Bonnie Berube, MS, RD, LD is President of BLB Consulting, Inc., a food service and consulting business providing information and services to corporations, restaurants, food service companies and manufacturers, schools, business and industry, hospitals, assisted living, hospice and home care and retirement communities. She and her team of dieticians help with menu planning, food preparation and safety, nutritional analysis and food facility design.

She received her B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Houston, her Masters in Institutional Administration with a focus on Nutrition from Texas Woman’s University and is licensed by the American Dietetic Association – State of Texas. She is a ServSafe Instructor through the Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Foundation and has completed the WBENC Executive Program at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

She serves as a Clinical adjunct faculty member of the University of Houston, Dietetic Internship Program, advisory committee member for Dietary Manager Program at San Jacinto Community College, and Clinical Preceptor for the Distance Learning Program, Auburn University.

You can learn more about her and her business at their website:  www.blbconsulting.com

Gordon Bush, Ph.D. received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Ohio State University and did a Post Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Texas Mental Sciences Institute. He spent a year as a faculty member at Baylor School of Medicine and is currently an Adjunct there.

He has practiced in Houston for 19 years, emphasizing both psychotherapy and psychological assessment and specializes in treating individuals with brain injury, assisting them to adjust to changes related to their injury and facilitating their reintegration into their families, social network, and employment or school settings.

Roberta M. Diddel, Ph.D. is a founding member and Executive Director of Disability 101, a non-profit organization providing high quality, consistently available programs to help people with disabling medical conditions, their families and professional providers learn to adapt and thrive.

She also serves as a Lecturer in Psychology at Rice University, where she teaches and advises students interested in clinical psychology and has taught courses and presented workshops in the Continuing Studies Department at Rice University since 1991.

She has taught courses in the Continuing Studies Department at Rice University and at The Women’s Institute on The Psychology of Health and Illness, Making Your Anger Work For You, The Nature of Emotions, The Psychology of Communication, The Meaning of Life, and The Psychology of Loss and Uncertainty.

She has a relaxed style, employing humor, using personal stories and case examples, and encouraging participants to consider how they might apply the material to their own lives and circumstances. You can find her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 713-660-8878.

Ginny Fullerton, Ph.D. is a psychologist with a private practice in Houston, who is experienced in the treatment of children, adolescents and famlies of children with chronic medical conditions. She trained at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Kennedy Krieger Institute, where she worked with children, adolescents and famlies coping with medical and/or neurological conditions. At Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, she studied the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral weight management intervention. She has published and presented research on obesity, depression, posttraumatic stress, abuse, pain disorders, and spinal cord injury. See her website at drginnyfullerton.com.

Dr. William July is the author of several books on relationships published by Doubleday, including a national bestseller. For titles, visit www.williamjuly.com.

He has appeared often on CNN, the Fox News Channel, and other networks for insights on current issues and is regularly featured on the KHOU (CBS) show Great Day Houston as a relationship and personal coach. He writes a column for Our Texas magazine and has also been a columnist for Essence magazine.

Carol Kershaw, Ed.D. is a psychologist and Co-Director of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Houston. She is an Approved Consultant for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and member of the International Society for Hypnosis. She is the author of the book entitled, The Couple's Hypnotic Dance, and has published many articles including those on the use of hypnosis with diabetes, childhood asthma, trauma resolution, and weight loss.

Dr. Kershaw has presented workshops and lectures at numerous Erickson Congresses, annual scientific meetings of ASCH, Evolution of Psychotherapy conferences, and AAMFT. She has ledworkshops in Canada, South America, and Europe, as well as leading a medical team for trauma intervention in Saudia Arabia. She co-authored the book Brain Change Therapy: Clinical Interventions for Self-Transformation.

Michael Klaybor, Ed.D. does stress and chronic pain management, is certified in employee assistance counseling and is a past president of the Houston Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professional Association.

He is certified in hypnosis, marriage & family therapy, chemical dependency, and tobacco cessation and uses Positive Psychology techniques for athletes to develop their concentration, motivation, mental toughness, mental rehearsal and capacity for relaxation.

He’s warm, wise and inspiring, with an up-beat approach.

Jamey Lacy-July is a certified fitness specialist, former competitive athlete and fitness model. She established Houston's first center for both personal training and physical rehabilitation. Jamey has regularly appeared on television, has been featured in SHAPE and Muscle & Fitness magazines, authored numerous articles and lectured nationally on topics of physical and spiritual wellness.

As a consumer advocate, Jamey has lobbied Congress to promote legislation for safer health for Americans. In A Husband, A Wife, & An Illness, Jamey's voice reveals the irony and raw nature of her plight with a ravaging illness, while also offering helpful insights for surviving the critical phases of chronic diseases.

Dr. Brendan O'Rourke is a licensed psychologist who has practiced in the Houston area for twenty-nine years. Her work with cancer patients and their families, trauma survivors, and people with chronic pain has deepened her conviction that hope matters. Her website is www.allabouthope.com. Brendan is a woman of faith who shared her own story and that of others in her book The Hope of a Homecoming: Entrusting Your Prodigal to a Sovereign God, published by NavPress in 2003. The book encourages the use of prayer to overcome difficult times. Dr.O’Rourke will discuss the relationships between body and soul, spirit and will, resilience and hope.

Robert Pennington, Ph.D. is an educational psychologist who specializes in working with leaders and their direct reports to increase productivity by reducing resistance to change and conflict. He has also developed character education/leadership lessons for teenagers. His multiday, highly interactive seminars, Successfully Managing the Stress of Change and Successful Work Relationships have become standard "flagship trainings" in some of our nation's largest organizations.

For instance, Dr. Pennington has offered between 50-120 days a year to Fortune 100 employees for 25 years. His programs are consistently rated, "the best I have ever attended" & "I wish my spouse and supervisor could attend." Dr. Pennington works in depth with organizations by supporting managers who are tasked with leading stressful and rapid change. Coaching executives to more effectively integrate interpersonal skills into their leadership repertoire, he assists organizations from the top down as well as the bottom up.

Dr. Pennington has consulted with the U.S. Navy during base closings; supported the Architect of the Capitol to enhance supervisory skills; coordinated NASA's Johnson Space Center assessment of its workforce's effectiveness in dealing with change; and assisted employees of British Petroleum and Amoco in addressing their merging of different corporate cultures.

His consultation and organizational diagnosis skills assist management in many large corporations, government agencies and professional associations in identifying critical issues and relationships which produce constructive change. In the spring of 2003, he was invited to teach Managing Change in the Workplace through the College of Technology at the University of Houston.

You can learn more about him at: http://www.robertpennington.com

Beth Sufian is an attorney with Sufian & Passamano in Houston, Texas. She has a civil litigation practice focusing on health insurance appeals, long term disability appeals, Medicaid and Medicare appeals, employee benefits, and cases arising under the Social Security Act.

She represents employers and healthcare entities in matters related to insurance and employee benefits. Sufian received her law degree from the University of Texas - Austin and her Bachelor of Arts from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

She is the director of the Cystic Fibrosis Legal Information Hotline and Cystic Fibrosis Social Security Project and serves on the boards of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and United States Adult Cystic Fibrosis Association. She has been honored as one of the Top 40 Lawyers under 40 by Texas Monthly and was recognized as a Time Magazine Local Hero.

Peggy Turner is the Division Manager for Adaptive Recreation in the Houston Parks and Recreation Department. She is a 1982 graduate of Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky and holds a B.S. Degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies with a minor in Health Education. She is a CTRS, (Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist) and a CPRP, (Certified Parks and Recreation Professional).

Prior to joining HPARD she worked for the City of Pasadena, Texas Parks and Recreation Department for more than two decades where she helped develop a diverse array of sports, recreation and leisure programs for children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities. After leaving Pasadena she worked for TIRR Foundation as the Sports Coordinator for the Greater Houston Area where she developed new sports and recreation opportunities for people with physical disabilities.

Turner is a longstanding supporter of the Paralympic Games. You can learn more about this and follow her adventures in Beijing for the 2008 Paralympic Games at: http://www.peggyturnerusa.com/beijing.htm

Bill Wade, M.Div., LPC, LMFT, is a psychotherapist in private practice and co-director of The Milton Erikson Institute of Houston, where he teaches clinical hypnosis to medical and mental health professionals.

He is approved as a supervisor with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and as a consultant with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He has presented at numerous national conferences and, with his wife Carol Kershaw, has published a book entitled Mastering Your Mind.

Mark Wilde, Ph.D. is Asst. Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at UT Medical School and is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He works at the Rehabilitation Unit at Memorial Hermann Hospital, consulting with the Kidney/Pancreas and Liver transplant teams.

His research interests include stroke and traumatic brain injury outcome and the impact of sleep disorders in the outcome and daily functioning after traumatic brain injury and stroke. He also trains residents and received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of PM&R for 2004-2005.

Wendy Wilkinson is an attorney and Project Director of the DBTAC-Southwest ADA Center. The Center is a project of the ILRU (Independent Living Research Utilization) program, which is based at TIRR Memorial Hermann. She also served as Principal Investigator on Legal Protections for People with Disabilities, a project of the Research and Training Center on Managed Care and Disability.

Wendy has published a number of articles on the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability related issues. In 1995 she was appointed Clinical Assistant Professor of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Baylor College of Medicine. Wendy received an Obermann Fellowship in 1997 to study glass ceiling issues in the employment of people with disabilities. In 2008 she was appointed to the TIRR Research Council.