Education

• PhD University of Iowa
• MSW University of Iowa
• BA University of Iowa

About

Professor of Social Work April Dirks joined Mount Mercy in 2008 and holds a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Iowa.

She has extensive clinical experience in the mental health field as a private practitioner and is a Licensed Independent Social Worker. As a therapist, she specialized in narrative therapy, crisis intervention, depression, child abuse, and other emotional issues. She also served as a school social worker and bilingual family therapist working with at-risk youth, immigrant families, and family trauma.

Special topics of interest in teaching and research are child welfare, cultural competency, suicide, at-risk youth, Latino families, trauma, and human sexuality. Her research has been on strain theory and suicidal ideation among maltreated adolescents as well as child welfare and immigration among Latino families.