Copperhood's Professional Team

The Copperhood has brought together an extraordinarily talented and dedicated team, passionate about healthy living and eager to share their experience and knowledge.

Elizabeth Winograd Iwinski (Owner/Manager)
Elizabeth established The Copperhood as a destination spa in 1982.  As a native of Poland, where spa vacations are a customary part of life, she has a lifetime of experience to draw upon in developing her spa facilities and programs.

Elizabeth holds a master’s degree in Psychology from Columbia University.  She did her postgraduate work in gerontology at the New School for Social Research.  She is also a New York State licensed hiking guide, and her off-the-beaten-path treks into the surrounding Catskill Mountains are legendary among guests.  Her cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing and biking tours are also favorites.

An interest in exploring the way other cultures view health and fitness led Elizabeth visit India and later to start a personal yoga practice.  Most recently, she’s brought professionals with knowledge of eastern medicine onto her staff, so as to be able to provide guests with a wider variety of expertise.

Hanna Kes Sleefe
Hanna Kes Sleefe, Elizabeth’s mother, is a licensed therapist and aesthetician.  She joined the spa in 1984, after having spent the previous ten years at the prestigious Georgette Klinger Spa/Salon in Manhattan.  Hanna developed the spa protocols and a training program for The Copperhood.

Lech Iwinski
Lech is in charge of our food and smoothly functioning facilities.  A former kayaking Olympian, Lech is a true athlete and outdoors man.  Food is one of his passions, and he’s created a repertoire of healthy spa dishes, juices and raw food creations which fuse the flavors of world cultures.

Donn Wiedershine, M.D.
Dr. Wiedershine is a general practitioner and psychiatrist who uses a wide range of natural modalities.  He has successfully treated meta static cancer, suicidal depression, life–threatening drug– resistant infections, autism, severe pain disorders, severe insomnia, ADHD, arthritis, diabetes, bleeding fibroids, and many other conditions with little or no medication.  He chooses from many programs of natural medicine in his treatment of any disorder.  These include different forms of energy medicine, IV vitamins, IV amino acids, homeopathy, hyper baric oxygen treatments, and over twenty methods to detoxify and cleanse the body.

Credentials
Stanford University
Washington University
MD – University of Missouri Medical School, 1981
Residency training: psychiatry, neurology, and internal medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes Hospital, St. Louis, MO
Certified Addictionologist, The American College of Addictionology

Steven Ackermann
Steven has eighteen years of fitness experience.  He has been an instructor at the Copperhood Spa for 4 years.  He runs personal training sessions as well as teaching water exercise and boot camp classes.  Steve has completed 3 full marathons and one half-marathon.  He is currently fund-raising and running for Team Hole in the Wall, a group that supports disadvantaged kids.

Joan Apter
Joan is a licensed Massage Therapist with over 14 years of training in the use and application of therapeutic Essential Oils.  She has advanced training in the medicinal applications of essential oils from Ege University in Izmir, Turkey and holds an international certificate of study from the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy.  Joan is a registered professional member of the International Aromatherapy Association.

Joan offers aromatherapy massage for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance.  She travels widely to present keynotes, classes and workshops about wellness, Aromatherapy and Essential Oils for corporate education, hospital support groups, community networks, schools, spas and wellness centers.  Joan writes for national publications including "Healing Retreats and Spas" and "Natural Health" Magazine.  Her articles on Essential Oils have been featured in Chronogram Magazine, Ulster Magazine, The Poughkeepsie Journal, Healthy Living, and The Guide to Mid-Hudson Health Services.

Kathy Carey
Kathy, fitness instructor, personal trainer has been teaching yoga and fitness classes for 19 years, and has been an instructor at the Copperhood Retreat and Spa for 14 years.  She is a certified yoga instructor, fitness instructor, water exercise instructor and personal trainer.   She is also an avid hiker and backpacker and a long time member of the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club.  Kathy is also certified as a Reiki Master Practitioner and in One Light Healing Touch.  Kathy’s insightful teaching adds a personal touch to her program, making you feel like every class was designed with you in mind.

Dannah Chaifetz, HHC, AADP
Dannah is board certified Holistic Health Counselor trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City and SUNY Purchase . She is also certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Dannah specializes in individual, group, and corporate counseling sessions, programs and lectures to guide people to become their healthiest and most vibrant selves.

She helps our clients to gain more energy, lose weight, control and redirect cravings, lessen symptoms from allergies, recover from menstrual problems, defeat candida/yeast issues, guide those with gluten and wheat allergies, reduce stress, and to even finally get a good nights sleep! Dannah can also help locate, eliminate and reduce toxins in the home, assist moms with cooking and dietary challenges and introduce you to new and healthy foods to eat and enjoy. Whatever the obstacles, the result is that her clients become closer to their most vibrant selves and live happier and healthier lives.

Maureen T. Gregory, C.N.M.
Maureen Gregory is a certified Nutritionist/Microscopist. She has been in the Health and Fitness industry for over 20 years. Certified in Aerobics, Fitness and Personal training, she has done corporate fitness and nutritional counseling for businesses including Fortune 500 Companies. Currently she tours nationally and internationally lecturing and counseling on Health and Nutrition. In addition she is also completing her Doctorate in Nutrition. Her areas of expertise include but are not limited to Auto-Immune and Degenerative Disease Nutrition. She custom designs Nutritional programs to fit the individuals needs and life styles as well as living blood microscopy (Vital Hematology) which can reveal many things. During the session a single drop of blood taken painlessly from your finger is being examined. Together we will view the magnified blood cells on a television monitor and identify potential risk factors and deficiencies that are not evident unless viewed under a microscope. Blood is the Rosetta Stone to our body. It reveals the mystery of many nutritional deficiencies through targeted Nutritional intervention. These include stress, infection, oxygen uptake, free radical damage, immune system activity, allergies, parasitic activity and precursors to chronic illnesses. Maureen services are offered on certain dates only. Please call to synchronize your visit with the dates she is available at The Copperhood.

Laurie Heaven
Laurie is a certified yoga instructor currently working to complete a 500-hour advanced teacher training program.  She was first attracted to yoga as part of an overall fitness program, but over the course of many years of practice, has come to see it also as a medium for spiritual growth and expression.  As a person who has suffered catastrophic injuries and illnesses and come back to health and wholeness through yoga, she stresses the healing aspects – physical, mental, and spiritual – in her classes.  At the same time, she brings a lightness and sense of fun to her classes, born of her desire to share the joy that yoga practice has given her.

Wendy Jayne
Wendy is a fitness and yoga instructor.  Born in New York City, her travels have taken her to Canada, England, France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, India and Nepal.  Wendy came to yoga through her personal, life-long interest in holistic health and spiritual well-being.  Her practice led her to Shakti Yoga in Woodstock, New York, where she was certified to teach a dynamic, individual style of Hatha yoga.  Wendy believes that yoga is accessible to students of widely diverse accomplishment, that asana and pranayama practice can be modified to accommodate and broaden one's individual physical and spiritual boundaries through an attention to alignment, a focus on the breath, and an attentive personal awareness of and responsibility for each student.

Lea Kwiecinski
Lea is a NY state licensed and nationally certified massage therapist since 1996.  She is a graduate of the Swedish Institute in NYC, where she trained in Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue, Medical Massage and Shiatsu.  She has received massage certification from the world renowned Esalen institute of Big Sur California and is currently enrolled in Levant Bolukbasi's IM School of Healing's four year certification program.  In spring of 2009 Lea will begin her certification training for colonic hydrotherapy.

Corinne Mol
Corinne, fasting program director, spent four years living at a Taoist retreat center on a remote island in British Columbia where the students practiced meditation, chi kung, tai chi, yoga, singing, voice work, and dance for ten hours a day, six days a week.

Corinne has successfully completed many seven-day juice fasts and continues to use fasting as a method of cleansing, healing, and introspection.  She has experimented with many types of fasts and knows through extensive studies and experience the energetic and healing qualities of the various forms of fasting.  Corinne teaches Chi Kung, meditation, Tai Chi, yoga, and nutrition and is a massage therapist, specializing in Jin Shin Do Acupressure, Chi Nei Tsang Internal Organ Massage and Swedish Massage, and lives in Woodstock, NY.  Corinne has done extensive studies in Hakomi: Body Centered Psychotherapy and Non-Violent Communication.  Corinne brings a wonderfully balanced and practical approach to healing the body, mind and spirit through nutrition, exercise, meditation, and emotional awareness.   She loves to laugh and brings a playful and grounded approach to her teaching style.

Michael W. Mulligan, L.Ac.
Michael received a Master of Science in Acupuncture from Tri-State College of Acupuncture in New York, NY, and worked for a year in the school's Community Clinic. He has training in many different styles of acupuncture, massage, and bodywork. These include Five Element and Alchemical Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Trigger Point Release, Acupuncture Physical Medicine (APM), Japanese Acupuncture, Tui Na (Chinese Medical Massage), Craniosacral Therapy, and Zero Balancing.

Michael began his practice in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where he worked for 3 years in private practice, as well as in medical offices where he worked with M.D.'s, Chiropractors and Physical Therapists. Michael continues to do Post-Graduate training in acupuncture and bodywork therapies that focus on the treatment of psychological and emotional issues, as well as orthopedic conditions, with Master practitioners such as Lorie Eve Dechar, L.Ac. and Tom Bisio, L.Ac. Michael is Licensed by the State of New York, holds a B.A. and a Law Degree, and is a Professional Astrologer.

Conditions Treated:
Acute & Chronic Pain (including Back, Neck, Shoulder, and Knee pain), Anxiety/Stress, Depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Women's Health, TMJ, Headaches and Migraines, Orthopedic and Sports Injuries, Digestive problems, IBS, Acid Reflux, Arthritis, Rheumatism, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Allergies, and Asthma.

Abigail M. Podrecca, O.M.D.
Abigail has been practicing since graduating from the New England College of Acupuncture in Boston, in 1978.  She studied in China and Tibet receiving her doctorate in women's health and sports injuries.  Ms. Podrecca, has also taught in Vail Colorado, at the Steadman Clinic, and one of her patients was John Denver.  At Vail, she also lectured at the Vail Athletic Club and featured her practice on muscle skeletal injuries.  In New York City, she practiced with Richard Backarack, M.D. an osteopath who worked with the Joffery Dance Theater.  She also teaches medical Chi Gong, and meditation and has been studying with her teacher Master Quan, for over twelve years.

Kelly Anne Prosnier
Kelly is a Medical Intuitive and Sound Therapy specialist as well as a modern dancer.  She holds a BFA in choreography and performance from Arizona State University, a JD from Syracuse University, and has conducted post-graduate study in Environmental Law from the George Washington University Law Center.

Johanna Schwarzbeck
Johanna is an Austrian born artist and master art restorer as well as a Shiatsu practitioner.   She graduated from the Swedish Institute of Massage Therapy in New York City and has eight years of professional experience in Ohashiatsu.  In addition, she has been a student and graduate from the Velazquez System, Program Director of HPD Inc. (Human Potential Development).

Johanna unifies the art of caring in Shiatsu/massage therapy and the art of being in Zen Buddhism.

Anique Taylor
Anique is a life coach and tarot card reader.  After formal studies in literature (The Sorbonne -Diplome, Antioch College), and advanced degrees in art (Pratt Graduate School MFA, Pratt Institute BFA Highest Honors, Cooper Union, Silvermine AFA) Anique began her self-actualization work, which included 10 years of studies with Creative Living.  She earned certificates from Helix NYC- (a five year Psychotherapy&Healing Course), Ordination from The Helix Healing Ministry (one year post-graduate spiritual study) a Certificate in Hypnosis/Guided Visualization and in Substance Abuse Counseling from NY Institute of Technology.  She worked as a psychotherapist in NYC Metropolitan area from 1990-96 when she switched to Life Coaching after graduation from Coach U, one of the oldest most respected coaching schools.

Love of spiritual play, symbols and story, linked with intuitive abilities has led to a long relationship with Tarot.  In her readings, she uses these ancient symbols to uncover directions and issues for clients' guidance and development.