Dr. Emmett Gill Jr. joined University of Houston Athletics as its Mental Health Counselor in February 2024. In his role, Dr. Gill assists Houston student-athletes in addressing emotional issues including focus on improved self-esteem, behavioral changes and enhanced mental well-being.

Gill Jr., who is a licensed clinical social worker in Texas, founded AthleteTalk, LCC, in December 2019. There, he was responsible for developing multi-day plans for athlete wellness and behavioral/mental health while providing mental health services to collegiate and professional athletes.

He previously worked at Vibrant Emotional Health as its Professional Sports Crisis & Wellness Program Manager. There, he developed evaluation methods for NFL Mental Health Event Action Plans (MHEAPs) and reviewed, evaluated, and improved initial MHEAPs for all 32 NFL teams. Gill Jr. also assisted with the reporting of monthly and semi-annual NFL LifeLine utilization data. Additionally, he worked with the NBA and NHL alongside league personnel on mental health and wellness training and health provision proposals.

Gill Jr. spent 2 ½ years at the University of Texas as its Director of Student-Athlete Wellness & Personal Development where he worked with all sports to provide clinical services and develop/coordinate injured student-athlete and substance abuse initiatives. He also organized programming to promote successful student-athlete transitions and advocated for student-athletes athletically, academically and personally.

As the President & Executive Director of the Alliance of Social Workers in Sport (January 2014 – February 2017), he developed a certificate program to train social workers in providing services to athletes. Gill Jr. oversaw the production of four annual national conferences which included 855 sports-helping professionals. He nurtured partnerships with national and international sports organizations and developed and executed strategies while increasing membership from four to 257 members.

From August 2010-August 2014, he worked as a Director and Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at North Carolina Central University. At North Carolina Central, he created and directed the Student-Athlete Wellness Services (SAWS) initiative and taught Human Behavior I, Research Methods I/II and Statistics. Gill Jr. also conducted research on student-athlete mental health and social injustice and served on department curriculum, human behavior and research committees.

From July 2006-July 2009, he served as an Assistant Professor for the School of Social Work at Rutgers. There, he taught courses in Human Behavior, Research Methods and the Role of Sport. He also conducted research on student-athlete development and provided clinical services to Women’s Basketball and select Football student-athletes.

Gill Jr. received his Bachelor of Arts from University of North Carolina at Charlotte in August 1991 and Master of Social Work from Howard University in June 1995. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work from the University of Maryland at Baltimore in June 2006.

In addition to being a Licensed Clinical Social worker, Gill Jr. is on the NFL Players Association Referral List and NBA Clinicians Directory.

Name	Title	Email Address
Elliot Bickerstaff, MS, LAT, ATC	Associate Director of Sports Medicine (XC/TF)	ecbicker@central.uh.edu
Dr. Emmett Gill Jr., PhD, MSW, LCSW	Director of Mental Health Services	elgill@central.uh.edu

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