally). In speaking with the teams, that was the time when there were tears in my eyes. They’re done.

“For all of them, there was this shock and disbelief in what was happening. The connection, support and compassion that they had for each other was really powerful. And, over the next three days, they went from being extremely happy and upbeat to wanting to do anything they could to change this situation to eventual acceptance. ‘This is going to be OK. We don’t like this; we’re not happy about this. But we’re going to be OK.’ Their resiliency shines through really quick even though it was a pretty significant loss for all of them.”

From left: Harden, Eiler and Tiana Luton.

NCAA and Big Ten tournaments were called right in the middle of competition.

“The immediate response of our (mental health) team was to be present and offer counseling for our student-athletes,” said Eiler. “Their seasons were ending, and in some cases, their careers were ending. Those who weren’t in their seasons were asking, ‘Oh, my gosh, what happens now?’ There was so much unknown, and we needed to help them adjust to the best of their ability and the best of our ability.

“One of the best things about them is that they are so good at adjusting and persevering through difficult things. So, we had to ask, ‘How do we put their skills to work to adjust?’ “

The University of Michigan and Ann Arbor Pioneer High graduate said the words of one senior participating in a women’s sport made a particularly lasting impact.

Eiler recalled: “Her response was, ‘Who am I now?’ It’s such a huge shift in identity — one that is typically well thought out and planned and organized in how we celebrate our seniors and their transition into life post-collegiate sports.”

There is no quick fix to answer that question, but counseling and teaching new skills have helped. “Who am I now?” is one of the components to Monday’s webinar.

“She’s actually doing very well right now,” Eiler said of that senior. “It’s about establishing that new routine, healthy eating (with the help of Michigan director of performance nutrition Caroline Mandel) and staying connected. Our student-athletes know that we are available to them at any time.”

“What we did was give them the immediate skills to navigate through crisis. Also, helping them find hobbies and a sense of self outside of sport.”

Eiler was a Michigan undergrad when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in 2001 and said similarities exist between then and now.

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