Dr. Alison Sheesley, PhD, LPC, RPT, Parent Coach
Clinical Director and Co-Founder
Stephanie Itzkowitz, MS, CCC-SLP, iO-Trained Improviser
Comedy Director and Co-Founder
Shelsea Ochoa, MSW,
Comedy Therapist and Community Organizer
Dr. Alison Sheesley
PhD, LPC, RPT
Clinical Director and Co-Founder
alison@comedyistherapy.com
Education
PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Northern Colorado, 2017
MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Loyola University New Orleans, 2013
BA in Political Science and American Studies from Tulane University, 2006
Mental Health Treatment Experience
Play Therapist in private practice (2020-present)
Assistant Professor at Regis University and Director of the Regis Center for Play Therapy, training and supervising counseling master’s students (Fall 2023-present)
Adjunct Professor teaching and supervising counseling students seeing a wide variety of clients across the lifespan (2017-present)
Play Therapist for Griffith Centers for Children (2013-2016)
Professionally, I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Supervisor, Registered Play Therapist, Assistant Professor at Regis University, and Director of the Regis Center for Play Therapy. I have advanced training in child-centered play therapy and group therapy.
Personally, I am kind of an ambivert goofball once you get to know me. I like watching and doing silly improv comedy. I moved to Denver from New Orleans for graduate school and now live here with my husband and two children.
In my professional and personal experience, empathy is the foundation for all growth—feeling deeply understood and accepted, despite all of our many imperfections.
Warmly,
Dr. Alison
“The imagination is an essential tool of the mind, a fundamental way of thinking, an indispensable means of becoming and remaining human.”
-Ursula K. Le Guin
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
-Maya Angelou
The Regis Center for Play Therapy offers in-person, very low-cost play therapy services for children in the Thornton community and beyond. This wish list directly benefits the children who utilize the Center. All children deserve access to high-quality behavioral healthcare. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2PXBI5C23PTJ5?ref_=wl_share
Stephanie Itzkowitz
MS, CCC-SLP,
iO-Trained Improviser
Comedy Director and Co-Founder
stephanie@comedyistherapy.com
Stephanie Jones is an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist, improv performer and educator, instructional trainer and designer, and software engineer.
A Boston native, Stephanie has frequented the stages of ImprovBoston and ImprovAsylum. During her 8 years in Chicago, she performed with various casts and house teams at iO Theater, as well as in Improvised Jane Austen.
Inspired by her work specializing in play-based treatment and communication therapy for people on the autism spectrum, Stephanie enjoys teaching clinicians from diverse fields how to integrate improv comedy into their therapeutic practice.
In her free time, you can find Stephanie road-tripping with her husband, her dog-son, Ted, and her twin girls; building custom apps for clinicians; searching for buried treasure with her metal detector; and looking for excuses to belly laugh with friends.
Stephanie sees improv as a way of being and shared laughter as a powerful force of unity.
Want to integrate improv into your field or area of interest? Have a clinical or corporate team who would benefit from improv training?
More details at: www.improvconnect.com
Clinical Experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist in Outpatient Clinics and K-12 School Systems
Provided assessment, diagnosis, and treatment for patients with speech, language, literacy, learning, and feeding/swallowing disorders across the lifespan.
Designed and delivered continuing education courses on autism spectrum disorder for clinicians.
Trained Orton-Gillingham provider.
Designed treatment plans for children with dyslexia and literacy challenges and disorders.
Trained and supervised graduate students and clinical fellows, providing feedback and mentorship on their clinical skills and professional development.
Designed speech-language evaluations and treatment interventions for multilingual learners.
Shelsea Ochoa, MSW
Comedy Therapist and Community Organizer
shelsea@comedyistherapy.com
Shelsea Ochoa is an educator, trainer, and social worker, who has worked in over 30 different countries with participants from every inhabited continent. She spent eight years at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, inspiring wonder and curiosity about our natural world on the Experience Development and Performance Team. Shelsea has expertise in experiential education, diversity and inclusion, intercultural competency, and self-compassion. She practices a unique therapeutic form of improv theater known as Playback Theater, which explores themes and real life stories shared by audience members. She graduated in 2024 from Metropolitan State University in Denver with her master’s degree in social work.