Erika chose to become a speech language pathologist because she wanted the opportunity to help people communicate better. “Being able to communicate is really what makes us human,” she explains. “I also chose this profession because of the chance to work with a variety of ages and diagnoses in a one-on-one setting, which I really enjoy.”

In her practice at Reliant Erika enjoys getting to know her patients and building a relationship with them. “A good relationship is really fundamental to helping patients communicate better,” she explains. “I also believe in finding the most naturalistic opportunities for patients to improve their communication skills, whether that includes their understanding of language, their articulation skills, or their feeding abilities in a functional setting.”

Erika has practiced in a school-based setting and has experience in pediatric feeding both in-person and through a teletherapy service delivery model. She often uses sequential oral sensory feeding techniques to assist pediatric patients with building their feeding skills to overcome picky eating behaviors, sensory-feeding concerns, and oral-motor difficulties. Her experience includes working with patients seeking gender affirming (or aligning) voice and communication therapy. In addition, Erika has experience performing numerous voice screenings and perceptual analyses, as well as implementing cultural responsiveness with the transgender community in an outpatient setting.

Erika previously worked in an elementary school where she assisted children in areas including articulation, receptive/expressive language, fluency, assistive and augmentative communication devices, autism, as well as rare disability disorders like Pallister-Killian Mosaic Syndrome. She enjoys utilizing clinical problem-solving to develop treatment programs that are individualized to each client’s communication style and therapy goals. Erika believes in finding functional and naturalistic opportunities for clients to practice strategies they learn during therapy.

In her spare time, Erika enjoys the outdoors including hiking, kayaking, and stand-up paddle-boarding during the summer and also likes working out at the gym to stay in shape. She likes bringing her musical background of singing and piano into her client sessions, whether this includes singing with children or assisting with adult voice disorders or transgender voice modification therapy.