Clinical Counseling Director
Tammy Lea Black, MA, LPC, has been working with WEC since September 2011, after graduating from the Contemplative Psychotherapy program at Naropa University. Post-graduation she also worked for six years at Naropa in the undergraduate and graduate departments teaching future therapists. Tammy’s primary focus in therapy is developing awareness of what is happening in the current moment as a means of fostering resilience and balance in the grieving process. She also offers extensive experience regarding how both the nervous system and family dynamics impact an individual’s responses to grief. She is a compassionate and calm presence in sessions, and believes that support for individuals and their loved ones during the later stages of life is an essential offering. Tammy sees Individuals, Families & Couples in their homes and in her private practice office.
Counselors
Jodi Alieksaites, MA, LPC, has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since 2011 and is currently a Team Supervisor and is the Director of Education. Jodi also spear-headed the creation of the Windhorse Leader in Dementia Care training and The Dementia Experience.
Jodi has her degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa University and competed her internship in grief counseling with TRU Community Care Hospice. In addition, Jodi completed a year long externship in Attachment-based Play Therapy and utilizes her training to work with clients in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s-type Dementia. Jodi sees Individuals, Families & Couples at our WEC office.
Kathy Emery, MA, LPC, graduated in 1980 from the Naropa University’s Masters in East- West Psychology program and has been involved with the Windhorse approach to working with others since the beginning of the model in 1981. In addition, she has been an Adjunct Faculty member since 1982 at Naropa in several of the Psychology Departments as well as the Masters In Divinity program in recent years. She is committed to bringing the Contemplative view of care and therapy into her work with individuals and groups as well as through her teaching and writing.
Michelle Pelc, MA, NLC, has been been with Windhorse Elder Care since May 2014. She earned her Masters degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University in 2010. She has 8+ years of professional and personal experience working in long term care, adhering to a holistic approach while attending to the emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing of her clients. Her varied experience working with seniors who have physical and mental disabilities, as well as end-of-life care needs, affords her insight into the complexity of the challenges for this population and how to approach them, as well as a solid knowledge base of community resources. As a Windhorse Team Leader, she is passionate about using her ability to build relationship and provide guidance, education, and therapeutic interventions to support and empower seniors, families, and care staff.
Mo Bankey, MA, LPCc, holds a degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa University and has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since September 2016. Mo is passionate about healing through relationship and honoring life transitions, including chronic illness, caregiving, aging, and end of life. Mo brings warmth, presence, compassion, and patience to their counseling work with individuals, couples, and families. Mo has additional training in working with attachment, trauma, and relationship concerns through Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Mo also works in the area of gender identity, LGBTQ+ issues, and social justice counseling.
Faith Halverson-Ramos, MA, LPC, MT-BC, has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since 2017. A graduate from the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Music Therapy program at Naropa University, Faith is a board-certified music therapist passionate about the role that creativity can play in overall health and well-being. As a counselor and music therapist, Faith works with people throughout the lifespan and finds that music can be especially helpful for those who have speech or neurological disorders. Meeting people where they are through humor, presence, and loving kindness, Faith supports people during difficult times in life.
Kathleen Malone, MA, LPCc, has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since 2017. She previously worked with clients at Family Hospice who were grieving the loss of a loved one. Kathleen graduated from Naropa University in 2017 from the Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology program and has a passion for bringing this understanding of the mind,, and well-being into her therapy sessions through compassion, present moment awareness and body-based wisdom. She is currently in private practice and is available to see Windhorse clients either in the comfort of their own homes or at her private office in north Boulder. Kathleen works with individuals, couples and families.
Jessica Baker, MA, LPCc, graduated from the Contemplative Psychotherapy program at Naropa University in 2017. She completed her practicum at Windhorse Elder Care and her internship as a grief counselor at TRU Community Care Hospice. She supported bereaved individuals and co-facilitated grief groups. She recently received a certificate in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) from the Maiberger Institute in Boulder. EMDR aids in processing disturbing, past experiences. Jessica views the therapeutic relationship as a bridge to re-discovering our essential goodness at the heart of who we all are. She participates in ongoing group and individual supervision and trusts in the value of the therapeutic relationship.
Kenneth Schmeelk, MA, NLC, is a Graduate of the Masters in Contemplative Psychotherapy program at Naropa University, 1988. His life has been dedicated to working with a contemplative, unitive view. He has worked to integrate what he’s learned with several local agencies that specialize in providing personalized services to people needing support in daily living, whether the cause be physical or developmental disabilities, mental health concerns and crisis, as well as the tasks related to aging and preparation for life’s end. Being an Elder himself, he believes that he can relate with many of life’s trials, which for him now include a personal view and experience of the challenges posed for the many individuals who are facing the later stages of life. This of course would also include family members of those individuals. It is his belief, and practice, that at the center of every situation, however discomforting or painful, calm, peaceful stillness can be found.
Patti Chenis MA, LPC has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Lesley University (1996) and is a Licensed Professional Counselor.
In the past, she has worked as a psychotherapist
for almost 13 years in community mental health with emotionally challenged
children and their families at Mental Health Partners, as a caregiver for
Hospice of Boulder County and Windhorse Community Services, a community based
organization that provides home services for people who experience extreme
states of mind.
Currently she serves as Adjunct Faculty at Naropa University where she teaches mindfulness and compassion practices for the graduate program in Mindfulness Based Counseling Psychology and is a meditation instructor for the Naropa Graduate Contemplative Psychotherapy Program and the Graduate Resilient (Environmental) Leadership Program. She has worked at WEC for several years and is a supervisor at this time.
Patti has training in EMDR Trauma Therapy, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Inner Relationship Focusing-a psychotherapeutic process that integrates the wisdom of body/mind/spirit for emotional healing. Having practiced and studied mindfulness and compassion practices for over thirty-six years she is committed to bringing these modalities into working with others as the growing research in neuroscience is confirming the benefits of these practices on one’s health, wellbeing and emotional resilience.