Presenters:

Tricia Baker, CPDT-KA, is the owner of 20 Paws Services, helping dog owners to enrich their lives with their pets. After 20 years in corporate marketing, Tricia began a new career as a teacher of dog training. She and her five dogs are involved in nose work, ability, and therapy. Miki, Tricia’s three-year-old Pomeranian and fellow instructor, is a certified Bright and Beautiful therapy dog and an AKA Canine Good Citizen. He is a 2011 nominee for an AKC Award for Canine Excellence (ACE).

In addition to being a dog trainer, Tricia is co-director of A.I.R (Attitudes In Reverse), a non-profit whose mission is to start conversations about mental health issues and student suicide prevention.

Joan Brame, Ph.D, is owner and manager of Empower Fitness, a Lawrenceville exercise and wellness studio for women. With a Ph.D. in sociology, M.S.W. in social work, and a B.S. in math, Joan retired in 2003 after a 32-year career in public service and academia. She is both a Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Cancer Exercise Specialist. Currently, Joan serves on the Mercer County Community College Business Advisory Commission.

Mary E. Hayes, M.A., is a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City, where she studied dietary theory and the role of nutrition, exercise, relationships, and stress management as a means of optimizing physical and mental health. In addition to working as a health counselor, Mary is a school counselor at the Rock Brook School in Skillman. There she assists children with learning and developmental disabilities.

William P. Hayes, M.D., a board-certified child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist and a fellow of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, currently has a private practice at Alexander Road Associates in Princeton. He also serves as board president of NAMI Mercer. Prior to his current position, Dr. Hayes was an associate clinical professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington. He is a former president of the New Jersey Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Jean R. Joslin, M.A., A.T.R., B.C., graduated from New York University. She has provided art therapy to children, adolescents, and the elderly and now is working with the women at Princeton House where she specializes in trauma, addiction and wellness issues. In addition, Jean has a private art therapy practice for individuals and groups that incorporates the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) system of therapy. Jean, a founding member of the Lawrenceville Main Street Artists Network, is a painter, currently working with oils.

Carol Kivler, C.S.P., M.S., is the president of Kivler Communications, a corporate training and executive coaching firm. Its Courageous Recovery Division reaches out to healthcare professionals, consumers, and family members with a message of hope

A courageous survivor herself, Carol suffers from medication-resistant depression. Since 1990, she has lived successfully through four acute episodes requiring hospitalization and Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). She has been in recovery for 12 years.

Carol has been a member of the NAMI Board for eight years, an IOOV presenter, and the 2009 recipient of NJ Monthly Magazine's Seed of Hope Award. Her book, Will I Ever Be the Same Again? Transforming the Face of ECT, received two book awards this past year. Currently, Carol is working on her next book, Unwrapping the Gifts from Depression, and writing a weekly blog at www.hopetocope.com for Esperanza Magazine.

Patricia Urban Korsak and Kate Sturcke, Reiki masters and NAMI Mercer members, have been practicing Reiki since 2006. They have provided Reiki treatments as volunteers at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and Wellness Center, at Princeton Theological Seminary, and for private clients.

David Nathan, M.D., a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, began his private practice in Princeton in 1998 after serving as chief resident of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Program at McLean Hospital. Dr. Nathan is the director of Continuing Medical Education for the Princeton Healthcare System (PHCS) and the director of Professional Education for PHCS's Department of Psychiatry. Board certified in psychiatry, Dr. Nathan divides his time equally between psychotherapy and psychopharmacology. He is a clinical associate professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Ruthann Perry, a founding member of the Lawrenceville Main Street Artists Network, began her career as a prop designer, builder, and shopper in the New York City theater, film and TV industries. After moving to central New Jersey and raising a family, she became an art teacher in a private school in Princeton as well as in community education programs including The Grounds for Sculpture, the Princeton Adult School, Habitat for Humanity, and the Maidenhead Studio.

Early in her teaching years, she became a sculptor, using found objects, particularly old architectural elements and bits of weathered wood. She has been building mostly horses that have won several national and local awards.

James Reis, L.C.S.W., is supervisor of the Milestones Partial Care Hospital Program at Capital Health Systems in Trenton. He has been a social worker for thirty years. Having completed the Practicum in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at Jefferson Hospital, James maintains a daily mindfulness practice.

Carol L. Rickard, L.C.S.W., is a clinical social worker and recreation therapist with 20 years of experience in mental health settings. She has a unique perspective as both a care provider and consumer. Carol has written several books including Moving beyond Depression. She also is the creator of L.I.F.E. Recovery System, a wellness program designed to help people reclaim their lives from illness.

Jennie Lee Rodriguez, M.Div., M.S.W., is an assistant director of Field Education at Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS). A recent graduate of both PTS and the Rutgers School of Social Work, Jennie serves on the pastoral staff at Nuevas Fronteras and the United Presbyterian Church in Plainfield. She has extensive counseling and case-management experience with a special interest in young adults and teens in transition. Prior to returning to school, Jennie served as a program director for Lexington Recovery Center in New York, providing services for women with co-occurring mental illness and addiction.

Glenn Swann has practiced Tai Chi since 1992 and has been teaching for six years in several locations. In 1994, he began Shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) study and now performs at area festivals. Glenn also is a student of the Japanese tea ceremony, Chinese calligraphy, and other facets of Japanese and Chinese culture and philosophy.

Mauri Tyler, C.T.R.S., C.M.P., is a recreation therapist with more than 20 years of experience. She is currently the program director for Princeton Senior Resource Center, a private non-profit that provides services to support healthy aging. Endorsed by Remo drum company as a HealthRhythms facilitator, Mauri leads group drumming for the Princeton Adult School and other locations in the area.

Beverly Yard is an independent skin care consultant with Jafra Cosmetics International. She retired in 2008 as director of Business Development for Dedicated Senior Advisors, a financial services organization. Beverly earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Rider University, and she is a licensed life and health insurance producer in New Jersey. A long-standing volunteer for Heart to Hearts, Inc., Beverly has served on its Board of Directors.