ALLIANCE INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE - Key Persons
In her practice as a Certified Rolfer™, Rebecca (Becky) Korfhagen fosters an interactive relationship with her clients - respecting them in their present state of being, while encouraging them toward ease and overall integration within their bodies.
Becky is fascinated with the many options available in the pursuit of improving the "whole person" and has expanded her knowledge of several healing arts practices through further study, both in a university setting and experientially. She is committed to continuing education within the areas of fascial network manipulation, movement studies, and the additional regions of manual therapy.
Becky's search for a way to resolve her own physical pain and discomfort, coupled with her longtime interest in the relationship that exists between the body and its surrounding space, led her to Rolfing®. She was so impressed with the long-term, positive effects that Rolfing® afforded, not only physically but the way she learned to recognize and resolve patterns that were no longer serving her functionally, that she went on to earn certification as a Rolfer™ through the Rolf Institute® of Structural Integration in Boulder, Colorado.
Caylin Holmes joined the chiropractic team at Alliance Integrative Medicine in 2016 as the first fellow in AIM's Integrative Medicine Chiropractor of Excellence Program. And she loves to share the thrill of understanding the body's natural ability to heal itself with all of her patients. While she focuses her practice primarily on strengthening and conditioning, she can also perform a range of other chiropractic methods including traction, decompression, ultrasound, the Activator Method, cold laser, and taping.
Originally from Houston, Dr. Holmes graduated from Xavier University (XU) in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in biology. While completing her undergraduate studies, Dr. Holmes competed on the cross-country and track teams, which inspired her to focus on rehabilitation during her chiropractic studies.
In 2016 Dr. Holmes earned a doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine at National University of Health Sciences in Chicago, and she is working to complete postdoctoral certification in rehabilitation.
Offering Swedish, deep tissue and sports massage, trigger point therapy, craniosacral therapy, and manual lymphatic drainage, Cindy Dixon utilizes all of her training and more than 20 years of experience to help each patient with their individual needs and goals.
Cindy is a graduate of SHI Integrative Medical Massage School and has spent the majority of her career working in the health care field. Her career experiences include working in a chiropractic clinic, a hospital setting in the outpatient physical therapy department, and a pain center.
Fun fact: Cindy worked with various athletes during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Job Titles:
- National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach
Deanna Rowe is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach and joined AIM in 2022. After receiving her BA in Anthropology from the University of Cincinnati, Deanna started her career in Community Health and Youth Development with the United States Peace Corps. While serving, she empowered individuals and communities thru health education, infrastructure projects, and youth initiatives.
After serving in the Peace Corps, Deanna moved to Western Australia, where she worked in Community Health non-profits predominately focused on counseling teens. In 2020 Deanna transitioned her career to focus on Health and Wellness Coaching becoming Board Certified in the USA and in Australia / New Zealand. Deanna‘s passion and understanding of health and wellness started as a patient at AIM in 2007.
As a health and wellness coach, Deanna focuses on positive psychology and behavior change to help her patients and clients become ‘unstuck' in areas in their lives where they are not yet achieving ideal success.
Dr. Colleen Swayze joined Alliance Integrative Medicine in 2022 after practicing as a board-certified OBGYN for over 20 years. Dr. Swayze completed her medical degree at Vanderbilt University and then completed her residency at the University of Cincinnati. She is currently a fellow in the Integrative Medicine Physician of Excellence program at Alliance Integrative Medicine. In addition, she is studying acupuncture through UCLA Helms Medical Institute and functional medicine through the Institute of Functional Medicine.
Dr. Swayze decided to pursue medicine due to her love of biology and her desire to help people. Her passion for patient wellness led her from women's health to integrative medicine where she is able to support her patients through careful listening and collaboration to help patients think outside the box about how to get better.
Dr. Elizabeth Woolford has been practicing integrative medicine at AIM since our founding in 1999. She is board certified in family medicine, trained in functional medicine, and began furthering her education in prolotherapy and neural prolotherapy in 2010. In addition to treating patients, Dr. Woolford serves as AIM's director of education - teaching integrative medicine fellows the principles of functional medicine and medical acupuncture, as well as precepting their patients.
Formerly a clinical instructor for the Helms Medical Institute, which sponsors the oldest ongoing medical acupuncture training program in North America, Dr. Woolford is a founding member of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture and served as its president from 2007-2010. Her patients have participated in Bravenet research studies, and she is a contributing author to the book Get Well & Stay Well - Optimal Health through Transformational Medicine℠.
Dr. Sandi Amoils and her husband Dr. Steve Amoils are the medical co-directors of Alliance Integrative Medicine and the co-authors of Get Well & Stay Well - Optimal Health through Transformational Medicine℠. At Alliance Integrative Medicine Dr. Amoils has pursued her passion for providing credible integrative medical care to her patients, co-workers, and colleagues. She is happiest at work when she can help her patients transform their health and vitality using the modalities of integrative and functional medicine.
Dr. Amoils was born and raised in South Africa and attended medical school in Johannesburg, where she met Steve. She completed additional training as a physician in South Africa, London, and the United States. While in medical school Dr. Amoils also studied techniques of naturopathy and osteopathy and researched the local African healing system and meditation. She went on to travel around the world with Steve in search of "miracle cures" - studying acupuncture in Japan and many other cultures' healing practices. She has also studied acupuncture through the UCLA Medical Acupuncture Program, directed by Joe Helms, MD.
Board certified in family medicine, Dr. Amoils completed her family practice residency at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where she served as chief resident. Before founding Alliance Integrative Medicine with Steve, Dr. Amoils worked in a family practice group in Cincinnati.
Dr. Amoils is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Continuing Medical Education at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She has been selected as one of America's Top Family Doctors and has received "The Best Doctors in America" award on multiple occasions.
Dr. Amoils served on the board of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture from 2010 to 2018, as vice president, president, and past president. She serves on the boards of the Lindner Center of Hope, the Cancer Support Community, and the Integrative Medicine Foundation. Her hobbies include cooking, gardening, exercising, and traveling. And she relishes time spent with her husband, daughters, friends, and dogs.
Job Titles:
- Medical Director
- Co - Directors
"My wife Sandi and I spent years seeking out the best alternative therapies all over the world, so we could see which ones truly worked. It was our dream to offer these types of therapies to patients, in a responsible manner, along with the best of conventional medicine. The results continue to astound us!"
Job Titles:
- Associate Medical Director of the Fellowship Programs
Dr. Teresa Esterle is excited to be part of the AIM team - where "physicians focus on the whole patient instead of just their diagnosis, and the goal is to discover and treat the cause of illness, not just its symptoms." She is thrilled to bring this transformational approach to her pediatric patients and looks forward to working with "kids" of all ages.
Dr. Esterle joined Alliance Integrative Medicine in 2017, after 17 years in practice as a board-certified pediatrician on Cincinnati's West Side. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, she received her medical degree from Vanderbilt University and completed her pediatric residency training at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where she served as chief resident. She has completed an Integrative Medicine Fellowship through the Arizona Center of Integrative Medicine, received acupuncture training through the UCLA's Helms Medical Institute, and passed her board-certification exam. Dr. Esterle has completed functional medicine training as a fellow in AIM's Integrative Medicine Physician of Excellence program and received her certification from the Institute for Functional Medicine.
Dr. Teresa is a lifelong learner and is the Associate Medical Director of the IMPOE Fellowship offered through the Integrative Medicine Foundation in collaboration with AIM.
Dr. Travis McClain grew up in Arizona, where he earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine (Glendale, AZ). He then relocated to Ohio to began his Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency at the University of Cincinnati before beginning his career as Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with the VA Sierra Nevada Healthcare System. As Chief of Service, Dr. McClain established the interventional spine program, pain clinic program, general physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic, and sports medicine and interventional/diagnostic ultrasound clinic.
An early riser on the weekends, you can find Dr. McClain catching EPL coverage to show his support for Liverpool FC. His hobbies include songwriting, and spending time with his wife and four daughters.
Dr. McClain provides ultrasound-guided PRP injections at AIM as a part of the Comprehensive Regenerative Pain Program.
Job Titles:
- Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Health Coach
Jaime Sanzere is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Health Coach and joined AIM in 2021. She completed her undergraduate degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Cincinnati in 2017 and earned her master's degree in Nutrition at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon in 2020. She worked as a RDN in nursing homes and at Shriners Hospitals for Children before choosing to pursue her true passion in functional nutrition by attending graduate school and starting her own private practice. As a complement to her nutrition education, she has incorporated health coaching into her practice, where she uses coaching techniques to empower patients to relearn to trust their bodies and to find true autonomy and enjoyment in making better choices for their body, mind, and spirit.
Jeff Burk, who leads AIM's medical massage team, specializes in Precision Neuromuscular Therapy, a treatment that combines physical assessments, a working knowledge of muscles, and patient input. He is also certified in infant massage and is particularly interested in athletes and people who suffer from many types of pain.
Jeff is a 2003 graduate of the Cincinnati School of Medical Massage and has been a massage instructor since 2008. He has worked at AIM since 2013.
John Bartsch has enjoyed an affiliation with Alliance Integrative Medicine since its founding, providing traditional, gentle chiropractic manipulation as well as Strain Counterstrain Technique for soft tissue, Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy, and the Activator Method (an instrument-assisted technique). He is also a certified provider of Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) and Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT).
Dr. Bartsch began his career in health care in the late 1970s as a radiologic technologist and returned to college at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in the 1980s to complete his pre-med studies. He later attended Logan University in Chesterfield, Missouri, where he graduated with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. In 1988 he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and began his chiropractic practice.
Dr. Bartsch has served his profession in numerous leadership roles, both locally and statewide. He was president of the Southwest Ohio Chiropractic Association from 1990-1991, and he served as the director of the Chiropractic Division of the medical staff at Epp Memorial (now called The Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati) for 19 years. During his 30-plus years in practice, Dr. Bartsch has provided care to thousands of patients in the Greater Cincinnati area and is regarded by his peers as one of Cincinnati's Top Chiropractors (as published in Cincy Magazine a number of times).
Katherine Mattox is a functional-medicine-trained, registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) who has developed educational nutrition programs designed to help patients achieve their ideal weight and decrease their risk for chronic diseases. Her nutrition recommendations address symptoms of inflammation, such as joint aches and pains, allergy symptoms, irritable bowel, fatigue, sugar cravings, sleep issues, headaches, cognitive health problems, and more. She is excited to work with AIM's team of practitioners and share her expertise with our patients.
Katherine graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor's of science in nutrition and belongs to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She stays up to date on nutrition by listening to podcasts, attending health care and dietetic conferences, and reading popular diet books and blogs. Since graduating from her dietetic internship at Cincinnati's Good Samaritan Hospital, she has been working with patients throughout the Greater Cincinnati Tri-State Area to improve their health.
Away from AIM, Katherine enjoys being an active mother, spending time outdoors, traveling, and cooking delicious meals.
"My traditional medical training provides a great outline but has not quite painted the whole picture of how to help patients restore balance and promote health in their lives. There is so much focus on disease treatment that we overlook the individual and the preventative and restorative properties of their own physiology that will bring wellness." Katie Peeden, MD, joined AIM's physician team as a fellow in the Integrative Medicine Physician of Excellence program (IMPOE). And she enjoys broadening her approach to treating patients with complex medical conditions as well as learning new ways to foster health and well-being. Dr. Peeden has concluded her medical acupuncture training at Helms Medical Institute and has completed her Medical Acupuncture Boards. She continues to further her education through the Institute of Functional Medicine. A 2001 graduate of the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Dr. Peeden performed her residency at Trident Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina. She is board certified in family medicine and practiced in a traditional family medical practice for 12 years before joining the caregivers at AIM. During that time, she also worked as a regional medical director for a medical weight loss program.
Kenny Roberts specializes in deep tissue massage, trigger point therapy, Reiki, and craniosacral therapy. And he is dedicated to always finding a way to meet his patients' needs so they can achieve optimal health and well-being. Licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio, he is also a nationally certified massage therapist.
Kenny is a graduate of the Cincinnati School of Medical Massage and a member of the American Craniosacral Therapy Association. He is an alumnus of Ball State University and holds a bachelor's degree in business.
Job Titles:
- Registered Nurse
- Energy Medicine Practitioner / Director Energy Medicine Services
A student of energy healing methods since the mid-1990s, Linda Benke is devoted to healing and teaching as many people as possible about the gentle and loving way of energy healing. She is gifted with the ability to see her patients' energy fields, directs the educational programs about energy healing offered at AIM, and is a certified Quantum Touch practitioner and instructor.
Linda is a registered nurse and graduate of Northern Kentucky University. And she has studied healing methods with some renowned healers including Rosalyn Bruyere, Janet Mentgen, and Carolyn Myss.
Throughout her career, Linda has been featured on a variety of radio programs and the March 2009 cover of Cincinnati Woman Magazine.
Mary Bruner is honored to help AIM's patients overcome physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual obstacles in their lives. And many of her patients lovingly refer to Mary as a "Human Battery Charger." Because, much like the cables used to recharge a car battery, she connects to her patients' biofields (their batteries) to clear, balance, and energize them - helping them to face and overcome personal obstacles and achieve their goals.
Twenty-five years ago, through work with an energy healer, Mary was empowered to begin her career in energy healing, allowing her to fulfill her life's purpose serving others.
As a caring certified Healing Touch practitioner, Mary Kattine is sensitive to her patients' needs and uses this gift to support her patients. She has been a student and practitioner of energy healing since 1999 and shares her abilities as a longtime, volunteer energy therapist at Cincinnati's Bethesda North Hospital.
Mary has studied with Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere, Mary Jo Bulbrook, and many other gifted energy workers.