Faculty Spotlight – Dr. Dianne Ciro
Dr. Dianne Ciro, the new tenure track professor at the SDSU school of social work, found her passion for social work while in undergrad at the State University of New York, Binghamton University. She knew she wanted to choose a major that would allow her to do therapy. She took a family therapy class and approached her Professor, who was a social worker and he nudged her to major in applied social science. She studied abroad in Belize where she interned and put her skills to practice! In this internship she was an advocate and educator around the issue of child abuse and prevention. She was visiting school site and detention centers providing these services.
After undergrad, Dr. Ciro went to get her Master’s in Social Work at Columbia University. She started off on a clinical track but changed to a track that allowed her to do a blend of both clinical work and community organizing. Her first job out of grad school was as a therapist at an adolescent health center through Mount Sanai Hospital in New York. She was there for 2.5 years in the outpatient program, seeing adolescents from age 10 to 21. She then got promoted to be the coordinator of the Violence Prevention Program. In this position, she oversaw grants that went to helping adolescents who have experienced violence.
Moving to North Carolina, Dr. Ciro got a job as a clinical supervisor for a residential facility working with adolescence. She moved back to New York and began a job at Mount Sanai again, but in a different program. Dr. Ciro began to work with a psychologist who was conducting research on trauma in the child welfare system. Dr. Ciro met with people to find out if they were eligible for the study and she then provided an evidence-based intervention. This program was modified to specifically address female survivors of sexual assault.
Dr. Ciro began her Ph.D. program at the Silverman School of Social Work at Hunter college. She was working at the World Trade Center Health Program at the time and this is where she got her data for her dissertation. The World Trade Health Center provided free services to the first responders, such as firefighters and law enforcement, of the attack on the World Trade Center. Her dissertation was on coping and resilience in first responders, specifically in Latino’s. She finished her Ph.D. program and now the SDSU School of Social Work is lucky to have her as our newest tenure track Professor!
Dr. Dianne Ciro wants students to know that when you graduate and get your first job, make sure you have a good supervisor! You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. She also wants to tell fellow social workers to make sure you have some variety and get involved in different things because if you do what you enjoy, you will stay passionate!
