Meet the Team
Claudia Coenen
Claudia Coenen is a grief counselor and one of the few certified Thanatologists in the Hudson Valley. In her private practice in Hudson, NY, Claudia works with clients after the death of someone close or grief over divorce, relocation, life transitions and terminal illness. After a lifetime as a performer in music, choreography and dance, Claudia leads experiential workshops, keynotes and in-service training for grief. Claudia is the author of several books on creative ways to process grief and is currently writing a new book on resilience and thriving after multiple loss.
Leilani Yizar-Reid
Leilani Yizar-Reid is a woman motivated to help others seek and walk a journey toward individual wholeness. She is a certified Pregnancy and Infant Loss Advocate, Fertility Doula, and Wellness Coach with over 60 credit hours in pursuit of obtaining her Masters in Art Therapy and Counseling. She owns River Rise LLC, a business that promotes holistic wellness and healing through various programs and support services. It is through her business she can create free support services for persons struggling with fertility, pregnancy, and infant loss; and support youth serving organizations by developing curriculums for their overall development; She believes her purpose is to serve, take the lessons she learned, and help others walk their authentic journey.
Amy Milano, MA LCSW
Amy Milano has spent over 15 years working with children and families in a wide range of settings. She holds dual master’s degrees in Social Work and Child Development, and began her career as a pediatric mental health social worker in New York City. After years of clinical practice, Amy pursued a range of opportunities: teaching nature preschool, working for Wild Earth in Kingston, NY as a nature-based educator, becoming a certified death doula, and sitting bedside as a volunteer for Hudson Valley Hospice. Amy’s background in clinical work with children and her experience working in play-based settings allows her to create healing spaces for children that are simultaneously therapeutic and fun. Her approach to working with grieving children is a marriage of her deeply playful nature, her years studying clinical theory, and her connection to the natural world. Amy brings both personal and professional understanding to her work with grieving children. When she was 11, her brother was diagnosed with pediatric cancer and six years later he died. That loss shaped her path, fueling her compassion for families in grief and leading her to become a clinical social worker dedicated to ensuring that no child has to grieve alone.
Stephanie Ciccotta, LMHC
Stephanie Ciccotta is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with extensive experience working with people of all ages. She graduated from Adelphi University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Advanced in Psychological Studies and CUNY Baruch in 2014 with her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling.
She has facilitated many bereavement groups and provided individual counseling to grieving individuals of all ages.
She has presented on a wide variety of topics from trauma in grief, spousal loss, compassion fatigue, self-care, and grieving in the digital age. Her teachings have helped learners earn CEU’s and provide important and open discussions about grief and loss.
Stephanie is also a Certified Pilates Instructor and therefore is a firm advocate for the mind/body connection. She guides her clients into building this awareness by leading them through mindfulness exercises, journaling activities, and providing psychoeducation.
Her personal life consists of raising her two sons with her husband, enjoying live music, drawing and painting, and traveling.
Laura Walzer
Laura Walzer has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and French from NYU and a Master’s Degree in Clinical and Counseling Psychology from Marist College. Laura recently retired from her position working at Ulster County Children and Family Services for the last 32 years. Laura worked in preventive services, a trauma treatment program and recently finished out her career as a supervisor in a foster care unit. She has a certificate in Children’s Bereavement Counseling through a hospice program and extensive experience working with children and youth with complex trauma and loss. Laura has had several significant losses in her own life, and these have shaped and colored her life in many ways. It is her hope that all those grieving will have support and resources available to them in order to bring healing to their lives. Laura serves on the Community Services Board in Ulster County, is chair of the Executive Board of the Special Education Task Force and volunteers with The Peoples Place in Kingston, NY. In her spare time, Laura is an avid gardener, a major Francophile, loves to travel and learn foreign languages, loves the ocean and pretty much every animal. She lives in Rosendale, NY with her husband, her 13-year-old son, a dog and two cats. Laura also has an adult daughter that lives on Long Island.
How we do this
These services are provided at no cost to families thanks to the generosity of many people who believe in this work and have donated significant funds to make Roula's Kids a reality. Roula's Kids was seeded with initial capital donated in memory of my mother, Roula. Established as a 501(c)(3) organization, Roula's Kids solicits and receives tax-deductible donations from individuals and seeks grants from foundations and corporations to support its work: providing much-needed grief counseling services to children and their families. Roula's Kids is governed by a volunteer board of trustees, which ensures that Roula's Kids operates in accordance with the highest ethical and legal standards. Please join us in supporting this important work.