BYU Student-Athlete Mental Health
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Mission/Purpose
Student-athletes face pressures on and off the field that can affect their mental health, well-being, relationships, and performance. Some common mental health concerns among student-athletes include anxiety, depression, self-esteem, homesickness, trauma, eating/body image concerns, and recovering from injury. We seek to provide support and treatment to student-athletes experiencing these pressures to help them become healthy, balanced, and successful students and athletes.
Quick Mental Health Screening |
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Take a quick 2-minute screening to help you determine if you or someone you care about should connect with a mental health professional. They are completely anonymous and confidential. Immediately following the brief questionnaire your results will be displayed. Additional resources can be found on the CAPS website by clicking here. To complete the screening click here |
Who We Are
Tom Golightly, PhD
Dr. Tom Golightly is currently an Assistant Director-Athletics for BYU Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). After graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2000, he then completed his Ph.D. at BYU in Counseling Psychology in 2007. He completed his internship at Texas A&M University Student Counseling Service and worked for at Texas Tech University’s Student Counseling Center as the liaison for the department of Athletics. Tom returned to BYU in 2008, joining the clinical faculty in CAPS. Since his initial appointment, Tom has served in various administrative positions. He was awarded the rank of Clinical Professor in 2018. Tom is the team psychologist for baseball, football, basketball, men's cross country/track and field, women’s soccer and track and field. He also teaches two courses for the university – Performance Psychology and Contemporary Issues for Student-athletes. He is currently an Executive Board Member for the Collegiate Clinical/Counseling Sport Psychology Association or CCSPA (the largest international organization of sport psychologists working with intercollegiate student-athletes), and is a contributing member of an NCAA task force on mental health issues affecting student-athletes.
Ofa Hafoka, PhD
Dr. Ofa Hafoka Kanuch is an Assistant Clinical Professor at BYU Counseling and Psychological Services . After completing her PhD in Counseling Psychology at BYU in 2018, she worked in a private practice specializing in eating disorders for a year. In 2019, she joined the clinical faculty in CAPS. She has been a team psychologist since 2021. She currently provides individual therapy to student-athletes and teaches two courses on campus — Positive Living and Performance Psychology and guest lecturers for Contemporary Issues for Student Athletes.
Jacob Goetz, B.S. & Doctoral Candidate
Jacob Goetz is currently a psychotherapy extern for the BYU Student Athlete Mental Health Team during the completion of his Ph.D. After graduating from The University of Florida Summa Cum Laude in 2017, he entered his Ph.D. program in Counseling Psychology at BYU in 2018. He has served as a clinical worker and therapist for BYU Counseling and Psychological Services and for Mountainlands Community Health Center in Utah, in addition to serving as a psychological assessment coordinator at BYU's University Accessibility Center. Jacob has worked with student athletes in mental health settings since 2020, and has taught courses in psychotherapy skills, multicultural counseling, career exploration, and personality theory.
