Jen Holmes Beamer

Session: Interoceptively Attuned Psychotherapy

Jen Holmes Beamer is a yoga therapist, TCTSY-F and psychotherapist, with a background in occupational therapy. She works with survivors of sexual violence and abuse and facilitates trauma sensitive yoga groups and day retreats in Nelson, Aotearoa. Jen weaves body-based awareness and gentle inquiry into her practice, supporting pathways toward safety and embodiment.

Ada Wong

Session: Caring the Care Givers: Body-Based Approaches to Post-Disaster Self-Care.

Ada Wong is a Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) Licensed Trainer and Facilitator, a Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercise (TRE®) Provider, and a Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) Exercise Trainer. As a trauma-sensitive somatic coach and educator, Ada’s work is dedicated to self-empowerment and sustainable embodied healing. She facilitates TCTSY, TRE®, and somatic coaching for adults from all backgrounds—whether navigating specific mental health challenges like CPTSD and anxiety or simply seeking deeper regulation. She also has experience supporting heavily traumatized children using body-based approaches. 

With a global practice based in Hong Kong, She offers somatic coaching and healing to individuals and groups locally and across the world. She provides trauma-sensitive training for helping professionals—including therapists, clinicians, and social workers—and has brought trauma-informed body-based practices to schools and universities. Centered on nervous system regulation, her work is driven by a dedication to let true transformation take root in her companions’ bodies and hearts, rather than just in their thoughts. To know more about Ada: www.adawong.life

Mark Tomasic

Session: Cultivating dance as a primary tool to treat the effects of trauma.

Throughout his performing career of over 20 years, Mark Tomasic danced principal and featured roles in the masterworks of the most notable choreographers of the 20th century including Martha Graham, Donald McKayle, Paul Taylor, May O’Donnell, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Talley Beatty, and Agnes de Mille.  Mark has worked extensively in the field of physically integrated dance with the Dancing Wheels Company & School, one of the premier arts and disability organizations in the United States. Serving as Artistic Advisor to the Company, Mark travels nationally and internationally to teach physically integrated dance to students and professionals alike and is the author of the inclusive dance training manual, “Physically Integrated Dance: The Dancing Wheels Comprehensive Guide for Teachers, Choreographers and Students of Mixed Abilities.” Mark’s choreographic work for Dancing Wheels has been presented across the United States and internationally. One of his recent works for the Company, “Proof” (2022) received a major grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts to support a national tour and outreach initiatives. Mark is currently Chair of the Dance Department of Santa Monica College. At SMC, he has been awarded recognition as “Equity Champion” and “Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year” (2018-19). Mark holds an AA from Cuyahoga Community College, a BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, and an MFA in Dance from the University of California, Irvine.

Mary Verdi-Fletcher

Session: Cultivating dance as a primary tool to treat the effects of trauma.

President/Founding Artistic Director, Dancer. Mary has been a pioneering force in the development and success of physically integrated dance worldwide for over four (4) decades. She founded the Dancing Wheels Company in 1980 and the School in 1990, proudly hailed together as the World Center for Integrated Dance & Arts Access—a highly sought-after establishment for training with full and equal access. Mary co-authored and produced a physically integrated dance training manual and DVD with Mark Tomasic in 2012. Her quest to provide equal access for training has continued with the development of the Dancing Wheels Physically Integrated Dance Teacher Certification program, launched in 2020. One of America’s first professional wheelchair dancers, she has worked with esteemed artists Donald Byrd, Dianne McIntyre, Donald McKayle, Dennis Nahat, David Roussève, Ben Vereen, Keith Young, and Christopher Reeve.  In her early career, she helped create the first Independent Living Center in Ohio.  She also took a militant stand, capturing buses in Cleveland, to ensure people with disabilities could ride public transportation, leading to every public bus in the nation being accessible.  In 2014, Mary was awarded the Henry Viscardi Achievement Award, which honors exemplary leaders in the disability community. In 2016, she was honored with the Cleveland Arts Prize Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017, she received the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio Woman of Distinction Award, and in 2018, Mary received the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award and the DanceUSA Trustee Award for her contributions to dance throughout the US. In 2019, Mary served on the Steering Committee to bring the National Dance USA Conference to Cleveland and directed the opening night ceremonies for more than 450 attendees. Mary is featured in the New York Times bestseller “In the Company of Women” by author Khushwant Singh and recently in the publication “Boss Ladies of CLE: Stories from 20 Leading Women in Their Own Words” by Maggie Sullivan. Mary is a recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize, the OhioDance Award for contribution to dance in Ohio, the Governor’s Award for Arts Education in Ohio, and the Trustee Award for contributions to dance from DanceUSA. She served on DanceUSA's Executive Board of Directors for six years. She is a member of the Northeast Ohio Coalition of Disability Organizations (formerly ADA Cleveland) committee and an advisor to the NEOMED committee, helping medical students better understand accessible patient services for patients with disabilities. Mary is frequently asked to give keynote speeches, sit on panels, and teach master classes. In 2023, Mary co-authored a children’s illustration book. The Verdi-Fletcher Dance & Disability Fund was created by Robert Fletcher, Susan Ingle, and Mary Verdi-Fletcher in 2025 to support and grow physically integrated dance (PID) in Ohio. This fund will provide scholarships for both students and instructors who are passionate about inclusive dance and want to advance their training in this specialized field.

Silva Laukkanen

Session: Cultivating dance as a primary tool to treat the effects of trauma.

Silva Laukkanen is a community dance artist and researcher in inclusive dance education with over sixteen years of work across community, professional, and educational dance sectors in national and international contexts. She is Director of Integrated Dance at Art Spark Texas, where she has established and expanded accessible dance programming in schools and community settings, developed leadership pathways and educational opportunities for artists with disabilities, and created collaborations between local and international dance communities. She also serves as Board President of Kaaos Company and Artistic Director of X Dance Festival. Silva founded and hosts the DanceCast Podcast, featuring conversations with global leaders in integrated dance. 

Inspired by early teaching at a rehabilitation center in Finland, her work continues to broaden perceptions of who can dance and where dance happens. Her teaching spans universities, community contexts, including a Veterans Outpatient Clinic, and public schools for the highest special needs population. Her research and publications include Rhythms of Resilience (2025), Breadth of Bodies (2022), and the long-term initiative “Refocusing Dance Education.”

Work website: https://www.artsparkdance.org/

Desmonette Hazly, MA, MSW, PhD, CBAB

Session: Cultivating dance as a primary tool to treat the effects of trauma.

Dr. Hazly is an Integrative Health Specialist in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Hazly currently develops and implements trauma-informed culturally inclusive health and wellness education programs for marginalized groups in underserved communities. Dr. Hazly approaches health and wellness from a mind, body and spirit perspective and provides simple health and wellness skills and techniques that can be easily incorporated into daily activities. Dr. Hazly has developed and implemented community health and wellness program locally, nationally, and internationally and has collaborated with the LA County Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, the VA Hospital in West Los Angeles, International Red Cross, the United Nations, and UNICEF. Dr. Hazly has taught integrative health and wellness education for over 15 years.

Luisa Pérez, LMHC

Session: Trauma informed yoga in the Criminal Justice System: Supporting Incarcerated Women. 

Luisa Pérez is a former human rights lawyer and current Restorative Justice practitioner who has taught yoga in Mexican prisons since 2016. A certified Iyengar teacher and Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Mentor, she co-coordinates the Spanish-language Cohort in TCTSY Certification program. Luisa also facilitates Peace Circles with incarcerated people and victims of crime.

Sarah Dōjin Emerson

Speaker Session: Zen practice and the ethics of embodiment.

Sarah Dōjin Emerson is a Dharma Teacher and priest at the Brooklyn Zen Center, NY.  She trained residentially and monastically at the San Francisco Zen Center from 1998-2007, and received Dharma Transmission from Konjin Gaelyn Godwin in 2015. She has an M.A. in Counseling Psychology, and has worked in the fields of mental health and pastoral care with children and adults. She experiences Zen practice as deeply supportive in transforming systems of domination, internally and in community. Sarah also works as a grief counselor- specializing in child loss. She lives with her partner, Charlie Pokorny (also a Zen priest), their children (her most profound teachers), and their pets in Brooklyn, NY.

Charlie Korin Pokorny

Speaker Session: Zen practice and the ethics of embodiment.

Charlie Korin Pokorny is a Dharma Teacher and priest at the Brooklyn Zen Center in NY.  He grew up in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago, and studied at M.I.T. and Stanford University. He lived and trained at the San Francisco Zen Center from 1992-2007.  He was ordained as a priest by Tenshin Reb Anderson in1999 and received Dharma Transmission in 2018. He also teaches Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, CA. Charlie lives with his partner and their children in Brooklyn, NY.

Kristen Zappone

Session: Trauma Informed Mindful Eating (TIME)/CFTE's new care model.

Kristen Zappone is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Certified Mindful Eating Coach and 200 YTT certified.  Kristen specializes in helping individuals get to the root of food and body challenges by untangling the development of their relationship with food. Kristen worked as a Clinical Dietitian with children and adults with Cystic Fibrosis before moving into work as a wellness and chronic disease case manager and supervisor.  She has always been passionate about nutrition and its impact on our lives because of its essentiality.  Her desire to create a refreshed approach to food and body stemmed from understanding the ongoing difficulty of connecting to one’s own body exacerbated by diet culture.  Kristen is the co-creator of Trauma Informed Mindful Eating.  

LICSW (she/her) is a co-developer of Rescripted and a member of its Leadership Team. She earned her MSW from Simmons College and has over a decade of experience working with latency-aged children, adolescents, and transitional-age youth in congregate care settings, specializing in complex trauma. As a trainer in the ARC (Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency) framework, Valerie emphasizes the healing power of attuned and supportive communities. Her expertise spans creative therapeutic approaches, including improv theater, motivational interviewing, SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment), adolescent community reinforcement, and incorporating therapy dogs into treatment.

Helena Benton

Session: Trauma Informed Mindful Eating (TIME)/CFTE's new care model.

Helena Benton is an Intuitive Eating Professional Coach and TCTSY Facilitator. She holds a doctorate degree in Education from Hamline University, where her research focused on how complex trauma therapists use TCTSY. A Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider, Helena has taught yoga and meditation for decades, focusing on helping professionals incorporate mindfulness into their fields of practice. She has extensive experience helping people gain advocacy and empowerment with food in her work as a wellness case manager. Her volunteer projects include working with horses at an equine therapy organization that treats veterans and first responders, and leading a study to explore the effects of therapy dog programs on vulnerable youth. Helena is the co-creator of Trauma Informed Mindful Eating.  

Elizabeth is a PhD student in the Clinical Psychology program at the U. Nevada Reno and a Graduate Research Assistant in the Center for Fear Less Research Lab, and a Graduate Research Affiliate for the Mind-Body Trauma Care Lab at U. Minnesota Duluth. Elizabeth is trained in Trauma Informed Weight Lifting and her Master’s equivalent thesis “Trauma-Informed Weight Lifting as an Adjunctive Intervention for Post-traumatic Stress Among Youth in Residential Treatment” was the seminal study exploring the effects of TIWL. 

Román Baca 

Session 1: Trauma, Embodiment and Ballet!: Lessons Learned from working with the Military Community through dance.

Session 2: (Experiential) Movement and Rhythm with Román Baca - ballet!
A Short Example of an Exit12 Veteran Workshop.

Román Baca is a U.S. Marine Iraq War Veteran, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Exit12 Dance Company, a nonprofit that uses dance and storytelling to foster healing, dialogue, and community among military and civilian populations. His work bridges the fields of trauma, embodiment, and social impact, bringing movement into spaces of recovery, education, and cultural exchange. Recent projects have been presented at the Intrepid Museum in NYC, Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, and internationally at the Teatro Nacional de Cuba. Baca holds a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University and is a 2024 Scholar with the Bush Presidential Center’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program.

Román Baca’s research investigates the intersections of dance, trauma, and military experience, focusing on how embodied practices can create pathways for healing, understanding, and dialogue. Drawing on his own background as a Marine Iraq War Veteran and choreographer, his work examines the ways movement can both reveal and transform the embodied effects of military service. Through performances, workshops, and digital artifacts, his research engages veterans, cadets, and civilian communities in collaborative processes that challenge dominant narratives of war and highlight the body as a site of memory, resilience, and recovery.

Lisa Giannetta, PT

Session: Trauma Informed Physical Therapy (TIPT)/CFTE's new care model.

Lisa Giannetta, PT, is a highly experienced physical therapist, clinician, and entrepreneur. With over 30 years in the field, she has provided comprehensive care across diverse environments, including outpatient orthopedics, neurological rehabilitation, acute care, and home-care settings.

Lisa currently leads her specialized private practice, Therapeutic Stretches, LLC, which is dedicated to total body wellness and providing individualized relief for patients with chronic pain. Her core clinical work involves one-on-one, hands-on stretching with a keen focus on the myofascial system. This deep clinical focus on the mind-body connection and the physical manifestation of stress in the fascial system provides a crucial perspective on trauma-informed care.

She understands that effectively treating chronic pain requires establishing trust and safety, ensuring the patient has full voice and choice in their personalized treatment plan. Lisa is dedicated to equipping clinicians with the tools to recognize and address the needs of patients for whom persistent pain may be linked to trauma. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Pittsburgh, graduating magna cum laude.

Anthony L. Giannetta, PT, DPT, MS, CHC

Session: Trauma Informed Physical Therapy (TIPT)/CFTE's new care model.

Anthony L. Giannetta, PT, DPT, MS, CHC, is a distinguished Senior-Level Healthcare Executive and Physical Therapist with a 37-year track record in the healthcare industry. His career has been defined by his commitment to effective strategy, regulatory compliance, and leading positive organizational culture.

Mr. Giannetta's focus on Quality and Continuous Improvement and Risk Management provides a powerful lens for discussing the implementation of trauma-informed care (TIC). He specializes in establishing the foundational structures, including policy and procedure development, necessary to integrate TIC principles across all levels of a healthcare organization. His approach emphasizes accountability and execution, ensuring that the critical tenets of safety, trustworthiness, and patient empowerment are upheld in every clinical interaction.

Academically, Mr. Giannetta earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree from Temple University, his Master of Science Degree and his Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Pittsburgh. He has further demonstrated his dedication to organizational excellence through certifications, including Certified Healthcare Compliance (CHC), Health Care Quality and Management (HCQM), and Six Sigma Green Belt.

He is eager to share his unique perspective on how executive vision, strong compliance, and quality oversight drive the shift to a truly patient-centered, trauma-informed model of physical therapy care. Lisa Giannetta, PT and Anthony L. Giannetta, PT, DPT, MS, CHC

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Ranjeev Benjamin, LICSW

Session: ONEDOOR: Integrating Mental Wellness Across the YMCA of the North Shore.

Executive Director of Mental Wellness, YMCA of the North Shore

Ranjeev Benjamin is the inaugural Executive Director of Mental Wellness at the YMCA of the North Shore (YNS) in Massachusetts, a cause-driven organization committed to youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. He leads ONEDOOR — YNS’s path to mental wellness — through which he is establishing the organization’s first mental wellness department. His work focuses on promoting mental wellness, supporting mental health, and destigmatizing mental illness for staff, members, program participants, and housing residents through internal programs and community partnerships.

Ranjeev brings nearly 20 years of experience in community mental health as a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and organizational leader. Before joining the Y, he served as Program Director at Riverside Community Care’s Behavioral Health Outpatient Center in Somerville, MA.

Earlier in his career, he worked as a chemical engineer and environmental consultant in the power generation and manufacturing industries.

Martin Urbach

Session: Becoming A Circle Keeper: Growing Your School Based, Youth Led Restorative Justice Program.

Martin (pronounced mar-TEEN) Urbach is a Latine Immigrant, educator, activist and youth organizer. Martin has been an educator in New York City since 2006. His passion for education is based on facilitating brave spaces for young folks to develop their own identities as activists, restorative justice practitioners, researchers, and community organizers, working for social justice and toward collective liberation. 

He holds a BA in jazz performance from the University of New Orleans, an MA in jazz arts from the Manhattan School of Music, and an Advanced Certificate in Music Education from Brooklyn College. He is currently a Doctoral candidate in Urban Education at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Sarah Suatoni

Session: Embodied Awareness for Self and Systems Change: Healing Through the I–WE–IT Lens.

Sarah Suatoni, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Awareness in Motion (AIM), has spent thirty years inspired by a diverse group of clients, from CEOs to teens. Sarah draws from a background in therapy, executive coaching, and the arts. With a BFA from the Juilliard School and a career in professional dance and Hellerwork, Sarah's expertise extends to trauma, counseling psychology (MA Pacifica Graduate Institute), mindfulness, Iyengar yoga, neuroscience of emotions, and systems theory. Over the past seven years, she has focused on fostering embodied awareness, conscious communication, and authentic connection in workplaces. Sarah has facilitated AIM's curriculum to over 50 organizations, including the World Bank Group, Mastercard, NYPD, and numerous school districts, alongside a faculty role at Columbia University. Her entire client roster includes leaders from Google, Citibank, WNC Inc., Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Amazon, and many others. Sarah is also an adjunct faculty member of Teachers College, Columbia University, where she teaches leadership through self-awareness and to aspiring school leaders. Her clients and two wonderful daughters remain her most influential teachers.

Ellie Williams, JD

Session: Trauma and the Law: Policy changes to address the criminalization of survival.

Ellie Williams is the Legal Director of the Justice for Incarcerated Survivors Program at the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She practices post-conviction criminal defense and represents survivors of domestic violence whose convictions are connected to their abuse and women with wrongful conviction claims. She is a seasoned speaker and trainer and has trained professionals and community members across the United States and internationally on domestic violence, trauma-informed service provision, and criminalized survival. Ellie is also involved in legislative advocacy work. She co-leads the Survivor Justice Initiative, a legislative advocacy effort that led to the passage Georgia Survivor Justice Act and now manages its implementation.

Ellie is a cum laude graduate of Furman University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in sociology and Spanish. She is also a cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor. While at UGA, she was the Jane W. Wilson Distinguished Law Fellow, the Senior Managing Editor of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, a member of the Moot Court Team, a Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant to Professor Dan Coenen, and a Research Assistant for the National Family Violence Law Center. Ellie received the Ronald Carlson Award for Excellence in the Study of Evidence from the University of Georgia School of Law and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Child Welfare Law; she also was inducted into the University of Georgia’s chapter of the Blue Key Honor Society. Ellie also received the Regional Public Interest Award for the South Region from Equal Justice Works in 2023. 

Before law school, Ellie worked with domestic and sexual violence survivors in numerous government and non-profit agencies. She is fluent in Spanish and passionate about serving immigrant survivors. Ellie is a contributor to the State of Georgia’s Domestic Violence Benchbook, and in 2023, she published an article focused on criminalized survival and international human rights law in the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.