Christine Mosher, Massachusetts – 2024
Christine Mosher is a self-employed psychotherapist. She has given 40 years of service to girls and women in sports. Highlighting her career is that she was the first and only social worker to do a presentation on Sport Social Work & Athlete Mental Health to the National Association of Social Workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island Chapters in 2023. This presentation highlighted the prevalence of female athletes struggling with body image issues and eating disorders.
Christine is a member of the Alliance of Social Workers in Sports (ASWIS),a group of professional social workers dedicated to increasing the awareness of issues impacting female and male athletes, including mental health, gender equality, pay gap issues and racism within the world of sports. She has advocated to athletic directors, coaches and athletic trainers of several MA colleges to implement and in-house therapist with the the schools’ athletic department specially designated for athletes to create better access to mental health care treatment. She has spoken about the impact of eating disorders and body image issues for female athletes; additionally Christine emphasizes the changing landscape of youth sports with the pressures on young athletes that can negatively impact their self-esteem, mental health and enjoyment in sports participation.
Christine founded the Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League in 2000 which is still active. She created a women’s indoor soccer program for the Falmouth (MA) Recreation Department in 2008 which continues to be active. She has supported Soccer Without Borders for 5 years and volunteered for Special Olympics. Christine is included in the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee registry of clinicians available to provide treatment for Olympic Athletes.
As an athlete since age 10, Christine played sports in high school and college. She currently participates in several sports because “I believe that staying active as I age is an important part of maintaining my physical and mental health; hopefully, my example will encourage younger female athletes to continue their athletic pursuits throughout their lives.”