Categories: Therapist

Ivy Kuschke, Occupational Therapist

 

Ivy Kuschke grew up in Rice Lake, WI with a love for the outdoors and pediatric development. She began her work with children and health/well-being through the local Rice Lake Municipal Pool providing private and group swimming lessons and adult water exercise. While completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology at The College of St. Scholastica she continued her love of aquatics as a local outdoor aquatic director during the summers and her work with children as a nanny and in-school paraprofessional. Between her undergraduate and graduate degrees, she worked as a guide assistant in a Montessori school setting assisting with outdoor exploration and classroom support. She received her Master’s of Occupational Therapy from the college of St. Scholastica in 2019. During her graduate degree Ivy conducted research on the importance and effectiveness of mindfulness practice and presented at the National Occupational Therapy Student Conclave in Las Vegas, NV in the fall of 2019. Ivy has worked in the acute care setting with pediatrics as well as adults with an emphasis on neurologic disorders and trauma as well as served as adjunct faculty at The College of St. Scholastica providing supervision and support to students completing their first clinical rotation serving adult and pediatric clients. She has experience working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorders through The Minnesota Autism Center, serving both in-person clients as well as telehealth clients throughout the state.

Special Areas of Interest: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Animal Assisted Therapy, Aquatic Therapy, Spinal Cord Injuries, Stroke Recovery, and Traumatic Brain Injuries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Becky Payne, Speech Language Pathologist, MATCCC/SLP/ HPCS

Becky Payne, Nature's Edge Therapy Center, Rice Lake Wisconsin

Becky Payne has been a Speech Language Pathologist for over 25 years.  She founded and has developed Nature’s Edge Therapy Center, Inc., a unique, non-profit rehabilitation center providing intensive Speech, Occupational and Physical Therapy on a ranch and utilizing Hippotherapy, Animal-Assisted Therapy, and Horticulture Therapy as treatment strategies.  Becky holds credentials and memberships in many organizations associated with speech-language pathology and equine and animal-assisted therapy.  She has presented both nationally and internationally.  Specializing in non-verbal language and challenging behaviors for both children and adults, Becky’s expertise and experience brings new insights to the treatment of disabilities such as autism, brain injury and cerebral palsy.

Special Interests:  Augmentative/Alternative Communication, Child Language, Attention Deficit Disorder and Hippotherapy.  Becky is also certified in the Compton Foreign Accent Reduction Method.

 

Check out Becky’s Resume

Accomplishments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtney Losey, Speech Language Pathologist MS, CCC-SLP

Nature's Edge Therapy Center - Courtney LoseyCourtney Losey grew up following in her mom’s (Becky Payne’s) footsteps, with a passion for animals and for helping people.

She began undergraduate studies at UW-River Falls with a major in Animal Science/Pre-Veterinarian Medicine, but after working at Nature’s Edge and shadowing Becky Payne, she fell in love with Speech-Language Pathology. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in May 2015, majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders.

After graduation, she worked as a Speech-Language Pathology Assistant at the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Area School District for the 2015-2016 school year, returning to Nature’s Edge for the summer months. During the 2016-2017 school year, she was a lead teacher at the Chetek Kids’ Club and again worked at Nature’s Edge Therapy Center in the summer as a Speech Therapy Assistant. She has recently completed her graduate work at Nova Southeastern University, earning her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology and continues her work at Nature’s Edge.

Courtney is a 4-H horse leader, is PATH-certified, and is excited to progress in her knowledge of hippotherapy through AHA. Courtney and her husband Chance live in Cameron, WI with their 7 pets (3 horses, 2 dogs, and 2 cats). Courtney enjoys milking cows (part-time job), running, riding horses, and spending time with her family and pets.

Check out Courtney’s Resume here.