Betsy Shandalov, Ralph Dehner, Ross LaBossiere – Integrative Approaches To Therapeutic Rehabilitation

Betsy Shandalov, OTR\L, C–IAYTBetsy Shandalov, OTR/L, C–IAYT​, has been an Occupational Therapist since 1992. She received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Boston University. She has worked in adult acute care at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. Ms. Shandalov also has worked in rehabilitation and community re–entry at Shepherd Center in Atlanta, GA as a clinician, educator and supervisor.

Ms. Shandalov has presented on multiple topics at the collegiate level to both undergraduate and graduate students in occupational therapy around the country. She moved to California and got her 200 hr. adult yoga teacher training with the focus on Iyengar yoga. Ms. Shandalov also received her certification as a yoga kids teacher and trainer with Yoga Kids International. She now teaches Therapeutic Yoga to adults and kids in a variety of health care settings and treats people privately using yoga as her main therapeutic modality. She lectures at Wellness Events and promotes yoga as an untapped therapeutic modality in healing an existing injury and for injury prevention.

In her practice, Ms. Shandalov draws from yoga’s ancient philosophy of incorporating body, mind and spirit. She sees adults and kids with all ranges of diagnoses. Some are acutely ill and others have long standing disabilities or injuries. Ms. Shandalov combines her knowledge of western medicine with an integrative medicine approach. Her extensive knowledge of disease and disability in a variety of settings combines with her complementary yoga treatment to provide a new level of understanding of how the brain and the immune system can work together for natural and therapeutic healing.

Ralph Dehner, COTA, CPTRalph Dehner, COTA, CPT, after 17 years as the director and program coordinator of the Mighty Vine Wellness Club, a nonprofit wellness center serving the mental health community, has stepped into a consultant’s role. As a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) and a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), his clinical experience includes rehabilitation and injury prevention through behavior modification, exercise, work simplification, and functional activity. Mr. Dehner started studying internal martial arts in the early 1970s and is a certified Master Trainer for Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for health programs in the USA. In addition, he is certified as an instructor for such courses as Tai Chi for Rehabilitation, Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention, and Tai Chi for Diabetes.

Mr. Dehner has taught both Qi Gong and Tai Chi in hospitals, cancer centers, nursing homes, senior centers, integrative medicine centers, and mental health facilities. In conjunction with his vast experience, he has presented several conferences, such as the National Autism Conference, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Conference and the Inaugural International Tai Chi for Health Conference (Seoul, So. Korea).

Mr. Dehner is also an experienced program developer who has produced and presented training courses on such topics as fall prevention, Tai Chi for OTs, and integrative medicine in mental health. He received his BS in holistic studies with a concentration in wellness management from Union Institute and University. Mr. Dehner is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association, American Council on Exercise, International Association of Reiki, and Tai Chi for Health Community of America.