Rams Helped Shape CBA With Mental Health Resource

The Rams helped lay the foundation for having mental health resources across the NFL.

Having a good state of mind is crucial to every individual's well-being. And the Rams took that initiative to heart, bringing aboard Dr. Carrie Hastings, the team's mental health clinician. 

On Dr. Hastings official website, she describes herself as the following: 

"Dr. Hastings is a licensed clinical and sport psychologist. She specializes in mental skills & performance enhancement for athletes, psychological and neuropsychological testing, and individual therapy for all ages. Dr. Hastings maintains a private practice in Westlake Village, CA, and is the mental health clinician for the Los Angeles Rams."

Dr. Hastings was featured as a guest on the Ross Tucker Podcast and shared how her role with the Rams has led to the NFL mandating in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that each team has a mental health recourse for players. 

"I'm proud to say I think the Rams has served as a model for the league in terms of how we've developed our mental health program, our IR protocol and how we've approached this whole thing," Dr. Hastings said on the podcast. "When the CBA was revamped a couple years ago, I remember that some of the league reps came and did a site visit and were so impressed with how we were managing that total wellness approach and did take some ideas back and incorporate it into that new protocol which involved mandating that every team had some sort of mental health resource."

Rams Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff praised Hastings via Twitter for her efforts in assisting the people of the organization.

Dr. Hastings is an amazing resource who has helped so many in our organization in good days and in bad. Grateful to have her as part of the team https://t.co/Gfmf6BkWOp

— Kevin Demoff (@kdemoff) August 16, 2021

Dr. Hastings also spoke about how she was hired by the Rams, how mental health advocates have evolved and how players respond to team psychologists.

The Rams have made mental health a top priority and it's encouraging to see that the NFL has adopted their model for the better of players and team employees across the league. 

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Nick Cothrel is the Publisher of Ram Digest. Follow Nick on Twitter @NickCothrel.