Tre Moss ’25 MSW is passionate about college students’ mental health.
Upon his May graduation from the St. Ambrose Master of Social Work program, he’ll begin his career as a mental health therapist in Denver, Colorado, working directly with universities in the area to bring mental health awareness to college students.
“I’m very lucky to have this opportunity to partner with the University of Colorado Denver, University of Colorado Boulder, and Colorado State University,” Moss said. “I know that I’m the person that can help college students through their journey as a student, but also a human being.”
Mental Health Advocate
Moss’s work in this space began when he was an undergrad at the University of Dubuque. There, he formed a chapter of Active Minds, a nonprofit that provides mental health resources to college campuses and high school students. He advocated for and established publishing a crisis hotline number on the back of all student IDs.
When he entered the Master of Social Work program at St. Ambrose University, he was pleased to see that the university offered an abundance of mental health resources on campus. Moss has helped with depression and alcohol screens as a St. Ambrose student.
But his greatest accomplishment thus far has been his work on A.S.K., a partnership between Active Minds and SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios aimed at creating an easy three-step system for young adults to support a struggling friend.
A.S.K. stands for acknowledge, support, keep-in-touch. Through a series of interactive videos, participants can practice how to talk with a friend who might be going through a tough time. Moss was one of ten mental health advocates on the project’s youth leadership council, many of whom are students at well-known universities across the country, including Johns Hopkins University, UCLA, and Howard University, to name a few. The group provided feedback on the dialogue used in the interactive videos.
“It really means a lot to me that they would see us, a smaller school, as being able to be a part of something big,” he reflected on the experience. “It's just been really cool to have MTV and Active Minds know where St. Ambrose is and know that people here are doing the work as well.”
Empowered through support
Moss credits the hands-on experiences offered by the MSW program and its supportive professors with shaping him as an individual and preparing him to enter the workforce.
“My field director, Jen Boedeker, MSW, LMSW, has been someone who has really pushed me to be a better version of myself,” Moss said. “She provided me with ongoing support and guidance through not only my educational career but also personally.”
When Moss needed to take a year off the MSW program for personal reasons, he never felt disconnected. He said professors reached out to him to make sure he was doing OK and didn’t miss things like registration deadlines.
"That really made me come back,” Moss reflected. “I think them being flexible and willing to work with me and figure things out, checking in with me, and just saying, ‘hey, we have this event, you should come,’ and so I was able to stay involved with things that they had going on. I was never left out of anything.”
Moss chose St. Ambrose based on a recommendation from his own mental health therapist, who was a graduate of the MSW program. What he found on campus was a program really focused on empowerment of the individual, a practice he’s eager to employ in the field.
“We're empowering them to help them find the power within themselves. That really changed my whole perspective, especially when it comes to being a therapist. Therapy isn’t us giving clients advice or telling them what to do. It's about listening and honing in on a client’s experiences and helping them find the power again within themselves.”
Moss appreciated the in-depth discussions in classes, his supervision hours, which gave him workplace experience, and the advice he garnered from clinical supervisors.
“Getting advice from them about different cases or diagnoses, and just hearing their experiences really got me feeling confident about going off and doing the work after graduation,” Moss said.
“Ambrose has really shown up for me in my journey to become a therapist. I feel like I'm ready.”
Empower others through therapy with a MSW degree from St. Ambrose University.
