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Meet the speakers of the International Conference DIRFloortime Ukraine 2025!
Jeffrey Guenzel (USA)
Jeffrey Guenzel (USA)
Dr. Jeffrey Guenzel is the CEO of the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL). Dr. Guenzel is a mental health and developmental counselor and leader with over 30 years of experience. He was formerly the Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families and Director of the New Jersey Division of Child Behavioral Health. He lectures and provides consultation throughout the United States and internationally on autism, child development, mental health, and program development. You can learn more about Dr. Guenzel at icdl.com and jeffreyguenzel.com.
Contact: jguenzel@icdl.com
Colette Ryan (USA)
Colette Ryan (USA)
Dr. Colette Ryan is a DIRFloortime expert and training leader for ICDL. She was originally an educator but changed careers many years ago. She has a Ph.D. in Infant and Early Childhood Development and is an Infant Mental Health Fellow at Montclair State University. Her expertise is in DIR, development, reflection, and parental self-efficacy. Dr. Ryan supports families around the world, teaches classes for ICDL, maintains a private practice, and provides mentoring and reflective supervision. Dr. Ryan has spoken at many conferences on topics including infant mental health, DIRFloortime, grief in the young child, discipline, play, and child development and in many locations in the US, and also in Kyiv, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. She lives in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, but she has brought Floortime, development, and reflection all over the world!
Contact: engagerelatecommunicate@gmail.com, Engage, Relate, Communicate on Facebook
Joshua Feder (USA)
Joshua Feder (USA)
Dr. Joshua Feder is a child and family psychiatrist in Solana Beach, California. He is Editor in Chief at the Carlat Child Psychiatry Report and Executive Medical Director at Positive Development, a company that is building insurance-based developmental relationship-based support for families. Dr. Feder is a senior faculty member with ICDL and Profectum, he teaches and conducts research with UCSD, SDSU and Fielding Graduate University, and he develops technology to support and study relationship-based interventions as Medical Director in the SymPlay division of Quicksilver Software. Dr. Feder is both the father and the son of autistic people and he identifies as neurodiverse himself. Dr. Feder advocates nationally and internationally on access to care for all Evidence Based Practices. Many of Dr. Feder’s podcasts and lectures can be found online at joshuafedermd.com.
Contact: contact@joshuafedermd.com
Rosemary White (USA)
Rosemary White (USA)
Rosemary completed her Occupational Therapy Degree in Australia. She received her Neurodevelopmental Therapy training in London with the Bobaths, Sensory Integration training in Los Angeles with Dr. A Jean Ayres as an OT in her clinic & her training in DIR (Floortime) with Stanley Greenspan, MD & Serena Wieder, PhD & the Faculty of ICDL.
She brings this wealth of knowledge into her clinical work with every child and their family.
She embraces Neuro Affirming practice as she works with Neurodiverse children and their caregivers. In her work with children, she integrates her understanding of the child’s motor and sensory processing into supporting their interactions with others and with the environment around them. In her work with children and their families she focuses on supporting the parent and the child, moment to moment, in their day-to-day activities with sensitivity to the unique individual profile of everyone in the interaction.
Rosemary owns & operates Pediatric Physical & Occupational Therapy Services in Seattle, Washington. Rosemary and the clinicians in her practice have embraced DIR OT since 2000 and provide a family centered approach with the emphasis on partnership with the child and family. DIR OT services are provided both in person and via Telehealth in the Seattle area and families in other countries.
In addition to her clinical work, Rosemary provides training of treatment methodology in online & in person courses, Profectum Certificate Courses both nationally and internationally including Canada, Europe, United Kingdom, Turkey, Israel, South Africa, Brazil, Taiwan, Peru, Ukraine & Australia. She also provides reflective supervision to professionals both nationally and internationally.
Rosemary’s goal is to create meaningful relationships for children & their parents to promote functional emotional development over the course of DIR Informed Occupational Therapy.
Contact: rosemary.pedptot@gmail.com; Pediatric PT & OT Services on Facebook
Mehbube Tuncer (Turkey)
Mehbube Tuncer (Turkey)
Dr. Mehbube Tuncer is a Speech and Language Therapist and DIR/Floortime Training Leader from Turkey. She holds a PhD in Speech and Language Therapy from Üsküdar University, Istanbul. Her professional specialization lies in language, speech, and communication disorders in children, with a particular focus on developmental interventions and interprofessional education.
Dr. Tuncer has extensive experience in clinical practice, academic teaching, and international research collaborations, especially in areas bridging speech-language therapy, audiology, and developmental approaches such as Floortime. She has presented at national and international conferences, contributed to interdisciplinary projects, and published research on communication, awareness, and professional identity in healthcare.
Contact: mehbube8@gmail.com, Instagram
Beth Osten (USA)
Beth Osten (USA)
Beth Osten, PhD, MS, OTR/L, graduated from the University of Washington with a B.S. in occupational therapy in 1973. After graduation, she settled in Chicago, where she has been in clinical practice for over 50 years. After completing an MS in OT from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Beth founded and directed a multidisciplinary pediatric therapy center that specialized in supporting individuals with autism and other developmental differences. Beth completed her PhD in Infant and Early Childhood Development at Fielding Graduate University in 2023. Her dissertation research focused on parent-child connectedness in preschool children with and without autism. Beth is currently the Chief Clinical Advisor at Positive Development, a national company that provides developmental relationship-based services for autistic children. Beth speaks nationally and internationally on developmental relationship-based approaches to autism, the biological foundations and treatment of regulatory disorders, parent-child connectedness, and the integration of parents into the treatment process. Beth is a member of the training faculty for the Profectum Foundation and a member of the Pathways Foundation medical roundtable. She has contributed to several scholarly articles related to sensory motor processing. She co-authored the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP), co-authored a chapter in the ICDL Diagnostic Manual for Infancy and Early Childhood, and co-authored an ASHA-certified training DVD, Assessment and Intervention of Communication in Children Birth-5: A Developmental Approach. Beth remains clinically and professionally active, providing parent-child support, mentorship, and continuing education to pediatric practitioners.
Contact: bethosten@gmail.com
Anzhela Zaiets (Ukraine)
Anzhela Zaiets (Ukraine)
Psychologist, Gestalt therapist and supervisor, DIR Expert and Training Leader, head of the first Floortime Center in Ukraine, president of the Ukrainian Association of Floortime Specialists DIRFloortime Ukraine. Has 12 years of experience working with children, adults, and families.
Since 2014, Anzhela Zaiets has been raising awareness about DIRFloortime in Ukraine. During this time, she has taught more than 40 DIR 101 theoretical courses and was a speaker at numerous conferences. She regularly teaches practical courses for parents, provides consultations for parents and supervision for professionals, trains new professionals, works in gestalt practice (individual and group therapy).
Contact: aezaiets@gmail.com, Facebook, Instagram
Natalie Jashunina (Ukraine)
Natalie Jashunina (Ukraine)
Psychologist, DIR Expert and Training Leader. Has more than 10 years of experience supporting children with ASD and other differences in development.
Contact: +380681410084, shafinkamama@gmail.com
Yaroslava Khudenko (Ukraine)
Yaroslava Khudenko (Ukraine)
Psychologist, DIR Expert and Training Leader, more than 10 years of experience.
Member of UAFS DIRFLOORTIME UKRAINE
Contact: yasyulakhudenko@gmail.com, Instagram
Iryna Filonenko (Ukraine)
Iryna Filonenko (Ukraine)
Doctor, psychotherapist, DIR Expert and Training Leader, mother of an autistic boy. 10 years of experience of working with children with autism.
Contact: +380677734020 (Viber, Telegram), Facebook, Instagram, irinafilonenko24@gmail.com
Oksana Vyshnevetska (Ukraine)
Oksana Vyshnevetska (Ukraine)
Educator, DIRFloortime professional of 203 level proficiency, has 23 years of experience of working with children. As a Floortime professional, she has been working with children and parents at Kyiv Floortime Center since 2017, and also in her private office in Irpin.
Member of UAFS DIRFLOORTIME UKRAINE
Valeriia Kostetska (Ukraine)
Valeriia Kostetska (Ukraine)
Psychologist, DIRFloortime professional of 203 level proficiency, has 8 years of experience working with neurodiverse children and has been working at Kyiv Floortime Center since 2018.
Member of UAFS DIRFLOORTIME UKRAINE
Contact: 0958352572 (Telegram), Facebook
Oleksandra Hendelieva (Ukraine)
Oleksandra Hendelieva (Ukraine)
Medical psychologist, DIRFloortime professional of 202 level profeciency, has been working at Kyiv Floortime Center since 2019.
Member of UAFS DIRFLOORTIME UKRAINE
Contact: +380632442305 (Telegram), Facebook
Raїsa Kaparulina (Ukraine)
Raїsa Kaparulina (Ukraine)
Speech and language therapist, educator, DIRFloortime professional of 202 level proficiency. Has been working with children with autism for more than 20 years.
Member of UAFS DIRFLOORTIME UKRAINE
Contact: +380501956995 (Viber, Telegram)
Liliia Huziuk (Ukraine)
Liliia Huziuk (Ukraine)
Psychologist, system and family psychotherapist, DIRFloortime professional of 201 level proficiency.
Member of UAFS DIRFLOORTIME UKRAINE
Contact: guzyukliliia@gmail.com
Valeriia Shapovalova (Ukraine)
Valeriia Shapovalova (Ukraine)
Autistic self-advocate with ADHD, has been working with children with autism for 4 years.
Contact: zeerou@gmail.com, 0934307765
Anna Deriuha (Ukraine)
Anna Deriuha (Ukraine)
Autistic self-advocate, manages social media groups "Ask an Autist" and "Adult Autism", is an activist in the adult autism awareness movement.
Anna Porodko (Ukraine)
Anna Porodko (Ukraine)
DIRFloortime professional of 201 level proficiency, mother of an autistic boy, Master of Philology.
Member of UAFS DIRFLOORTIME UKRAINE
Contact: +380508379091 (Viber, Telegram), anychka.gor@gmail.com, Facebook, Instagram
Nataliia Savonova (Ukraine)
Nataliia Savonova (Ukraine)
Child psychiatrist, DIRFloortime professional of 201 level proficiency.
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