Dorothy Klock, MD is a Board Certified Family Physician. Dr. Klock holds a BS from UCLA, earned her MD from Albany Medical College, and completed her Family Medicine residency at Brown University-Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island.  Dr. Klock has over fifteen years of clinical experience in the Los Angeles area, including 13 years in the Department of Family Medicine at Kaiser Permanente,  and she served as a medical advisor for the entire run of the hit TV sit-com Scrubs.  Dr. Klock leads...

Margaret Grundstein was raised in Detroit, attended the University of Michigan and then headed east, first to Goddard College for a Bachelor’s in History and then to Yale to graduate with a Master’s in Urban Planning in 1970. With the ink still wet on her diploma, Margaret headed west, dropping out to live communally in the woods of Oregon, an adventure she writes about in her first memoir, Naked in the Woods; My Unexpected Years in a Hippie Commune, published by Oregon State University Press...

Mindy Podolsky Owens is a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s Degree in Nutrition. She also has a certificate in adult weight management. Her broad and extensive experience includes nutritional consultation, designing and managing a nutrition consult service for a Chicago Health Maintenance Organization, developing a grant-based weight management program for childhood obesity at La Rabida Children’s Hospital, establishing and implementing a weight management program for a chain of health...

Charlotte Reznick, PhD, is author of The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success and contributing author of the chapter "Imagery as a Therapeutic Tool with Children" in Transformative Imagery: Cultivating Imagination for Healing, Change and Growth. She is a child educational psychologist and a former UCLA Associate Professor of Psychology. Dr. Reznick has a 30-year meditation practice and is the creator of Imagery For Kids: Breakthrough for...

Dr. Grogan is a practicing pediatric orthopedic surgeon in the west Los Angeles area. He has seen over 45,000 patients in his career. Dr. Grogan graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in Biology and received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Dr. Grogan’s orthopedic training has included an orthopedic residency at UCLA plus several orthopedic fellowships in pediatric orthopedics, trauma, and NIH sponsored joint replacement...

Dr. Soheil Simzar, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist, specializes in skin cancer surgery and cosmetic dermatology. He began his medical studies at Van Nuys Medical Magnet High School, graduating in the top 1%. He received his Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from University of California at Los Angeles, Doctor of Medicine at UCLA, and was a Resident Physician in Internal Medicine at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. At Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, he continued his Residency in Dermatology...

Donna Holloran earned her BS in Psychology and Child Development before moving to California and earning a MSW from UCLA. She is also certified in Infant Mental Health.  Donna founded Babygroup in Santa Monica, California, in 1996 and there maintains her practice as a parent educator and child development specialist. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work from USC.  For the past 25...

Richard and Lois Reinis are grandparents 16 times over. They share some lessons learned through the 24 years of grandparenting. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work from USC.  For the past 26 years she has worked with families and children, as a therapist, an elementary school teacher, and as a parent consultant. Find out more at parenting portal.com

Stephanie Demery is a licensed marriage and family therapist in West Los Angeles, working with children, adolescents, and families. She specializes in working with childhood disorders that include depression, anxiety, PTSD, learning challenges, low self-esteem, conduct disorders, autism, ADD and ADHD, addiction, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. She's certified in EMDR therapy. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine...

Rachel Zaslansky Sheer is co-owner and co-founder of The Grapevine Agency established in 2005. Specializing in permanent placement of executive/personal assistants, home staffing and management, utilizing the highest standards of recruiting. Prior to becoming a recruiter, Rachel was an Executive Assistant to Kevin Huvane, Managing Partner of Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Before joining Huvane’s team, Rachel worked for two Talent Agents in the Motion Picture Department of CAA. Rachel...

Julie is a licensed psychotherapist working with infants, children and adults, exploring attachment, mindfulness and empathic communication. Her background is in infant mental health and child psychology, with a specialization in baby and child sleep issues. She created the content and curriculum for the Wright Parent & Me classes in Los Angeles. Julie trained at Cedars Sinai Early Childhood Center and co-founded a program for parents and babies from 0-3 at LA Child Guidance Clinic. She...

Hedieh Naydawood, MS CCC-SLP is a Speech Language Pathologist in private practice, specializing in early intervention. Her trainings to the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles Universal Preschool, North Lost Angeles, and Westide Regional Centers have focused on the benefits of relationship-based speech and feeding therapy. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work...

Melanie Soloway is Summit Center’s Parent Educator and the Founder and Director of Raising Enlightened Children. Melanie is the mother of three teenage boys, two of whom are twice exceptional/2e. She has been trained and is certified in numerous parenting programs including Positive Discipline, Redirecting Children’s Behavior, Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) and Reflective Parenting. Melanie says, “Gaining greater understanding and knowledge about who our children are...

Nathalie Aluisi, M.A., OTR/L, SWC is a pediatric occupational therapist with over 18 years of experience.  She specializes in the areas of sensory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorders, social/emotional regulation, executive functioning, social thinking, developmental delays, premature birth, social skills, fine motor/visual motor difficulties, and feeding/oral motor skills.  She has advanced training in Sensory Integration theory and practice, and is certified to administer the...

Lauren Bruns specializes in early childhood music education and has been writing songs for more than 20 years. She owned and managed Sessions Songwriting and Music from 2011 to 2016 and is the current head of the music department at Laurence School in Valley Glen, CA. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work from USC.  For the past 25 years she has worked with families and children, as a...

Lindsay Astor Grant is a licensed Pediatric Occupational Therapist. She received her Masters degree in occupational therapy from USC and has advanced training in sensory integration, executive function, and visual perceptual motor skill development. In 2018 Lindsey founded Learning Redesigned, working as an independent consultant for private schools. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social...

Donna Holloran earned her BS in Psychology and Child Development before moving to California and earning a MSW from UCLA. She is also certified in Infant Mental Health.  Donna founded Babygroup in Santa Monica, California, in 1996 and there maintains her practice as a parent educator and child development specialist. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work from USC.  For the past 25...

After completing his BA in Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, David worked as an Exhibit Designer for the Kohl Children’s Museum. While working there he had an opportunity to meet and work with many educators including the philosopher Loris Malaguzzi from the municipality of Reggio Emilia, Italy, founder of the Reggio Approach. David then worked as an education coordinator and atelierista at Chicago Commons, a social service agency that developed early childhood...

Erica Curtis is a board-certified art therapist, licensed marriage and family therapist, and internationally cited expert on parenting, relationships, and mental health, specializing in creative and cutting-edge approaches to psychotherapy and teaching. She lives in southern California with her husband and three children. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work from USC.  For the past 25...

Dr. Berman is an Association Professor of Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and runs her own clinical practice. Her interest is focused on increasing healthy child development by strengthening the parent-child bond. She is on the clinical faculty at the UCLA Women’s Life Center, which specializes in mental stability during pregnancy and post-partum. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University...

Rebekka Helford, MA, LMFT, earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Brown University and her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University. Rebekka has enjoyed working with children and their families in a variety of capacities both therapeutic and non-clinical for over 15 years. In addition to conducing weekly psychotherapy for adults in her Santa Monica-adjacent private practice. Rebekka also specializes in...

Reveta Bowers has been engaged as the Lead Faculty Member at the NAIS Institute for New Heads.  She was the Head of School at the Center for Early Education in Los Angeles, (Toddler – 6th grades, 538 students), where she had been for 41 years before retiring in 2016.  She attended the University of Southern California where she received her degree in Humanities.  She later returned to graduate school and completed a Master's degree in Developmental Psychology and three teaching...

Kathy Leader is an artist and art teacher that studied Fine Art in South Africa, teaches art classes for kids, and hold art camps for kids. She encourages kids and adults to break free from self-criticism and reconnect with their basic human creative instinct by focusing on art as a process instead of a method of product creation. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work from USC.  For...

Jennifer Waldburger from Sleepy Planet gives advice, suggestions and tips on how to help babies sleep.  She focuses on babies age 0-1 years old. Host Joanna Port is Director at Crestwood Hills Preschool. She has a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University and a Masters in Social Work from USC.  For the past 25 years she has worked with families and children, as a therapist, an elementary school teacher, and as a parent consultant. Find out more at parenting portal.com