Lucas received his Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as well as his Masters of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL). He completed his practicum at UMSL’s Counseling & Social Advocacy Center and field experiences at UMSL’s Career Services & Ponce Health Sciences University-St. Louis. Lucas is currently a Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselor (PLPC) in the state of Missouri. Tracy Parks, LPC, is his supervisor. Lucas brings a unique viewpoint and set of skills to UCS that allows him to help students with mental health issues and career issues through counseling.
Lucas makes it his mission to provide a safe environment for you to grow, heal, and come to know yourself better so that you can find ways to relieve your current struggles. He has a passion for working with college students to help them achieve their dreams through counseling. Lucas comes into every counseling session with the mindset that the client knows more about themselves then he knows about them. Basically, this means that he does not come from a position of power acting like he knows you better then you know yourself. This is a cornerstone to his style of counseling, and he will work with the client to incorporate their preferences and what has worked for them in the past into the treatment for counseling, helping the client find solutions to their problem. In counseling he uses techniques from Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Mindfulness, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Narrative Therapy.
Specialties: anxiety over career decisions/majors, feeling homesickness/isolation or “feeling like I don’t fit in”, depression, suicidality, overwhelming anxiety, self-esteem issues, and abuse.
Lucas started at UCS in the Summer of 2021.