Education Faculty
Our dedicated PWR! Faculty offer decades of combined experience in physical therapy and working with People with Parkinson's Disease to give you the best learning experience in our PWR!Moves Certification workshops.
Becky Farley – PhD, MS, PT Chief Scientific Officer & Founder
Dr. Becky Farley is a physical therapist, neuroscientist, and Parkinson exercise specialist, as well as the Chief Scientific Officer and Founder of Parkinson Wellness Recovery | PWR!. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Arizona, her Master of Science in Physical Therapy from the University of North Carolina, and her Bachelor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Oklahoma. In her capacity as an expert on exercise for people with Parkinson disease, Dr. Farley delivers public and medical seminars across the US and world. Her postdoctoral research, for which she was awarded an R21 NIH grant, investigated the muscle activation deficits underlying bradykinesia in people with PD. Dr. Farley completed a randomized clinical trial to establish the benefits of LSVT BIG®, the first whole-body, amplitude- focused, physical and occupational therapy exercise approach for individuals with PD.
Dr. Farley is also the creator of PWR!Moves, a Parkinson-specific skill training approach that directly targets the training of amplitude into building blocks of function, where each of the building blocks counteracts a primary motor control deficit known to interfere with everyday mobility. Since 2006, Dr. Farley has been training therapists and fitness professionals, teaching them to work together to create rehabilitation and community exercise programs that apply neuroplasticity-based principles of practice to work toward shared PD-specific functional goals.
Stemming from her belief that lifelong access to integrated rehabilitation and community exercise and wellness programming is what’s necessary to optimize and perpetuate functional mobility benefits and to slow disease progression, Dr. Farley’s current focus is the publication of research using data from the Tucson-based PWR!Gym facility and integrating new research into PWR!Moves workshops and PWR!Gym programming.
Jennifer Bazan-Wigle, PT, DPT, CEEAA Physical Therapist
Jennifer has been with PWR! since 2013, applying her enthusiasm, expertise, and passion as a physical therapist for people with Parkinson’s. From day to day, you can find her treating individuals one-on-one, providing group exercise instruction, or developing on-demand video and educational content.
Jennifer is a senior member of the PWR!Moves professional education faculty and has delivered over 100 training workshops across the US and world. In doing so, Jennifer has trained thousands of physical therapists, occupational therapists, and fitness professionals to implement evidence-informed rehabilitation and group exercise for people with PD. She has earned advanced credentialing from the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Geriatric section as a Certified Exercise Expert for the Aging Adult (CEEAA) and as a Credentialed Balance and Falls Prevention Professional.
In her free time, you can find Jennifer hiking or running with her husband and dog Rip in the Tucson Mountains, traveling the world, and cooking for (and eating with!) family and friends.
Shelley Hockensmith, PT, DPT Physical Therapist Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist
Shelley Hockensmith is a physical therapist. She has been a PWR! supporter since its conception, helping as a consulting therapist for many years and then joining the therapy team in 2019.
Shelley has been a physical therapist for 20 years with experience primarily in outpatient neurological clinics. She has been a Board Certified Neurologic Specialist since 2007 and has specialized training in movement disorders as well as balance and vestibular disorders. In addition to providing individualized therapy, she also serves as faculty in PWR! professional training. Shelley has been a professional volunteer for several adaptive sports organizations locally and internationally.
A southern Indiana native, Shelley graduated from the University of Evansville in 2003 and moved to Tucson in 2005. She enjoys working in her desert gardens and is an avid exerciser which helps her keep up with her two very active boys.
Maria Allen, PT
Maria has over 40 years of experience as a physical therapist treating people with neurodegenerative disease, brain injury, stroke, and vestibular dysfunction. She began to focus on the Parkinson’s population in 2011 becoming LSVT BIG certified, PWR!Moves Therapist and Instructor certified and volunteering at the PWR!Retreat in 2015 and 2016. She developed and currently serves as the coordinator of a multidisciplinary Parkinson Wellness Program for a home health company serving the California Central Coast, which serves over 300 people with Parkinson’s Disease and Atypical Parkinson’s Disease each year. She holds a Certificate of Advanced Competency in Home Health from the APTA. Maria works closely with her local Parkinson Disease community serving as Board Advisor for the Central Coast Parkinson Association, as an Advisory Board Member for the Parkinson’s Foundation, California Chapter, and as an Aware in Care Ambassador for the Parkinson’s Foundation. She is most passionate about sharing her clinical experience through clinical education and by mentoring therapists and other healthcare professionals.
Emily Borchers, PT, DPT
Kristina Dorkoski, PT, DPT, CEEAA Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist
Dr. Kristina Dorkoski is a physical therapist, Board-Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist, Certified Exercise Expert for Aging Adults, Professional Yoga Therapist, and certified Pilates instructor. Dorkoski specializes in the rehabilitation of adults with Parkinson’s disease and vestibular dysfunction. With over 20 years of clinical experience, she serves as lead therapist and mentor on the neurologic team at Allied Services Heinz Rehab outpatient center in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Dorkoski’s treatment philosophy is to provide evidence-based, “whole person” care. She enjoys coupling this approach with the advanced technologies available at her facility. Dorkoski earned her BS in health science and MS in physical therapy from Misericordia University, doctorate in physical therapy from Temple University, and Certificate in Vestibular Rehabilitation from the American Physical Therapy Association. She is an LSVT BIG and PWR!Moves Certified Therapist and past PWR! Retreat volunteer. Dorkoski is a long-term adjunct faculty member at Misericordia University, where she instructs neuromuscular labs and a special practices course on the use of Pilates and Medical Therapeutic Yoga in rehabilitation. Dorkoski has taught continuing education courses for the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association and appeared as an expert panelist on public television programs. Additionally, Dorkoski is a 2022 Parkinson’s Foundation Community Grant awardee and facilitates her local Parkinson’s support group.
Rachel Gibson, PT, DPT, NCS Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist
Rachel has been a physical therapist working primarily with neurological patients for four years. She graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis with her Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2021 and went on to complete a neurologic residency through Ohio Health and Ohio University after graduation. Since completing her residency and passing her Neurologic Clinical Specialist exam, she has worked for UC Health as an outpatient physical therapist in Cincinnati, OH with special clinical interests including working with people with Parkinson’s disease, people with vestibular diagnoses, and people with ALS. She is currently the co-chair of the UC Health vestibular therapy shared governance and is a physical therapist representative for the ALS multidisciplinary clinic. She is certified as an American Physical Therapy Association clinical instructor. She enjoys donating her time at the UC Health stroke support group hosting large and small group discussions related to life changes post-stroke. She originally certified as a PWR!Moves Certified Therapist in 2021 and re-certified in 2025. She is passionate about the tangible influence that exercise can make in the lives of people with Parkinson’s and is eager to share the impact that can be made across all stages of the disease. She is excited to be a new member of the PWR! Faculty (2025.)
Nancy Nelson, ACE-CPT Parkinson Disease Exercise Specialist
Nancy Nelson has over 30 years of experience in the health and wellness industry. An avid proponent of continued education and training, she holds numerous credentials, including an ACE Personal Trainer certification, Rock Steady Boxing certification, Delay the Disease certification, Brian Grant Foundation training, Group Exercise Instructor training, Tai Ji Quan Moving for Better Balance (TJQMMB) training and is a Parkinson Exercise Specialist. For the past 15 years, Nancy has worked almost exclusively with people with Parkinson disease. In 2009, Nancy founded her company, PDEX, LLC, to offer group classes and personal training for people with Parkinson’s throughout Portland, Oregon. During this time, she also taught evidence-based programs and conducted research projects with a focus on patients with Parkinson’s disease and cancer for both Oregon Health Sciences University and the Oregon Research Institute. In 2016, Nancy moved to Tucson to take a role as Exercise Therapy Manager for Parkinson Wellness Recovery (PWR!). In 2019, Nancy joined PWR!’s professional education faculty to train and share her expertise with participants across the US. Most recently, Nancy and her husband relocated to Bend Oregon to be closer to family. She has continued her relationship with PWR! by teaching virtual classes and doing one on one wellness consultations. Nancy was thrilled to be able to resume her relationship with OHSU’s Get Fit Prostate team in September 2020, teaching TJQMBB. In addition, she is a coach for Rock Steady Boxing Bend and does personal training for people with Parkinson disease in her community. Outside of the gym, Nancy loves cycling, hiking, cooking, and her English Springer Spaniel, Hazel.
Sarah Palmer, MS, Exercise Physiologist, CSCS
Sarah is the owner and lead fitness trainer of foreverfitness personal training company in Cincinnati, OH, that includes in studio, in home, virtual and on-demand exercise classes. She has been working as an exercise professional since 1994. Sarah has specialized in working with people with Parkinson’s and brings the experience, knowledge and access to a global team of experts in the field as well as continued advance training in PD-specific exercise including PWR!Moves Instructor, Rock Steady Boxing Coach, Delay the Disease, Allied Team Training for Parkinson’s (ATTP), Brian Grant Foundation Parkinson exercise Training for Professionals and is Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). She is a member of the MedFit Network as a Medical Fitness professional and a member of NeuroSpark Network. She donates her time to the PWR! Retreat each year in Arizona, has been a featured speaker at the Sunflower Rev it Up for Parkinson’s Symposium and Expo, serves on their planning committee and co-presented at the Rock Steady Boxing Coach Conference in 2018. She is a Parkinson’s Foundation Aware In Care Ambassador, participated in the Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 2019 to advocate for Parkinson’s, and was on the Competency Development Committee for the Parkinson’s Foundation to establish competencies for Exercise Professionals who work with people with Parkinson’s disease. Her father had Parkinson’s disease and this personal experience continues to inspire and motivate her professionally.
Pietro Domestici, PT Italian Partner: European Parkinson Therapy and Training Centre, Italy
My name is Pietro, and my training as a physiotherapist took place at the University of Brescia and curiosity drove me to the other side of the world, to Tucson (Arizona) where I trained as a certified therapist and PWR!Moves teacher. Three words define me: straight but funny. Seriousness and professional determination in a playful and positive character. Exercise and pleasure generate dopamine, a protein that conveys the right motivation and charge to face life.