Mental Health Support for Young Athletes

While many young athletes may feel stressed or have trouble coping with issues related to their sport, they often don’t have access to mental health support tailored to student athletes. The Success in Youth Sports (SYS) Program seeks to change that.

The program provides education, consultation, and ongoing therapy designed to address the unique stressors faced by young athletes. Our goal is to help develop well-adjusted kids and young adults surrounded by a community of well-informed parents, coaches, and other support figures.

While many young athletes don’t seek out mental health support, even one session may provide new coping strategies and help kids remain on a path of mental well-being. We aim to intervene as early as possible to prevent significant mental health conditions, such as eating disorders, anxiety, depression, and substance use.

The SYS Program can help your young athlete navigate any mental health concern related to sports, including:

  • Readiness to return to sport
  • Injury management
  • Conflicts with parents, coaches, or teammates
  • Effective interpersonal skills
  • Identity formation 

The SYS Program also provides support to parents, coaches, and athletic trainers to help ensure that young athletes have a strong network supporting their mental health at home and on the court or field. 

Care team

Victoria Cosgrove, PhD

Victoria Cosgrove, PhD

Victoria Cosgrove, PhD, is a licensed child and family psychologist and assistant professor in the Division of Child Psychiatry at the Stanford School of Medicine. She studies how biological and psychological responses to social stress impact health and well-being. In addition to her work with the SYS Program, she is co-director of the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic and the director of the Stress, Resilience, Emotion, and Mood (StREaM) Laboratory, which studies the ways that kids and families respond to social stressors in their day-to-day lives and the downstream mental health toll. Dr. Cosgrove is a competitive endurance athlete—to date, she has completed more than 25 marathons, two Ironman triathlons, and multiple 50K and 24-hour trail races. She is also the proud mother of four student athletes (soccer, basketball, cross-country). 

Kristene Hossepian, PsyD

Kristene Hossepian, PsyD

Kristene Hossepian, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Hossepian has been a competitive athlete at the high school and collegiate levels with two Olympic runs for both handball and basketball. She continues to play basketball and has a history of coaching youth between the ages of 6 and 18. In addition to her work with the SYS Program, Dr. Hossepian works with children and adolescents who have eating disorders and within Dr. Victoria Cosgrove’s Stress, Resilience, Emotion, and Mood (StREaM) Laboratory to better understand how psychological and biological responses to stress also lead to changes in emotions and moods.