Meet the Directors
Christine Duis, Ph.D.
PSY 20278
Christine Duis, Ph.D. got her doctorate in clinical psychology with a specialization in neuropsychology from the University of Cincinnati. She trained at Brown University for her internship year and then did a postdoctoral residency at Harvard University affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. She did a second year fellowship at Children's Healthcare Hospital in Atlanta. She founded the TRAILS program four years ago with Dr. Antoniadis and Jessica Pinto. Dr. Duis also works as a child neuropsychologist in private practice and specializes in assessments of children with various learning, emotional and social challenges. She grew up on a farm in Illinois where she was able to nurture her passion for horses. As a long standing equestrian, she has shown quarter horses and been an avid student of the natural horsemanship program. She owns four horses (Sweetie, Lil Bit, Shiloh, and Star) and a very special poodle named Little Man.
Maria Antoniadis, Ph.D.
PSY 14113
Maria Antoniadis, Ph.D. completed her doctorate in social-clinical psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley. She completed her pre-doctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship through Children's Hospital in Oakland with a specialization in neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Antoniadis has over 20 years of experience specializing in individual and group therapy for children and teenagers, family therapy, social skill facilitation, school consultation, and parenting issues related to children with learning differences. She has served as a consultant and therapist for Raskob Day School and is on the advisory board for Orion Academy. Dr. Antoniadis has three grown sons and four grandchildren. She has a passion for the outdoors and although she is an accomplished skier she still needs the kids to help her halter the horses!
Jessica Pinto, M.A., MFTi, TRI
Jessica Pinto earned her BA in Sociology at UC Santa Barbara and Masters in Counseling at San Francisco State University. She is accruing hours toward a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) license. Jessica has served as a NARHA Therapeutic Riding Instructor since 2005 with both TRAILS and DreamPower Horsemanship, where she taught therapeutic riding lessons to at-risk children and teens. Jessica grew up on the backs of horses. She has partnered with the horse in many different disciplines, including Hunter Jumper, Eventing, Roping, Ride & Tie, trail riding and natural horsemanship. She has also taken on many roles in the horse world, from president of her local chapter of the United States Pony Club at age 10 to managing a ranch that lead group trail rides on the beach. Jessica can always count on her horses, Pico and Simmer, her bulldog, Chunk and her cat, Rowdy to make her smile.
The Trails Story
Trails to Success was created out of my passion for helping kids achieve success in their lives. As a neuropsychologist, I would spend hours with parents helping them understand their child's unique strengths and struggles. I had a lot of programs to refer parents too that fostered their child's academic progress and success but I was frustrated that there were very few available to me that focused on building key social and emotional skills. Many of children's stories really touched my heart because they WANTED to make more friends, they WANTED to know how to deal with their strong feelings, and they WANTED to be successful at home and in school but they just did not know how. And their parents were also at a loss on how to help, despite the very best intentions.
This is where introspection came along. As I looked back on my life, I thought about how I've had to learn many "life lessons" the "hard way." I also realized that the most significant source of happiness in my life has been through my relationships with other people. I was inspired by the new research in positive psychology that was showing that key social and emotional skills could indeed be taught, and that the research showed that I wasn't the only one that felt that way! (….do a little experiment and ask yourself what do you value most in life? Most people answer as I did and say their relationships with family, friends and co-workers...I had to add my horse and poodle as well to that list!).
I have always loved the outdoors. I tell people I was "born with horses as a part of my soul" (horse people understand!). I grew up on a farm in Illinois where I had the opportunity to run free, ride my horse, and learn about myself through the various activities I was involved in.
As I was driving out to the horse barn one day, and my horse Lil Bit walked up to greet me in the arena, I experienced a sudden "light bulb" moment (don't you just love those!). I thought to myself, "Chris, if this relationship and these experiential opportunities have fostered so much growth for you, why couldn't they do that for the children you are seeing in your office?" The spark was ignited.
I had lunch with a colleague (Maria Antoniadis) who specialized in running social skill groups in her office and I said to her "Maria, I think if we paired the wonderful work you are doing with kids in your office, with outdoor activities and working with animals, I think we could really create a very special program that would change the lives of kids for the better." Needless to say, she agreed! I then met another colleague (Jessica Pinto) at a conference in the field of equine therapy who shared my passion for the power of the horse for effecting change, and our adventure down the Trail to Success began!
TRAILS was launched five years ago with six children and three horses operating out of the back of my horse trailer. It has been such a phenomenal experience for us as staff and the children we see that we have just continued to evolve and grow over the years. This past summer we grew to offering a full day summer camp and serviced over 45 children! In the future, we plan to expand the program into new settings, with new activities so that more children can benefit.
It is truly inspirational and empowering for me as a clinician to watch the children riding horses as a team, cooking, or playing games and see how happy, confident and connected they are. It is doubly rewarding to see that the programs are building social skill competence outside of the "therapy setting" and to hear from parents how they are taking the skills that they are learning home and to school with them.
It is my hope that TRAILS will always be a program that fosters connection and learning, all while allowing kids to be exactly what kids are meant to be...kids!!!!
