Carol J. Cirocco, MSW, LICSW

Carol’s professional career began later in life as she was an “at home mom” for 17 years. As a proud and successful parent and now, grandparent, she is grateful for that opportunity and knows that the lessons learned as she parented her children provided a most valuable foundation for the professional work she now enjoys. Simply put, Carol is in touch with the “heart” of the matter.

Carol has worked with individuals and families who have experienced trauma since 1988. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois, Circle Campus, in 1994 and has been licensed as a Clinical Social Worker since 1996. She is adept at providing therapeutic services and has received outstanding evaluations from each and every clinical setting within which she has worked. Carol has practiced and perfected her clinical intervention skills working in a wide variety of clinical settings with ethnically, culturally and geographically diverse populations. She has extensive knowledge of the “science” of assessment and intervention and has mastered the “art” of it, as well.

In addition to her much sought after clinical skills, she has provided insightful clinical supervision and consultation to individuals who fall within the full range of the human service provider spectrum. This includes those that fall under both the medical model and those in the allied behavioral sciences, such as social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists.

Carol has an extensive history of providing clinical services in children and adolescent residential settings and on an outpatient basis. As department head in a large state-run facility, she supervised clinical services and coordinated interdisciplinary and interdepartmental staff. Carol has a strong history of advocating for the clinical needs of clients within the large and overwhelming systems within which she has worked.

In the past Carol published a series of articles regarding issues related to parenting for a local newspaper. She is now in the process of writing her first book. Carol has provided education on mental health issues for non-clinical as well as clinical staff and has lectured in the local, national and international arenas on subjects relating to child trauma and advocacy.

Currently Carol is co-owner and operator of Four Winds Center for Wellness, Inc, Bemidji, MN. In 2003 Carol was personally appointed by the Governor of the great state of Minnesota to represent the discipline of Social Work on the MN State Advisory Council on Mental Health, where she serves as vice-chair. She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of social work at Bemidji State University.

Additionally, Carol serves her community as part of the Children’s Justice Initiative. She sits on the University of MN – Duluth Social Work Distance Education Advisory Council and the Bemidji State University Social Work Advisory Council.

Al L. Cirocco, MSW, LICSW

Al is currently co-owner of Four Winds Center for Wellness, Inc in Bemidji, Minnesota. He has been working in the human service field for the past 36 years and as a professional clinical social worker for the past 26 years. He earned his Master’s in Social Work degree from Wayne State University, completing his course requirements in December of 1981 and graduating in the spring of 1982. In addition to social work, Al has an extensive history in the study of philosophy and religion and is currently enrolled in a Master’s degree program at a nearby seminary.

Throughout his academic efforts, Al felt like a “square peg in a round hole”. He was fundamentally aware that he did not fit into the traditional didactic educational model and will often note that from first grade on his homeroom was the principal’s office. Although Al could not identify the specific limitation or problem, he knew that the educational system had identified him as a “behavior problem” and someone for whom learning was a challenge. In truth, the educational system did not recognize the underlying issue. Educators and administrators tried to put a lid on a boiling pot without putting out the fire underneath. It was not until 1994 that Al was diagnosed with a learning disability that explained his sense of frustration and fear.

With no advocate in his early school years, Al became a survivor of a failed system, earning even his advanced degree with no accommodations. Since his diagnosis, Al has embraced his learning disability and converted it into one of his greatest strengths. He understands, from an insider’s point of view, why treating behaviors without addressing the underlying causes never works. His personal story and professional expertise give evidence to the importance of treating the entire family system rather than the “identified client”. Al’s dedication to providing the most effective and efficient services to children and families rests on the cornerstone of multi-sensory emotive work combined with the integration of traumatic events. He understands from a personal perspective why the healing process is not one-dimensional.

Al has worked in a variety of clinical settings including nursing homes, county, state and federal correctional facilities, hospitals, in and out-patient mental health clinics, in and out-patient substance abuse programs, with both civilian and military clients and families. He served as a Clinical Social Worker both while on active duty with the United States Air Force and as a reservist with the United States Army. He has worked extensively with a wide variety of ethnically, racially, geographically and situationally diverse clients and has provided clinical services in the continental United States as well as abroad to both active duty military and Department of Defense civilian employees and their families.

Al is innovative and energetic. He is a successful grant writer and has created treatment protocols and provided education for co-workers on the subject of females as perpetrators of intimate partner violence. He has provided mental health education to non-clinical as well as clinical staff. He has supervised numerous interns and technicians.

Methodologically, Al is focused and dynamic. He is expert at breaking down the barriers that keep clients “stuck” and fearful. His use of humor and provocative approach help clients move through their own resistance and engage in the healing process. Al receives highest praise from clients, co-workers and supervisees. His warm and genuine heartfelt authenticity provides clients a safe and empathic container for their inner journey.