‘This gentleman just brings some peace to the room’
Alumnus Shawn Lucas got his master’s after realizing how much good he could do in the mental health field. He now works to help Buckeyes.
(Photo by Jodi Miller)
Shawn Lucas ’00, ’17 MSW has a gift for helping people in distress. But he didn’t know that in 2007 when he took an administrative job at Talbot Hall, the addiction services center at Ohio State East Hospital. He just knew a loved one’s struggle had sparked his curiosity about mental health care.
“He could have benefited from some form of help,” Lucas recalls. “I didn’t know how to provide that help at the time.”
Lucas’ bachelor’s degree is in communication, and he’d worked good jobs in that field before joining Talbot. After four years there, he transferred to the Office of Student Life’s Counseling and Consultation Service (CCS), where his interest in patients and their relatives deepened.
“You would see the family members, sometimes they were so worn down. They didn’t know where to turn,” he says. On the flip side of people coming in distraught: “It was just really cool to see folks get better.”
Deciding he wanted to take a more active role in providing care, Lucas began to pursue a master’s in social work. For four years he juggled work at CCS, grad school and an internship back at Talbot, all while helping to raise his now-16-year-old daughter. As he gained clinical experience, he loved seeing people from different backgrounds form connections and learn from one another as they recovered from addiction.
Lucas took a job outside Ohio State after graduating, but when a care manager position opened at CCS in 2019, he jumped at the chance to return. He now helps students with persistent or severe mental health issues connect with the care they need.
CCS Director Micky Sharma appreciates how well Lucas balances all aspects of his job and his contagious calm under pressure. “This gentleman,” Sharma says, “can just bring some peace to the room.”
