A local startup just made a strategic partnership with a large mental health network that will connect student athletes with therapists.
Max Brie started the company Dalorum in February to create a safe community that offers resources to student-athletes, including sponsorship opportunities for their name, image or likeness (NIL).
Having gone through a significant injury as a Division 1 lacrosse player at St. Bonaventure University, Brie knew he wanted mental health to be a major focus area for Dalorum. That’s why he reached out to BetterHelp, a global provider of mental health therapy and services, with access to more than 25,000 licensed therapists.
“We want to make sure they share the same values we do, which is to help student athletes,” Brie said. “We wanted a mental health partner that was big enough to suit every college athlete.”
BetterHelp was on board with the deal, Brie said, because the network had intended to have a greater presence in student athletics.
Brie, 23, said student athletes often suffer from mental health issues due to overwhelming stress from playing a sport while managing classes and financial pressures.
“Seeing the decline of the mental wellness among student athletes, it’s something we want to take care of,” he said.
Thanks to legal changes last year, student athletes are now able to make money on NIL. Brie said there's still a large gap between the top 1% of athletes, who land big sponsorship deals, and the rest of the athlete population. He wants Dalorum to help close that gap by helping athletes navigate opportunities.
“This is the first NIL deal that’s really for every athlete out there, rather than just one person,” Brie said. “We cannot be talking about multimillion-dollar brand partnership deals while we have people that are a part of the student athlete community killing themselves because of the stress that they’re incurring. For me it seems ridiculous to talk about those deals before we’re taking care of the people in our community.”
The partnership with BetterHelp will offer one month of free therapy for student athletes and 24/7 access to an online chat platform.
Brie said the platform will launch next month. Athletes will log into Dalorum and get a special link to the BetterHelp platform to sign up for therapy, free for a month.
“We know this isn’t a permanent fix, but it’s progress that we’re hoping to build off of,” Brie said.
