Contributors
Vanessa Gorelkin, MA, OTR/L, CLT is an East Coast transplant to Arizona, along with her husband and 16 year old son. Vanessa graduated with a BA from Brandeis University and earned her Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy from New York University. An experienced clinician, Vanessa also has experience in executive management. She was a New York City hospital administrator at NYU Langone Medical Center and later served as Senior Vice President of Operations at a NY Planned Parenthood Affiliate. Vanessa returned to clinical practice in 2014 when she joined Mayo Clinic in Arizona as a licensed Occupational Therapist. She is an appointed Instructor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, a member of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Faculty, and an Associate in the Mayo Clinic Academy of Educational Excellence. She is a published author in the peer reviewed “Journal of Neuro-Oncology Practice,” as well having authored wellness driven articles during the course of her career. Vanessa’s work in the outpatient unit at the Mayo Clinic provided many opportunities to assist patients living with chronic illness and stressors. Vanessa is both a Certified Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapist and a Certified Lymphedema Therapist, and she applies these skills individually for her patients. Vanessa is licensed to practice in Arizona, where she has a private Telehealth practice. To assure pandemic safety, all patients work with Vanessa from the comfort and privacy of their home or office. She is passionate about applying her Occupational Therapy expertise to view people holistically, help them unlock their innate skills, and to provide training in new tools for coping. Chronic pain, chronic illness, cancer related issues, trauma, stress-related illnesses and various quality of life draining medical/ emotional issues respond to Occupational Therapy intervention. Vanessa treats the whole person. Her goal is to help people return to function by mapping individualized treatment plans to address inseparable issues of body and mind.
Visit Vanessa’s website here, her Psychology Today page here, and follow her on Instagram and Tiktok @vanessagorelkinot.
Chelena Goldman’s writing credits are far-ranging, from covering NHL hockey for NBC Sports to writing about LED masks for Daftboy.com. She spent several years writing for the Health & Fitness team at The Cheat Sheet, where one of her stories was translated for a lifestyle website in Japan. She currently resides in San Francisco where she enjoys walking to the beach through Golden Gate Park and treating herself to French fries for her “me day”.