Meet The Team

Urania is a bilingual dual credentialed speech-language pathologist and behavior analyst.  Urania has over 19 years of experience in the field of speech pathology.  She graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelors in Psychology and in 2004 she graduated with a Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology. In 2014 she pursued a career in Applied Behavior Analysis and became a certified behavior analyst.   Urania opened S.L.B Therapy in 2006 with the vision of one day becoming interdisciplinary.  In 2008 S.L.B Therapy added occupational and physical therapy services. Soon after, Urania led S.L.B Therapy into adding applied behavior analysis services.  Urania believes that children excel to their maximum potential by implementing behavior strategies alongside speech, OT, and PT interventions.  Urania is trained in PROMPT, PECs, Oral motor, use in AAC, and early intervention.  Urania’s passion is providing services to children with severe maladaptive behaviors.  

Patricia “Patty” Causo is a lead BCBA at SLB Therapy Inc. She received her Masters of Science degree in Counselor Education: Clinical Mental Health Counseling Track from Florida International University in 2018 and continued her education into applied behavior analysis. She has been in the field of ABA for over 10 years with experience in early intervention, autism spectrum disorder, severe disruptive behaviors and more. She is also a licensed Speech Language Pathologist Assistant with training in PECS and the Handwriting Without Tears Program.

Yessenia Duran is a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst with 10+ years of experience working with neurodivergent children and their families. Yessenia developed her passion in the field of behavior analysis while working at Florida International University’s Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention Program (EIBI); a program focused on teaching and improving verbal communication, adaptive living, and pre-academic skills to children (16 months – 15 years old) with the diagnosis of autism or other developmental disorders. Shortly after in 2013, Yessenia graduated from Florida International University (FIU) with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a minor in Behavior Analysis.

Yessenia continued her career path by providing behavioral therapy to children diagnosed with autism that displayed a variety of challenging behaviors such as aggression, noncompliance, tantrums, picky eating, and poor verbal communication skills.  In May 2014, she became a Board-Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA). Yessenia then obtained her Master of Science in Counselor Education with a track in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from FIU in 2016 and in May 2021 she became a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).

Within her years of experience, she has worked on helping clients acquire the needed skills to become independent in society. In addition, she uses her mental health background to teach self-management (self-regulation) skills to kids with low-support ASD who struggle with anxiety, self-esteem, or social skills deficits. Yessenia also teaches parents the skills they need to manage their child's behavior and leaves them with a sense of empowerment and self-efficacy.

Currently, Yessenia is a lead behavior analyst at S.L.B Therapy and provides training and guidance to behavioral technicians and assistant behavior analysts. Furthermore, Yessenia develops unique behavioral support plans that teach functional/appropriate replacement behaviors and reduce maladaptive behaviors. 

Emelyn Ruiz is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst at SLB Therapy. Emelyn has been providing 1:1 therapy to children with autism and related disabilities since 2008 and has been providing supervision to RBTs since 2014. Upon completing her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2009, she began working as an intern in the ABA field. Her greatest accomplishments have been being able to provide families with the appropriate tools to assist their children in their communication skills across others and understanding their children's behaviors. Emelyn has enjoyed working with various children and families in teaching them how to increase their children’s communication as well as working side by side with RBTs and teaching them how to implement interventions that would help these children and their families create the right opportunity for these children to communicate and engage in appropriate behaviors. For Emelyn, it has always been about combining the right team between RBTs, caregivers, and their children.

Eleanet is a dedicated professional in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis with a strong background in education and behavioral intervention. She began her career in 2017 as a Teacher Assistant at Beyond Expectations Academy, where she discovered her passion for working with children with developmental and behavioral needs.

After two years of assisting in the classroom, Eleanet decided to take the next step in her career. In 2019, she became a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) with SLB Therapy. Eager to deepen her knowledge and impact, Eleanet began pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2020.  After completing extensive hands-on training with SLB Therapy, Eleanet successfully passed the BACB exam in 2025 and became a Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA).

Eleanet is passionate about helping individuals reach their fullest potential through compassionate, evidence-based practices and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Karin Nowels has over 20 years of experience with adults and children of varying exceptionalities. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Eastern Michigan University and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology. Karin began working in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis as a registered behavior technician working with children across home, school, and clinic-based settings. As a BCaBA, she continues to work with children and adults striving to provide evidence-based interventions to clients with the hopes of generalizing these skills to a client’s natural environment. Karin’s goal is to provide families with compassionate and meaningful guidance through tailored interventions that decrease a range of interfering behaviors while increasing independence and communication skills.

Eleni Tsalikis, M.A., BCBA, is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst with extensive experience supporting children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. She specializes in reducing challenging behaviors across settings, teaching functional communication and social skills, and providing staff supervision and parent training to ensure meaningful progress for her clients and families. Eleni earned her Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis from the University of South Florida and holds a Graduate Certificate in Biomedical Neuroscience from the University of Florida. She also received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Florida International University, where she contributed to multiple research labs exploring motivational, emotional, and developmental processes in youth. With a strong background in evidence-based assessment tools such as the VB-MAPP, ABLLS-R, and AFLS, Eleni is committed to fostering skill development, reducing maladaptive behaviors, and empowering families through compassionate, individualized support.