Damien was born and raised in Springfield, IL and attended Illinois State University in Normal, IL where he graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in psychology. While attending undergraduate school, Damien endured 60 hours of crisis training and volunteered for two years at PATH, a crisis hotline covering three counties. After graduation, Damien moved to the Oak Park area where he worked for almost ten years at Thrive Counseling Center. There, Damien worked for four years as a Crisis Counselor, two years as an Admissions Specialist and another four as a Case Manager. As a crisis worker, Damien developed the ability to handle intense emotions in extreme situations. While working in the admissions department, he fine tuned assessment skills and learned effective treatment modalities for heterogeneous populations with diverse clinical issues. In his final position as a case manager, Damien became aware of the large economic, political, professional and spiritual systems that one must navigate and utilize to obtain and maintain the resources needed for health and happiness.
Towards the end of his tenure at Thrive Counseling Center, Damien graduated with a Masters Degree in Social Work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois Chicago. To finish his schooling, Damien completed two field practices, one at West Suburban PADS where he worked providing supportive services to the homeless and the other at John J. Madden Mental Health Center, where he worked as a Treatment Coordinator for the chronically mentally ill populations of Cook Co. In addition to being a consultant at the Lighthouse, Damien is working as an Assessment Specialist at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Hoffman Estates, IL. Damien brings a wealth of clinical experience to the Lighthouse, with an ability to engage not only diverse client populations, but a plethora of clinical concerns.