Dorothy Bohntinsky

Dorothy Bohntinsky (Dori), CCC-SLP, D.Min., is certified in speech-language pathology by the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (ASHA) and licensed by the state of California. She has practiced as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) in healthcare settings since 1976. She retired early in 2002 after 20 years of service as Director of Speech Pathology and Audiology at Alameda County Medical Center. Since then she has been the per diem SLP in a long-term acute hospital (LTAC) that specializes in respiratory failure.

After losing a 14-year old daughter in 2000, followed by the deaths of both her parents within 15 months, Dori published The Healing Room: Discovering Joy through the Journal. Due to the public’s positive response (including young teens), she attended the doctorate of ministry program at Wisdom University in San Francisco and the ordination program at the Chaplaincy Institute for Interfaith Ministries in Berkeley to better understand universal relationships between loss and resilience. She earned her D.Min. and was ordained as an Interfaith minister in 2006.

Since then, Dr. Bohntinsky has had a passion for discovering evidence-based ways to help communicatively impaired clients and their families, practitioners, and the general public transform fears and stress that arise from any loss into opportunity by integrating feelings and emotions with creative thinking. This process is explained in her dissertation, Transformational Healing through the Integration of Self: A Simple Approach to Problem Solving that Inspires Brilliance. She published her dissertation in 2017 after using the journaling format successfully with clients and caregivers, with her family, and herself for over a decade.

The theory of Nonverbal Language Integration was born from this passion. It solves the mystery of what a jugular vein compression collar for preventing concussions in sports has in common with enhanced mood and improved focus and performance. She published Nonverbal Language Integration for Exercising Vagus Nerve Pathways due to her grandchildren’s urging (ages nine, seven, and five at the time). While the content is complex and intended for practitioners, it reads like a captivating mystery. The information is explained in such a manner that the general public can benefit from it as well.

Dori has been married to her husband, Chuck, since 1971. Together, they maintain their 84-foot wide Chartres-style garden labyrinth in the Hayward Hills. Besides being involved with their three young grandchildren, she enjoys Native American rock art. She wrote Sustenance: Integrating Creativity with Rock Art to show how ancient images can inspire our poetic writing today. She also enjoys gardening, home improvement projects, acrylic/oil painting, golf, and studying tai chi.

Dori continues with her passion for research, publishing, and sharing her work with other professionals and the general public.