Meet the Team

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Rebecca graduated from Western Michigan University in 2013 with her Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy. She is board certified by NBCOT, is a member of AOTA, and is licensed by the state of Michigan. Since graduating, she has worked in the Kalamazoo area and beyond. She has extensive experience with both pediatric and adult populations, having worked in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and internationally with a non-profit in the Dominican Republic. She has also worked with children's wellness programs in the community, starting an adaptive fitness program and running a youth fitness program at a local gym. She collaborates immensely with WMU through research, supervision of clinical students, and support from other pediatric therapists to ensure best practices in OT. Rebecca has a passion for providing evidenced-based, whole-body focused interventions to kids in order to support development over the life span. She specializes in working with complex trauma, feeding disorders, and social skills. She is a trained TBRI Practitioner and is also an SOS-trained Feeding Therapist, as well as additional training in infant development. Further, she has merged her training as an OT with her passion for wellness programs, being certified in Infant Massage, Kids Yoga, and is also a Level I CrossFit Trainer and CrossFit Kids Trainer. In her free time, Rebecca loves to be outdoors, stay active with yoga and CrossFit, travel, or simply relax with her husband Luis and her young son. She is a huge foodie and loves finding delicious vegan foods at local restaurants! 

Kristen graduated from Western Michigan University in 2014 with her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy. She is board certified by NBCOT, is a member of AOTA, and is licensed by the state of Michigan. Kristen has extensive clinical experience working with the pediatric population in multiple settings, including outpatient, in-home, and as part of the clinical intervention team at the Southwest Michigan Children’s Trauma Assessment Center. She is active with WMU in her role as clinical supervisor, where she educates and collaborates with OT students in pediatric clinical practice. Kristen has worked with a wide range of ages and diagnoses including Autism Spectrum Disorders, fine & gross motor concerns, food selectivity, ADHD, and sensory processing disorders; she specializes in working with Complex Trauma and is most passionate about providing advocacy and education with this population. Kristen has extensive training in the treatment of complex trauma and has benefitted greatly from her work on the interdisciplinary team at CTAC to further her learning. She is also trained in Stanley Greenspan’s DIR/Floortime Model, Theraplay, Social Thinking, Positive Discipline, Reflex Integration, Sensory Based Modalities, Trust-Based Relational Intervention, and is an SOS-trained feeding therapist. She plans to continue her education by becoming a certified TBRI practitioner. Kristen has always been passionate about the pediatric population and was drawn to OT because it includes and involves the whole child and family. Kristen focuses on providing playful, creative, body-focused and relationship based interventions to support development and participation and celebrate the joys and successes of childhood with every client and family. Kristen loves to be outdoors with her dog and fiancé, hiking and finding quiet and fun new places to explore. She loves music and sports, cooking & baking, crafting and travel, but has always called Kalamazoo home. 

Liz graduated from Western Michigan University in 2011 with a Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology. She is Certified Clinically Competent (CCC) and licensed by the state of Michigan. Her experience began with 12 years of preschool teaching and administration, followed by graduate school in Speech, four years with Kalamazoo Public Schools and two with Rehabilitation Works, an outpatient rehabilitation clinic, serving primarily pediatric clients. Liz believes that the best results in therapy come from a partnership with caregivers/family and other service providers. Not only do families aid in setting goals, they are involved in the therapeutic process as much as is appropriate for the child. Therapy is individualized, focusing on a child’s immediate communication needs in all environments. Functional and academic communication, increasing literacy skills, and overall social language ability are at the heart of her practice. Liz has experience in treating stuttering, speech sound/articulation disorders, language disorders, apraxia of speech, autism spectrum disorders, and voice and resonance disorders. She has lived in Kalamazoo for ten years, and in her free time she loves to spend time with her husband, teenage daughters and dog, Cooper, outdoors when possible.  She is passionate about the idea  “let food be they medicine, and medicine be thy food” (Hippocrates) and loves making delicious things grown by friendly farmers at the Bank Street Farmer’s Market.  

Palin graduated from Western Michigan University in 2017 with her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy. She is board certified by the NBCOT and is licensed by the State of Michigan. Her clinical experience includes inpatient mental health and outpatient pediatrics. Palin has experience working with a wide range of ages and diagnoses such as ASD, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, Neurodevelopmental conditions, cognitive delays, feeding difficulties, and several mental illnesses. Palin is also an SOS-trained feeding therapist, has experience using the Beckman Oral Motor feeding protocol, and plans to further expand her training in the field of feeding. She has been passionate about pediatrics since before starting OT school and is excited to continue to work with children and their families. Palin enjoys using meaningful and creative play, particularly imaginative!  She also has experience with neurodevelopment treatment and Applied Behavior Analysis. She hopes to continue her education through becoming a TBRI practitioner, receiving further training on neuromuscular disorders and work with infants, and would eventually like to go back to school for her PhD. Palin lives in Grand Rapids with her partner and in her free time, loves to hike, play board games, listen to music, and play with her dog, Winston.

Sarah is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a Bachelors degree in Sociology.  Sarah attended her first kids yoga training with Tiffany Gullberg at If I Was A Bird Yoga, located in San Diego, CA. She found that yoga for kids is a fun and active experience that offers children a chance to be creative while practicing movement and mindfulness techniques.  Sarah went on to complete her Power Yoga 200 hour training with Corepower Yoga in August 2016, she then attended Asanas for Autism and Special Needs 95 hour training with Shawnee Thornton Hardy in November 2016 and also completed Kidding Around Yoga Training with Kara Levy in September 2017. During this time Sarah completed several courses in  Early Childhood Education at San Diego Community College. Sarah has been leading children’s yoga and family yoga classes in various schools, studios and children's events. She has experience working with children of all abilities and ages. Sarah most recently completed training in Mommy and Me Yoga and Infant Massage and looks forward to working with new mothers and babies in the future. Sarah enjoys camping, hiking, swimming and chasing her toddler around the house. She recently moved back to Kalamazoo with her husband Francisco and their one year old son Helio. 

Laura is a Certified Yoga Teacher and Health Coach based in Kalamazoo, MI. She completed her initial 200-hour yoga teacher training at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch in 2009, and has been consistently teaching since then. In the last 10 years, she has earned numerous additional certifications in Kids and Family Yoga, Adaptive Yoga, Mindfulness, and Tai Chi. In 2015 she completed a year-long program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to become a Health and Wellness Coach. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, with a minor in Psychology. Laura loves working with kids and families, and is passionate about sharing healing practices with people of all ages and abilities. In her free time, Laura loves to be outside, especially in Northern Michigan. She enjoys camping, live music, dancing, and creating. She has a 6 year old child named Milo, who teaches her beautiful lessons in awareness, patience, confidence, joy, and love. 

Stacy is the backbone of the office, working on all our medical billing and managing the office as a whole. She has a background in Family Life Education from Spring Arbor University and has had extensive experience with the educational counseling of criminal offenders. She has also had training under a psychometric technician role for abuse and neglect cases in southwestern Michigan. She is very familiar with billing and coding for a wide variety of outpatient therapy services and is looking forward to continuing her education to help the pediatric community. Stacy currently lives with her husband and 8 year old son. She is incredibly passionate about community involvement and pursues many philanthropic endeavors that help children and adults living with rare diseases. She also loves working on creative projects, cooking, and spending time with her family and two dogs, Dozer and Ace. 

Sydney is a student at Western Michigan University. She will be graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Health Services in the spring of 2019. She plans on going to graduate school at WMU in hopes of getting her degree in Occupational Therapy. Sydney has been a certified nursing assistant for three years and continues to deliver care. She enjoys volunteering for the Special Olympics here in Kalamazoo. Some of her favorite activities are camping with her family, going on adventures and painting.

Lori is a graduate of Grand Valley State University and worked in a variety of setting as a Social Worker most of her career. Her background includes working with the elderly in a local nursing home, serving as a Families First clinician, training volunteers to work with children and parents in the foster care system and 17 years as a case manager for chronically mentally ill adults.   Lori left social work 6 years ago to pursue her desire of becoming a massage therapist and currently works part time in that capacity at Serenity Now Massage and Wellness in Portage.  Lori is the parent of two wonderful adult children, Kailee and Tabor. When not at work, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, listening to live music,  watching her boyfriend Bill perform improv and various other shows in the Chicago area, as well as snuggles with her dogs Thor and Loki.