Advisory Board

Tracey Davis, MOT, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist and the Chief Clinical Officer for TalkPath Live, a telehealth company offering virtual OT, PT, Speech, and Mental Health/Counseling services to schools and private pay clients. Tracey offers in person training, webinars, and consultations to teachers, therapists, psychologists, and families in the areas of dyslexia, learning differences, trauma-informed care, and telehealth services, and presents at professional conferences and guest lectures at universities. She is active in the American Occupational Therapy Association and the American Telemedicine Association Telerehabilitation Special Interest Group. In addition to significant experience in the areas of dyslexia and learning differences, trauma-informed care, and telehealth, Tracey holds a Level I Mentorship certification from the STAR Institute, a sensory based organization. She often incorporates sensory processing treatment strategies into structured literacy tutoring sessions, using her knowledge of neurological systems to enhance the learning of children with dyslexia. Tracey received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 1998, followed by a Master’s of Occupational Therapy in 1999. She has been working in the field of pediatric occupational therapy since that time, in various settings and with all ages of children around the world.

Shelly Denes, PT, CFPS, C/NDT, CGCP, is an expert in fall prevention and neuro-rehab with more than 25 years of experience treating patients with hemiplegia, and neuromuscular disorders, TBI, and SCI. She has a special interest in Covid-19 ‘Long Haulers’ and advanced technology. She has had extensive involvement with neuroprosthetic devices, lower extremity orthotics, and exoskeletons, especially at the Rehab Institute of Michigan.

Ms. Denes presents nationally at seminars on fall prevention and geriatric rehabilitation. Denes is a graduate of University of Michigan’s PT program and holds certifications in Neurodevelopmental Treatment for Adult Hemiplegia (NDT) done at The Rehab Institute of Chicago, a certification as a ‘Fall Prevention Specialist’ and a ‘Geriatric Care Professional Certification’. She additionally serves on the Evergreen Certifications Advisory Board.

Elisa DiFalco, MS, OT, CMLDT, LMT, began working as a Lymphedema Specialist & Clinic Day Educator for Robert Lerner, M.D., “The Pioneer of Lymphedema Treatment.” Soon after receiving a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy, she became Clinic Director/Owner of LTS Clinic where she opened a new MLD market with Florida’s leading Plastic Surgeons. From her success, she was inspired to create new MLD courses for therapists to learn from and model after.

For 23 years, Ms. DiFalco has been public and practitioner educator through monthly radio broadcasts and column for Boomer Times, support group facilitator, physician in-services, consultant to major insurance companies, public speaker at American Cancer Society and serving on several university advisory boards. She was also appointed Educational Standards Chair for FSMTA of Florida and has won the NLN Lymphedema Day Award. The in-demand educator enjoys combining education and entertainment as presenter for: FOTA, FSMTA, AMTA, ISSE, World Massage Festival, Premier Day Spa Show, CSFA and Elite conventions. Today, Elisa is moving MLD forward through technology to reach the masses and offers a weekly show featuring expects in the field.

Janene M. Donarski, PhD, LP, LMSW, CCATP, is a fully licensed clinical psychologist and licensed master social worker who works in counseling therapy as well as psychological testing for mental health issues. Dr. Donarski specializes in neuropsychological assessment of children, adolescents, adults and geriatric populations including head injury, organic issues, emotional and complex behavior disorders. Dr. Donarski works extensively with anxiety issues including panic, hypervigilance and PTSD. She trains others in techniques of relaxation, reduction of fear, and exposure therapies to reduce triggers and symptoms in daily life. She also assists in testing within the academic areas including ADHD, learning disabilities and autism for IEPs and/or 504 plans/behavior plans.

Dr. Donarski works with all population counseling/therapy, including individual, martial/couple, family, LGBTQ, and group counseling. She is a certified EMDR Level II counselor as well as a certified hypnotherapist and practitioner for Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Time Line Therapy®.

Dr. Donarski is also experienced in working with victims of violence, foster care/adoption issues, sexual issues, as well as those who are seeking sex offender treatment. She often works with attorneys as a forensic psychologist/expert witness for legal cases involving custody, guardianship, social security benefits, and criminal cases. Dr. Donarski has spoken on a variety of mental health issues, including somatic ailments, behavioral disorders and mental health concerns in the geriatric population.

Alissa Drescher, LPC, FT, GC-C, MA, is a highly sought after speaker addressing topics related to grief and mourning, and is known for her creative, interactive, and story-telling presentation style. She began working in the field of bereavement services in 2006, offering encouragement to grieving parents. Alissa’s passion for supporting people through the grief process led to counseling both grieving children and adults in individual and group settings.

At the Tristesse Grief Center in Tulsa, OK, she served as senior program director, overseeing a variety of programming including the Healing Hearts Camp, Oklahoma’s first overnight camp for grieving children and teens (now Camp Erin Tulsa). Alissa was an adjunct professor at Southern Nazarene University teaching several undergraduate counseling courses including Death, Grief and Loss. After relocating to Tennessee, Alissa became the founder/executive director of the Grief Center of Middle Tennessee, whose mission is to help children, teens, and adults cope with loss and change.

Alissa is a Fellow in Thanatology: Death, Dying & Bereavement and holds a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy with a focus in Play Therapy. She is also a member of the Association of Death Education and Counseling and the National Alliance for Grieving Children.

Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, MSW, LCSW-C, is a licensed clinical social worker and board approved supervisor.  Trained as a cognitive behavioral therapist using exposure and response prevention for anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression, she has been in private practice for 25 years, working with children, adolescents and adults.  Elizabeth is a member of the International Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (IOCDF), the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).  She is a Clinical Fellow of the ADAA, and also received the 2012 Clinician Outreach Award and the 2017 Clinician of Distinction Award.  Elizabeth is co-owner of AnxietyTraining.com with a mission to train clinician’s nation-wide in evidence-based treatments.  A graduate of Columbia University in New York City, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore’s School of social work, she completed her clinical training at the National Institutes of Health and the Catholic University of America.  She is the co-author of three books, The Anxiety Cure (2nd Ed., Wiley, 2003), The Anxiety Cure for Kids (2nd Ed., Wiley, 2014), and CBT for Anxiety: A Step-by-Step Training Manual for the Treatment of Fear, Panic, Worry, and OCD (PESI, 2018).  Elizabeth works in Rockville, Maryland.Speaker Disclosures:

Dr. Ramani Durvasula is a licensed clinical psychologist, Professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, and the Founder and CEO of LUNA Education, Training & Consulting, a company that offers a range of programs focused on educating survivors, clinicians, coaches and businesses on the impacts of narcissism on health, wellness and functioning. She’s the author of Don’t You Know Who I Am: How to Stay Sane in the Era of Narcissism, Entitlement and Incivility, Should I Stay or Should I Go: Surviving a Relationship With A Narcissist. Dr. Ramani also has a popular YouTube channel that focuses on narcissism and difficult relationships, mental health, and societal expectations. Her work has been featured at SxSW, TEDx and on a wide range of media platforms including, Red Table Talk, the Today Show, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery and Bravo. She is also a featured expert on the digital media mental health platform MedCircle. Dr. Durvasula’s research on personality disorders has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and she is a Consulting Editor of the scientific journal Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Durvasula is a brutally honest voice on the struggles raised by narcissism in the US and globally.