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Our Staff
Michelle Hintz, PsyD
Licensed Psychologist
I am a licensed psychologist and a board-certified music therapist with over 25 years of clinical experience. I received my doctorate from Carlos Albizu University in 2007 and completed my doctoral internship at Miami Children’s Hospital in the Department of Psychiatry. I established The Cadenza Center for Psychotherapy & the Arts, Inc. in 2000 to serve the greater Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area.
While I do work with adults, my primary focus is with children & their families. I have training in behavior modification, family therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy & developmental psychology. In addition to conducting therapy, I also do evaluations for learning disabilities, conduct and behavioral disorders, autism, mood and personality disorders. For forensic cases related to autism, I have provided testimony and expert opinions as well as serving as an expert witness.
In addition to my work with clients, I serve as the center’s President and Clinical Director as well as supervise trainees in mental health and psychology. Finally, in addition to being a featured speaker at professional seminars, my professional service includes being on the editorial board for “Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts” (a peer-reviewed APA journal) and serving on several national committees and advisory boards both in psychology and music therapy.
BEHAVIOR THERAPY STAFF
Daniella Buitrago BCBA
serves as our Director of Behavior Analysis Services. She is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst who earned her undergrad in Psychology at Florida International University and then completed a Master of Arts in Special Education at Arizona State University with an emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis. Daniella has served a diverse demographic of clients ranging from toddlers through young adults, including family members and those most involved in her clients’ lives.
Joining Cadenza in mid-2022, Daniella is a local Floridian who is an enthusiastic, passionate, and down to earth professional wanting to make a difference. By incorporating state-of-the-art practices, she strives to uphold the highest clinical standards and steers the rest of the behavioral team towards greater competence.
When she is not “working” it’s hard to know where Daniella might be. She loves spending time with her family, exploring new foodie hot spots, soaking up sun at the beach, paddle boarding, and even running around at the dog beach!
Ashley Castro BCaBA
Ashley Castro is an Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA) with over 8 years working in the field. As an undergrad student, Ashley started working with children at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital as a volunteer bedside buddy where her love for children grew and lead her earn a Master’s Degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from Capella University in 2018.
Ashley joined the Cadenza Center in 2019 and is particularly adept at working with difficult family dynamics, aggressive behavior, and adolescents with autism. Ashley’s professional interests include verbal behavior, behavior reduction, feeding, independent living skills and helping to improve family communication and relationships. In addition to maintaining a small caseload, Ashley serves as the Cadenza Center’s Operational Director. She is responsible for overseeing effective operating procedures across the company. Her duties include reviewing company guidelines, policies and procedures as well as assessing productivity, hiring and training procedures. Ashley intends on pursuing a degree in mental health in order to better serve as a primary clinician who can integrate her behavioral background with psychological theory.
Liora Namiech BCBA
Liora Namiech is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with over 5 years of experience working with children of special needs. She was introduced to behavior analysis during an internship semester while pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Health Education and Behavior at the University of Florida. Prior to entering the field of ABA, Liora taught yoga and health education classes and was motivated to earn a master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis with an emphasis in autism studies.
Liora has provided ABA therapy and supervision in a variety of settings and her professional skills include assessment and treatment of problem behaviors, implementation of direct skills assessments, and application of evidence-based teaching methods to promote acquisition of critical skills. Liora also has experience teaching functional communication to both vocal and non-vocal children from a verbal behavior approach.
Liora strives to provide compassionate service delivery, honoring each child’s individual needs and preferences. Liora was born in Paris, France and grew up in Miami Beach; she speaks both French and English fluently. Liora continues to reside in Miami and lives with her partner and their fur baby Jack. In her free time, Liora enjoys spending time with her family, eating sushi, and doing yoga.
Irene Taffe BCBA
Irene Taffe (formerly Van Elderen) is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst with over 10 years of experience in the field of Autism working with children and adolescents. Initially trained in speech therapy, Irene is a highly-motivated and a dedicated professional committed to continued learning and clinical advancement. She is not only skilled in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), but also hold certification in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Organizational Behavior Management (OBM).
Having worked at the Cadenza Center for over three years, she has not only provided direct ABA services, but she has served as a consultant to the clinical director through her expertise in program development, performance management, staff training, quality monitoring, and clinical outcome measurement. Irene believes in a holistic viewpoint and supports open communication with parents, caregivers and educators. She currently coordinates Cadenza’s training and mentorship program for RBT’s working towards certification as a Behavior Analyst.
Ingrid Barrero BCBA
Ingrid Barrero is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with over 6 years of experience working with children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, working in homes, schools, centers, and community settings. She graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology from Florida International University and Masters degree in Professional Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology.
Ingrid is especially proud to be a member of the Cadenza Center because she is passionate about the company’s vision to integrate behavioral and psychological treatments. She is especially interested in the role of mental health in early intervention. Ingrid intends on pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology to combine her behavioral background with psychotherapy to implement a concentrated and personalized treatment for individuals.
Makenzie Conley BCBA
Originally from Central New York, Makenzie Conley has made South Florida her home for the past 5 years. She has a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience from Nova Southeastern University and a Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis from University of South Florida. She became interested in ABA in college and was fascinated by human behavior and its role in the process of individuation. Makenzie’s background in neuroscience and behavior allows her to understand how biology, chemistry, and behavior overlap. She is experienced in early intervention, social skill acquisition, and facilitating group therapy programs. When providing services, she focuses on helping her clients with increasing independence, embracing individuality, and promoting self advocacy.
Cynthia Franco BCaBA
Cynthia is Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA). Cynthia studied at Florida International University where she acquired her Bachelors in Psychology. She has been in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis for the past 6 years; starting her career as a Registered Behavior Therapist (RBT) and then accruing hours to become a BCaBA. Cynthia has had experience with clients of all skill levels and ages. Cynthia has has extensive experience working with non-verbal clients and using PECs (picture exchange communication), AAC devices ( augmentative communication devices) and sign language.
PSYCHOLOGY MENTAL HEALTH STAFF
Dr. Janeel Inda PsyD
Janeel Inda is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and clinical psychologist with more than 15 years of clinical experience. As a behavior analyst, she has had the opportunity to provide training to parents, teachers, and staff members on effective behavioral strategies and interventions and clinical supervision to Registered Behavioral Technicians. Dr. Inda received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Albizu University in 2020 and completed her post-doctoral residency in the Citrus Health Network Children’s Crisis Stabilization Unit (CCSU) and the Juvenile Addictions Receiving Facility (JARF) and focused on developing crisis de-escalation and stabilization skills while facilitating individual, group, and family therapy.
She has experience working with the Miami Dade County Community Action and Human Services Department (CAHSD) where she gained additional experience working with children, parents, teachers, and school personnel in the Head Start program.
She also worked extensively with the substance abuse population in individual and group inpatient settings. She gained additional therapeutic experience with children, adolescents, and families while working in the Inpatient Crisis Unit and Intensive Outpatient Program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital (NCH). She has worked with court-mandated cases including co-parenting and groups for adolescents. Her experiences branch out to implementing psychological evaluations, particularly psycho-educational and developmental assessments.
Dr. Inda is a proud member of the Cadenza team since 2021 and whole heartedly shares its mission to serve the community utilizing a caring and team-oriented approach. She enjoys conducting evaluations as well as working with children diagnosed with developmental and behavioral difficulties. By bringing her expertise from both the behavioral and psychological disciplines, Dr. Inda is an extremely knowledgeable advocate for early and intensive intervention. She is passionate about empowering and supporting families throughout the clinical process.
Dr. Inda is a proud member of the Cadenza team since 2021 and whole heartedly shares its mission to serve the community utilizing a caring and team-oriented approach. She enjoys conducting evaluations as well as working with children diagnosed with developmental and behavioral difficulties. By bringing her expertise from both the behavioral and psychological disciplines, Dr. Inda is an extremely knowledgeable advocate for early and intensive intervention. She is passionate about empowering and supporting families throughout the clinical process.
Ileana Oxley LMFT
Ileana Oxley is an experienced Marriage & Family Therapist who provides guidance, support and hope with a wide variety of clientele. Ileana heeded her calling of helping others over 10 years ago while helping single parents working through divorce recovery.
In addition to a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Nova Southeastern University, Ileana is also board-certified in Sexual Additions from the IICS, Addiction certified from ATTI (Addictions Therapy Training Institute), and a certified hypnotherapist (Context Consults & Valdosta State University). Her credentials along with her real-world experiences have enabled her to be compassionate and sensitive to the issues and situations faced by her clientele. She can quickly understand and empathize with her clients, and together forge a plan to reach their goals.
In addition to a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Nova Southeastern University, Ileana is also board-certified in Sexual Additions from the IICS, Addiction certified from ATTI (Addictions Therapy Training Institute), and a certified hypnotherapist (Context Consults & Valdosta State University). Her credentials along with her real-world experiences have enabled her to be compassionate and sensitive to the issues and situations faced by her clientele. She can quickly understand and empathize with her clients, and together forge a plan to reach their goals.
Ileana is bilingual counselor who is passionate about helping people through their journey in finding hope and healing from life’s challenges. She primarily works with those wanting to work though relationship issues whether premarital counseling, couples struggling in their marriage, or blended families. She also is effective in working with teenagers and their families while they deal with many of today’s challenges (cyber bullying, addictions, identity, career choices, etc.). She has worked with individuals with a history of trauma as well as those recovering from most forms of addiction.
Jasmine Bernstein LMFT
Jasmine Bernstein is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) who joined the Cadenza Center in 2022. She received her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family therapy from Nova Southeastern University and brings her training in systemic thinking to her work with clients and their families. She has a passion for helping people navigate through the many challenges life can bring by using techniques that are solution oriented and client focused.
While Jasmine works with adults/ adolescents, couples and families, her primary focus is working from a strength-based perspective to help people manage life cycle changes and stressors, depression/ anxiety, parenting, co-parenting/ divorce/ blended family challenges and couples’ therapy. Because of her unique skill set and experience, other clinicians often consult with her on difficult cases.
While Jasmine works with adults/ adolescents, couples and families, her primary focus is working from a strength-based perspective to help people manage life cycle changes and stressors, depression/ anxiety, parenting, co-parenting/ divorce/ blended family challenges and couples’ therapy. Because of her unique skill set and experience, other clinicians often consult with her on difficult cases.
Jasmine’s philosophy is that people consider reframing the clinical work as “moving towards the solution rather than running away from the problem.” From this perspective, she has seen people create positive and lasting changes in our relationships.
Kyara Ramirez-Guzman LMHC
Kyara Ramirez-Guzman is a bilingual Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Registered Marriage Family & Couples Therapy Intern. Kyara is also a National Certified Counselor who offers you 3 years of experience in working with individuals, family, marriages, couples and children in variety of settings in the mental health field. Kyara is also trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She obtained her Masters in Counseling with a Dual Specialization in Mental Health and Marriage, Family & Couples Therapy at Barry University.
Kyara, was trained under the nurturing parenting program curriculum to help parents gain an understanding of parenting using nurturing techniques. She uses play therapy to help children understand their feelings, identify feelings and regulate emotions when dealing with behavioral difficulties. Through CBT, Kyara helps individuals living with depression, anxiety, fear, grief, life stressors, dysfunctional relationship or simple situational stressors. Through her experience, Kyara has learned that therapy is a collaborative effort that only works as long as you put in the work when you are ready and willing to change.
Chanrika Morley LMHC
Chanrika Morley has over 10 years of experience in the field of mental health. She received her Master’s degree in mental health counseling from Barry University. Chanrika has been working in the field of mental health since 2013 and started out working with individuals with Autism and Intellectual Disabilities in an Intensive Behavior group home. Chanrika has worked in community mental health centers, substance use treatment centers, foster care and residential centers and out patient centers ever since.
Chanrika is trained in cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), behavior therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), as well as Applied Behavior Analysis. She specializes in working with individuals from young children through adults dealing with Trauma, PTSD, Depression and Anxiety.
Chanrika believes each individual is unique in their own way. Her goal is to help each individual reach their full potential by providing a safe, non-judgmental and culturally-relevant environment. When Chanrika isn’t working she is often reading, enjoying what South Florida has to offer, or traveling to the Bahamas to visit her family and friends.
Chanrika believes each individual is unique in their own way. Her goal is to help each individual reach their full potential by providing a safe, non-judgmental and culturally-relevant environment. When Chanrika isn’t working she is often reading, enjoying what South Florida has to offer, or traveling to the Bahamas to visit her family and friends.
Maria Guasone
Maria Guasone is a bilingual Registered Mental Health Counseling Intern (RMHCI) who joined the Cadenza Center in 2020. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Christian Ministry from New Orleans Baptist Theology Seminary and a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Barry University.
Maria specializes in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) Motivational Interviewing and Christian Counseling. She has experience working with depression, anxiety symptoms, attachment/abandonment issues, low self-esteem, low self-confidence, anger issues, traumas, peer relationship issues, or couple-marital issues. Maria offers services in Spanish and English.
Maria specializes in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) Motivational Interviewing and Christian Counseling. She has experience working with depression, anxiety symptoms, attachment/abandonment issues, low self-esteem, low self-confidence, anger issues, traumas, peer relationship issues, or couple-marital issues. Maria offers services in Spanish and English.
Maria’s strives to help her clients through life’s challenges by actively listening and reflecting while offering authentic empathy to help clients reach their goals and dreams. She supports individuals through the process of building a better version of themselves by encouraging personal growth and introspection.
Maria is passionate about helping others in her field and outside through her church. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Organizational Psychology from Albizu University. Originally from Mar del Plata, Argentina, Maria is a huge fan of Italian and Argentinian cuisine. Outside of work you can find her walking along the beach listening to music, meditating, or doing Pilates. She is also an avid animal lover and considers her cats and dogs family members.
Maria is passionate about helping others in her field and outside through her church. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Organizational Psychology from Albizu University. Originally from Mar del Plata, Argentina, Maria is a huge fan of Italian and Argentinian cuisine. Outside of work you can find her walking along the beach listening to music, meditating, or doing Pilates. She is also an avid animal lover and considers her cats and dogs family members.
Carolina Cossio
Carolina Cossio is a school psychologist with nearly 10 years of experience in the field. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she knew from a young age that she wanted help children with behavioral and learning difficulties. With intent to become an educator, Carolina moved to Florida soon after high school and attended Miami Dade College and then FIU. After graduation, she worked in a Montessori school in Miami and fell in love with the philosophy of teaching.
She then obtained a Montessori certification as well. After getting married, she returned to Argentina and became a teacher at one of the best bilingual schools in Argentina. Even in that role, she felt compelled to learn more.
She then obtained a Montessori certification as well. After getting married, she returned to Argentina and became a teacher at one of the best bilingual schools in Argentina. Even in that role, she felt compelled to learn more.
In 2013, she obtained her degree as a school psychologist so that she could evaluate children, adolescents and young adults with special needs and/or with specific learning disorders. It is her passion for finding the source of those difficulties that Carolina finds her purpose, knowing that she is supporting not only the child, but their families. At the Cadenza Center, Carolina conducts evaluations in English and Spanish for ages 3 years and up.
Lorelis Ploche
Lorelis Ploche, is an art therapy graduate student at Pennsylvania Western University as well as a Registered Behavior Technician for the Cadenza Center. Originally from Sacramento, California, Lorelis has been serving children and families who have been affected by autism and related developmental disorders since 2015. She has also been given opportunities to serve children diagnosed with cancer at inpatient facilities.
With a great passion for art and mental health, Lorelis is excited to embark on this professional journey to serve a wide variety of populations through art therapy. Utilizing influences from positive psychology and person-centered therapy, Lorelis strives to promote healing, expression, and self-exploration through the creative process. On her free time, Lorelis enjoys to paint, dance, spend time with her loved ones, and serve her church community. She looks forward to sharing her love for the arts through the therapeutic process and helping clients achieve their goals.
With a great passion for art and mental health, Lorelis is excited to embark on this professional journey to serve a wide variety of populations through art therapy. Utilizing influences from positive psychology and person-centered therapy, Lorelis strives to promote healing, expression, and self-exploration through the creative process. On her free time, Lorelis enjoys to paint, dance, spend time with her loved ones, and serve her church community. She looks forward to sharing her love for the arts through the therapeutic process and helping clients achieve their goals.
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Arielle
Arielle joined the Cadenza Center team in early 2022. She now works as the office manager & billing coordinator. Recently graduating with a degree in clinical psychology, she hopes to pursue a field in psychiatry. Arielle is dedicated to making sure the office runs smoothly, helping clients get scheduled for services, and making sure the billing department is up-to-date with insurance claims. When she is not verifying insurances and crunching numbers, she can be found at a local Florida Panthers game or on the pickleball courts.
Andrea
Andrea is a new addition to Cadenza’s front desk team. She is a graduate from Miami-Dade Community College with a degree in Marketing Management – International Business. Andrea speaks Spanish and English, being originally from Ecuador. She is a proud parent of two and brings her customer service experience from the world of hospitality. Andrea aims to bring a bright smile and genuine care to all those that first reach the Cadenza Center
Xochi
Xochi joined the Cadenza Center team in 2022, bringing her background in logistics and is part of our front desk team, serving as the scheduling coordinator. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s University of San Antonio with a BBA in Information Systems Management. Xochi brings experience from nonprofit, corporate and governmental organizations. She is adept in project management and working with a wide range of stakeholders to develop win-win solutions.
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