Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Dave Wyner, M.A., LPC, NCC received his master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Regis University. He’s a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Certified Advanced Grief Counseling Specialist. Dave co-facilitates all of Groundwork Ranch’s programs and helps lead program development. In addition to his work at Groundwork Ranch, Dave has a private counseling practice, called A Path Forward Counseling, where he specializes in helping people navigate trauma and grief. He was also the human half of a certified pet therapy team. Until his dog’s retirement in 2019, they visited patients at a local hospital and strolled the concourses of Denver International Airport, helping make travelers, airline personnel, and airport employees smile. 

Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

Dave Wyner, M.A., LPC, NCC received his master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Regis University. He’s a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and a Certified Advanced Grief Counseling Specialist. Dave co-facilitates all of Groundwork Ranch’s programs and helps lead program development. In addition to his work at Groundwork Ranch, Dave has a private counseling practice, called A Path Forward Counseling, where he specializes in helping people navigate trauma and grief. He was also the human half of a certified pet therapy team. Until his dog’s retirement in 2019, they visited patients at a local hospital and strolled the concourses of Denver International Airport, helping make travelers, airline personnel, and airport employees smile. 

Lottie’s professional and personal dreams came together in 2010, when she began offering equine-assisted psychotherapy and learning to a wide variety of clients. Her passion for the work has only increased as she’s continually witnessed people make tremendous progress in their confidence, relationship skills, and sense of empowerment after interacting with horses. She brings to her work deep beliefs in every person’s inner wisdom and ability to overcome challenges. Before offering equine-assisted services, Lottie spent years working with abused and neglected children and adolescents in a variety of settings. She received her Masters and Educational Specialist degrees in counseling psychology from James Madison University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. In addition to her role as executive director of Groundwork Ranch, she operates a private counseling practice where she helps people navigate difficult life transitions and reclaim their personal power. In her free time, Lottie enjoys playing Frisbee golf with her family, gardening, and taking care of her horses. 

A passionate advocate for children and increasing awareness about the foster care system, Liz is the author of The Extraordinary Story of No Ordinary Liz—her latest children’s book—as well as No Ordinary Liz (now in its second printing) and Growing Up in The Care of Strangers, which together tell her remarkable journey as a foster child. A passionate advocate for children and raising awareness about the foster care system, she has been a frequent motivational speaker for various organizations and has shared her story on numerous podcasts, radio shows, and TV programs. She actively volunteers within her community and serves on the board of Fostering Success. In her free time, Liz enjoys spontaneous road trips to new and adventurous destinations, blogging, meeting new people, exploring the open water, and embracing all that life has to offer.

Robyn Gobbel, MSW, has 20 years of practice as a family and child therapist, specializing in complex trauma, attachment, and adoption. While she is no longer practicing as a therapist, Robyn’s diverse clinical practice and training creates the foundation of her work and includes EMDR (including EMDR adapted for children with attachment trauma), Somatic Experiencing, Theraplay, Trust Based Relational Intervention®, The Alert Program® and Yogapeutics Aerial Yoga Level 1 Teacher Training. Robyn has expertise in the field of relational neuroscience, including interpersonal neurobiology, attachment theory and polyvagal theory. Robyn consults, teaches, and trains extensively throughout the US.  She previously served as an instructor for the Foundations of Interpersonal Neurobiology Certificate Program at Portland Community College as well as with the Adoptive & Foster Family Therapy Post-Graduate Certificate Program.  Robyn has served on the working board of the Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies (GAINS). Robyn is the host of The Baffling Behavior Show podcast and the author of Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors: Brain-Body-Sensory Strategies that Really Work (Jessica Kingsley Publishers). 

Amber Chiapetto is a foster care advocate, speaker, and creator who uses her lived experience to bring honesty, compassion, and accountability to conversations about foster care. After being returned to the foster care system as a teenager following a 12-year adoption, Amber began sharing her story online to give a voice to aged-out foster youth and push for meaningful foster care reform. What started as vulnerability turned into community — her platform has now reached over 800,000 followers.

Through raw storytelling and advocacy, Amber speaks openly about the realities of foster care, including hardship, neglect, and abuse, while also highlighting resilience and healing. Today, she is a two-time college graduate, a mother of three, a business owner, and a passionate partner to foster families who want to do better for the children in their care.

In partnership with Be The Source, Amber shares her story, answers difficult questions, and offers insight to help foster families create safer, more healing homes, so no child has to feel alone in the system.

Gracie moved from Wisconsin to Duluth to attend the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where she quickly fell in love with the city. At UMD, she earned bachelor’s degrees in both Biochemistry and Criminology. During her undergraduate career, she served on the Sexual Misconduct Hearing Committee, tutored in math and chemistry courses, was a teaching assistant for the criminology department, and completed an internship at First Witness. Throughout her time at UMD, Gracie focused on coursework in Psychopathy and Crime, Understanding Violence, Criminal Forensic Psychology, and Sociology of Gender. After graduation, Gracie continued her work with First Witness as the Operations Assistant.

Before working at First Witness, Gracie worked at a local residential addiction treatment facility, where she gained a passion for advocating for marginalized individuals who had experienced severe trauma in their lives. She also worked at afterschool programs in the area for three years, and spent her summers outside at camp, teaching kids how to paddle, climb, bike, and hike. These positions, combined with her education, fostered her love for working with children and families and strengthened her knowledge of how trauma affects children, adolescents, and adults.

In her free time, Gracie enjoys paddling up the North Shore, trying new coffee shops, going on long hikes, and watching even longer movies.

Amy has had a heart for children in foster care since the age of 15, when she was recruited as a counselor for Camp Horizon of Georgia, a summer camp for children in care. What started as a week-long commitment turned into a passion that spanned more than twenty years. Amy also served as a foster care counselor in a residential treatment home and as a CASA. Her work as a School Psychologist and life coach for teenagers gave her a front row seat to the ups and downs of school life children encounter including the joys, the scrapes, the disappointments, and the victories. 

Amy is currently earning her master’s degree in counseling at Adams State University and plans to practice from an attachment based lens, incorporating Internal Family Systems (IFS). Her goal is to walk alongside those she works with, supporting their healing while encouraging empowerment and agency. She is grateful to be at Be the Source as part of her graduate training, and considers it a privilege to contribute to such a vital mission.

Her entire extended family lives in the South, which makes her family a bit of a tumbleweed out here in Colorado. For the past 11 years she has lived in Colorado with her husband who has an affinity for endurance races and their tiny white dog, Gizmo, who unashamedly runs the household. Their two wonderful adult daughters, ages 21 and 24, have stretched her heart and mind in countless ways.

When she is not studying or working, Amy loves all things outdoors (except snakes!) and dreams of living in eternal summer weather one day. She finds joy in gardens of every kind, loves belly laughing with friends, and treasures time with animals. She also speaks a little French and is fairly fluent in sarcasm.

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