Note to Prospective Speakers:
The Aquatic Therapy and Rehab Institute is looking for top-notch speakers with knowledge and experience to share at our future educational events.
Please use one Course Information Form for each topic you would like to have considered for presentation.
Thank you.
To Become an ATRI CEU Provider, please see the attached Provider Letter and Provider Application.
Note: The courses you present at ATRI events will be automatically approved for CEUs by ATRI. If you would like to present your courses at other organization's conferences or on your own, and want them approved for CEUs by ATRI, please see the Provider Letter and Provider Application indicated above.
ATRI Faculty:
Donna Adler, BA, ATRIC, is founder of Lyu Ki Dou™ and owner of Liquid Assets for Fitness. She is a trainer for the Arthritis Foundation and works with geriatrics and clients with health challenges. She has been an AEA Advisory Board member and is a recognized national provider for AEA and ATRI. Donna attends a Medical Intuitive Training Program at the Center for Applied Energy Medicine. Beyond her active aquatic and private healing practice, Donna facilitates workshops on healing and spiritual self-mastery.
Marty Biondi, PT, CSCS, ATRIC, is co-owner of Therapeutic & Wellness Specialists, an outpatient orthopedic clinic with two locations, and contracts to perform aquatic therapy. She has been involved in various aspects of aquatics for over 30 years, including pool administration, design and program implementation, risk management, and now as a physical therapist using water to treat various diagnoses. She has served as Director of Practice for the APTA Aquatic Section.
Laurie Denomme, B. Kinesiology,
is the assistant director of operations for the Aquatic Exercise Association(AEA), a Bender Method master trainer, and a certified fitness instructor and personal
trainer. She is the co-founder of Exercise Elements LLC, a company whose mission is to deliver an approach to fitness training that concentrates on the body as a whole for better results. She
co-authored a book on special populations and post-rehab called The Aquatic
After Care Training Manual and travels internationally to share her unique
and personally developed aquatic training methods.
www.exerciseelements.com
Julia Fettig, CTRS, CMT, ATRIC, is the
founder/owner of Therapeutic Aquatics, Inc. and aquatictherapyinfo.com, specializing
in consulting, information and rehabilitation. She is the author and publisher
of The Bad Ragaz Ring Method Visual Instructional Manual and video and
co-producer of the PNF in The Pool video. She received the 2002 ATRI
Tsunami Spirit Award for her innovation, creativity and implementation of new ideas. www.aquatictherapyinfo.com
Pia Francis, PTA, Cert. Ed., ATRIC, is an aquatic rehabilitation and fitness mentor, focused on water, wellness and education. She has provided learning support and developed courses for physiotherapy, occupational therapy, complementary therapy, sports and exercise degree courses. She is committed to inter-professional education to promote effective and creative methods of learning to combine humans and water for a healthier future.
Shinzo Fujimaki, CMT, has been teaching massage, both on land and in the water, along with Japanese Shiatsu for 25 years. Born in Japan, Shinzo first learned the art of Shiatsu at an early age. As an Aikido artist, marathon runner, and yoga practitioner, he integrated the discipline, training, and philosophy of Aikido and Yoga with the practice of Shiatsu to create a full, rich healing experience.
Janet Gangaway, PT, DPT, OCS, ATC, ATRIC, has over 12 years of experience as an aquatic physical therapist. She has taken a number of continuing education courses in aquatic therapy. In addition, she has extensive experience as a competitive swimmer, water safety and lifeguard instructor, and is an ASCA certified swim coach.
Susan J. Grosse, MS, currently president of Aquatic Consulting & Education Resources, has over 40 years experience in aquatics. She is past president of the American Association for Active Lifestyles and Fitness and past chair of the Aquatic Council of AAHPERD. Her publications include work in adapted aquatics, lifeguarding, instructional swim, water exercise, post-traumatic stress disorder, crisis management, contagion, and program administration. She received the ATRI Tsumani Spirit Award in 2006 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame John K. Williams Award in 2009.
Maryanne Haggerty, MS, has been educating professionals, individuals, and groups on safe and effective exercise for 25 years. As a faculty member and presenter for TSI, NASM, AEA, and AFAA, she has certified professionals. Promoting exercise for all abilities, Maryanne has presented televised exercise segments on aquatics. She has developed corporate wellness seminars and six-month home exercise program progressions.
Bonnie Hopps, is the Fitness Program Coordinator for The Arthritis Society, Manitoba division. She has been certified by Dr. Paul Lam in Tai Chi for Arthritis Instructor Update Course, Tai Chi for Arthritis Part II Course, and Tai Chi for Diabetes Instructor's Course. She is also certified as an Arthritis Foundation Exercise Instructor/Trainer and an Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Instructor/Trainer.
Jessica Huss, PT, DPT, CCI, is an out-patient, manually-based, aquatic physical therapy director and a member of the Arizona APTA and APTA Aquatics Section. She has presented for the AzAPTA on aquatic physical therapy and served as adjunct faculty to the PT assistant program at Mohave Community College. She is also a Credentialed Clinical Instructor and a Certified AquaStretch Instructor.
Connie Jasinskas, MSc, is an international educator through her company: For the Love of Fit. She is the author and trainer of numerous aquatic post-rehab workshops and courses, including Aquanatal, Back Splash and Aqua Arthritis. She is currently providing aquatic rehabilitation for the Canadian Back Institute Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre.
Melissa Lewis, MPT, ATRIC, has been involved in aquatics for the past 10 years, after being introduced to the field through the Aquatic Therapy Program at West Virginia University. She is a recipient of the 2008 ATRI Tsunami Spirit Award. She is currently working in Sanford, NC as an outpatient physical therapist, specializing in aquatic therapy at Kinetic Institute Physical Therapy.
Nancy Marquez, DPT, has a strong foundation in aquatics, swimming competitively from childhood through college at Michigan State University. She received the Student Research and Academic Merit Awards from the Univeristy of Miami. She previously worked as a lifeguard, WSI and swim coach. Her special interests include chronic pain.
Marilyn McQuade, BS, PT, is a manually based orthopedic physical therapist, specializing in aquatic therapy. She has 20 years of experience and now focuses on outpatient orthopedics, both in the water and on land. She has worked as a kinesiotherapist and is interested in all forms of bodywork. She has been working for the past 10 years in an outpatient orthopedic clinic in Fairfield, CT.
Ruth Meyer, MEd, RKT, ATRIC, has offered aquatic therapy and kinesiotherapy services for 30 years. She has been an Arthritis Foundation Instructor trainer for aquatics and exercise for 15 years. She practices Bad Ragaz, Halliwick, Watsu®, Waterdance, the Burdenko Method, craniosacral and myofascial release. Ruth is currently Director of Employee Wellness and MOVE! Weight Management for Veterans Coordinator at the Richmond VAMC in Richmond, VA.
Terri Mitchell, PTA, is on staff at the University of Texas at Austin and enjoys working with young adults in the water. She is a Certified Personal Trainer for both land and water, and co-author of Applications of PNF Techniques in the Aquatic Setting manual and co-producer of the PNF in the Pool video. She is the 2001 recipient of ATRI’s Dolphin Award. www.aquafit.com
Mick Nelson, BS, MS, is the Director of USA Swimming's Facilities Development Division. Sue Nelson, BS, ATRIC, is the Aquatic Programs Specialist for USA Swimming. The Nelsons come from a club coaching background and have extensive experience in business and aquatic management. They formed their own swim club and built their own indoor facility in Danville, Illinois, while adding a retail and wholesale pool/spa and aquatic equipment business to the mix. They also offered aquatic facility design, building, and business consultation to the aquatic industry with their company, NSS Inc. In 1994, they formed WaterWay Therapy Inc., which was one of the first and only privately owned and operated Medicare-approved outpatient aquatic physical therapy centers in the country. Poolside Health & Wellness Center was created by the Nelsons in 2002 and became the home for the USA Swim Club, WaterWay Therapy, and Swim America learn-to-swim program, as well as a full-service land and water community health and wellness center. In June 2004, they moved to Colorado Springs, CO, to help form the new Facilities Division of USA Swimming. www.usaswimming.org
Ruth Sova, MS, ATRIC, founder/ president of ATRI, and founder of AEA, received the Governor’s Entrepreneurial Award, the IDEA Outstanding Business Award, the first Presidential Sports Award in aquatic exercise, and AEA’s 1994 Contribution to the Industry Award. She has authored 15 books. www.ruthsova.com
Carolyn Sprehe, BS, ATRIC, specializes in water-based programs for people with developmental disabilities in her work at ShowMe Aquatics & Fitness, a non-profit organization that promotes health and fitness for people of all abilities. She is ATRI Certified and was a Special Olympics Coach. In 2003, she received the Outstanding Recreation Provider Award from the Recreation Council of Greater St. Louis.
Maria Sykorova-Pritz, EdD, is a health and fitness professional/educator, who earned her doctorate in education from University Comenius in Bratislava, Slovakia. She now teaches and consults in Pennsylvania. Her training methods involve integration of unique multidisciplinary techniques to achieve overall health and optimized performance.
Ruthy Tirosh, MSc, is one of the pioneers of hydotherapy in Israel. She has been head of the Aquatic Therapy Department at Alyn Hospital, Pediatric and Adolescent Rehabilitation Center in Jerusalem, Israel, since 1998. She was a founding member of the Israel Hydrotherapy Assoication, and served on its Board of Directors from 2002-2007. Tirosh is one fo the main promoters of professional water assessments. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences.
Steph Toogood, international presenter and water fitness educator, is ACE and AFAA certified and a UK AEA training specialist. Her innovative teaching style can be experienced in her extensive range of water exercise DVDs. She has been named one of the Top 10 Fitness Instructors in the UK by the Independent on Sunday and received the 2004 AEA Global Award for Educational Excellence.
Luis G. Vargas, PhD, PT, ATRIC, has been a physical therapist for over 30 years. He is the author of Aquatic Therapy: Interventions and Applications and the recipient of the 2004 ATRI Aquatic Therapy Professional Award and the 2000 ATRI Dolphin Award. He has completed several research studies on various aquatic therapy interventions. www.drvargasaquatics.com
Ann Wieser, PhD, serves a variety of children with disabilities as an adapted physical educator for Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, NC. She also serves both children and adults in Blue Star Therapies, her own therapeutic massage and aquatics business. She has worked in all areas of aquatics since 1967 and began working withy persons with disabilities in 1980.
Mary O. Wykle, PhD, ATRIC, is a professor of physical education at Northern Virginia Community College. She holds multiple certifications in aquatics and fitness. Her company, MW Associates, offers consulting workshops in health and aquatics. Mary is a long-time faculty member and serves on varied committees for ATRI, AEA, and WAHC. She is the author of Risk Awareness and Safety Training and the Aqua Pi-Yo-Chi™ course. www.mwaquatics.com