About Our FOUNDATION
WE ARE A PASSIONATE 
WELLNESS TEAM

Our main objective is to help establish balance in the lives of every person that uses the services we provide on a physical, mental and emotional level.

People Behind the SCenes
Our Advisory Board & Team Members
CoFOunder + Director
Ethan Hershman

Ethan struggled with alcohol and drug addiction during his late teens and all of his 20’s. Only after nearly losing his life to cocaine overdoses, his relationships and family, did he surrender to the disease. Ethan credits his 27+ years of sobriety to the 12 steps of the AA program, a solid community, fellowship, taking life one day at a time, healing the mind, BODY, spirit, and the helping of others. He is passionate about helping those that are afflicted with addiction and other life traumas. 

Co-Founder + Clinical Therapist
Alexandria Hershman

Alexandria Hershman is a licensed clinical therapist that has been practicing for over seven years. She has always had a strong desire to help others, which has continued in her private therapy practice, founded in February 2019. She has a passion for the health and well-being of her clients, and the mission behind her virtual therapy practice is to make mental health services less stigmatized and more accessible to all.

C0-Founder + Wellness Coach
Colleen Delaney

As a life long athlete, Colleen has created a tremendous following due to her caring, focused and professional nature. Colleen struggles with Crohn’s disease and has found recovery through a vigorous nutritional regiment and healthy fitness program. Colleen always has a positive, caring and giving way about her that fits perfectly with the MTH mission.

Advisory Board Member
Cameron Bakhtiar

Cameron has maintained his recovery for 10 years. Cameron's love for the games and exercise disappeared during his active addiction, but were reborn in his recovery. As an active member in the recovery community,  he has turned his passion for helping others into a career. Cameron brings the knowledge of the Substance Abuse & Mental Health industry with him to Move to Heal.

Advisory Board Member
Noah Goodman

Noah has first-hand experience in healing through recovery having entered the twelve-step community in 2009. His outgoing personality allows him to share his experience, strength and hope to help others who are suffering by dedicating much of his free time to helping those in need.

Advisory Board Member
Michele Sharp

Michele is Executive Director, Communications & Media Relations at Purdue Pharma. She is a Peabody Award-winning former journalist with nearly 25 years of experience in public relations. Michele is currently a doctoral candidate at Baylor University, and holds a master’s from American University and a bachelor’s from Bryn Mawr College. Michele has a passion for working with purpose-driven organizations that benefit the public good.

Advisory Board Member
Peter W. Shrair

Peter is a Partner at Halloran and Sage LLP, focusing his practice primarily in commercial real estate transactions, business sales and acquisitions, commercial leasing and development and loan documentation. Prior to joining Halloran and Sage, Peter was the Managing Partner at Cooley, Shrair P.C., which was established in 1946 and combined with Halloran and Sage in 2021.

Peter has been active in the recovery community for many years and provides service work to various charities and civicmorganizations.

Advisory Board Member
Seth Goodman

With over 25 years of experience in the recycling industry, Seth is known as a compassionate and inspiring leader by his clients and colleagues. Seth is the co-leader of Northstar Recycling and is focused on setting strategic direction and executing the day-to-day operations of the company. Since founding Northstar in 2011 with his brother Noah, Seth has been a major force in growing the business to over $100 million in sales annually.

Seth has been an active member of the twelve-step community since getting sober from drugs and alcohol in 2010.

Advisory Board Member & Registered Dietitian
Jessica Dean

Jessica Dean is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating counselor and is currently working towards her certification in eating disorders (CEDRD). Discovering the correlation between diet culture and eating disorders, Jessica opened a non-diet, weight-inclusive private practice. The mission to help individuals release unrealistic expectations and find peace with food, exercise, and body image. Jessica and her team are making nutrition inclusive and not just for those that can afford it.

Advisory Board Member
Kelly Burns, MPH

Kelly is a medical communications professional with expertise in strategic publications planning and educational content development in the pharmaceutical industry.

While pursuing a Master of Public Health from George Washington University, Kelly focused on addressing the Social Determinants of Health and how public health, medicine, industry, and policy could align to improve overall population health and target specific at-risk communities.

operations Manager
Emily Hershman

Emily is a passionate advocate for mental health. As a reiki practitioner, she focuses on healing the connection between the mind, body, and spirit.

Emily enjoys connecting the people in her community with the resources they need to live healthier, more fulfilling, and longer lives.

Meet Ethan, Allie & Colleen
About Our Founders, Ethan, Allie & Colleen

Move to Heal was founded in May 2021 but its story began years before, in 2014, when licensed clinical therapist Alexandria Hershman studied how combining exercise with mental health counseling significantly improved the lives of those suffering from depression, anxiety, and addiction. The holistic mind-body connection led to long-term benefits. 


In 2021, her father Ethan Hershman, a gym owner who has been in recovery for nearly 30 years, experienced an exercise class followed by a recovery meeting. He was hooked. He realized he was living proof that Alexandria’s research findings were true. While his friends in AA had experienced relapses, Ethan’s focus on exercise, nutrition, and counseling were the reason for his successful long-term recovery. 

It occurred to Ethan that most people don’t have the means to get therapy, nutritional counseling, and also join a gym to get physically healthy again. But as a gym owner, Ethan had the means to provide access.  

He conferred with his daughter Alexandria and his partner at the gym Colleen Delaney, who had solved her own medical issues, including Crohn’s disease, with a healthy diet. The three founded Move to Heal with a goal of helping those with mental health issues, depression, addiction, eating disorders, PTSD, abuse, or any life trauma, to achieve wellness and long-term recovery. 

Move to Heal serves over 450 people a week in gyms across Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Florida. Participants receive free exercise classes, mental health counseling, nutritional counseling, and gym memberships. Best of all, they build and foster a community of support that many participants have called “lifesaving.”