Student-Athletes and Counseling Services: Recommendations for Identifying and Developing Referral Sources

The current article describes recommendations for identifying and developing referral sources for student-athletes seeking counseling services. A Counseling Center at a northeastern state university collected data from student-athletes presenting for mental health services about who referred them and what sport they played. Findings indicated a disparity between the number of female student-athletes presenting for services and male student-athletes as well as more student-athletes presenting for services during the Fall semester than the Spring semester. It was also found that athletic trainers and coaches were the biggest referral sources to university counseling services. Recommendations for other Counseling Centers are provided in creating and improving upon referral sources for student-athletes.