Lewis Bigler

Mental health and addiction counselor, Lewis “Lew” Bigler, has been practicing in the Buffalo, N.Y. communities of Amherst and Snyder for more than fifty years.
Lew has provided mental health care to service members and their families of the local Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, home of the 914 Air Wing and the Niagara Coast Guard and Army Guard for decades. In addition to marital counseling he has helped the local military community address mental illnesses including anxiety, eating disorders, depression, bi-polar disease and schizophrenia. Lew says that many of his cases begin with marital discord as a result of a service member being deployed multiple times and then returning home with no mental health support.
Lew works with military service and family members as well as pro bono for Give an Hour. About 92 percent of his Give an Hour clients are able to make great progress over a period of ten or so sessions. Along with volunteering for Give an Hour, Lew volunteers for Mental Health Services for Erie County and a hotline for police officers.
Lew is devoted to his volunteer work and says, “We have these skills sets and must apply them to help those who have served us. They often return to tumultuous lives. They need our help.” This is why Lew is a Daily Point of Light.