Erika Adelman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who joins us from NYP-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where she worked as the Social Work Resource Liaison for the Parkinson's and Other Movement Disorders Program and provided care coordination and support for individuals living with Parkinson's Disease and their loved ones. She also ran the hospital's Parkinson's Disease Exercise and Wellness Program, and oversaw the MSW Internship Training Program, which she founded in 2016 to help raise Parkinson's specific competencies for social workers in training. Furthermore, Erika was the former Program Coordinator for the American Parkinson Disease Association's Information and Referral Center Hotline at NYP-Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where she provided resources to those living with Parkinson's in Brooklyn and beyond. Erika currently provides counseling services for people living with Parkinson's as well as their loved ones through her own part-time private practice, facilitates a support group for people living with Parkinson's Disease in collaboration with Senior Helpers NYC as well as a Parkinson's Disease Caregivers Group in collaboration with the Sephardic Community Center on a monthly basis, sits on the Medical Advisory Board for LifeSpark, and is an active member of the NASW-NYC Chapter. Fueled by her passion for making a real difference in the lives of others, Erika has a strong desire to work with our team, community leaders, and the national associations to overcome the barriers of stigma and discrimination that currently exist within our healthcare and social service systems by providing more education, resources, and support to vulnerable individuals who suffer from mental health and neurodegenerative conditions. Erika also has an invested interest in bringing social work to the forefront in the field of movement disorders, and conducting research studies that focus on the non-motor symptoms and neuropsychiatric manifestations of Parkinson's Disease.