Get to know Our Team

Deb Kennard | Founder & Trainer

“Anything that keeps you from being a shining star is either a memory or a lie.”

Deb Kennard, MS developed and founded Personal Transformation Institute in 2014 after more than 20 years of clinical practice and EMDR experience. Initially trained in EMDR in 1996, in 2008 she was trained to be an EMDR Trainer by Dr. Francine Shapiro, the founder of EMDR Therapy.  In addition to her extensive EMDR experience, Deb is certified in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. She has training and extensive experience in working in a trauma and attachment informed manner.  She offers authenticity, simplicity and a practical approach to clinical work and training.  She is dedicated to a mission to offer personal transformation and freedom for all who seek it. 

To the principles and protocols of EMDR, Deb brings her approach to SAFE and Attachment Focused therapy, resulting in a safe and effective form of EMDRIA-approved EMDR therapy and training. She is dedicated to training clinicians in way that keeps them engaged in a safe and supportive manner. She has made it PTI’s mission to offer the most comprehensive post-training support and is happy to lead a group of wonderful and experienced trainers.

Alice Stricklin | Trainer

We are created with the capacity for connection, growth, and healing. Sometimes things occur in our lives that block this natural order. I have dedicated my career to finding ways to walk along side others when this natural process is interrupted by pain.

Alice began her career over 10 years ago in the study of Marriage and Family Therapy. Her clinical work focuses on children, teens, and adults who have experienced trauma. After becoming EMDR trained and implementing the practices she learned Alice found that her clients were able to heal from their past and begin forming healthier connections.

Motivated by their success, Alice earned her EMDR certification and eventually became a trainer herself. She is just as passionate about the helping her clients heal as she is about training other clinicians in EMDR therapy.

Alice continues to work with clients of all ages, specifically those who have been impacted by sexual abuse, neglect, childhood abuse, sexual assaults, and spiritual abuse. She has found ways to incorporate the model of EMDR within her therapy.

Alice is located in Lebanon, TN, and does consultations via internet, phone conference, or face to face in either her Nashville or Lebanon office.

Wanda Holloway, Psy.D. | Trainer

“I believe that every individual has the capacity to change and become whole in both body and mind, given the right desire, conditions and support. In the pursuit of that change there is often an innate desire to fill the void in one’s life by creating a trusting relationship that produces healing from past wounds and allows one to see the potential to heal and become whole.”

Wanda Holloway, PsyD adds a depth of clinical expertise as well as a gentle, kind spirit to Team PTI. Since her career began in the substance abuse and addiction field, Dr. Holloway has always been interested in healing the mind and body concurrently. She recognizes that to treat the whole person the mind and body must become connected.

In her career, Dr. Holloway has employed this belief to treat women in codependent and addictive relationships and people with eating disorders and body image issues through the use of Bio and Neurofeedback. She has been trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Progressive Counting (PC) and she is Board Certified in Biofeedback.

She became trained in EMDR in 2011. Since that time Dr. Holloway has not only pursued certification, but has completed the requirements as an Approved Consultant through EMDRIA. Under the tutelage of Deb Kennard since 2015, Dr. Holloway learned the importance of Attachment trauma– something which has underscored and affirmed her belief of healing the body and mind concurrently.

She currently resides in Springfield, MO with her husband, two daughters and son-in-law, and four grandchildren. She is very active in her church and is on the Pastor’s Council, is the Director of Women’s Ministry, and plays the violin on the worship team.

Susanne Goldstein LPC, NCC | Trainer

Susanne is a Licensed Professional Counselor, in the state of Arizona. Over the last 20 years, her passion for assisting people to heal and develop authentic connections with “Self” led her to work with adolescents, young adults, and families. Susanne’s professional counseling background is in developmental and complex trauma, family systems, attachment, and cognitive behavioral theoretical perspectives. She has clinical expertise in trauma-informed care and the root of her philosophy is that all persons deserve an opportunity to heal.

Susanne is excited to be a part of the Personal Transformation Institute Team and is a S.A.F.E. EMDR therapist. Her journey in becoming a Certified EMDR therapist and an Approved Consultant deepened her passion to teach other therapists the S.A.F.E. EMDR model. This attachment EMDR focus supports not only personal transformation for clients but also for the therapist. Susanne invites curiosity into the learning environment. This allows therapists to begin to understand how we can get in the way of our client’s process by deepening insight into our own attachment patterns and what we needed to do to keep safe and attached. Susanne uses non-violent approach to teaching in alignment with trauma-informed care.

Susanne has a holistic and experiential approach that incorporates mind/body treatment and takes into consideration how life long experiences affect how we show up in the present. Guiding clients to look at what gets in our way of living a life of authenticity and freedom. Life should be about freedom, possibilities and always hope. Susanne believes in treating the root, healing the brain/body so that you can live in truth and acceptance of you. Healing is about recovering your true self.

Renee Rathke, LCSW | Trainer

Renee is a private practice clinician who has been a therapist for 27+ years. Her experience has been in assisting clients who are affected by past trauma and complex trauma experiences and clients who are experiencing current mental health issues.

Renee is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the State of Oregon who has been trained in a number of therapeutic approaches.
She is an EMDR trained and certified clinician and an Approved Consultant through EMDRIA. She is also Sensorimotor level 1 trained.

Renee believes each of us wants health and wellbeing. She trusts we hold our own unique solutions and abilities to heal our inner wounds aided by our own systems which are designed for healing. She works in a collaborative manner utilizing approaches to therapy that embody mindfulness, non-judgmental/non-violence, compassion and awareness toward reaching healing transformation..

Through her work with Deb Kennard (founder of Personal Transformation Institute) and the PTI team toward becoming an Approved Consultant and assisting at PTI trainings, Renee discovered and embraced what had been missing in her work with clients. The integration of EMDR through which she now views her work with all clients. Along the way, the philosophy and concepts of Personal Transformation Institute took hold and supported (and continue to support) Renee in continuing her own journey toward personal transformation. She was so excited and energized by the PTI EMDR approach that she is now a Trainer and Approved Consultant with PTI.

Kourtney Young, LPC | Trainer

Kourtney Young is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Registered Play Therapist (RPT), Board Certified Telemental Health Provider, National Certified Counselor (NCC) and Certified EMDR Therapist. She received a Masters of Education (MEd) in Couples and Family Counseling from the University of Montevallo and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Alabama. She is a member of the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA), the Association for Play Therapy (APT), Alabama Counseling Association (ALCA), and American Counseling Association (ACA) and is currently the President-Elect for the Alabama Association for Play therapy (AAPT).

Kourtney is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the State of Alabama who has been trained in a number of therapeutic approaches.
She is an EMDR trained and certified clinician and an Approved Consultant through EMDRIA.

Kourtney began her journey with PTI with her 6-day EMDR training. She continued with the PTI Advanced Certification program and became an Assistant and then on to become a PTI Trainer. Kourtney’s professional goal is to empower diverse individuals, families, and groups. Her personal goal is to be a light to the community, providing support, hope, encouragement and services to those seeking help. Kourtney embodies the PTI principles of Nonviolence, Mindful Awareness, Compassionate Assumptions and Healthy Boundaries.

Catherine J. Furbish, LCSW | Trainer

Catherine (she/her) is a licensed clinical social worker and Certified EMDR therapist who works with adolescents and adults. She received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Tennessee College of Social Work in 2013. She also has specialized training in mindfulness-based approaches, somatic approaches, Internal Family Systems, and the Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) model for treating traumatic stress in teens and children. Catherine has over 10 years of experience in working with all kinds of trauma, especially sexual abuse, attachment trauma, intergenerational and racial trauma, and working with LGBTQ+ individuals. After being trained and then certified in the SAFE EMDR model in 2017, Catherine has gone on to become a consultant and trainer after consistently experiencing the power of the model, both for her clients and in her own life journey. She strives to use the PTI SAFE principles of nonviolence, mindful awareness, compassionate assumptions, and healthy boundaries at the core of all of her work.