Panelists: DEC 2013

[divider]

Kimberley D. Vester-Couch

Diplomate of Oriental Medicine, National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM).

Kimberley D. Vester-Couch has realized a life long dream of helping others as sole proprietor of the Bluestem Acupuncture Clinic of Kansas. In her early twenties, she set her course down a path less traveled, in Complimentary Medicine.After returning from Hawaii in 1991, as a Licensed Shiatsu therapist, she pursued her interest in Natural Sciences; Geology, Botany, Field Biology and Organic Chemistry, receiving her Bachelor’s from Wichita State University in 2003.Her interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine was a natural evolution from the knowledge she had gained of the natural world. Implicit in both studies is the understanding that all living systems are dynamic innature. Kimberley achieved her Master’s of Science in Oriental Medicine from the Kansas College of Chinese Medicine in 2008.

She next received her Diplomate of Oriental Medicine (Dipl. OM) through the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) in 2009. Her credentials include Doctor of Oriental Medicine (DOM), from the state of New Mexico. Continuing in her thirst for knowledge, she is currently pursuing a new direction in Japanese Hara Palpatory Diagnosis, from master Kiiko Matsumoto.

Twenty years ago, after moving back to her native state of Kansas, Kimberley did not expect to embark upon this path. She has always been grateful she found her chosen profession; one that challenges her curiosity, connects her to the fluid and dynamic nature of our world, and provides an opportunity for her to help others.

[divider style=”thin”]

Robert Zettle

Robert Zettle, PH.D.

Professor of Psychology at Wichita State University

The common thread running through my research is an attempt to better understand the roles that languaging and verbal behavior play in the initiation, maintenance, and alleviation of human suffering from a functional contextualistic perspective. Some of the research projects are more basic in nature, while others are more explicitly applied and clinical in their focus. More basic research projects focus on the development of both self-report and behavioral ways of assessing processes that contribute to psychological flexibility/rigidity as well as experimentally manipulating these same processes in impacting analogues of clinical forms of human suffering, such as anxiety and mood disorders. More applied research projects compare the clinical outcomes and related processes associated with traditional cognitive-behavioral interventions in treatment of depression versus ACT and related acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches.

[divider style=”thin”]

Melanie Cloud

MS, LMFT certified MARI Practitioner

Melanie Cloud is a Kansas native, dedicated to promoting healing and wholeness in Wichita and the surrounding area.
Melanie provides therapy for individuals, couples and families in her private practice where she also provides
unique opportunities for healing by incorporating Expressive Arts.

Melanie’s therapeutic approach is person-centered which means, like the famous psychologist Carl Rogers, she believes her clients “have within themselves vast resources for self-understanding and for altering their self-concepts, basic attitudes, and self- directed behavior.” Life circumstances frequently complicate one’s ability to access such resources. Melanie’s genuine, accepting spirit coupled with empathetic understanding allows her to provide a haven where clients can safely explore, uncover and re-discover their own internal strengths.

On a personal note, Melanie has been married for seventeen years to her best friend. Together, she and her husband have been blessed with two witty and amazing teenagers who enjoy helping them practice what they preach. When Melanie is not at work or in her backyard art studio she can be found enjoying the great blessing of community among extended family and friends.