Edward Darrah
Edward Darrah, a licensed and board-certified mental health counselor, joined Virginia Athletics in November of 2023 as director of performance enhancement and mental health.
Darrah comes to UVA with a background in mental health counseling and sports performance. Before coming to UVA, Darrah was at Temple for the last five years, where he served as the department’s first staff mental health counselor from 2018-2022 and director of mental health for Temple athletics from 2022-2023.
As Temple’s director of mental health, Darrah supervised clinical staff and oversaw the clinical practice management of the department. Darrah led the efforts to improve the department’s mental health preventive screenings for the over 550 student-athletes. Darrah facilitated leading-edge solutions by adopting the Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool 1 (SMHAT-1), one of the first standardized assessments to identify mental health symptoms and disorders in elite athletes. Darrah helped improve the annual mental health screening completion rate for four consecutive years. Darrah oversaw the development of the student-athlete and coaches Wiki resource, which leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) to help student-thletes and coaches access curated mental health, wellness, and performance resources. Darrah co-led monthly educational training for coaches and athletic administration on mental health and performance topics. During Darrah’s tenure, the department expanded to four full-time staff in 2022.
From November 2018 until May 2022, Darrah served as Temple athletics’ first full-time mental health clinician. In this role, he provided mental health and sports performance services to student-athletes. Darrah was the mental health and performance liaison for nine of the 18 athletic teams during that time. Darrah led the athletic department’s CARE Team during his five years. Darrah helped improve intern processes by implementing HIPAA-compliant technology that helped improve referral management, data collection, and internal collaboration. Darrah led the transition to digital care solutions by implementing telehealth services. He assisted in the department’s response to COVID-19 and the transition to remote services. Darrah led several strategic initiatives to improve clinical care and access to mental health services. In January 2022, Darrah led the deployment of measurement-based care through its partnership with Blueprint Health. The technology helped quantify student-athletes outcomes receiving mental health care. In the spring of 2022, Darrah spearheaded a collaborative partnership with Hall of Fame Health that expanded mental health support to current and former Temple Student-Athletes throughout the U.S.
Darrah is listed on The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) Mental Health Registry. Darrah holds clinical licensure in Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Florida. Darrah achieved board certifications in counseling and Telemental Health through the National Board of Certified Counselors. Darrah has owned a private practice in Lower Merion, Pa., since 2015. In his private practice at Edward Darrah Counseling & Athlete Wellness, he’s provided collegiate, professional and Olympic athletes with mental health, wellness, and sports performance services. Darrah has provided athlete performance workshops for the First Tee Foundation. He has been a guest panelist at the Northeast Atlantic Sport Psychology Conference, speaking on student-athlete mental health. He has presented at the Clinical Counseling Sport Psychology Association CCSPA annual conference on implementing emerging technology to improve behavioral health treatment and outcomes. Darrah completed training in disaster mental health counseling through the Red Cross.
Darrah attended La Salle, graduating with a master’s in clinical counseling-psychology with a concentration in industrial organizational consulting in May 2012. He completed his practicum at Amtrak within the company’s employee assistant program in New York City. His clinical internship was at Northeastern Health Services (NHS). In addition to his graduate work and clinical placements, Darrah worked as an assistant baseball coach at Arcadia University for two seasons from 2010-2011.
Darrah earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Neumann University in 2009 and was a pitcher on the university’s Division III baseball team. Upon graduation, he completed an internship focusing on sports performance within a private practice in Bethlehem, Pa.
Outside of his clinical work, Darrah serves on the Neumann University Academic & Student Life Committee. He enjoys playing golf in his spare time.