Speech Therapists

Rachel Brown, MS CCC-SLP

Rachel graduated from the University of Central Missouri in 1995 with a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology. She has experience working in a variety of settings including skilled nursing, and rehab but her passion has always been working with children. She joined Children in Motion in 2000 and enjoys working with children with language, articulation, oral motor, phonological processing, and auditory processing disorders. She is passionate about her field of work and loves finding ways to make therapy enjoyable and effective for her clients of all ages. She enjoys helping strengthen one’s ability to communicate, express themselves and gain confidence.

Occupational Therapists

Lise Carter, OTR/L

Lise has been practicing occupational therapy since 1999 and specializing in pediatrics since 2001. Since graduating from the University of New England in Maine, Lise has worked in various settings across the country including home-based, school, clinic, and aquatic therapy for pediatrics. She founded an aquatic therapy business in Vermont as well as traveled into the bush villages of Alaska to provide occupational therapy for Alaskan native children. Lise has extensive experience working with children with fine motor and gross motor delays, visual motor and perceptual difficulties, sensory integration disorder, autism spectrum disorders, and developmental delays. With continuing education in Sensory Processing and Regulation, Aquatic Therapy, Therapeutic Listening, Handwriting Without Tears, Zones Of Regulation, Masgutova Neuro Reflex Integration, and NDT principles, Lise enjoys treating children of all ages and skill levels. She lives in the North Lake Tahoe area with her partner Mark, and daughter Isola. Lise loves all outdoor activities including hiking, mountain biking, skiing, wake surfing, hang gliding, and tennis. Finally, Lise has played piano for years and occasionally likes to incorporate this into her therapy sessions.

Lisa Stevens, OTR/L, CHT

Lisa received her BS in Occupational Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lisa is also a Certified Hand Therapist which allows her to specialize in splinting and treatment of acquired and congenital disorders and diseases of the upper extremity and hand. Lisa has been working in the pediatric field for over 15 years and enjoys helping children maximize their functional abilities with regards to eating/feeding and all of their activities of daily living skills. In Lisa’s free time, she enjoys trail running, mountain biking, coaching cross country to high school kids and playing with her 3 dogs!

Physical Therapists

Melissa Kalisvaart, PT, DPT, OCS

Melissa graduated from the University of Southern California in 2005 with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and continued on at USC to earn her degree as a Doctor of Physical Therapy in 2008. She began her career working with both adult and pediatric populations in the hospital and outpatient settings at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. During her time there she studied to earn specialty certification as an orthopedic specialist in physical therapy. After working for three years with patients of all ages with orthopedic, neurologic, cardiac, oncologic, and general medical conditions from the acute stages through their rehabilitation, Melissa transitioned to working full-time with the pediatric population. Since transitioning to focus her career on the pediatric population, she has had extensive experience working with children from infancy into the teenage years, including several clinics at Mayo Clinic for NICU Follow-up, Cerebral Palsy/Spina Bifida, and Seating & Wheelchair. She also participated in treating a high volume of infants with torticollis and plagiocephaly including those undergoing treatment with cranial remolding orthoses. Because of her unique background in both orthopedics and pediatrics, Melissa has a special interest in treating youth sports overuse and traumatic injuries and was able to focus on this population while working in the Bay Area in California. Melissa joined Children in Motion in 2016 after relocating with her family to Reno, NV.

Susan Richards, BS, PT

Susan graduated from Pacific University, Forest Grove, OR in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy. Her career started in a private, outpatient clinic, but she always knew her passion was to work with children. In 1991, Susan started her career in pediatrics working at Special Children’s Clinic, now known as, Nevada Early Intervention Services. She worked there for over 30 years and continues to work in early intervention today. Susan helped establish Children in Motion in 1993. She took some time away from Children in Motion to spend more time with her family and reunited with them in 2006. When not working, she enjoys playing golf, hiking and walking with her dogs, and traveling.

Christie Stitser PT, MPT

Christie is a Reno native. She graduated with an Integrative Human Biology degree from UC Berkeley in 1991 and a Master of Physical Therapy degree from Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, CA in 1996. As a collegiate gymnast, Christie had several injuries that led her to the field of physical therapy. She has worked in a variety of settings including hospital acute care, adult outpatient, sports medicine, and K-12 schools. Pediatrics has been a focus of Christie’s since 1997. From 2003 to the present, she works with children ages 0 – 3 years providing early intervention physical therapy. She has experience working in several multi-disciplinary specialty clinics, including those for NICU graduates and children with cerebral palsy. Seeing a need for in-person physical therapy in Northern Nevada during the Covid pandemic, she re-joined the team at Children In Motion. Christie finds a work-life balance with outdoor play – biking, hiking, skiing, paddle boarding, and camping whenever possible!