Lynne Bryan Phipps, MDiv, IET
Executive Director
Click play to learn why Lynne started Integrative Equine Therapy.
A minister for over twenty-four years, Lynne received her Master’s degree from the Andover Newton Theological School and has served congregations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She was the first Interfaith Chaplain at Mount Ida College and the founder of The Compass School, one of the leading charter schools in Rhode Island.
A mother with two daughters, she lost her only sister to violent death. A long time equestrian, this experience prompted Lynne spend 8 years developing Integrative Equine Therapy, a uniquely innovative approach to healing with horses.
Bugatti 27
Lynne selected this horse on an evaluation tour in Germany in 2015. In 2016 he won the US Northeast Regionals, Prix St. George, and was named Trakehner of the Year by the American Trakehner Association. Bugs is highly affectionate, very sensitive, and is especially experienced with trauma.
H. Whitney Bailey
Chairman
Whitney attended Tufts University on a Naval Scholarship, before receiving his commission in the Navy. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago in Economics and Accounting where he spent four additional years in quantitative research. He became a management consultant and specialist in corporate turnarounds, at the headquarters of what is now Deloitte, the international accounting and consulting firm.
He then co-founded a software company, best known for developing the hi-res computer graphics for Apple Computer. Selling this company, he started a second that provided custom corporate tax software for more than one third of the Fortune 500. This was sold to the international conglomerate, Thomson Reuters. He is President of a private foundation that gives grants to universities and non-profit groups for major research, conservation, and environment projects.
Dior
In 2021 we welcomed Dior from Germany. He is an Oldenburg warmblood. Dior showed talent for dressage early and he loves showing off his fancy moves as he continues to develop with his trainer, Megan Shea. Dior is calm, curious, and very expressive. Our young clients enjoy his gentle and playful approach.
Andrea Dew
Director of Strategic Development, Board of Directors
Andrea holds a Ph.D. from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, and completed a research fellowship at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She is fluent in Japanese, having lived and worked in multiple countries, including nearly a decade in Japan. Andrea was a Professor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island for fifteen years, has written four books on political geostrategy, irregular warfare, and communications, and consults internationally on these topics. She is currently working on a book on the history of the Navy SEALs.
Megan Shea Coccia
Megan is a USDF Bronze and Silver Medallist, and has represented Canada at Championships and Nation's Cups as a Young Rider and in the U-25 Grand Prix. Megan is based in Wellington, FL where she runs her dressage training business, specializing in the development and sale of competitive dressage horses from young horses through the Grand Prix.
Megan is the resident trainer at Beachwood's Wellington, FL location and enjoys working with our talented therapy horses on their continued dressage training.
Kristal Tremblay
Horsemanship
Kristal is a life-long equestrian who was riding her family’s horses before she could walk. She grew up in New Hampshire and worked as a barn manager in large and small barns in Florida, South Carolina and New Hampshire and is a bronze medal dressage rider. Kristal teaches horsemanship at Beachwood’s Florida Center with her horse Brook; together they help people connect to horses through a series of groundwork exercises that build and strengthen the horse-human connection.
Lissa C. Ramsepaul
PhD, LCSW-C, LICSW, LCSW, CCTP
Lissa has an impressive background of nearly 30 years of experience in clinical practice and social services with a specialization in the treatment of developmental trauma, substance use disorders, and a wide range of mental health issues. One of her specializations (and topic of her PhD thesis) is Risk and Resilience in Young Adults. Lissa has devoted her life to serving those most impacted by their early experiences of trauma. Her own life experiences and the early part of her career as a crisis counselor fueled and sustains her passion for helping others heal.
She has lectured around the world on a variety of issues and was the keynote speaker at the 35th International Conference on Psychiatry & Psychosomatic Medicine in Brussels.
An active outdoors person, Lissa is a devoted equestrian with a focus on dressage.
Brook
Brook is a half-Arab, half-Holsteiner mare, who trains in dressage and was ranked 78th in the country in 2023 in the half-Arab registry in the sport of dressage. She is part of the Horsemanship team at Beachwood’s Florida Center where she participates in groundwork sessions with Beachwood clients who want to build a horse-human connection.
Keli Karbowski
Keli is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Addiction Counselor. She received her Master’s degree in Social Work from Florida International University. Keli brings over 20 years of experience in behavioral health, including working at inpatient and outpatient facilities with children, families, and adults.Â
Keli believes in providing a safe place for clients to explore their emotions, working collaboratively to achieve their desired goals and promote healing. A native Floridan, she enjoys the outdoors, nature, dance, art, and traveling to explore new places. She loves working with horses to assist individuals on their therapeutic journey.
Rajah
Rajah, is American Hanoverian by the number one dressage stallion Royal Prince. Raised by Anne McDowell Schafer, Rajah was trained by US Olympic Team member Jennifer Baumert’s stable in North Carolina where Lynne purchased him as a 5 year old. Riding with Lynne, he was ranked sixth in the US Hanoverian breed registry. He shows a deep connection to people with anxiety.
Pikksie Wish
Wish is an American Hanoverian, bred and trained by USDF Gold Medalist Nancy Later using an approach developed by the Australian Tristan Tucker.
Tristan, who trains Olympic dressage competitors In Holland, began breaking horses in the Outback. His approach evolved into a technique for training horses, a strategy of reading a horse by watching its eyes and analyzing its physical response to fear, using the observations to teach the horse to respond through relaxation. Wish joined Beachwood Integrative Equine Therapy in 2017 and excels in her work with clients as well as maintaining her show career.
Michelle Gardner
Michelle, a mother of two, owns and operates Gardner Farm, a producer of both livestock and vegetables with her husband. She holds a Master’s degree from Rhode Island College in Psychology and for more than 20 years, has held many positions in the field of neuropsychology including both the Memory and Aging program at Butler Hospital and Private Practice. A lifelong equestrian, her love for animals and experience in psychology make her a great member of the Beachwood Integrative Equine Therapy team.
Donnie Gardner, III
Donnie and his wife, Michelle, own Gardner Farm, a producer of livestock and vegetables. He also operates Cleanrite Rooter Service, that has served Southern RI for over 45 years. When he is not in the field, you can find him managing all of Beachwood’s barns and pastures.
Lupita
Show Jumping Olympic Gold Medalist, Chris Kappler, selected this Holsteiner in Argentina. Named an Elite Premium Mare, and Northeast Champion Mare at the Holsteiner Mare Approvals In 2006, she is having her last of three foals in the Warmblood Breeding Program at Cornell before returning to Beachwood Integrative Equine Therapy.
Katie Pare
Katie holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, with a focus in ER psychiatric nursing. She has always had passion for animals and helping others. Katie has lived her whole life in beautiful Chester County, Pennsylvania where she trains her dressage horses. Katie’s commitment to Integrative Equine Therapy allows her to combine her background in nursing with the healing power of horses.
Bahia Yackzan
Bahia has been a crisis intervention counselor for over thirty years in Maine. She led an award-winning education campaign to prevent Intimate Partner Violence and designed workshops to increase understanding of biases, acceptance, and communicative skills.  Bahia served in the Peace Corps for three years in Southeast Asia, living in various cultures.  On returning to the US, she became a Registered Maine Guide before moving to Northern California. Bahia is based at Beachwood’s Center in Davis, California.
Patricia Markham Risica, DrPH, MPH Brown University
Assistant Professor of Behavior & Social Sciences, and research scholar in the Center for Health Equity Research at Brown University, Patti is a graduate of John’s Hopkins University and has been designing, facilitating, and overseeing research for almost 20 years. An expert in data collection and health associated research practices; Patti has developed and oversees the data collection and research protocols at Beachwood Integrative Equine Therapy.
Associate Professor of Behavior & Social Sciences and Epidemiology, at the Brown School of Public Health and Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity at Brown University. Dr. Risica earned a Masters of Public Health and Doctorate of Public Health degrees at the Bloomberg (John’s Hopkins University ) School of Public Health. Her research focus has been in designing, and evaluating intervention research for over 25 years. She also serves as an epidemiologist and evaluator for the RI Department of Health. As an expert in health intervention evaluation; Dr. Risica has developed and oversees the data collection and research protocols at Beachwood.
Royal Panda
This Hanoverian with a spectacular bloodline brought a versatile history in both Hunters and Dressage to Beachwood. Imported from Germany, Panda showed extensively in Germany and the Eastern United States before he was injured in 2014. During his recovery, he began working with Lynne as a therapeutic horse and loved his work with clients; especially those with preverbal trauma and attachment issues. Panda is dearly missed by Beachwood staff and clients alike.
Ana Bess Moyer Bell
Drama Therapy
Ana Bess studied Drama Therapy at NYU, and uses her skills to help clients with type 1 diabetes, cancer, PTSD, and those in recovery.
Bess is the founder of COAAST; a RI-based non-profit that offers arts-based education and therapeutic programing to address the opioid epidemic with therapeutic theatre, grief support groups and other expressive arts based outreach in RI. Through COAAST, Bess creates prevention education for teens, and provides continuing medical education to healthcare providers working in addiction/behavioral health fields.
She has held positions as a drama therapist at the VA Hospital in West Haven, CT, San Quentin Prison where she co-facilitated group talk therapy with inmates, and The BETES Organization.