Staff Spotlight: Melissa Graham

This is the 21st in a biweekly series spotlighting the men and women behind the scenes supporting Temple Athletics.

Melissa Graham joined the TUWell team as a full-time Mental Health Counselor in July 2022, following the completion of her master's degree in counseling psychology from Temple in May 2022. She is working towards her license to become a Licensed Professional Counselor, and a Certified Mental Performance Consultant.

From August 2021-May 2022, Graham had the opportunity to complete her clinical internship at TUWell under the supervision of Dr. Stephany Coakley. Her practicum consisted of working with children in an elementary school setting, as well as in a clinical setting at Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Prior to her arrival at Temple, Graham was on the women's cross country and track teams at Towson University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2020. Her role at Temple allows her to combine her passion for mental health and sport and performance psychology with her role at TUWell.

How has your experience as a student-athlete helped you in your role?
"I think it helped me to understand them more. I think being a student-athlete, especially at this level, is unique. There are a lot of demands that they are balancing so it helps me to understand that challenge. In terms of symptomology, anxiety is the highest for all of the clinicians here. That's what we see the most of, but a lot of that has to do with having so much to manage and they are not sure how they are going to get it all done."

How receptive are the student-athletes towards seeking mental health counseling?
"I have only been here a short time but from what I've been told, I would say that they are becoming more receptive. We have more students coming to us than ever. I only hear from the ones who come. I don't hear from the ones who don't come, so that's tough. Certain sports carry more of a stigma, especially the male sports. We have teams where it's definitely more talked about within the team behind closed doors. But we are getting there. Especially with a student-athlete mental health advocate group, it helps to have peers advocating. It definitely helps for them to hear from peers about their experiences."

How rewarding is it for you to see the athletes you work with improve their performance on the field and in the classroom?
"I think that's the thing that makes this job so worth doing. There are a lot of hard days; there are always going to be setbacks. But the progress makes all that worth it at the end of the day. Feeling like you made a difference in someone's life is the ultimate reward.
"When I was in college and I was running, I went to a sports psychologist, and it helped a lot. So I knew I wanted to do that. When I was on the team, a lot of my peers on my team were struggling on the mental health side of things and we didn't have this type of support at my college – I think they do now but not at the time - seeing that and wanting to make a difference. So that's where I kind of shifted to both the sports psychology and mental health route within sports."

How excited were you that your internship turned into a full-time position?
"I was ecstatic, I didn't think that was an option. I knew that Dr. Coakley has brought in a lot of interns so I knew that was how that kind of worked here; you do your internship and move on. When I was talking about applying for jobs she asked if I'd be interested in working here fulltime and I said 'Yes.' She knew this was what I wanted to do, and she knew one of the reasons I came to Temple in the first place was TUWell. It worked out timing-wise; I was very lucky. I'm just grateful it was an option and opportunity."

What are the next steps for you in your career?
"I definitely want to be here for a few years and see TUWell grow. Each summer, this is a planning time, and we already have some new plans for next year. So I'm excited to see how much of an improvement we make each year. I want to be a part of that to see how we continue to grow and improve.
"After that, we'll see. I might shift to private practice. But I think for now this is where I want to be."

Temple University Athletics

Staff Spotlight: Melissa Graham

Related Videos