BRANSON MIKELL
Staff Writer

Name: Chastin Dobbs

Year of Graduation: Fall 2015

Degree: Psychology with a minor in Music

Occupation: Thrift Store, Case and House Manager at Freedom Hill Recovery Home

The Roar sat down with Chastin Dobbs, a former Piedmont student, who majored in psychology.

During her time at Piedmont, she was also a member of the Piedmont Chamber Choir and the acapella group known as Cantabile.

She uses her degree in the field of psychology at Freedom Hill Recovery Home, where she was an intern before being hired.

The Roar: Why did you want to become a recovery home counselor?

Chastin Dobbs:  I wanted to become a counselor because I went to a lot of counseling when I was a kid, and I think that it helped me get to where I am now.

I want to pay it forward and help some other struggling teenagers that are having different problems with their identity or any type of problems like that.

R: Talk about what Freedom Hill is and how it is unique.

D: Freedom Hill is a 12-month recovery home for women.  We have drug addicts. It can go from heroin to meth to alcohol.  We have had people in here before that have had some types of eating disorders, but it’s mainly for drug and alcohol abuse.

It’s different and it’s unique because it’s not like a state-funded program. We’re a 501C3, which means that we operate off of donations, which is why we have the thrift store.

It’s a Christian-based foundation so the ladies go to church. We do regeneration, not rehab[ilitation].

Regeneration is different than rehab because rehab just means returning to a former state and regeneration is like becoming new in Christ and changing your life.

R: What is your favorite part about working at Freedom Hill?

D: My favorite part is working with the girls, as much as sometimes they overwhelm me. It’s working with the girls and seeing them grow.

R:  How did Piedmont prepare you for your job at Freedom Hill?

D:  Piedmont’s classes for psychology were good, and I liked Professor of Psychology Dr. Vance.  She was my advisor at Piedmont, and she and I were really close. And, she taught me a lot.

Through all of Piedmont’s classes I learned how to be organized.  I had to be organized with Dr. Vance.

She had her class really structured and I could not do this job if I wasn’t organized because it’s so, like, many different variables involved. I mean we are working with people 24/7.

Also, Piedmont’s psychology classes have taught me a lot about why [patients] behave the way they behave like defense mechanisms, and I can like sit back and I can think, oh this might be why they are doing this.

For more information about Dobbs and Freedom Hill Recovery Center, watch Branson Mikell’s capstone presentation on Wednesday, April 20, at 3:30 p.m. in the screening room of the Swanson Center.