New face at the Disability Resource Center (DRC)
At USU Eastern, there is a new face, Dannette Moynier, who is located in the Disability Resource Center. She is a MSW intern as she works towards her master’s degree in social work. With this program, she has to have 600 hours of counseling experience, all volunteer.
Moynier is directly under Jan Thorton, director of the Disability Resource Center, who helps supervise, answer questions and give support. “She’s [Jan] is awesome, and because I’m a student we have counseling once a week, which helps me.”
This archived article was written by: James Justice
At USU Eastern, there is a new face, Dannette Moynier, who is located in the Disability Resource Center. She is a MSW intern as she works towards her master’s degree in social work. With this program, she has to have 600 hours of counseling experience, all volunteer.
Moynier is directly under Jan Thorton, director of the Disability Resource Center, who helps supervise, answer questions and give support. “She’s [Jan] is awesome, and because I’m a student we have counseling once a week, which helps me.”
Moynier, for the last 25 years has been the hospital social worker. “It’s such a quick type of social work. You take care of the traumas and crisis issues, then you refer it on to other people. In this area it’s more of a long term issue… therapy here is totally voluntary. When the students come in, they already know what they need to do, we’re just here to help them do it.”
While Moynier says she’ll never leave the hospital, she says the reason she’s interning here is, “because to get a degree in social work—or a license—you have to have different experiences.” Last year Moynier interned with DCFS (Division of Child and Family Services). There she worked with a therapist who would go out to family’s homes and teach skills useful to family life; so that hopefully one day they can get their children back—and not lose them.
“That was way interesting,” says Moynier, “way beyond anything I’ve ever done before.”
Therapy is different for Moynier. One of the reasons she likes social work over crisis work is because’ “in therapy we implement what’s called ‘the tool box.’” This tool box is always being upgraded with new skills, ideas and terms. “We use this tool box to help students with ideas, or situations. It’s different, but I really love the therapy…”
She says that when there’s court ordered therapy, people aren’t very accepting, where as here people come in voluntary. They just want to get well. The majority of them just want someone to listen to them—tell them they’re not crazy.”
“The hardest thing about working with college students is that they all want to be good…they all want to get the ‘college education’…they see now—in today’s society—how important that education is… People are strong though, and I see changes in them week to week.”
She has always wanted to work in social work, and work in a hospital—both of which she does. “Counseling is amazing though.”
“I am amazed at what’s happened with this campus these last couple weeks since the death of Coach [Brad] Barton. Particularly with Jan and Tammie [Pantelakis] and this counseling office, and James Prettyman;the amount of caring shown by the people of this campus and what they’ve done is incredible. There was a crisis; I don’t think people in the community really know what we have here at this college and I just think it’s amazing. I think the faculty, staff and everyone; even more than that, the students coming together to support those who have really been hurt by this. I just want to sing the praises to what I’ve seen the past couple of weeks. I don’t think the people outside of this college, even in this community, know the strengths that we have right here [at USU Eastern].
Moyneir is in the Disability Resource Center from 4 – 8 p.m. Monday – Thursday, on Friday 4 – 6 p.m. If you’d like to get a hold of Moynier or other counselors call 613-5326 for an appointment.
