Carin O'Rourke, MJ, MSW, LCSW, CSAC, ICS

Helping You Heal, Grow, and Trust Yourself Again
Life can feel overwhelming when you're navigating trauma, major transitions, relationship changes, health challenges, or simply trying to make sense of who you are and where you belong. My goal is to create a space where you feel genuinely seen, understood, and supported as you move toward healing and growth.

Helping People Feel Seen, Understood, and Empowered to Thrive
Carin O'Rourke, MJ, MSW, LCSW, CSAC, ICS is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, forensic evaluator, clinical supervisor, and certified Wisconsin family court mediator with more than 20 years of experience serving individuals, families, and communities. Throughout her career, she has built a reputation for combining clinical expertise, compassion, and integrity while helping people navigate some of life's most complex personal, family, and legal challenges.
Carin earned her Master of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago in 2007 and later returned to Loyola to complete a Master of Jurisprudence in Children's Law and Policy in 2015. This unique educational foundation allows her to bring both clinical and legal perspectives to her work, particularly in cases involving family systems, child welfare, and court-involved individuals.
Her professional career has spanned mental health treatment, substance use services, child welfare, forensic social work, mediation, clinical supervision, and program development. She has provided court-ordered evaluations and interventions for individuals involved in child protection and criminal justice systems, collaborated extensively with attorneys and courts, conducted custody evaluations, and facilitated family dispute resolution through mediation. Her forensic work is grounded in objectivity, ethics, and a commitment to delivering thorough, evidence-based assessments.
As a clinician, Carin provides trauma-informed, disability-affirming therapy for adults seeking meaningful change and greater self-understanding. She specializes in supporting autistic, ADHD, AuDHD, and other neurodivergent adults as they navigate identity development, emotional regulation, executive functioning challenges, sensory differences, burnout, masking fatigue, relationships, and life transitions. She is particularly passionate about helping clients move beyond self-criticism and build self-compassion, self-advocacy, and confidence in their strengths.
Carin also works extensively with older adults and individuals facing significant life transitions, including retirement, caregiving, grief and loss, changing health conditions, career changes, and shifts in personal identity. In addition, she provides adoption-competent care and supports adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, and families navigating the lifelong impact of adoption on identity, attachment, belonging, and relationships.
Her therapeutic approach integrates humanistic, somatic, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) principles within a strengths-based, person-centered framework. She believes healing happens when people have both practical skills and a safe relationship where they can reconnect with their experiences, values, and inner wisdom.
Beyond her direct clinical work, Carin is deeply committed to professional development and mentorship. As a clinical supervisor, she has guided developing clinicians in building competence, confidence, ethical practice, and professional identity. She is known for fostering supportive learning environments that encourage curiosity, critical thinking, and growth.
Whether she is working with individuals in therapy, families in conflict, professionals in training, or people involved in legal proceedings, Carin's goal remains the same: to create a respectful, collaborative space where people feel understood, empowered, and capable of meaningful change.
Areas of Expertise
• Trauma-Informed Therapy
• Neurodiversity-Affirming Care
• Autism, ADHD, and AuDHD
• Somatic and Humanistic Approaches
• Life Transitions and Identity Development
• Aging and Older Adult Mental Health
• Adoption and Adoption-Related Concerns
• Grief, Loss, and Adjustment
• Chronic Health Conditions
• Substance Use Recovery
• CBT and DBT-Informed Therapy
• Clinical Supervision and Professional Development
• Forensic Social Work and Evaluations
• Custody Evaluations
• Family Court Mediation
"I believe people are experts on their own lives. My role is to provide a supportive, accepting space where healing, growth, and self-discovery can unfold, and where clients can learn to trust their own experiences and strengths."
Professional Highlights
• Over 20 years of behavioral health and human services experience
• Master of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago
• Master of Jurisprudence in Children's Law and Policy, Loyola University Chicago
• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
• Certified Wisconsin Family Court Mediator
• Experienced Custody Evaluator
• Forensic Social Worker specializing in court-involved matters
• Clinical Supervisor and mentor for developing clinicians
• Expertise in mental health, substance use, child welfare, and family systems
• Specialization in neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, and adoption-competent care