Staff Bios
Occupational Therapy
Molly Buist, OTR
Molly Buist is an Occupational Therapist with over 15 years experience in working with children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental conditions. In 2007, she opened the Center for Childhood Development to bring together multiple disciplines to collaboratively evaluate and treat children. Her areas of specialty include Greenspans Floortime (DIR) approach in conjunction with sensory processing based treatment techniques.
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Elise Dirkse, OTR
Elise Dirkse is an Occupational Therapist who specializes in the treatment of children. She has many years of experience working within the school system and in private practice.
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Lauren Hunt, M.S., OTR
Lauren Hunt holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Western Michigan University and a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Grand Valley State University. She has clinical experience working with a variety of pediatric clients including those with sensory processing disorders, traumatic brain injuries, autistic spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, and developmental delays.
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Speech Therapy
Juli Rice, M.A. CCC-SLP
Juli Rice is a Speech-Language Pathologist with extensive experience in treating speech, language and swallowing disorders in both children and adults. Juli received her Bachelors degree for Audiology and Speech sciences from Michigan State University and her Masters Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Indiana University.
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Carolyn Eckertova, M.A. CCC-SLP
Carolyn Eckertova has practiced as a speech and language pathologist in the schools, hospitals, and private practice. She has a B.A. from Michigan State University in audiology and speech sciences and a minor in French Language studies.
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Developmental Enhancement
David Laman, Ph.D.
Dr. David Laman is Founder and Director of Developmental Enhancement, PLC. He has specialized in neurodevelopmental conditions and related mental health issues for 20 years. As Director, Dr. Laman is responsible for developing and overseeing specialized, state-of-the-art services to meet the needs of individuals and families affected by neurodevelopmental conditions throughout West Michigan.
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Tracy Kroeger, Ph.D.
Dr. Tracy Kroeger, a psychologist with Developmental Enhancement, is an expert in the assessment and treatment of children and adults with neurodevelopmental conditions. She has specialized in developmental disorders and related mental health issues for more than 15 years.
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Eric J. Dykstra, Psy.D
Dr. Eric Dykstra is a clinical psychologist with Developmental Enhancement. He has specialized training in the field of neurodevelopmental conditions and has over 8 years of experience working in a wide range of settings. He is an expert in providing comprehensive assessment and treatment services to children, adolescents, and adults with neurodevelopmental concerns as well as their family members.
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Physical Therapy
Joe Witte, PT
Joe Witte has been a physical therapist since 1978 with experience in long term rehab, chronic pain clinic, hand therapy, burn unit treatment, in-patient and outpatient therapy, pediatrics, McKenzie approach for back pain, and a variety of manual therapy techniques including Cranial Sacral, Myofascial, direct and indirect joint mobilization, acupressure, strain-counter strain, Jin-Shin-Do, muscle energy, and others. My current approach is to use a variety of manual therapy techniques in combination with sensory and motor re-education (Feldenkrais principles) to achieve pain relief, postural balance, effort reduction in daily activities.
Adjunct Staff
Cathy Pliscof Holway, PT
Cathy Pliscof Holway is an internationally recognized physical therapist, educator and author in the healthcare field of craniosacral and integrative manual therapies. She has taught and lectured throughout the United States to beginners as well as advanced students.
Read more about Cathy Pliscof Holway, PT
Office Staff
Nicole Blain
Nicole Blain covers the front desk almost every Friday and fills in during the week. She takes on many special projects at the Center and assists Molly directly.
Janene Tarchinski
Janene is the full-time receptionist for the Center for Childhood Development. She handles patient scheduling, billing, and answering phones. In addition, to providing service information, Janene is available to speak to individuals and families, regarding referrals, services, charges and other issues.