Pasadena City College Athletics and the PCC Personal Counseling Division have partnered to create a series of Zoom workshops specifically designed for Lancers student-athletes. The five-part series titled "More Than An Athlete" will take place over the next few months.

The workshops begin this week with Part 1: Coping/Resliency on Tuesday, Oct. 6 and Friday, Oct. 9. 

Other workshops include Part 2: Social Justice on Oct. 20 and 23; Part 3: Improving Mood, Nov. 10 and 13; Part 4: Healthy Relationships, Nov. 17 and 20; and Part 5: Relaxation Skills, Dec. 1 and 4. 

Dr. Marcos Briano, adjunct faculty and a clinician from PCC's Personal Counseling talked about how this program was developed. 

"The workshops came about after a conversation we had a few months ago with Dyan Miller (Dean of PCC Kinesiology, Health & Athletics) because she was concerned about how student-athletes were coping with a number of topics during this pandemic situation," Briano said. 'So our departments collaborated on this and we reached out to coaches who were very receptive about giving their athletes this avenue."

Dr. Briano said there are unique obstacles that student-athletes are facing especially with no in-person classes and limited communication with coaches and teammates. 

"Student-athletes are grappling with so many issues that may affect their mental health. I imagine that without being able to workout together as a team and without that normal coach interaction, a student-athletes whole routine and structure has been put in chaos. Using Zoom workshops is a new avenue of connecting with them. Coaches have had to be creative during this moment in time, and this workshop series is a way to utilize outreach for their athletes."

Monica Tantlinger, PCC softball head coach, said, "It's great that we are highlighting the strengths of student-athletes with this series and helping them to understand how to use them in the real world. While the pandemic has been frustrating, opportunities like this show that PCC is staying engaged with our players."

Dr. Briano said while different clinicians will be on the athletic Zooms that he intends to help moderate as a main contact throughout the workshop series. 

Here is some more information about the PCC Personal Counseling staff:

https://pasadena.edu/campus-life/personal-counseling/about/staff.php