Meet Ms. Alicia
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Alicia Hans received her Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2009, with additional majors of study in Sociology, Legal Studies, and Criminal Justice, graduating with honorable recognition. She received her Master of Social Work (MSW) degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2010, where her focus of practice was School Social Work, graduating with honorable recognition.
Alicia worked with the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services starting in 2011 as a Social Worker Advanced at the Wisconsin Resource Center (WRC), a state institution for the department of corrections, providing mental health treatment services for incarcerated persons. There she received extensive clinical training in crisis intervention, Trauma Informed Care, and formal certification in evidence-based therapeutic treatment modalities including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Alicia was also a member of the Peer Support Team, and a program leader and training instructor for the institution’s DBT programming.
After five years, Alicia transferred to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute (WMHI) in 2016, where she worked as a Social Worker Advanced on both adult and youth inpatient treatment units, performing psychosocial assessments, offering crisis counseling, case management services, and discharge planning for patients across all counties of the state. In her work at these state institutions, Alicia completed more than 5,000 supervised clinical hours and 200 hours of clinical consultation, providing mental health treatment services for adults with severe persistent mental illness, complex trauma, suicidal ideation and behavior, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and personality disorders, primarily Antisocial Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. Alicia became licensed as a Clinical Social Worker in 2017.
“Try to be a rainbow 🌈 in someone’s cloud.”
Alicia has been open in sharing her own personal recovery journey after experiencing persistent, life threatening health issues related to severe burnout and compassion fatigue during her years working in state service. In need of her own supportive treatment services, Alicia stepped away from working in mental health to prioritize her self-care and recovery. After moving from the fox valley to Fond du Lac, Alicia found herself in a new community where she began her own recovery journey and was soon planting seeds for her personal and professional success. She worked as a Barista at a favorite local cafe, and found a true passion, not only for coffee, but also giving back to the community through service as a volunteer with a number of nonprofit organizations.
Alicia began to establish her true niche working with children and their families beginning in 2018 when she returned to clinical mental health as a School-Based Mental Health Clinician at Catalpa Health, a nonprofit pediatric mental health treatment agency. There, she received clinical training in special considerations for childhood mental health and participated in the early childhood treatment consultation group. She continued to provide a combination of Telemental health and in-person treatment to children and their families through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Driven by a commitment to public service, Alicia pursued a candidacy for local government and was elected to serve on the Fond du Lac City Council from 2019-2021. Alicia was recognized as a Future Five Award Recipient in 2021 by Envision Greater Fond du Lac Young Professionals for her work as a young leader serving on City Council while still actively engaged with the local nonprofit community as a volunteer and working as a mental health clinician.
After 10 years of clinical experience in institutional mental health, nonprofit pediatric mental health, and serving the community as a public official and dedicated volunteer, Alicia became a small business owner and established her private practice in February 2022 where she provides pediatric mental health services and community mental health programming.
Alicia continues to be passionate about preventative programming for mental health, including suicide prevention, increasing access to community mental health services and remains an active volunteer in the community.
Alicia is the Board President for NAMI Fond du Lac, serves on the Board of Directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Fond du Lac County, is a representative for Healthy Fond du Lac County, a member of the Self-Harm/Overdose Death Review Team for FDL County, and serves on the City of Fond du Lac Plan Commission.
Alicia is also a “Big Sister” through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. Alicia places a high value on ethical practices, competency and dedicates considerable time to ongoing professional development and clinical research.
In her limited free time, Alicia enjoys sipping coffee ☕️ doing puzzles, watching movies, research, and reading - especially those twisty psychological thrillers!
Alicia Hans LCSW LLC is a proud member of Envision Greater Fond du Lac.
