Get To Know Us
Dr. Elisheva "Ellie" Fuchs
Owner, The Therapy Gym
Elisheva “Ellie” started The Therapy Gym in 2011 when she saw there was a need in the community for a pediatric physical therapy practice. As the practice grew, clients requested to have more services in the same location and that led to the comprehensive growth we have today. We now provide PT, OT, Speech, ABA, and aquatic therapy. Ellie feels passionate about helping families not only therapeutically but also to help them get insurance reimbursement. We bill insurance directly and work diligently to help get insurance coverage.
Ellie has built The Therapy Gym along with her amazing team of therapists and office staff to be a leading comprehensive therapy center in Northern New Jersey.
Office Staff
Robin Stern
Insurance Administrator
Robin is our insurance administrator, and she fights for our patients to get insurance coverage. She earned her Masters in General Studies from USC/UCLA. She is also a certified Graphic Designer. She is married with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, music, spending time with family and going to the beach.
Gina Calixto
Office Administrator
Gina is our office administrator, and she is the friendly face of The Therapy Gym. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate Degree in Occupational Therapy. She is fluent in Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys visiting her family in Florida.
Our Therapists
Dr. Elisheva "Ellie" Fuchs
Physical Therapist
Ellie is a physical therapist who has been practicing for over 15 years. She has extensive experience in her growing private practice, but had previously worked in early intervention and in schools for children with Autism and in public school. She earned her Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy. She has special certifications in Kinesiotaping, myofascial release, primitive reflex integration-INPP, MNRI, RMT, DMI, functional e-stim, and torticollis. Her special interests include treating torticollis and plagiocephaly, reflex integration therapy, using functional electrical stimulation, whole body vibration therapy, and dynamic movement intervention (DMI). She also likes treating abnormal motor development in babies as well as gait abnormalities, orthotic assessments, and recommendations. She has a husband and 4 children ranging in age from 20 to 9 and enjoys being a super multitasker, drawing, animation, and refinishing antique furniture.
Dr. Elise Burnett
Physical Therapist/Aquatic Therapy
Elise Burnett is a physical therapist who has been practicing for over 8 years. She has extensive experience in both adult and pediatric private practice. She earned her doctorate degree in physical therapy from Rutgers University. Elise is a skilled swimmer who enjoys traveling, hiking, snowboarding, reading, and playing soccer in her free time.
Mindy Daar
Physical Therapist/Aquatic Therapy
Mindy Daar is a physical therapist who has been practicing for 17 years. She has extensive experience in school-based and private practice and earned her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy. She speaks English and Hebrew. Her special interests include treating children of all ages. She has a husband and 4 daughters and enjoys baking, spending time with family, and spending time outdoors in her free time.
.png)
Nikita Meswani
Physical Therapist/Aquatic Therapy
Nikita Meswani is a physical therapist who has been practicing for 10 years. She has extensive experience in early intervention and pediatric PT practice and earned her Master’s degree from University of Indianapolis. She has special certifications in Kinesiotaping and MFR and speaks English and Hindi, Gujarati, and Marathi. Her special interests include NDT and aquatic therapy. She has a spouse and enjoys painting, pottery, and water sports in her free time.
Daniel Roth
Physical Therapist/Aquatic Therapy
Dan Roth is a physical therapist who has been practicing for over 20 years. He has extensive experience in school-based and private practice. Dan teaches twice a week as well and always incorporates a lot of fun and games into his sessions. He has two daughters and recently moved to Teaneck from New York. In Dan's free time he likes to bike, hike, and stay active.
Emily Longo
Occupational Therapist/Aquatic Therapy
Emily Longo is an Occupational Therapist who has been practicing for 2 years. She has experience in school based, early intervention, and private practice and earned her Master’s degree from Mercy College. She has training in sensory approaches and strength based approaches to behavior. She is married and enjoys traveling, fitness, reading, and going to the beach in her free time.
Thomas Palmiere
Occupational Therapist
Tom Palmiere is an Occupational Therapist who has been practicing for 19 years. He has extensive experience in school-based and private practice and earned his Master’s degree from NYU. His special interests include fine motor and gross motor strengthening, motor planning, and coordination. He is married and enjoys fishing in his free time.
.png)
Eta Saltzburg
Occupational Therapist
Eta Saltzburg is an Occupational Therapist who has been practicing for 8 years. She has extensive experience in center based early intervention and private practice and earned her Master’s degree from Downstate University (CUNY). She has special training in The Listening Program and a sensory approach to feeding. She has a husband and 2 children and enjoys listening to podcasts and going to the beach in her free time.
Gabriela Yllatopa
Occupational Therapist/Aquatic Therapy
Gaby Yllatopa is an occupational therapist who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Montclair State University in 2020 and a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Salus University in 2023. During her time in school, she worked as a full-time special education paraprofessional with children ages 3-5 years old for over 3 years. Additionally, she worked as an ABA Therapist for about a year where she implemented treatment plans and programs developed by the supervising BCBA to improve the child’s cognitive and social skills. Her recent clinical internship included working in a public school setting with students ages 3-21 years old under the supervision of an OTR/L. She is currently a licensed, registered, and school-certified occupational therapist in New Jersey and is bilingual in both English and Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys going out for long walks and spending time with family and friends.
Rachel Pekarsky
Speech Language Pathologist
Rachel Pekarsky is a Speech Therapist who has been practicing for 9 years. She has extensive experience in school based and private practice and earned her Master’s degree. She has special certifications in Orton-Gillingham, ASHA Award for Continuing Education (ACE), American Heart Association Heartsaver CPR AED, Certified PROMPT, Certified Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS), Level I Training Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP), Guardian Way Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) competent. Her special interests include voice, fluency, and pragmatics. She enjoys photography, guitar, and traveling in her free time.
Dana Siletski
Speech Language Pathologist
Dana Siletski is a Speech Therapist who has been practicing for 8 years. She has extensive experience in school-based and private practice and earned her Master’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She has special certification in PROMPT. Her special interests include AAC, higher level language and executive functioning and teaching life skills. She has a husband and 3 children and enjoys all types of outdoor activities in her free time such as hiking, camping, fishing, and boating.
Caryn Goodman
Speech Language Pathologist
Caryn Goodman is a Speech Therapist who has been practicing for 20 years. She has extensive experience in school based, early intervention, and private practice and earned her Master’s degree in Speech Pathology from NYU. She has special interest in early intervention and treating speech sound production. She has a husband, 2 sons ages 16 and 12, and 2 rescue dogs and enjoys riding on her Peloton bike in her free time.
Devorah Schatz
Speech Language Pathologist/Reading Specialist
Bio coming soon!
Eliana Frenkel
Speech Language Pathologist
Eliana is a Speech therapist who has been practicing for 4 years. She has experience in school-based practice, early intervention, and private practice. She earned her Master’s degree from Lehman College (CUNY). She is married and has 1 son. In her free time, she enjoys reading and taking walks.
Melissa Belavia
BCBA
Melissa Bellavia is a BCBA therapist and Special Education teacher who has been practicing for 8 years. She has extensive experience in special education and ABA therapy and earned her Master’s degree and BCBA certification. She has special certifications in Professional Crisis Management (PCM) Instructor; AIM (Accept - Identify - Move); ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy); PEAK Level 1, and PAF (Preventing Academic Failure). She has 2 sons, ages 3 and 1.5. In her free time, Melissa enjoys exercising, organizing, spending time with family/friends, and traveling.
Mary Salensky
ABA Therapist
Bio coming soon!
Beth Driscoll
ABA Therapist
Bio coming soon!
Kielin Greeley
BCBA
Bio coming soon!
Antonella Risoli
ABA Therapist
Bio coming soon!
Lavinia Eugene
Swim Instructor
Lavinia is an Occupational Therapist in training and one of our swim instructors. She graduated from Stockton University with a Bachelors of Science in Health Sciences. She is currently finishing up her Master's of Science in Occupational Therapy at Seton Hall.
In her free time, Lavinia likes to ski, travel, and try new restaurants.
Jill Burgy
Swim Instructor
Bio coming soon!