Quiet Skills, Big Impact
During the spring of my freshman year I opted to participate in a training to become a Student Athlete Support Network Representative for my basketball team at Wesleyan. The training is designed to provide students with the proper skills and resources to effectively respond when their teammates are struggling with their mental health. The leaders of the training were involved in Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Wesleyan, in other words they were educated professionals. We met once a week over the course of six weeks, with each week discussing a different topic. Topics included:
- Active listening
- Recognizing and responding to signs of depression and anxiety (including suicidal thoughts)
- Substance use and abuse
- Disordered eating
What has stuck with me most from this training was learning about active listening. Active listening encompasses the “little things” you can do when someone is speaking to you to show that you care. For example, making eye contact with them, not cutting them off mid sentence, asking follow up questions, etc. All of these actions foster a safe environment for someone who may be struggling to open up. Additionally, learning when to relate a topic back to yourself and when not to was significant to me.
The training required myself and other trainees to be vulnerable, discussing situations where someone has confided in us in real life and may not have known what to do. Within this training, we learned about when it is time to make the step towards a trained professional as well. It was emphasized that it is not our job to solve anyone’s problems, only to point them in the right direction. In the several years since this training, I’ve felt myself resorting back to it constantly. Being a part of a team, whether it be athletically, academically, or work related, requires you to build interpersonal skills and relationships. For success to stem from your group they must be rooted in trust and security. Completing the SASN training made me more perceptive, it educated me on various mental health struggles, and equipped me with skills I can use way past my time at Wesleyan.
