About Mary
Mary Tinucci, MSW, LICSW
Mary has been Thinkin’ Possibilities as long as she can remember.
She sees the world in terms of possibilities, and has created a work life that reflects this.
Her career includes initiating innovative program development in St. Paul Public Schools since 1991; teaching as adjunct faculty in the School of Social Work at the University of St. Thomas/St. Catherine University, preparing students in group work and individual and family practice since 2003; and most recently, launching her own small business called Think In Possibilities in 2006, offering writing circles for women in education and social services.
She has a particular interest in the value of healing our own hearts in order that we can more fully lead in the world. She is interested in the healing and creative process of poetry, creativity circles and most recently, in the practice of mandala-making.
She has been a school social worker in Saint Paul Public Schools since 1991, working with youth in a variety of settings, including special education EBD programs, and mainstream middle school settings. She has strong experience & interest facilitating groups with urban youth.
In the early 1990’s she had the ability to see possibilities in Minnesota where none existed at the time. She wanted to create a school-based program serving gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender youth in St. Paul Public Schools. In 1994, she created Out For Equity, a program serving the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender youth & adults.
From there, Mary saw more possibilities. She fell in love with poetry in 1998, and began to think about how to bring this new passion into her work as a social worker. She developed her own interest in group work, writing, poetry and spoken word poetry into an innovative way to work with urban youth. She began by starting an after school writing program at Ramsey Jr. High in 2000. She continued by founding & facilitating Lexicon, a community poetry group for high school students at Lexington Branch Outreach Library in St. Paul from 2001-2004.
Throughout these last 10 years, she has consulted with social service agencies to facilitate writing circles for GLBT youth, youth in foster care & other at-risk youth populations in the Twin Cities. Her own love of group work, poetry, journaling, and writing for emotional health led her to create The Poetry Lab (March 2004) for EBD students in St. Paul Public Schools. Under Mary’s leadership, the Poetry Lab has developed and transformed into The Lab, an arts and wellness-based program for youth with emotional/behavioral disorders in St. Paul Public Schools. She now leads a team of 7 at The Lab, and continues to provide innovation in the area of program development.
Mary sees the world in possibilities.
Just Imagine what can be!
Contact Think in Possibilities facilitator, Mary Tinucci: (651) 983-8159 or marytinucci@gmail.com