Expert Care for Every Patient
The clinic staff is comprised of licensed clinicians and students from the Master of Medical Speech-Language Pathology (MS MedSLP) program at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. Our clinicians hail from some of the top institutions in the country and form a team of experts dedicated to outstanding clinical practice.
CCD Clinic Director
ElBea Stonier, MS, CCC-SLP
ElBea Stonier is a speech-language pathologist who joined RMU in June 2018 as a Clinical Educator in the M.S. MedSLP program. She earned her B.S. at Boise State University and her M.S. at Idaho State University. ElBea has clinical experience working with clients across the lifespan, with a focus on developing advanced clinical skills in treating infants and toddlers with communication, feeding and swallowing, and cognitive delays.
Clinical Expertise
ElBea’s clinical expertise includes infants and toddlers with communication, feeding and swallowing, and cognitive delays.
Wendy Chase, MA, CCC-SLP
Wendy Chase is a speech-language pathologist who joined RMU in July 2017 in the position of Clinic Director. Ms. Chase earned her BS at Central Michigan University and her MA at Northwestern University. She has 29 years of experience in clinical positions treating clients from infancy through geriatrics and in locations from home care to hospitals. Ms. Chase was most recently employed at the Director of Clinical Education at the University of Connecticut where her focus was on inter-professional education and practice, communication and voice treatment with transgender or gender fluid clients, and assessment of swallowing in clients with ventilator dependency. Her classroom teaching has focused on dysphagia and clinical methods. Ms. Chase believes that critical thinking and evidence-influenced practice are hallmarks of an excellent speech-language pathologist and strives to support student acquisition of these core skills through quality clinical education.
Clinical Expertise
Wendy’s clinical expertise includes dysphagia, cognitive-communication disorders, tracheostomy and ventilator dependent patient issues, transgender voice, and communication.
Phillip Sechtem, PhD, CCC-SLP
Dr. Sechtem joined Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions as an Associate Professor in the M.S. SLP program in July 2017. He earned his B.A. in communication and his M.S. in speech-language pathology at Fort Hays State University (Hays, Kansas) in 1990 and 1994, respectively. He earned his Ph.D. in communication sciences and disorders at Wichita State University in 2013. Dr. Sechtem has worked extensively in medical settings concentrating on acquired neurologic, cognitive, communication, voice, and swallowing disorders. Advanced procedures he conducts include videostroboscopic examinations of the larynx, computerized speech analysis, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluations of swallowing, modified barium swallow studies, and tracheoesophageal voice restoration.
Dr. Sechtem’s teaching interests include neurologic bases of communication, acquired neurologic communication and swallowing disorders, anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing, and speech and hearing science. His research interests and publications encompass aspects of voice, swallowing, and aphasia. His aim is to advance colleagues and professionals who can competently provide evidence-based, patient-centered care upon graduation. He is honored and blessed to be a faculty member of the M.S. MedSLP program at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. He and his wife, Josefina, reside in Provo with their dog Jack.
Clinical Expertise
Dr. Sechtem’s clinical expertise includes neurologic, cognitive, communication, voice and swallowing disorders.
Kristin Ipson, MS, CCC-SLP
Kristen Ipson is a speech-language pathologist who joined RMU in January 2019 as a Clinical Educator in the M.S. MedSLP program. She earned her B.S. degree at Brigham Young University and her M.S. degree at the University of Utah. Ms. Ipson has clinical experience working with clients from infancy through adulthood in a variety of settings, including early intervention, public schools, outpatient voice clinic, and skilled nursing facilities. Her clinical focus has included assessing and treating infants and toddlers with delays and disorders in feeding, swallowing, communication, and cognition with advanced clinical skills in assessing and treating late language emergence, early identification of speech sound disorders, and early use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).
Clinical Expertise
Kristin’s clinical expertise includes infants and toddlers with communication, feeding and swallowing, and cognitive delays, voice treatment with transgender or gender fluid clients.
Lauren Siemers, MS, CCC-SLP
Lauren Siemers is a speech-language pathologist who joined RMU in August 2024 as an Assistant Clinical Professor in M.S. MedSLP program. She received her Master of Speech-Language Pathology degree from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Most recently, Lauren worked as a clinical educator at the University of Central Missouri. Lauren has clinical experience across the lifespan in public elementary schoolsand a rural hospital providing a mixture of inpatient and outpatient speech, language, and swallowing services to both pediatric and adult patients.
Lauren is passionate about collaboration between educators and clinicians to provide equity and access to services for students in need. Lauren’s research interests include the scholarship of teaching and learning in health professions education, interprofessional education and practice between educators and clinical service providers, speech sound disorders, parent training for early intervention and early implementation of AAC, and the benefits of immersive language instruction through the use of mentor sentences and texts.
Kasey Butler, MS, CF-SLP
Kasey Butler, MS, CF–SLP– Kasey Butler is a Speech Language Pathologist who joined RMU in 2024. Kasey earned a BA in secondary education, a BS in Communicative Disorders, and an MS in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Utah. Kasey has prior experience as a teacher specializing in Spanish in a secondary education setting.
As a nonbinary clinician, Kasey focuses on inclusivity, empathy, and empowerment, providing a safe and affirming space for all clients. Their philosophy emphasizes individualized care, evidence-based practice, and cultural competence. While Kasey specializes in gender-affirming voice therapy, they also offer a full range of speech-language pathology services for all ages. Fluent in Spanish, Kasey offers bilingual therapy services. They enjoy art, basketball, and actively participating in local LGBTQ+ and community events. Kasey is affiliated with NSSLHA and ASHA. Contact Kasey at Kasey.Butler@rm.edu or 385-248-5601
Lydia Kallhoff, MS, CCC-SLP
Lydia Kallhoff is an Assistant Professor at Rocky Mountain University, specializing in the assessment and treatment of neurogenic communication disorders. She earned her MS degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Utah in 2020 and is currently pursuing a PhD, with expected completion in May 2025. Since 2021, she has practiced as a medical speech-language pathologist at a skilled nursing facility, gaining extensive clinical experience in managing aphasia, cognitive-communication disorders, and other communication challenges in adult patients.
Her research focuses on developing and testing treatment approaches for aphasia and apraxia of speech. With a strong foundation in single-subject design, she has conducted several treatment studies and published in this area. Currently, her research involves using event-related potentials (ERPs) with the technology of EEG to investigate language processing deficits in individuals with aphasia. She aims to advance this work by exploring targeted treatments that address specific breakdowns, such as difficulties with predictability and plausibility in reading comprehension.
In addition to her research and clinical work, Lydia has extensive teaching experience at the graduate level. She has previously taught motor speech disorders and now leads courses in aphasia and cognitive-communication disorders at Rocky Mountain University. Passionate about clinical teaching, she strives to engage students with real-world applications of clinical theory and research. Clinically, she also directs the CSD’s aphasia and Parkinson’s groups. Bilingual in Mandarin Chinese and English, she brings a multicultural perspective to her teaching and research, with a deep commitment to improving communication outcomes for individuals with neurogenic disorders.
Adjunct Clinical Educators
Allison Schuette, MS, CCC-SLP
RMU Adjunct Faculty
Savannah Pipkin-Litster, MS, CCC-SLP
Auxiliary Provider
Darrell Matthews, MS, CCC-SLP
Auxiliary Provider
Kyra Peery, MS, CCC-SLP
Adjunct Clinical Educator
Greg Young, MS, CCC-SLP
RMU Faculty