Our Advisors

Dr. Nicole LePera

Dr. Nicole LePera is the founder of SelfHealers Circle, the largest global self-healing community. SelfHealers Circle hosts monthly workshops with cutting-edge experts in the areas of trauma healing, nutrition, gut health, and attachment. Members from over 180 countries come together to heal themselves, have better relationships, and find accountability away from social media. To join the waitlist or to learn more, you can go to selfhealerscircle.com

Deany Laliotis

I’m Deany Laliotis and I am passionate about the power of EMDR therapy to transform lives. Since 1993, I had the privilege of working very closely with Dr. Francine Shapiro, the originator of EMDR, and was mentored by her until her death in 2019. I was the Director of Training for EMDR Institute Inc., the program developed by Dr. Shapiro that trained clinicians all over the world in EMDR therapy.

Together with my husband, Dan Merlis, also on the faculty of EMDR Institute, we trained thousands of EMDR therapists over the years in this comprehensive approach to healing trauma. I learned from Dr. Shapiro the importance of ensuring that all therapists have access to this highly effective treatment modality. For me, that translates into delivering a high quality training experience through The Center to insure that our trainees are successful at integrating their EMDR training into clinical practice.

David Kessler

David Kessler is one of the world’s foremost experts on grief and loss. His experience with thousands of people on the edge of life and death has taught him the secrets to living a happy and fulfilled life, even after life’s tragedies.

He is the author of six books, including his latest bestselling book, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. He co-authored two books with Elisabeth Kubler Ross, Life Lessons and On Grief and Grieving, updating her 5 stages for grief. He also co-wrote, You Can Heal Your Heart with Louise Hay. He authored Visions Trips and Crowded Rooms: Who and What You See Before You Die. His first book, The Needs of The Dying received praise from Saint (Mother) Teresa.

David’s personal experience as a child witnessing a mass shooting while his mother was dying in a hospital helped him begin his journey. For most of his life, David has taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about the end of life, trauma, and grief. However, despite his vast knowledge of grief, his life was turned upside down by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son.

David’s volunteer work includes being a founding member of Project Angel Food, a well-known and loved non-profit organization. He currently serves on the board of The Farrah Fawcett Foundation which provides cancer research, patient assistance and prevention efforts. He also serves as Specialist Reserve for the Los Angeles Police as well as having served on the Red Cross’s disaster services team.

He has a new online model of grief support called Tender Hearts with over 25 groups each as well as one of the most respected Grief Certification programs. He is the founder of [www.grief.com](http://www.grief.com/) which receives millions of visits yearly providing helpful resources to over 167 countries.

Elizabeth Call

Elizabeth Call, PsyD, interned at McLean Hospital and is a former clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. After graduate school, she was a staff psychologist in charge of psychological assessment on an inpatient forensic unit at MGH and joined the adult treatment team at Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center. She has maintained an interest in trauma, meditative states and healing. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, a certified EMDR therapist, an EMDRIA approved consultant and is a certified therapist in IFS. She has an independent practice in Cambridge, MA, and specializes in trauma and loss with attention to spirituality, and accessing expanded states of consciousness in the service of healing. She was a sub-investigator and therapist on the FDA phase 3 trials for MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD sponsored by MAPS. She is also trained in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and has been incorporating it into her practice since October, 2018. Depending on the FDA review of study data, MDMA assisted therapy may be approved for medical use for 2025. If so, she will be a consultant and teacher of this model in addition to adding MDMA assisted psychotherapy to her practice.

In addition to studying the Buddhist texts and philosophy for over 20 years, she has meditated in uninterrupted silence for several traditional 3 month Vipassana retreats in Burma, India and the United States. She is committed to an active mindfulness practice in her work as a therapist.

She enjoys photography, paddle boarding, walking with friends and always a good book with a cup of tea.

Linda Thai

Linda Thai LMSW (she, her) is a trauma therapist who specializes in cutting edge brain- and body-based modalities for the healing of complex developmental trauma.

As an educator and consultant, she is gifted with the capacity to contextualize, synthesize and communicate complex and nuanced issues pertaining to trauma, attachment and the nervous system, including the impact of oppressive systems upon identity, mental health and wellbeing.

Linda is passionate about breaking the cycle of historical and intergenerational trauma at the individual and community levels, and deeply believes in the healing power of coming together in community to grieve.

Born in Vietnam, raised in Australia, and now living in Alaska, Linda is a former child refugee who is not only redefining what it means to be Vietnamese, to be Australian, and to be a United States-ian....she is redefining what it means to be wounded and whole and a healer.

Psychotherapist, Consultant, Trainer

Janina Fisher

I have had the good fortune to have been taught by or worked alongside the giants in the field of psychological trauma: first, Judith Herman, then Bessel van der Kolk, and, most recently, Pat Ogden. And as much as these pioneers taught me, the most powerful and gifted teachers I have are my patients. These survivors have given me a window into the inner experience of the legacy of trauma, taught me what always to say and what never to say, helped to validate or disprove what the experts and theorists were claiming. It has been a privilege to learn with them and from them.

We now understand that trauma’s imprint is both psychological and somatic: long after the events are over, the body continues to respond as if danger were everpresent. My professional mission has been to bring this understanding of trauma to both clients and their therapists as a psychotherapist, consultant, and trainer of clinicians looking for answers to helping their traumatized clients. I believe the key to healing is not just knowing what happened but transforming how the mind, body, and soul still remember it.

Janina Fisher, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and a former instructor, Harvard Medical School. An international expert on the treatment of trauma, she is an Advisory Board member of the Trauma Research Foundation and the author of three books, Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Self-Alienation (2017), Transforming the Living Legacy of Trauma: a Workbook for Survivors and Therapists (2021), and The Living Legacy Instructional Flip Chart (2022). She is best known for her work on integrating mindfulness-based interventions into trauma treatment, and she is also the creator of Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment (TIST) therapy.

Crystal Jones

R. Jones, LCSW, is a Lead IFS-I Trainer and Clinical Consultant who passionately spreads the healing essence of the IFS model worldwide. Known for her embodied compassion, relatability, and heart-led approach to her work, Crystal has personally experienced the transformative power of the IFS model in her own healing journey. This profound experience fuels Crystal’s dedication to creating safe spaces for marginalized communities, particularly Black women and women of color, to feel connected, seen, heard, and valued as they embark on their healing journeys individually and collectively. Crystal is fervently committed to teaching the model in a way that illuminates and speaks to the global majority, ensuring its adaptability, accessibility, and relevance to diverse populations. Crystal eagerly looks forward to sharing in the transformative journeys of all inspired and touched by this model.