Kristina Fluty
MA, GL-CMA, R-MPA
Kristina Fluty, MA, GL-CMA, R-MPA, Associate Professor at The Theatre School at DePaul University (Head of Movement, Co-Head of Graduate Acting). Kristina has called Chicago dance company Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak her artistic home since 2003. She is one of the inaugural certified teachers of Shanahan’s Spiral Body Techniques® and works with Shanahan to develop the framework and disseminate the teachings. The Feldenkrais Method® and Contact Improvisation (more than 25 years of personal practice) are also largely influential in her creative work and pedagogy.
Kristina has taught and/or coached movement at the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin, Columbia College Chicago, the Lou Conte Dance Studio/Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Dovetail Studios, Chicago Movement Collective, the University of Chicago, Lyric Opera, Mordine and Company, Thodos Dance Chicago, BoneDanse, and Synapse Arts. She has choreographed theatrical intimacy at Steppenwolf, Porchlight, TimeLine, Marriott, and Remy Bumppo. She has danced with many choreographers and companies in venues such as Joyce Soho, Tangente Montreal, the Athenaeum, Links Hall, Millennium Park, and Ruth Page, and continues to perform as much as possible.
Jessica Young
MA, LCPC, BC-DMT, GL-CMA
Jessica Young, MA, BC-DMT, LCPC, GL-CMA, Associate Professor Columbia College Chicago Dance Center. Recipient of the 2020 American Dance Therapy Association Excellence in Education Award and President’s Award. The arc of her 20-year career includes serving those who are homeless with severe and chronic mental illness, educating graduate students in dance/movement therapy (DMT), and teaching undergraduates how to tend to their own and others’ joyfulness and well-being. She has facilitated over 30 peer reviewed national and international conference presentations in DMT and counseling and regularly publishes on DMT. She maintains a private practice at New Prairie Counseling Center and provides clinical supervision. Jessica joined EEIC guest faculty in 2022.
Ebony Nichols
MA, LCAT, BC-DMT
Ebony is a somatic mental health and wellness practitioner, Board Certified Dance/Movement Psychotherapist, Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, licensed cosmetologist, and entrepreneur. She completed her BA at The College of New Rochelle in psychology and a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Dance/Movement Therapy. She was awarded the presidential scholarship to attend Lesley University's Doctorate program in Counseling and Psychology: Transformative Leadership, Education and Applied Research, where she plans to continue her research and work rooted in cultural/race identity, trauma-informed healing care, centering Black Aesthetics of the African Diaspora through cultural movement narratives, non-verbal communication, and somatic-based healing practices. Ebony joined EEIC as a guest lecturer in 2022. https://shoutoutatlanta.com/meet-ebony-t-nichols-lcat-bc-dmt-entrepreneur-somatic-mental-health-wellness-practioner/
Kristen Menona
LPC, CEDS, BC-DMT, RYT,
GL-CMA
Kristen Mennona is the owner of Nurture Family Counseling LLC, a counseling practice designed to treat pediatric eating disorders, OCD and anxiety within the context of the family. In 2022, Kristen was a contributing writer for a book on pediatric anxiety with Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. She presented at the 2022 International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals on the intersection of body image distress the use of expressive arts. She also hosts an Instagram account called, “The_Body_As” to inspire more people to work on their body image acceptance and to pass that acceptance on to the next generation. She has presented nationally on the topics of self-acceptance, eating disorders/body image distress and reconnecting to the body. Kristen is a licensed professional counselor, a board-certified dance/movement therapist, a certified eating disorder specialist (CEDS), a registered yoga instructor (RYT 200) and a BTTI trained clinician for pediatric OCD. Kristen combines best clinical practices with ancient, embodied experiences for her clients. She believes in the inherent wisdom of the body to bring forth that which needs healing.
Melissa Walker
MA, R-DMT, LPC, CST
Melissa is a licensed Somatic Psychotherapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist who specializes in sex and relationship therapy for couples and individuals. A graduate of Naropa University in 2009, Melissa weaves together her Masters level training with additional training in Pragmatic/Experiential Therapy for Couples (PET-C), Sex Therapy, Psychodrama, and Authentic Movement. She is also certified in Somatic Archaeology and is a SomaSource LifeCycle Practitioner. Melissa is former adjunct faculty at Naropa University where she taught Counseling Ethics & Professional Orientation for 4 years.
Through study and work, Melissa has crafted the Somatic-Concentric Sex Therapy (S-CST) model for working with clients. S-CST is a confluence of somatic, dance/movement therapy, contemplative, social-justice, and sexology theories. This model harnesses the client’s actualizing tendency, a tendency towards growth and complexity, toward a fully embodied experience and expression of the sexual self. This model includes the practice of Erotic Bodyfulness, full-body arousal anatomy with a whole-person approach to the human sexual response, and embodied expressivity toward one’s personal erotic potential and healthy relational sexuality.
Her book, Whole-Body Sex: Somatic Sex Therapy and the Lost Language of the Erotic Body was published in January 2021. Whole-Body Sex supports the somatic dismantling of the shame and performance-centric model of sexuality to craft a personally meaningful and sexuality-affirming embodiment of self.
Melissa Schleicher-Park
LCPC, BC-DMT, CFRC, iRest® Level 2 Teacher
Melissa Schleicher-Park, LCPC, BC-DMT, CFRC, iRest® Level 2 Teacher, is owner of Metta Counseling Chicago, LLC. Since graduating from Columbia College Chicago in 2011, she has worked in community mental health centers throughout Chicago providing counsel, education in trauma-informed care and support in recovery from the effects of chronic and severe mental illness.
In 2021, Melissa joined a group of wellness professionals at Chicago’s Swedish Hospital to develop a wellness program devoted to providing mental health support, wellness education and workplace stress management for healthcare professionals hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through generous support from the Swedish Hospital Foundation, Melissa has become a facilitator of Mental Health First Aid, is trained in Critical Incident Response through ICISF and in 2022 completed certification as a Certified First Responder Counselor (CFRC). She is passionate about educating anyone who will talk to her about the role mental health plays in every person’s wellbeing, quality of life and ability to form meaningful connections throughout this wild ride we call “life”.
Eve Chalom
MA, BC-DMT
Eve Chalom came to dance movement therapy from the worlds of competitive figure skating, figure skating performing, and modern dance performing. Once she found out that movement could be so much more than just aesthetic or acrobatic, there was no turning back. After undergraduate degrees in English and Philosophy from the University of Michigan, she received her M.S. in Dance Movement Therapy from Pratt Institute. Since then, she also became a certified brain injury specialist, a registered yoga teacher, a master rated figure skating coach, and received her board certification as a dance movement therapist. She has worked in outpatient addiction programs, inpatient detox, inpatient psych, and at a day program for adults with chronic mental illness, and has volunteered as a dance movement therapist with children and senior citizens. She currently has a private practice and sees clients both in person and over telehealth. She also works with several clients on the ice, using skating as therapy. She has taught creative movement, figure skating, yoga, meditation, and psychoeducation about emotions, trauma resolution, the nervous system, and cognitive and dialectical strategies. She uses mindfulness and meditation techniques both as a part of her work and for self care, as well as yoga, qigong, and improvisation. For more information about her private practice, please see www.healingthroughmovement.