St. Charles, Ill. — The Modern Domestic Woman (MDW) is hosting a bi-monthly men’s mental health series “Whiskey, Wings and Real Talk” at The Lewis in St. Charles. The first meeting was in May, and the most recent gathering was July 8. The next event will be a Tuesday evening in September at The Lewis with more details to come.
Elizabeth Rago, the founder of MDW, hosts workshops and events for people to find help and resources for life struggles or mental health issues. Last month, Rago hosted a “Rebuilding Your Life After Divorce” workshop at Wyckwood House in Aurora. That workshop was created because Rago often has women asking her for divorce advice and resources. Rago said that resources for men’s mental health is another request she often receives.
“One of our top three requests [at MDW] … is, ‘How can I get a therapist for my partner, my husband, my son?’” Rago said. “So we just thought, well, let’s provide a space, because they need support too. Because there are good men in our lives that genuinely need support.”
While working on MDW events, Rago has built relationships with experienced professionals in different areas who she can refer to for workshop speakers or resources. Dennise Demitro is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with Namasa Therapy in Geneva. Demitro reached out to Rago about wanting to help host a men’s mental health event.
Once Rago saw that there was an opportunity to meet the need for men’s mental health resources, she and Demitro worked on making the “Whiskey, WIngs and Real Talk” series happen. They talked to Lindsey Liddicoatt, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with H&E Brighter Days in Geneva, about being another speaker for the event. Then, it just came down to finding a location.
Rago is friends with Dan Thomas, the owner of The Lewis in St. Charles. She knew that Thomas often enjoyed hosting community events at his bar and reached out to him about hosting the series. Thomas was happy to help. Rago, Demitro and Liddicoatt met with Thomas at The Lewis to talk about details for the event, which they knew needed to be a series.
“These types of support groups are important because you start laying a groundwork of trust, and once you feel like you’re in a supportive, trustworthy environment, that’s where healing happens. That’s where connection happens,” Rago said. “So that has to be done over and over and over again so you can prove to each other, ‘Okay, I trust you. I feel like this is an environment that will bring me value.’”
At the first meeting in May, the speakers talked about men’s mental health topics and left time for the men to share with one another in small groups. Around 26 men showed up to the first event. Afterward, Rago shared a feedback form with participants who shared their email address for future events.
The feedback helped Rago shape the structure of the next meeting in July. Many men wanted more guidance on conversation and specific advice from the speakers rather than just discussing with one another. The feedback also enlightened Rago on specific topics the men were struggling with and wanted to hear more about.
For the July meeting, Rago reached out to Jeremy Tovmassian, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from Evergreen Counseling in Wheaton, to be another speaker. At this meeting, Tovmassian led a large group discussion on masculinity in 2025. Ten men showed up to the July meeting, with seven there for the first time.
As Rago was talking with Demitro, Liddicoatt, Thomas and Tovmassian about the series, she felt it was important to let the men dictate the conversations at each event. She wanted the events to be mostly conversation-driven and focused on topics the men wanted to talk about.
After the first event, the men shared in the feedback that “they felt like they were leaving with tools to help them in their everyday life, and they didn’t feel judged in the space,” Rago said. “It was less like therapy, because you didn’t go into a room [with a therapist], but you still got those same benefits of being in a safe space and being able to voice your concerns or the stress that was coming in that particular day or season in your life.”
With hosting a men’s event, Rago said the planning wasn’t much different than the women’s support groups she’s hosted in the past. The key factor was making this space a place the men would feel comfortable being at and sharing. The Lewis offers a variety of cocktails, mocktails and water as well as good appetizers. Rago said that the series is meant to meet the need for men to find a place they can open up and share that wasn’t a therapist’s office, so it was important that they feel comfortable.
“What I hope this does is prompt other therapists to have men’s groups and other communities to provide these spaces,” Rago said. “You can see that it’s needed because these guys are showing up.”
