The Bridging Institute® Team

We are movement and development specialists who have taken the journey to become Bridging® specialists because we love helping people achieve more.

Our greatest strengths as a team:

Diverse Backgrounds.

Our team members have backgrounds in occupational therapy, medical exercise and personal training, therapeutic services, and physical therapy, both for adults and pediatrics. We apply these diverse backgrounds to a client’s problem or challenge, looking at it from several different lenses, to identify the root cause of the issue and the treatment needed to get the body back to its natural kinetic movements.

Drive to help other people.

Every single one of our team members is a caregiver and passionate about helping other people. In our offices you will find empathy, support, and great customer care. We feel the best when we can help frustrated people find relief. We want to make a huge difference in your life.

Empathy.

All of our team members had personal motivations that encouraged them to explore Bridging. We have all been the:

  • anxious parent who isn’t sure how to help her child next whether as an infant or teenager;
  • fearful individual who is tired of being tired and in pain with no apparent causes;
  • one concerned that their parent struggles to do what used to come easily.

Our team has walked in your shoes.  We meet you at the point you are at in your journey and support you/your family to a more functional place.

Insatiable drive to find out how and why the human body works.

After each of us was exposed to Bridging and had experienced the incredible results first hand, we all had the same idea. “I want to learn more. I want to learn why this treatment is so successful where others are not.”

We thrive on solving puzzles.

We get excited about doing a deep dive investigation into why a client is not functioning correctly. We take the time to get to know your history to thoroughly understand your situation and develop a session plan.

These drives and strengths back our passion to help people of all ages to ease pain, meet developmental milestones, and get back on track to fully living their life. The most amazing part of our day is watching children master new skills, every age find a new sense of calm, and adults move again with ease and confidence. We look forward to helping solve your development or movement challenge!

  • Cara
Cara is the founder of the Bridging ® Technique, the President and Founder of The Bridging Institute (formerly Kinetic Konnections). She developed the Bridging Technique which has evolved since 2004. Bridging is a systems’ engineering approach to movement and its developmental origins. Cara earned her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and her Masters in Engineering Management from Northwestern University. She is a nationally certified Medical Exercise Specialist and Personal Trainer (American Council on Exercise), a member of the IDEA Health and Fitness Association and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) and its society for Engineering in Medicine and Biology (EMBS). She completed the basic and advanced General Movements Infant Assessment training, and is certified in the Integrated Listening Systems program. Cara often travels and can be found outdoors on the trails running or hiking. She enjoys kayaking and music too. She is a proud Marine mom with her older son in the US Marine Corps. Her younger son is a long-term Leukemia survivor, so childhood cancer survivor issues are close to her heart.
  • Becki
Becki became a Bridging ® Specialist in 2010. With a diverse background working with children and providing therapeutic services, this Nebraska native has integrated her many experiences with children and adults with her Bridging work. She loves seeing the positive physical and behavioral changes that result from her work with clients. Becki enjoys working with both children and adults with a special interest in the pain and/or behavioral implications of earlier medical intervention She has a BA in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a concentration in deaf studies and a MS in Child Development with a concentration in Child Life from the Erickson Institute. She is also a licensed massage therapist. A kid at heart, Becki can be found playing with her young daughter. She also enjoys running, playing softball, practicing yoga, and furthering her education.
  • Leslie
Leslie became a Bridging ® Specialist in 2011. She was inspired to learn Bridging after being amazed with the profound changes in her son in such a short period of time from Bridging. The Chicago area native holds a Masters in Physical Therapy from the Feinstein School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Leslie is certified in Kinesiotaping, Interactive Metronome, Integrated Listening Systems, and is a member of the General Movement Trust, and is a licensed massage therapist. Leslie enjoys spending time outdoors, cooking, playing the piano, dancing, meditating, journaling, playing games and being with family and friends.
  • Lynne
Lynne became a Bridging ® Specialist in 2016. She was introduced to the Bridging Technique through work with her own kids and then began referring occupational therapy clients. She found Bridging® to be complementary to her work as an occupational therapist. The results were so profound that she felt compelled to learn the technique. While she has worked with children for many years, she loves helping all ages to reduce pain, improve balance and get back to the activities they enjoy. A native of the North Shore, Lynne earned her BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan and her MS in Occupational Therapy from the University of Indianapolis. During her free time, Lynne can be found spending time with family, exercising, walking her dogs and cooking.