Dr. C. Dion Bush

DR. C. DION BUSH, Psy. D; LCPC   Biographical Information Dr. Bush is a Marriage and Couples Therapist. He specializes in work with couples experiencing marital (couples') distress. He also specializes in sexual abuse and trauma, in addition to chemical and process addictions. He is a resident of the Chicagoland area. He began his academic career at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. There, he entered Wheaton College as a Charles Colson Scholar. During this time, he excelled academically and participated in various outreach endeavors, such as Bill Glass Ministries and National City Ministries (through Wheaton College), where he was stationed in the Watts community of Los Angeles, Ca. as a community counselor with underprivileged children. 

In addition, he served as a Board Member of the Selection Committee and as a Mentor for a national post-prison ministry known as Koinonia House National Ministries. His responsibilities included interviewing, screening, and mentoring applicants and entrants from the Illinois Department of Corrections’ prison  system. These were individuals seeking residence in a residential program, serving ex-offenders and assisting them in all aspects of life and their Christian faith.

 As part of his academic course work, Dr. Bush went abroad to complete his studies in literature. He attended institutions such as Oxford University in Oxford, England and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. Upon completion of his undergraduate work, he entered Wheaton College’s graduate program in Clinical Psychology where he earned a Master degree in Clinical Psychology. By 2004, he earned a second Master degree in Applied Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, located in San Diego, Ca. It was during this time that Dr. Bush’s interest in working in the area of forensic psychology developed. In 2004, he joined the company Sharper Future forensic day treatment facility as a pre-doctoral intern. While at this placement, Dr. Bush worked with newly paroled and probation supervised adults who were considered high-risk sexual offenders. After completing his training at this facility, Dr. Bush returned as part of an ongoing research project he had begun for an outcome study he was completing, regarding The Post Treatment Perspective of High Risk Sexual Offenders Treated from a Cognitive Behavioral/Relapse Prevention modality. Following this experience, Dr. Bush went on to work in a hospital setting with the geriatric population, where he provided assessments, group and individual psychotherapy services. By 2007, Dr. Bush completed his doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology with a double concentration in forensic psychology and family therapy.

 Upon completion of his training, he accepted a position in a long-term care locked psychiatric facility for the severely mentally ill, where (some) individuals unfit to stand trial for criminal cases were hospitalized for purposes of stabilization. His duties included providing psychological assessments, conducting group therapy, providing psycho-educational groups in substance abuse and relapse prevention, as well as developing treatment plans and facilitating patients discharge. Dr. Bush’s professional work also includes working in private practice settings where his focus was on administering psychological tests for the diagnosis of ADHD, Mood disorders, and making determinations on various levels of psychological functioning.  Dr. Bush served as a Staff Psychologist and Assistant Professor at Chicago State University. Here, he provided clinical supervision for student social workers and master level/pre- doctoral candidate- therapists. He provided psychological services to the university’s student population in the student counseling center and taught numerous undergraduate and graduate level courses in psychology. Some of the courses Dr. Bush has taught have included: Introduction to Forensic Psychology; Advanced Educational Psychology; Developmental Psychology: Development Across the Lifespan; Treatment Interventions with Inner City Youth, and courses in Freshman Experience (courses that focus on effective study skills, psychosocial and emotional management and retention). He participated on departmental, unit, and university wide committees, such as the committee on domestic violence (departmental), the committee safety in residence life (appointed by the university’s president to ensure student safety in dormitory halls), and briefly as a faculty senator alternate. He also provided workshops on stress management, effective study skills, obtaining healthy relationships, et al.

 Dr. Bush’s clinical orientation tends to be more Cognitive Behaviorally oriented. However, he does utilize other perspectives as well, such as psychoanalytic, object relations, and solution focused therapies, in addition to a structural family systems approach. 

Dr. Bush has completed all Three levels of advanced training utilizing the Gottman's Method of Marital Therapy, which is a research based approach to working with couples: Level 1 completed 2014; Level 2 completed in 2015; and Level 3 completed in 2016. 

In addition, Dr. Bush is Certified as a Sexual Offender Treatment Specialist and a member of the National Association of Forensic Counselors. He particularly takes interest in helping families in crisis, specifically around issues of substance abuse, family violence, issues of sexual abuse, pre-and post-incarceration, academic problems, bullying, health and fitness struggles, as well as self-image and spiritual identity issues.

Related clinical interest:  Individual therapy Couples therapy Adolescent counseling (Tweens/Teens) Issues related to Aging/Geriatrics Fitness and Wellness Religious Faith and Identity Psychological testing Issues around probation, incarceration and Re-entry