About Our eCPR Trainers and Educators
This training was developed by people who have learned from their own experience how to get through an emotional crisis and integrate the experience into a broader understanding of themselves and others. Our approach is based on time-tested, basic common-sense principles of deep listening and interacting in a respectful manner. The developers of eCPR have been users of the mental health and/or substance use service system and have also provided services themselves. Based on lived experience, they have learned what kind of help can be most useful in the short and long-term.
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Oryx Cohen, M.P.A.
Oryx Cohen, MPA, is the CEO of the National Empowerment Center. He is also the president of the board of the Kiva Centers and of We R H.O.P.E., and a master Emotional CPR trainer. Oryx co-produced and is a subject in the award-winning social action documentary Healing Voices, released in April 2016. He resides in Massachusetts with his wife and children, and coaches basketball year-round.
Kimberly D. Ewing
Kimberly D. Ewing serves as the National Empowerment Center’s Director of Training and Engagement and Coordinator for Allies of Indiana. Drawing from her lived experiences and understanding of interconnected identities, Kim is deeply passionate about fostering mental wellness, promoting community, generational and intergenerational healing, and empowering individuals of all ages through connection and education. Kim is an international trainer specializing in Emotional CPR (eCPR), Collective Wellbeing, Community Engagement and the Human Experience. She is also a Certified Olweus Bullying Prevention Trainer and a Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) Facilitator. Her personal belief, reflected in her favorite hashtag #ImStillHealing, is that we are all on a journey of healing. Kim champions truth-telling with compassion, viewing eCPR as fundamental to our shared humanity. A significant reflection is her wish to have known eCPR earlier in life, recognizing its potential to positively impact her past interactions. Kim holds a BS in Communications from the University of Indianapolis and a MS in Higher Education from Indiana State University.
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Daniel Fisher, MD, PhD
Daniel Fisher, MD, PhD: Dan’s life purpose comes from his lived experience of recovery from schizophrenia, which inspired him to dedicate himself to helping others find their voice and recover. Originally, he had earned a doctorate in biochemistry and worked for the National Institutes of Mental Health on the biosynthesis of neurotransmitters. After his experience of recovery, he earned an MD, completed his residency in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and has practiced as a board-certified community psychiatrist for 40 years. In 1992, he co-founded the federally funded National Empowerment Center and served as its executive director until 2022. He was a commissioner on the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2002-03. He co-founded the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery in 2006 and served as its president until 2022 and, since then, as its vice president. He helped co-create eCPR in 2009. His life’s story is told in his book, Heartbeats of Hope, published in 2017.
Maria Ostheimer
Maria Ostheimer worked for several years directing Emotional CPR, developing many ideas and materials still used today, translating the eCPR program into Spanish, and working extensively in Puerto Rico and with Promotores, a Spanish-speaking community in the Los Angeles area. Her passion for her work comes from her own personal background as both a survivor of trauma and a family member. Maria is committed to supporting, strengthening, and promoting community-based projects like eCPR that promote mental wellness. “I believe in dialogue to build a common path of humanity. Emotional CPR gives us a voice individually and collectively and opens a sense of wonder and humility.”Sandra (Sam) Ahrens, BSW, MA, CSP
Sandra (Sam) Ahrens, BSW, MA, CPS, is a certified eCPR trainer for the National Empowerment Center. Since 2010, she has conducted eCPR certification and facilitator trainings across the United States, as well as abroad. In her home state of Wisconsin, Sam has worked on peer-led initiatives for mental health recovery and wellness, with a focus on training. She has worked as a teacher, social worker, and advocate in the mental health, poverty, and homelessness systems. Sam’s current focus is on communities of practice and other avenues for creating connections that support and grow community.
Jenny Speed
Jenny Speed has worked for more than thirty years in health administration, planning and policy, disability, and mental health advocacy in Brisbane, Australia. Since her own experience of severe distress, she has been an energetic mental health consumer activist locally, nationally, and internationally. She is currently working at Sisters Inside, a program of the Australian Mental Health Consumer Network that provides support and advocacy for criminalized women, eighty percent of whom experience mental illness. She oversees the development and delivery of services to criminalized women and their children. Jenny is committed to the restoration of the rights of people with lived experience of mental and emotional distress to enable them to participate fully in their communities.Jode Freyholtz-London
Jode Freyholtz-London is the founder and executive director of Wellness in the Woods (WITW), Minnesota’s largest mental health consumer organization. Jode lives in Todd County, Minnesota, a few miles from where she grew up on a dairy farm. She has her AA in Business Management. Her vocational life includes human service in senior living, coordination of a rural detox unit, 15 years in supported employment, housing support, mobile crisis stabilization services, as well as her present identity of social instigator, advocate, and mental health educator.
Wellness in the Woods now has a staff of 40; it began in March of 2013 with a dream of being a voice for individuals with mental health challenges and advocating for improved services with a focus on rural MN. Jode is an advanced level WRAP facilitator, Emotional CPR trainer, Suicide prevention trainer, and public speaker across Minnesota. She was chosen as the Rural Health Hero of 2017 by the Rural Health Conference Committee.
Erin Tucker
Erin is Executive Director of On Our Own, Charlottesville where she has worked for 10 years. Erin is a Trauma-Informed Care Trainer and TIC Trainer for Peers through SAMHSA and the National Center for Trauma-Informed Care. She is a Certified Advanced Level WRAP facilitator, Advance Directive facilitator, Certified Peer Recovery Specialist trainer, and an eCPR trainer. She is on the steering committee for the Community Mental Health and Wellness Coalition. She advocates for peer recovery and equity and believes that recovery is possible for all assuming equity and access are present.
Sean Perry
Sean Perry was born in 1977 in Wallingford, Connecticut. The oldest of four biracial children, Sean felt the effects of being different at a young age. Sean has taken his life experiences and transformed them into changing how we all address the mental health crisis. He co-founded We R H.O.P.E. Inc., an organization that is revolutionizing the way we approach mental health by bringing support to young people at an early age and breaking the stigma surrounding mental illness at the school and community level. Sean’s program is currently in eighteen schools in Vermont and New Hampshire and continues to grow. As a certified life coach, cognitive behavioral coach, nonviolent crisis intervention specialist/instructor, Exposure Response Prevention specialist, and Signs of Suicide Prevention trainer, he is equipped with the tools and the knowledge to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing young people today. Sean is also trained in collaborative problem solving, certified in childhood trauma, and is an international trainer in Emotional CPR and one of the curriculum writers and trainers for Youth Emotional CPR.
Latosha Taylor
Latosha Taylor is a childhood trauma and psychiatric survivor who has transformed her lived experience into a passion for building community-based approaches to support others in finding value in their own experiences. She is an eCPR trainer and has 10 years of community building experience. Latosha is a founding member of the Personal Empowerment Recovery Coalition of Arkansas and now works as the recovery support specialist coordinator and facilitator for Advocacy Unlimited, Inc. in Connecticut. She sits on many boards and committees to ensure that people with lived experience help direct and change policy in systems of care. Latosha is committed to making sure that people are supported and understood through all human experiences.
Carla Pappas
Carla Pappas has been providing, managing, or overseeing peer services since 2007. Carla is a registered certified peer recovery specialist and currently works to build and support the peer workforce in the Richmond Virginia area, along with offering continued learning opportunities for the existing workforce. She works alongside her co-worker in running the Region 4 Recovery Services Peer Academy, which includes a paid internship program for aspiring peer recovery specialists. One of the most valuable experiences the Peer Academy Interns report participating in is Emotional CPR. Carla enjoys working in a field she has a passion for and benefits from her participation in Emotional CPR in all aspects of her life. Carla is also a wife and the mother of two adult children. She enjoys writing, painting, and swimming.
Dianna Taylor
Dianna Taylor is a survivor who passionately believes that eCPR is a way of life and has become one of her sustaining guides. Prior to coming to Virginia a few years ago, Dianna served in several peer and leadership capacities and engaged in program development, grant writing, and administrative collaboration at the state and regional levels in California. She also worked closely with business leaders and other stakeholders in various capacities to gain support for program start-up and peer development.
In her current role as Region 4 peer recovery specialist coordinator for Richmond Virginia Behavioral Health Authority, she is tasked with growing and developing the peer workforce. She is an advanced level WRAP facilitator, CPRS trainer, ECPR trainer, and a digital peer support certification trainer. Dianna was privileged to be quoted in a Forbes Magazine article about Digital Peer Support.
Karen Iverson Riggers
Karen is a writer, survivor, advocate, entrepreneur, and community volunteer. She owns her own nonprofit consulting practice and was the founding director of Iris Place, the first peer-run respite in the state of Wisconsin, as well as the co-founder of a local food start-up Reinvent Ferment. Karen is passionate about using writing and storytelling for healing and believes that eCPR holds incredible power to shift the framework of the way we connect with ourselves and others by sharing our stories. She lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, with her partner and their three children.
Shira Collings
Shira Collings, MS, LPC, is the grant coordinator of the National Empowerment Center. As a person with lived experience of mental health challenges, trauma, and recovery, Shira is passionate about advocating for peers to have a voice in mental health policy and services. She began her work with NEC as a consultant in 2017, later assuming the role of NEC’s youth coordinator, and has recently transitioned into the role of grant coordinator. Shira has played a key role in the development and implementation of Youth Emotional CPR, as well as NEC’s Compassionate Approaches to Crisis and Youth Leadership webinar series. In addition to her work for NEC, Shira is a psychotherapist specializing primarily in eating disorders, body image, and reproductive mental health, in particular among LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent individuals. Shira lives in Philadelphia with her husband, son, and two cats.
Donna Pollard-Burton, MA
Donna Pollard-Burton, MA, retired in 2017 from private practice as a trauma-specialized licensed mental health counselor in Indiana and moved to Arizona with her husband and four senior rescue dogs. Donna worked many years as a board-certified chaplain on the staff of a large Level One Trauma Center. As a seminary graduate specializing in psychotherapy and spiritual care, her work has been with survivors of violence, adults recovering from childhood abuse, traumatic injury, and post-disaster care. She has spoken nationally on topics of disaster response, stress and anger management, grief and bereavement (including pregnancy loss and infant death), coping with chronic and terminal illness, and adoption-related issues. Her passion now is introducing people to the gift of Emotional CPR.
Cathedra Winston
Cathedra Winston is a local “wellness expert.” Cathedra has a bachelor’s degree in biology, is a certified recovery peer specialist, a Florida certified wraparound trainer/coach, an Emotional CPR practitioner, and an advanced level WRAP facilitator. Cathedra facilitates wellness workshops where she teaches individuals how to manage stress. Through the utilization of WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) individuals create personal wellness plans to help them stay physically and emotionally well despite life’s daily challenges. Cathedra has worked with both youth and adults in Orange, Seminole, and Osceola Counties, FL. She has been recognized professionally by FADAA (Florida Alcohol & Drug Abuse Association) for her work with youth and families in Orange County, FL. Cathedra specializes in youth engagement with a focus on emotional wellness. She lives a life of wellness and uses her own lived experiences to show others how they can “intentionally” live better lives. Cathedra believes “Good Emotional Hygiene” starts here!
Krzysztof Henczak
Krzysztof Henczak is the coordinator of the Polish Open Dialogue Institute and the eCPR coordinator in Poland. He is studying at the Institute of Applied Psychology in the Department of Psychotherapy. Additionally, he is a speaker and works for change in the Polish mental health system. He runs a crisis support telephone line for individuals and families. Krzysztof was a co-organizer of the 24th International Network Meeting for the Treatment of Psychosis, which brought together practitioners and enthusiasts of Open Dialogue from all over the world for the first time in Poland. He promotes both Open Dialogue and eCPR in Poland.
Susanne Armstrong, MTngDev, DCA
Susanne Armstrong, MTngDev, DCA, is a peer support worker and holds lived experience advisory roles with Australian national suicide prevention organizations. She has a background as a grief counselor, nurse, and adult educator. Her Doctor of Creative Arts (DCA) research focused on intergenerational trauma, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and family violence; exploring the utilization of creative writing and art to generate recovery and post-traumatic growth. Her Master of Training and Development (MTngDev) research investigated workplace performance improvement. Susanne has held senior management roles in government, private sector, and community-based health and welfare organizations. She is passionate about people, social justice, holistic health, the arts, and protecting our environment for future generations.
Braunwynn Franklin
Braunwynn Franklin is a proud Black single mother, a certified peer specialist in three states, and a train-the-trainer for NAMI’s Peer to Peer Workshop and for Stanford’s Chronic Disease Self-Management Personal Action Towards Health course. She is also a Second Chance Reentry Master trainer and an eCPR facilitator. Utilizing her lived experience of overcoming childhood trauma and incarceration, she has worked in the field of mental health for over 13 years. Braunwynn has trained over 200 Peer Wellness and Peer Support specialists, aiding in the development and growth of the Peer Wellness program at Cascadia Behavioral Health and a NAMI curriculum on Gender-Based Violence for Peer Supports. She co-championed the Trauma Informed Committee of the Oregon Consumer Advisory Council and currently sits on the Board of Directors for Operation Nightwatch (Portland), Folktime (Portland), and the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery. Additionally, she is an active member of the Michigan Peer Recovery Coalition and Surviving Race: Intersection of Injustice, Disability, and Human Rights.
Jose Salinas
Jose Salinas is an eCPR trainer and also a trainer for the State of Michigan for Certified Peer Recovery Coaches. He is also certified as an international recovery coach and has been working for the Kent County CMH Network180/Access Center for over six years. Jose works with individuals who come in with crises related to substance use as well as mental illness. He has struggled with heroin addiction among other drugs, mental health conditions, and homelessness. Jose is passionate about sharing his story of resilience in an effort to inspire hope and motivate others in their personal recovery. He is very involved in giving back to the community by volunteering for various community organizations and events.
Yvonne Wdowiak RMT, CDT
Yvonne Wdowiak, RMT, CDT is a certified eCPR trainer in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. With over 22 years of experience as a registered massage therapist, Yvonne feels blessed to be able to help people from all walks of life find balance in mind, body, and soul. She began on this path in her early 20’s when volunteering at a women’s shelter, where she realized how a little compassion could make a huge difference in someone’s life. After becoming a RMT, she became a qualified doula and a reiki master. Upon discovering eCPR, Yvonne felt like she had found the missing piece to her life’s work and is thrilled to be able to facilitate a more profound connection with her clients and indeed everyone in her life with an open heart.
Chris Rothbauer, MDiv, MA
Chris Rothbauer, MDiv, MA (they/them), is a Unitarian Universalist minister currently serving in Auburn, Alabama. Chris is known as a leader in social justice in the area and has been an advocate for racial, environmental, economic, and LGBTQIA justice. As an eCPR educator, Chris uses their lived experience as a queer mental health consumer and survivor to help people find ways to connect with others in an empowering way during times of crisis. They are passionate about finding ways to bring eCPR into the larger communities they serve.
Jill Krisnitsky
Jill Krisnitsky is a distinguished certified peer recovery specialist, registered peer supervisor, and eCPR (Emotional CPR) facilitator with over six years of experience in peer recovery. Her commitment to aiding individuals on their recovery journeys is evident through her deep knowledge of peer support and personal insights, fostering environments conducive to growth, empathy, and resilience.
Driven by her own experiences and a desire for positive change, Jill pursued extensive training and earned certifications to address diverse needs within the peer recovery domain. As an eCPR facilitator, she teaches peers empathetic communication during crises, emphasizing emotional health and supportive relationships.
Throughout her career, Jill has engaged in one-on-one sessions, led support groups, and trained aspiring facilitators with empathy and patience. Her dedication contributes not only to individual recoveries but also elevates the peer recovery profession, advocating for the transformative power of peer support and wellness.
Andrea Noel, B.Eng., M.Div., M.A.
Andrea Noel, B.Eng., M.Div., M.A. (she/her), is a visual artist, spiritualprenuer and civil servant, who lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her wife and pet kids. Andrea has committed her life to learning and teaching practices that promote deeper connections to self, divine essence, and other living beings. In 2001, Andrea moved to the Washington D.C. metro area (DMV) to attend Howard University and never left. Andrea has served several educational, spiritual, religious, and non-profit organizations across the DMV with program management, instructional design, group facilitation, and spiritual/pastoral care. Andrea’s experiences with overcoming childhood traumas and mental health challenges impassion her vocational endeavors as a helping professional. www.anoelcreates.com.
Xochitl Palomera
Xochitl Palomera is an activist, healer & educator specializing in Child Development, Family Support, Ancestral Healing, and Wellness. Her healing work focuses on Intergenerational Healing, Trauma-Informed Care, and Decolonizing. Her Family and Community inspire her to create connections through Cultural Arts and building community by connecting people to valuable resources and creating spaces for community empowerment.Stijn van Griensven
Stijn van Griensven is a certified eCPR trainer in the Netherlands. Stijn embodies lived experience and works as project leader and coach for reducing coercive treatment in mental health care. Deconstructing shaming culture and creating space to be yourself and evolve from emotional crisis is important to him. He uses eCPR on a daily basis to be present in his work and life.
Shelley Fletcher
Shelley Fletcher is a certified trainer for eCPR in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. For the past 20 years, Shelley has been the executive director for People First of Canada, a national non-profit organization representing Canadians labeled with an intellectual and developmental disability. Having worked at the local, national, and international levels, Shelley is acutely aware of the exclusion, discrimination, and barriers people face every day in their lives. Shelley was introduced to Emotional-CPR in 2020 and instantly felt like she had found her place as the intentions and principles of e-CPR are completely aligned with her core beliefs and values. eCPR introduced Shelley to deeper ways of providing support when dealing with someone in crisis.Carla Preston Boyer
Carla is a certified eCPR trainer and has spent the last 20 years in the mental health and addictions field as a peer leader and advocate. When landing in the industry, Carla felt like she was home. As someone who has recovered from both mental health and addiction issues, her career has always been her passion work. Then came emotional CPR, which was has become an even greater passion for Carla. Embodying the eCPR intentions and principles has helped her to serve others in an even deeper way.
Jennifer Randal-Thorpe, PSS
Jennifer Randal-Thorpe is the executive director of Meaningful Minds United Inc., the first peer-driven agency in the State of Louisiana. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that was formed after Hurricane Katrina. This agency provides direct peer support, advocacy, educational, and awareness programs for individuals, their families, and the community. Her credentials include peer support specialist, certified peer support supervisor, counselor in training, Emotional CPR educator, HOPE facilitator, Seeking Safety facilitator, Target Health facilitator, Youth Target Health facilitator, Family Interactive Training facilitator, and Rainbow Days trainer. She has facilitated many educational programs on a national and international level. She is a published writer, mother of three, and grandmother of eight children.
Sandra McQueen-Baker
Sandra McQueen-Baker is a distinguished leader in mental health advocacy. With vast experience as CEO of Fresh Start of Miami-Dade, Inc., Sandra’s career is marked by a fervent commitment to facilitating meetings, delivering training, and championing mental health initiatives nationwide. As a pioneering advanced WRAP facilitator and eCPR trainer in Florida, Sandra has positively influenced numerous individuals and communities. Her impactful contributions have garnered prestigious recognition, including the 2006 Voice Award from SAMHSA, the 2007 Heroes in the Fight Award from the Mental Health Association, and the 2007 Consumer Advocate of the Year from the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County. Additionally, she was honored with the 2014 EPIC Award from Broward County MHA and a plaque from Disability Rights Florida in 2015. Most recently, Sandra received the Circle of Brotherhood/UCAN Recovery Award, underscoring her exceptional dedication and influence in the mental health sphere.
Gilbert W. Whiteduck
Gilbert W. Whiteduck is (Anishinabe) Algonquin from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation community. Mr. Whiteduck holds a B.S.W (Honours), a B.Ed, an M.Ed, and an Honorary Doctorate which he received from the University of Ottawa in 1999 for his work in field of education. Mr. Whiteduck was involved in the field of First Nations education for over 33 years. He has been working as a clinical coordinator and residential counselor for the past seven years at the Wanaki Treatment Center (for substance use disorders) located in the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation community. Mr. Whiteduck remains active in his efforts to ensure that First Nation voices are not only heard but understood. He walks with an understanding of the historical past that guides him in respecting the present moments with humbleness and love.
Ben Cooley Hall
Ben Cooley Hall was born an artist, formed as a chaplain and activist, trained as a psychologist, and inspired and guided by the peer movement. Ben works inside and outside of the system to promote autonomous thriving and mutual care and accountability by centering the voices, wisdom, and leadership of people with lived experience of severe emotional distress, extreme states, and oppressive treatment by the mental health care establishment.
Berny Maywald
Berny Maywald has been working in the mental health field for the past 17 years in various roles and is now a psychotherapist at Humane Clinic in Adelaide, Australia. She also works and trains in the Just Listening community, a community-led emergency alternative for people in crisis. Berny is passionate about working with people who hear voices and experience altered states or are suicidal. She loves the way eCPR facilitates connection in communication and finds it particularly helpful in supporting people who are experiencing distress.Maji Peterx, Ph.D
Maji Peterx, Ph.D., has over 20 years of experience working on peacebuilding, governance, trauma healing, social cohesion, restorative justice, and Preventing and Transforming Violent Extremism (PTVE). He is also experienced in Therapeutic Counseling and compassionate connection. His work has included content design, development, and training lay counselors as first responders to traumatized persons who are victims and survivors of mass atrocities. Maji has developed several training manuals in use in over 50 countries and has facilitated over 300 workshops. Maji is a Trauma Consciousness and Resilience (TCR) facilitator, Emotional CPR (e-CPR) educator, Strategy for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) practitioner, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) practitioner, and an alumnus of the prestigious International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US Department of State, and a Senior Fellow of the US Global Center on Cooperative Security.
Yenifer Nahar
Yenifer Nahar is a tenacious explorer of the cultures, skills, behaviors, and language supporting living systems to flourish. Yenifer’s purpose in life is to foster curiosity, zest, hope, and compassion. Yenifer, who lives in Indonesiea, combines her learnings as a certified positive psychology & wellbeing practitioner, certified compassionate systems master practitioner, compassionate integrity training L1 facilitator, Emotional CPR (eCPR) educator, experienced SEL facilitator, and green educator to support individuals and communities. She shows up as the best version of herself to cultivate ecosystems of compassion and hope for optimizing the whole.Monique Caissie
Monique Caissie is a professional speaker, facilitator, and coach who draws from 30 years of crisis intervention work to help others increase their confidence to feel more seen, heard, and respected. She works as an accredited human behavior consultant and a certified NLP professional coach to increase collaboration in the workplace. She took eCPR for professional reasons when she was a family peer support worker in psychiatry but continued her relationship to become an educator, motivated by her lived experience and resonance with the concept.Flora Releford
Flora Releford brings an illustrious career spanning over four dedicated decades within Texas county, state, and federal health care organizations. Flora has carved a niche for herself in transformative healing. Flora is a Global Trainer and founder/president of Infinity Empower Lifestyle, and her holistic journey blends personal and professional experiences. Grounded in her emotional and physical healing odyssey, Flora’s holistic approach harmonizes mind, body, and soul. A Reiki master, life coach, advanced level WRAP facilitator, and a passionate advocate for social justice, she serves as the Texas Emotional CPR coordinator, embodying a personable and tenacious demeanor in inspiring conscious transformation. Her alternative healing arts practice offers refuge for those facing blocks, while workshops and speeches showcase her commitment to emotional wellness. Flora’s roles as a veteran peer facilitator and co-author of “Emotional CPR” reflect her dedication to comprehensive well-being. With authenticity and resilience, Flora stands as a guide in holistic healing, embodying her favorite quote: “Educating the mind without educating the heart is like no emotional education at all.”
Lauren Spiro, MA
Lauren Spiro, MA: Lauren’s vision of social justice and mental health liberation focuses on developing our capacity for feeling deeply connected, appreciating the vast creative intelligence of the human heart, and inspiring compassionate action. Her life’s mission is to embody inner peace to co-create global peace. Thus, she curates transformative learning experiences that enhance our inner coherence and group resonance. Lauren co-founded two nonprofit corporations and Emotional CPR (www.emotional-cpr.org). She is a multimedia artist, a 20+-year practitioner of yoga and meditation, a blogger on Mad in America (www.MadinAmerica.com), the first director of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, has been featured on national media, and consults on numerous federal projects. She holds a master’s degree in clinical/community psychology. For more information, see www.Laurenspiro.com.
Caitlin Fisher (MSc)
Caitlin Davis Fisher (they/she) is a former professional soccer player turned dancer and queer community organizer. They draw on a background in sport as a tool for somatic activism focused on team, healing justice, and recovery. Caitlin also engages in organizing around labor and LGBTQIA2S+ rights. Their focus is on processes of deceleration in relation to the felt sense and mindful awareness with intersectional practices of mutual care, collective action, and community connection. Caitlin is actively involved in movement research on the integration of eCPR with somatics. They hold a Master of Science in Gender Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Anthropology.
Carolyn Pifer
Carolyn Pifer is a Michigan certified peer support specialist, an eCPR trainer, and a Community Health Worker trainer. She has been a leader in Michigan for health and wellness training. Prior to becoming a certified peer support specialist, Carolyn was a corporate sales and training manager and a former bank vice president. Jeremiah 29:11 is her life verse, which she holds onto in her daily walk.
Deborah Louise Trueheart
Deborah Trueheart is a nationally known educator, eCPR trainer, counselor, writer, artist, speaker, and change agent. She has transformed her own trauma experience through counseling, alternative therapies, spirituality, and artistic expression. She is passionate about helping to birth a new paradigm in mental health care by moving away from a pathological, disease focus toward wholeness-based perspectives. Deborah is the author of Living Into Wholeness: Healing Trauma Through Principles and Practices of Wholeness. She lives on the Gulf Coast of Florida and is involved in a grassroots county-wide trauma-informed community development initiative called Sarasota Strong. She is promoting eCPR to enhance trauma-informed skills in this initiative. She is a former director of the Technical Assistance Center at the National Empowerment Center and holds degrees in human services and behavioral science. Deborah is the 2018 recipient of the Howie the Harp Arts Award and the 2011 NYAPRS Faith & Fellowship Award.
Lynn McLaughlin
Lynn McLaughlin is a communications professional and consultant with 25 years of experience in both the private and nonprofit sectors. Her lived experience, education, and training have created a deep empathy for human challenges and a commitment to providing hope to others at every opportunity. Lynn is a certified peer specialist who provides direct services and is a lead trainer of Emotional CPR (eCPR) for the State of Wisconsin. She is a founding owner of Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative, a Wisconsin-based worker-owned cooperative that provides training, consultation, and listening spaces related to emotional wellness and connection. Along with Karen Iverson Riggers, Lynn launched a weekly podcast in 2022 called “Real Vibes Only,” which authentically shares about real life and emotions. Lynn received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Marian University.
Erica Ruvalcaba-Heredia
Erica Ruvalcaba-Heredia, EdD: For over 20 years, Erica Ruvalcaba-Heredia has been a dedicated advocate for the Latino community, founding her own non-profit, Corazon Latino, to enhance well-being on the Central Coast of California. Through eCPR training, she empowers individuals on their emotional wellness journeys, bringing positive transformation to Spanish-speaking communities. With a bachelor’s degree, a master’s in Spanish, and a doctorate in organizational leadership, Erica believes that her passion for making a difference is evident in her authentic leadership style, guided by the belief that true leadership is about influencing lives, not titles or positions.
Marki Webber, RN M.Ed.
Marki Webber, RN M.Ed., has decades of experience and training as an RN and experiential educator, which has enabled her to bear witness to life’s most poignant and moving transitions. From assisting women giving birth and welcoming babies into the world to offering care to patients and families as a Hospice RN, her work has truly spanned the full range of life’s experiences. Additionally, her many years of experience working in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings have enabled her to offer deep listening and compassionate presence to those suffering with addictions and mental health challenges of every kind. Her approach, arising in part from her early training as an experiential educator, is rooted in the bedrock of nonviolence and arises out of a profound respect for the humanity, integrity, and inner wisdom of each person. She holds training and certification in multiple modalities including NLP, Focusing, Motivational Interviewing, NVC, and Trauma Informed approaches to care. In addition to her work as an eCPR trainer, she works with individuals and groups teaching Guided Focusing skills and offering Transformational Coaching and loves helping people discover their own inner wisdom.
Dwayne Kelly
Dwayne Kelly is a Michigan certified peer support specialist and peer support trainer for the state of Michigan. He currently has dual careers working for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a vocational development specialist in Battle Creek MI. He also works part-time for Summit Pointe as a peer support specialist. Dwayne is a seven-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He enjoys serving his fellow Veterans, sharing his recovery story to assist with their recovery journey and obtaining benefits. He is a E-CPR trainer, Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) facilitator, and employment training specialist. He recently completed all the requirements for his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and will receive his degree November 2020.
W. Reid Smithdeal, MSW, LCSW, CPSS
Reid Smithdeal, MSW, LCSW, CPSS: Reid earned a Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His path to becoming a social worker was paved by the time he spent on both sides of the therapist’s desk. His time as a patient left him confused and critical of the current mental health system. These experiences have driven him to challenge the system and search for a way to work with people that is truly supportive. He has spent the majority of his career studying the recovery model and advocating for the implementation of new ways to provide mental health services.
Cheryl Simmonds Molyneaux, EdD
Cheryl Simmonds Molyneaux, EdD, is the co-executive director of Peer Support Coalition of Florida, the statewide peer network. Twenty years of her nonprofit career were spent at Disability Rights Maryland. As an adult educator, she served many years in various capacities from adjunct faculty to campus dean. After moving to Florida, Cheryl founded and continues to be active in the Central Florida chapter of Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. She is passionate about helping individuals involved with the criminal justice system and has provided wellness education in jail for many years. As a person with lived experience and a family member of individuals with lived experience, she is passionate about advocating for appropriate and accessible individualized supports.
Lisa E. A. Watson
Lisa Watson is a Canadian certified eCPR trainer who has her own past history of overcoming anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and suicidality, leading her into a rewarding career helping others overcome similar mental health issues. In addition to holding a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Behavioural Psychology, Lisa also holds several master’s level accreditations in trauma recovery, grief support, suicide intervention, and ambiguous loss. Lisa is also a Canadian certified addiction counselor and a strong mental health professional who is a passionate advocate for Canada’s Indigenous peoples. She runs her own mental health, wellness, and crisis response company, Behaviour Aid.
Richarde Donelan, EdD
Richarde W. Donelan, EdD, aka Rev. Nbuchardo-Koljah Enelendy, is the CEO and founder of Turn North Now, serving as a devoted life-wellness coach/facilitator. Richarde is an active eCPR consultant and lead trainer for the National Empowerment Center (NEC) and he also serves as a Powerful Conversations on Race (PCR) facilitator. Richarde lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a “card-carrying” life-long learner and educologist with decades of professional service to individuals, groups, communities, and organizations as an ordained pastor, biology teacher, public school principal, professor, husband, widower, father, and nonprofit board chairperson/member. Richarde holds certifications as a Dream Builder life coach, a Y12SR leader, a Core Gift Discovery master facilitator, and is in the process of completing certifications as a wellness coach and a 200-hour yoga teacher trainer. Richarde identifies and advocates how the significance of crossing into liminal spaces and thriving at enhanced levels of authentic human-to-human connection accompanies levels of self-realization capable of appropriately consistent redirection to reclaim the harmony possible within our shared humanity.D. Yarrow Halstead, MA, CPPS
D. Yarrow Halstead, MA, CPPS, has been working with the principles of eCPR as a trainer and facilitator for several years. She earned her Master of Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University in communication/theater arts. She works as a certified peer support specialist with Washtenaw County Community Mental Health. Yarrow facilitates DBT grad group and began the Wellness: Body, Mind and Spirit group focusing on all aspects of healing, particularly alternative healing paradigms. Through the University of Michigan, Yarrow works as part of a research team studying the importance of peers working with others who, like herself, have survived suicide. She is passionate about this work. She is also a person in long-term recovery from both substance and mental health challenges. As a reiki master, massage therapist and musician, Yarrow understands and is sensitive to the exchange of energy. “What matters to me is the sacred connection we make with each other. Being with another person experiencing crisis, I know that connecting with the heart begins the process of movement from crisis to safety. I understand the power of being listened to, being seen and being heard.”Briana Srickland
Briana Srickland is an impassioned advocate for healing and transformation. As a survivor of many traumas and adversities that began in early childhood, she has dedicated her life’s journey to various practices and disciplines that embody a heart, mind, and body approach. She believes that when we step into a true, authentic relationship with ourselves, we mend the wounds we all carry-individually and collectively. Briana is an artist, an activist, and a peer support specialist at The Promise Resource Network, as well as an educator for eCPR. She is working towards completing her RYT certification for trauma-informed yoga teaching and one of the founders of a newly formed artistic center in Greensboro, NC that promotes arts, expression, social justice, community, and wellness.
Shontelle Prokipcak MSW, RSW, CCAC, CCS-AC
Shontelle Prokipcak, MSW, RSW, CCAC, CCS-AC, has been practicing social work and psychotherapy with individuals and families for over 20 years. Her training includes cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, collaborative problem solving, women’s issues, LGBTQ issues, mindfulness, concurrent disorders, trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder as well as addiction issues. She owns and operates Mental Health and Addiction Services of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. She was the first coordinator and trainer for eCPR in Canada.
L.A. McCrae, DMin., CSC-AD, CPRS, RPS, RCP, CCTP, CCTSA
L.A. McCrae, DMin., CSC-AD, CPRS, RPS, RCP, CCTP, CCTSA, is a clinician, certified peer recovery specialist, recovery chaplain, grassroots and community-based research activist who grounds their work in the Great Believing and this project called liberation. They are a recent graduate of the Doctorate of Ministry program in Public Engagement at Wesley Theological Seminary. Dr. L.A. focuses their work on issues related to mass incarceration/decarceration, trauma, addiction, and mental health. L.A. is also a student in the Doctorate of Public Health program at Morgan State University focused on the interconnectedness of trauma, addiction, and the social determinants of incarceration. Currently, Dr. L.A. is collaborating with colleagues to merge the work of pastoral care and alcohol and drug counseling to develop a new generation of “recovery chaplains.” L.A. continues to advance work in harm reduction, abolition, and the “Three Ps:” public health, public theology, and public engagement. L.A.’s work is grounded by abolitionist politics, liberation theology, and emergent strategy. Each day, L.A. continues to be inspired by the words of adrienne maree brown: “I am not afraid of what I came here to do.”
Joanna Robson, DVM
Joanna Robson, DVM, is an integrative veterinarian and the owner of Inspiritus Equine Inc. in Northern California. She is a master’s student in health communications at the University of Illinois and has a special interest in patient-provider communication, health literacy, and empathy, as well as embodied listening in shared decision-making. She completed the University of Tennessee College of Social Work’s Veterinary Human Support Certificate program and is also a certified mindfulness teacher. As an Emotional CPR (eCPR) trainer, she believes her mission is to combine her lived experience with a passion for helping people (re)discover and develop a felt awareness that stays deeply present with the emotional and well-being needs of both human and animal beings. She founded “eCPR for Life” (https://jrobsondvm.wixsite.com/ecprforlife) and continues to develop eCPR for the veterinary community and the general public.
Sherry Warner
Sherry Warner is the education director for the Peer Support Coalition of Florida. She has a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of North Florida and has taught in both the private and public sectors at all grade levels. Sherry has experience with adult, family, and youth peer services. She oversees and develops curriculum for wellness and recovery education. She is a certified recovery peer specialist (CRPS) in the state of Florida and holds the national certified peer specialist (NCPS) credential. Sherry has a passion for peer work and believes recovery is possible for anyone. In her spare time, Sherry enjoys her volunteer work for the Northeast Florida Girls on the Run organization and is a fierce advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. She enjoys beach and pool days, riding in her jeep, discovering new places, photography, reading, watching movies, eating good food, creating art, and anything to do with babies and animals. She resides in St. Augustine, Florida.
Yashira Rodriguez
Yashira is a mother of three living in Puerto Rico. Yashira is a nurse by profession and a master’s student in Mental Health Counseling. She works with the Christian Coalition for the Prevention of Suicide in Puerto Rico and the Life Assisting Fellowship Corporation as a volunteer in the call center, La Esperanza, and in the Centro Services Life and Hope with support groups for suicide prevention and mental health. They provide emotional and physical tools for healing. She also works with entrepreneurs assisting them to complete projects and maintain their well-being.
Rev. Christin Green, MA, MDiv
Rev. Christin Green, MA, MDiv (she/her), identifies as a mixed-race adopted woman, a musician, and poet, an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, and a lifelong student of deep listening traditions and modalities. Rev. Christin serves as the assistant minister for congregational life at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax in Oakton, VA. She also currently lives in Maryland and does work with project:liberation, On Our Own of Frederick County, and peers in recovery. Rev. Christin believes that our lives are sacred texts, and our sharing in community leads to sacred witness.
Barbara Gaskins
Barbara Gaskins is a certified peer support specialist, life coach, trained in Trauma Informed approaches, and reentry simulation facilitator granted by the US Department of Justice. She is a certified reentry professional through the Association of Reentry Professionals, and national certified prison reentry professional through The Addiction Academy. Ms. Gaskins has been working with the concept of reentry since the inception of the NC Justice Reinvestment Act of 2011. She has since been working with agencies in the state of North Carolina to provide guidance and support to aid with reentry efforts to support successful reentry and family reunification. She is the director of NC Community Outreach & Wellness Center Inc., a nonprofit in eastern NC that is focused on the 8 Dimensions of Wellness.
Bianca Luraschi
Bianca Luraschi (they/them) is the director of Bright Star Support Services in Adelaide, Australia. Bianca is an autistic mother of two amazing neurodiverse children. They have volunteered with an organization that supports families on the autism spectrum and assisted in a playgroup that was inclusive of all, with an area of understanding for autistic children. Bianca is a qualified counselor, is also trained in Emotional CPR, and has had real experience of trauma and mental health. Bianca’s moral compass and her core values are of connection through compassion, curiosity, and, above all, kindness. Bianca continues to be passionate in making changes in the world, to bring an understanding and compassion about autism, how it makes an individual different, not less than anyone else. Bianca’s favorite statement is “Kindness is love in action.”
Tracia Price
Tracia Price received her Associate of Applied Science in Business with a concentration in Management with Centura College Online while homeless and living in a tent in Southern Maryland. She has experienced trauma loss throughout her life due to relationships, homelessness, and the system. She is a mother and an active member of The National Society of Leadership and Success. Tracia focuses on being an advocate in her community and nationwide. She has received awards for her assistance in many areas, but certificates and awards are not her focus; knowledge is. Tracia is a Maryland registered peer supervisor and a certified life coach. She is a dean of Student Affairs with Project Liberation Peer Academy. Currently, she is getting her BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from Southern New Hampshire University. She is releasing her first book and workbook in Summer 2024. After completing her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, she will be working towards her Doctorate.Edna Tirado
Edna Tirado has worked as a social worker in Puerto Rico’s correctional system, a specialist in child support in Prince George County, and a peer specialist. She has facilitated trainings in peer support, WRAP, and recovery from domestic violence. She was the first person at Capestrano Hospital to be trained in eCPR. She has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. As someone who experienced trauma in her childhood and adult life, she believes in helping others to recover.Rachel Zinman Harris
Rachel Zinman Harris‘s expertise is in Peer-led Crisis Support. Rachel has served as a mental health and peer support specialist for Alameda County Behavioral Health, Women’s Cancer Resource Center, Black Women’s Wellness Retreat, and many other mental and emotional wellness platforms. Rachel is an engaging public speaker and trainer. Her workshops use the arts and healing modalities including EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and Emotional CPR (eCPR) to break through old habits and limited thinking to encourage a shift to a more expansive view of wellness. Under a contract between the City of Berkeley and the Alameda County Network of Mental Health Clients, Rachel currently serves as the manager of Berkeley’s first Peer-led Crisis Support Program. Rachel lives in the East Bay with her mother, husband and three children.
Maggie Wright
Maggie Wright is an eCPR trainer in Fife, Scotland, and the founder of the nonprofit Families in Trauma and Recovery, a peer-driven recovery organization. Maggie is passionate about using eCPR at the heart of her peer training. She is helping drive the spread of eCPR throughout Scotland and other parts of the UK and is delighted to be part of the paradigm shift in mental health care. Maggie feels that being part of this movement is like sharing in the beauty of a mesmerizing murmuration—with its own innate beauty, power, and connectedness.
Anna Newberry
Anna Newberry is continuing her education as an Associate of Science in Human Services Social Work, certificates in human services and addiction studies. Anna is an eCPR educator, an American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED instructor, and a certified dementia practitioner. She volunteers as an advocate for people living with dementia and people living with disabilities (PLWD) with the Alzheimer’s Association and other organizations that focus on equality and acceptance for PLWD. Anna loves to share eCPR’s life-changing power and enjoys connecting heart-to-heart with others.
Jeff Walker
Jeff Walker is a certified peer support specialist, an individual in long term recovery, and a formerly incarnated person. Jeff is the programs director who overseas seven different programs at Wilkes Recovery Revolution which is a Recovery Community Organization in North Carolina. He is an Emotional CPR educator, CCAR recovery coach facilitator, recovery coach: a Harm Reduction Pathway facilitator, Language Matters facilitator, and certified peer support trainer within the Criminal Justice System. In his free time, Jeff enjoys being a father, dog-lover, and outdoors person. He believes that the opposite of addiction is connection, connection is community, and community is recovery. Jeff believes in authenticity and values the voices of lived experience. If you spend a lot of time with Jeff, you will often hear him saying “Live your best life.”
Felicity Therese Krueger
Felicity Krueger, a young adult leader with lived experience from rural Kentucky, embarked on her journey at a young age when she was adopted out of the foster care system as a toddler. Struggling with anxiety and PTSD throughout her youth, Felicity found solace and recovery by discovering her own voice through advocacy. She serves as a Board member of Youth MOVE National and is the youngest emotional CPR (eCPR) trainer. Felicity actively engages in the youth mental health world, developing curriculums, presenting, and providing support for her peers. As a camp counselor, she addresses behavioral issues while promoting fun, safety, and inclusivity. Felicity’s passion lies in educating young people in leadership and empowerment.
Alisha Rojas Harrison
Alisha Rojas Harrison (she/her) has lived and educational experience with trauma and resilience. A youth development professional at heart, her vision is to create healing communities through advocacy, education, and empowerment. She is the founder of Luminary Productions LLC, providing access to trauma-informed training for community leaders, educators, and adolescents. Alisha also founded Helen’s House, in honor of her grandmother, to specifically address the youth mental health crisis. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband of 20 years, their two boys, and their psychiatric support animal, Jarvis.
Onyango Otuoma
Onyango Otuoma has an interest in the provision of social and environmental equity to marginalized communities. He has more than eight years of working experience with both national and international organizations and has been privileged to work with individuals from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Onyango is a mentor and coach who wishes to utilize his knowledge, skills, and experience to see a substantial number of people become better and win, so society will tilt towards a better place for all. He is the co-founder of Mindful African Initiative, an organization founded on the passion to tackle social and behavioral issues.Danell Spillman
Danell Spillman is a peer support specialist, family recovery and support specialist, a certified justice involved re-entry peer support specialist, certified eCPR trainer, and a certified facilitator for numerous recovery and support programs in Louisiana. Danny has a natural concern for improving outcomes for children, individuals, families, and communities, especially those usually marginalized by society. She focuses her advocacy on issues of child abuse and neglect, criminal justice, strengthening families, mental illness, and substance use to break free of destructive cycles to improve the outcomes and the quality of life for those she serves.
NaKaisha Tolbert-Banks
NaKaisha Tolbert-Banks, LCSW, is an advocate for self-care and a sought-after mental health and wellness speaker. She believes in equitable mental health care for all, to afford individuals the ability to live the best and mentally healthiest lives possible. She is the founder and CEO of D.U.O. EmpowerMEnt Services, a mental health counseling and life coaching firm in Indiana. She is a licensed clinical social worker, licensed clinical addictions counselor, certified laughter yoga leader, certified empowerMEnt coach, and eCPR youth and adult trainer. NaKaisha cherishes her diverse work for over 22 years in the social services field and embraces opportunities to speak to, empower, and engage communities in becoming mentally healthier by fighting the stigma attached to mental illness, especially within minority communities. She is a twice-published author, volunteer in her community, and enjoys the time that she is able to spend with friends and family, graciously serving as a loving wife and mom of two beautiful angels.Tone Puorro
Tone Puorro is a cross-disciplinary artist and cultural worker currently living in Berlin. They practice Community eCPR in Berlin and it has supported them in finding rooted-ness and connection in a dynamic and quickly-changing place. They are particularly excited by how creative expression shows up in eCPR as a means of describing and exploring our multifaceted inner worlds and the dynamic energetic exchanges between us. Tone teaches and facilitates craft events aimed at strengthening community connection and rituals for collective transformation.
Matthew Ball
Matthew Ball is a mental health practitioner, trainer, and founder/director at the Humane Clinic in Southern Adelaide, Australia. In addition to his nursing credentials, Matt trained as a psychotherapist. In 2017, he was awarded Australian Mental Health Nurse of the Year for his work in rolling out an alternative approach to the medicalization of psychosis in the public mental health system in South Australia. Matt’s work is also informed by his lived experiences following being labeled as experiencing “schizophrenia” in the 1990s. In 2021, Matt led a team opening the Just Listening Community, a community-led emergency alternative for people in crisis.
Auður Axelsdóttir
Auður Axelsdóttir is an occupational therapist from Reykjavik, Iceland. She is the director of Hugarafl (i.e., Mind Power), a peer-run NGO. Auður founded Hugarafl in 2003 along with four individuals with lived experience, with the aim of changing the way that the mental health system functions in Iceland. Hugarafl works on the principles of empowerment and recovery, with the goal of influencing the system with their experience. The PACE model (developed by Daniel B. Fisher, MD, PhD, and Laurie Ahern) is used in their work, along with the working definition of “empowerment” by Judi Chamberlin. Auður is a trainer in eCPR and in Open Dialogue. She was honored by the president of Iceland in 2017 for her work in the mental health field.
Tara Culton
Tara L. Culton is a multifaceted advocate: a speaker, author, clergywoman, and a beacon of hope as a suicide attempt survivor. Her journey fuels her dedication to mental health wellness, awareness, and the critical need for mindset transformation. Tara champions the cause with her mantra: “Mental health illness… it’s a disease, not a shame.” She tirelessly works to dismantle stigma, particularly within faith communities, advocating for understanding and acceptance.
As a certified peer recovery specialist and an Emotional CPR (eCPR) educator, Tara enriches her advocacy with practical skills. Her involvement with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) as a state trainer, In Our Own Voice presenter, Peer-to-Peer Course educator, and Connection Recovery Support Group leader underscores her commitment. Through her initiative, Talks with T – Making Mental Health & Wellness Make Sense, Tara offers a platform for education, support, and advocacy organizing activities and events to empower those impacted by mental health conditions.
Pam Brooks-Crump
Pam Brooks-Crump is a person in long-term recovery from mental health issues, substance misuse, and traumas. She is a wife to Gary for thirty-seven years, a mom to three adult children, and is very excited to be a first-time grandma! Pam worked as a trainer/advocate/speaker at the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network for seven years, until February of 2024. She has 31 years of experience as a trainer in resiliency building, self-care, and trauma-informed care. In 2021, she became an eCPR facilitator, adding an empowering addition to her trauma-informed trainings as eCPR addresses how to be with a person in crisis. Pam is an avid outdoor person: Camping, hiking, and boogie boarding are just a few of her favorites!
Anna Armstrong
Anna Armstrong, DipMus, DipMusBus, BMus, certified eCPR trainer, is a professional musician, singer/songwriter, strings player, manager of bands, and stage manager. Anna has completed diplomas in Music, Music Business, and a Bachelor of Music. She has 10 years’ experience as an instrumental strings music teacher for children, youth, and adults. Anna applies emotional CPR practice through her extensive involvement with the music industry, focusing particularly on mental health in the creative arts community, and supporting young adults and children. See her music at – https://g.co/kgs/4Msb9s
Tanya Davies
Tanya Davies has spent a lifetime with the intent and purpose of breaking generational cycles of mental health impacts and connecting with those choosing to take steps toward hope who support, seek, and believe in the right to experience well-being and happiness. She has worked in the mental health and wellbeing sector since 2006 as a practitioner, facilitator, and trainer of multiple international energy modalities. Tanya expanded her skills and knowledge to attain mental health qualifications and used this to move strategically to consult as a mental health and wellbeing professional / facilitator for many well-known organizations in Australia. Standing firm in her passion for empowerment, she continued as a trainer assessor for RTOs delivering diplomas in mental health/peer work, community services, counseling, and WHS competencies. Later, she worked more directly with the Peak Body for Mental Health, Schools, Government, and Peek Body for Lived Experience Australia. Tanya is extremely excited to bring her holistic, warm, energetic presence to the Australian and International eCPR platform.
Dianna Taylor
Dianna’s bio to be updated
Teána Edwards
Teána Edwards is a peer wellness specialist by way of lived experience. She is a parent advocate, community warrior, domestic violence survivor, and change maker. Teána is here to transform the narrative for Black women’s expression of emotions and the “I’m Not Okay” movement. Oregon has been home for the past 14 years, where she discovered her calling as a facilitator. Now she has the opportunity to combine her love for facilitating and passion for emotional intelligence within the eCPR family. Embodying eCPR for Teána means embracing true vulnerability while holding up a mirror and saying, “together we can handle our emotions.”
Barbara Meyers
Barbara Meyers, PhD, MDiv, is a Unitarian Universalist (UU) community minister with a mental health ministry based in Fremont, California. She is assistant director of the Life Reaching Across to Life peer support center and is the author of a mental health curriculum for congregations, as well as the book Held: Showing Up for Each Other’s Mental Health, published by Skinner House Books in August 2020. She is the president of the board of the UU Mental Health Network. She is an eCPR educator and a peer support specialist.
Margaret Zawisza
Margaret Zawisza, MA, LLM, has been working with the principles of eCPR as a trainer and facilitator since 2017. She works as a psychotherapist for the National Health Service (UK). She is also a practitioner of Open Dialogue. “What is important to me is the connection we make with others and the revitalization and strength we can experience through these human connections. I believe in being present with another person experiencing a crisis. I believe that listening with the heart begins the process of moving from crisis to safety. Being listened to, being heard, and being seen are very powerful in recovery.”
Neil Turton-Lane
Neil Turton-Lane is a consumer/survivor in Melbourne, Australia, dedicated to supporting social change and human rights. Over the past 20 years, Neil has worked as an advocate, peer practitioner and community development worker within mental health and disability systems. As an eCPR Trainer since 2021, he has led and collaborated in numerous workshops across Australia.
Michelle Dyson
Michelle Dyson brings a sympathetic ear and over 40 years of personal and familial lived experience to her role as a consumer advocate for the Consumer Advocate Network (CAN) in Washington, D.C. She advocates for persons with mental health and substance use challenges and conducts CAN-developed trainings in a variety of areas. Michelle is a licensed MHFA (Mental Health First Aid) instructor and certified eCPR trainer. Beyond her work with CAN, Michelle is a part of the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health Stakeholders’ group. She is also a member of the (D.C.) Behavioral Health Planning Council’s Planning and Accountability Committee, and she serves on the (Disability Rights D.C.) Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Advisory Council.
Alisha Rojas Harrison
Alisha Rojas Harrison’s bio to be updated
Eddy Levin McGrath
Eddy Levin McGrath is an artist and somatic bodyworker from Tkaronto/Toronto living in Berlin. They work with creative practices focused on liberation and healing through vulnerability, improvisation, movement and magic. Channels include dance, sound arts, somatics and group facilitation for slowing down, deep listening, queer neurodivergent expression, and personal/communal transformation. They are committed to collectively understanding how intergenerational trauma and intersections of systemic oppressions are held in the body and can be attended to together.
Melissa Giebel
Melissa Giebel is a wellness ambassador, community collaborator, advocate, family life services professional, creator, mom, and an individual with lived personal experience in mental/emotional health and addiction recovery. Melissa was introduced to eCPR back in 2021 and quickly realized this program was the key to healing and growing. Melissa is a certified wellness practitioner, certified nutrition coach through the National Academy of Sport Medicine, and trained in Mental Health First Aid. Melissa holds a BS in Family Life Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a MA in Family Life Sciences through Concordia University, St. Paul, MN. Every person deserves to be seen, heard, and valued. Melissa’s personal mission statement is to inspire others. eCPR allows the space to do just that by helping individuals see pathways to revitalization and hope.
Juan Veléz-Court
Juan Vélez Court is a proud husband and mental health advocate who openly shares his lived experiences and past challenges to inspire others toward a positive future. Residing in Puerto Rico, Vélez serves as a consultant for the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration of Puerto Rico, as well as the National Empowerment Center. His work centers on integrating Peer Support services, promoting inclusive work environments, and fostering workplace wellness.
Vélez also utilizes his background in digital production to support the development of podcasts and social media content aimed at motivating others to explore new adventures, broaden their perspectives, and enhance their quality of life and social connectivity. With a passion for educating and empowering others, he is a certified peer support specialist trainer and an eCPR trainer. Additionally, he holds certifications in practices such as WRAP and ASIST.
Anokhi Parikh
Anokhi Parikh, PhD founded The SEL Lab in 2020, dedicated to advancing Social Emotional Education accessibility. For 15 years, she has concentrated on advocating non-violence and seeking peaceful resolutions to global socio-political challenges through social emotional learning. Anokhi is an Emotional CPR trainer, since 2021, actively engaged in co-leading the Afro-Asia initiative for Emotional CPR and facilitating the Empathy & Resiliency Methods Training Program. As India’s first certified teacher of the Community Resiliency Model® and a Certified Peace Educator, she brings extensive experience from working in over 40 countries, with a decade spent in Kashmir and Manipur. Anokhi represented India as a global changemaker at Peace One Day and orchestrated the world’s largest global lesson in SEL on World Peace Day in 2020. Currently, she focuses on co-leading the CIT for Educators in South Asia, emphasizing the South Asian region. With a background directing The Foundation, and consultanting for UNESCO MGIEP’s Prevention of Violent Extremism program, Anokhi holds a PhD in Economics and MSc in Finance from Manchester Business School. Residing in Mumbai with her family, she is a mother to a young daughter.
Neil Turton-Lane
Neil Turton-Lane is a consumer/survivor in Melbourne, Australia, dedicated to supporting social change and human rights. Over the past 20 years, Neil has worked as an advocate, peer practitioner and community development worker within mental health and disability systems. As an eCPR Trainer since 2021, he has led and collaborated in numerous workshops across Australia.
Ixza Casillas
Ixza Casillas has a master’s degree in Public Health Education from the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. With over 30 years of experience as an educator, she has served as a speaker in international forums, representing Puerto Rico in Cuba, Chile, and the United States. Ixza has been working in the mental health field for more than 25 years and is certified by the National Empowerment Center as an Emotional CPR trainer.
Tacora Camille Thomas
Tacora Camille Thomas, MSW, LCSW/LICSW, provides integrative mental health, psychotherapy, and coaching services in private practice. With compassion and understanding for the individuals and communities she serves, Tacora Camille favors a multidimensional approach to therapy and community social work practice. In her role as an interactive, community/family-systems practitioner, she regularly utilizes eCPR to support individuals and communities. Tacora strives to consider the needs of each person, environment, and community she serves to provide the support with a personalized and tailored approach for each individual and family and community.
Aime Hutton
Aime Hutton: Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Aime is a true miracle survivor. Being born at 26 week’s gestation and given 24 hours to live was just the start of the obstacles Aime has overcome in her life. Due to her past trauma as a youth, combined with her mental health and being lesbian, Aime is passionate about creating a world for diversified youth and adults to feel safe and supported in all areas of their lives. As a professionally trained keynote speaker, Aime brings her passion and empowerment to all she interacts with.
The reason Aime became an eCPR educator is twofold. Firstly, it’s because of the next generation of future leaders. Her focus is on educators and youth workers because youth today are struggling, and the adults that support them are looking for tools. Secondly, it’s to support the healing and trauma experiences in the LGBTQ2S+ Community.
Stephanie Mitchell
Stephanie Mitchell is a psychotherapist, trainer, and group therapist in the Sunshine Coast, Australia. She specializes in working with complex trauma and experiences often labeled as “mental illness.” Stephanie is interested in how healing and change occur in the human-to-human relationship, within spaces of safety and acceptance, and outside the constructs of diagnostic labels. Stephanie’s primary focus for all therapeutic work is on creating a safe space where all parts of a person are welcomed and valued, and the pace of therapeutic exploration is set by the client. Additionally, she is a passionate advocate and activist for social and systems change towards non-pathologizing and compassionate approaches to mental distress, and she is involved at national and international levels around mental health reform.
Briza Gavidia
Briza Gavidia’s bio to be updated
Gordon Eagleheart
Gordon Eagleheart has years of experience in academia and extensive practical experience in behavioral health. He was a senior research engineer for many years, holding advanced degrees in engineering. Additionally, he worked as a professional consultant and business owner, discovering his true calling during visits to the darkest places of the human mind. Mr. Eagleheart lives in Maine, where he practices with keepers of traditional knowledge. He has learned with Toltec, Mayan, Lakota, Diné, Aztec, and Inca elders. Gordon Eagleheart blends traditional wisdom with modern thinking to summon the eagle and condor to fly together as one, working to reunite humanity’s mind with the sacred. He is an author, artist, and creator.
Valerie Bogle
Valerie Bogie’s experience in the animal world made her realize the need for more emotional understanding and support for the human side of the human-animal bond. Since 2000, she has worked in a variety of settings: vet hospital, animal shelters, veterinary behavior practices, training dogs and caring for exotic animals at several zoos & aquariums across the country. She enjoys teaching Emotional CPR to people from all walks of life. She is currently working on her Masters of Science in Social Work (MSSW) degree with a Veterinary Social Work (VSW) specialty at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville.
Rachael Reid
Rachael Reid is an education coordinator with Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association and has been working in the peer recovery field for over 10 years. Rachael began working with TMHCA as an education coordinator and said she loves being a facilitator, teaching and supporting so many others in their passion for their careers and life’s journeys. Rachael states, “Each person learns differently, and life hits us all differently, so let’s find a way to handle it in a way that says I got this.” Rachael continues to advocate for others and gives them hope and inspiration when sometimes that’s all that’s needed to get us going. Rachael says’ “I learn something from each event I teach and take back my little treasures with me and give back to the community in which I live.”
Jeff Miller
Jeff Miller, originally from Marseilles, IL, holds a degree in history and legal studies from Illinois State University (1993) and a Master’s in Law Enforcement Administration from the University of Wisconsin Platteville (2009). After military service, including deployments to Korea and Bosnia, he joined the Appleton Police Department in 1999. Over a 21-year tenure, he served in various capacities. He retired in 2000, transitioning to healthcare corporate training. In 2024 he became the Director of Campus Safety at Lawrence University.
Jeff’s eCPR journey began in about 2015 when he took the introduction class. The material resonated with him so much that he found eCPR concepts folding into Law Enforcement classes he was teaching. Connection is a huge driver for successful resolutions of crisis communications and eCPR provides that bridge. Jeff edited the eCPR manual to directly address public safety persons and is available to train eCPR for Law Enforcement.
Married to Julie for 28 years, they have two daughters, Madeline and Amelia. Jeff enjoys road cycling, board games, and reading, especially science fiction and historical fiction.
Bently Wood
Bently Wood is a lead regional peer recovery specialist coordinator with Richmond Behavioral Health Authority, supporting and developing the peer workforce in Virginia’s DBHDS Region 4. He has lectured on substance use and mental health challenges, stigma, recovery language, and peer support. He is a trainer for peer recovery specialists in Ethics, Leadership, Certified Personal Medicine, emotional CPR, Action Planning for Prevention and Recovery (APPR), Supporting the LGBTQIA+ community, and the 72-hour Peer Recovery Specialist training curriculum required to become a certified peer recovery specialist in Virginia. Drawing on his personal journey from substance use and mental health challenges into recovery, he works as an advocate for social justice in behavioral health and the LGBT community, while serving as the president of Vocal Virginia.
Renai Buchanan
Renai Buchanan found her purpose through grassroots, Lived Experience advocacy spaces that created safer environments for exploring big emotions. Stepping into her power, she has spent the last 16 years contributing to leadership, advocacy, education, and Peer Support in various areas, including queer communities, sex work, chronic health, disability, neurodiversity and mental health spaces in Perth, Western Australia.
Renai focuses on authentic, down-to-earth connection that enable deep listening and collaborative learning. She fosters inclusive spaces that facilitate the exploration of profound emotions and chaotic humanness. You can find Renai in Booroloo (Perth, Western Australia), likely with her wife and two small children, surrounded by Lego, lullabies, and laundry.
Jessica Ryan
Jessica Ryan, M.Ed, serves as the Deputy Chief of Social Determinants for the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. She is also the owner and primary clinician of her private practice, CORE Counseling, PLLC where she offers person-centered care. Jessica is passionate about instilling hope in others, promoting the power of healing, and improving mental wellbeing. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in three states and specializes in trauma and addictions. Jessica has devoted her career serving the community in various capacities within behavioral healthcare and government administration. Jessica’s professional and personal mission is to instill the meaning of healing to help others seek and sustain recovery from their mental health and substance use issues.
Amanda Haberman
Amanda Haberman lives near Warwick in rural Queensland, Australia on the land and waterways that are traditionally owned by the Githabul First Nations people. It is a real honor for her to live and work on the beautiful land in the valley of the Great Dividing Range, on the border of QLD and NSW. She pays respect to elders past and present and recognizes that sovereignty was never ceded. The impacts of this trauma on our First Nations brothers and sisters are intergenerationally palpable today and she is deeply saddened by this.
As a lived experience (peer) educator, consultant and supervisor, her work has been focused on emancipation of those whose voices have been silenced, especially those who have experienced trauma and ended up in systems. Her latest focus has been the new and emerging development of the Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce in Australia. As a voice hearer, who has been involved with the International Hearing Voices Network, and ISPS Australia, she also advocates for more human responses to distress. Emotional CPR is a much-needed response, that works. She is thrilled as an eCPR trainer to be able to share the learning.
Helena Roennfeldt
Helena Roennfeldt is a lived experience researcher currently completing her PhD on experiences of mental health crisis and crisis care. She has qualifications in Social Work, Suicide Prevention, Forensic Mental Health, and Mental Health Practice. She is passionate about privileging lived experience voices, and her training includes Intentional Peer Support, eCPR, Open Dialogue, interplay, and certified personal medicine. Helena is passionate about building our collective capacity to hold and respond to our distress and crisis.
Tanya Boge
Tanya Boge, DipCouns, BHSC, Certified eCPR Trainer– has a strong aspiration to make a positive difference in the community and is passionate about supporting people impacted by mental health. Tanya holds a Bachelor of Human Services, majoring in counselling with a special interest in Child, Youth and Families. Tanya draws on her personal experience as a young carer, impacted by sibling and parental mental health challenges, to connect, educate and inspire positive, meaningful, and healthy relationships. Tanya applies Emotional CPR practice in her personal life and in her role at Arafmi as a Carer Support Coordinator, who provides a range of support for carers who are impacted and supporting someone with mental health challenges.
Jordan Young
Jordan Young (he/him) is the Director of Employment, Education, and Advocacy at the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association. Jordan’s passion for advocacy stems from his personal recovery experience with mental illness and substance use disorder. Jordan began his work in the peer recovery field as an Employment Specialist and Peer Recovery Specialist in 2019. Over the past four years, one of Jordan’s goals has been to offer quality training opportunities to individuals in the state of Tennessee. Jordan also is passionate about supporting those seeking employment and education goals. At TMHCA, Jordan leads a statewide Individual Placement and Support Employment Initiative.
Lorna Downes
Lorna Downes is an eCPR Certified Trainer living on Southern Yamatji lands in sunny Western Australia with over 20 years of experience as a family/carer lived experience (peer) helping people who support family, friends, kin during crises or emotional distress. She is passionate about how eCPR fosters connection, mutually supportive relationships, shared understanding, and rediscovering hope during life’s toughest moments. She has had the joy of sharing eCPR at conferences, workshops, and anywhere people are ready to embrace a more human way of supporting each other. When she is not working, you’ll find her walking on the beach, listening to podcasts, renovating her house, watering the garden, or getting tangled in her latest crochet project.
Lorna Downes
Lasheema Sanders-Edwards
Lasheema Sanders-Edwards is a powerful peer leader, advocate, and change-maker whose lived experience fuels her passion for healing, housing justice, and recovery. Once navigating homelessness, mental health struggles, and substance use, she transformed her journey into a mission to empower others. Today, she serves as the Wellness and Recovery Regional Coordinator for Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ), overseeing Community Wellness Centers across Essex, Union, Hudson, and Monmouth Counties.
Lasheema holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Master of Science in Psychology with an emphasis in General Psychology, and is a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. Through her leadership, outreach, and advocacy, she connects individuals to housing, peer support, and mental health services—often stepping in during moments of crisis with compassion and purpose. A writer and co-writer of several published articles, she uses her voice to advance peer-led approaches and systemic change. Her work embodies the belief that healing is possible, and with empathy and connection, people can rebuild their lives and thrive.