Meet the Team

Monica Gurulé, M.S. CCC-SLP

Owner and Founder

Monica is the founder and owner of Bilingual Interventions and is a seasoned Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist. She completed her undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of New Mexico. Her undergraduate studies where both in Speech-Language Pathology and Spanish. She earned her Master’s Degree in Speech- Language Pathology in 2001 and her Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in 2002. Recognizing the tremendous need for bilingual speech therapy, her passion for helping others and her dream of owning her own business, she opened Bilingual Interventions, LLC in 2009.

Speech Language Pathologists

Geri Quintana

M.S., CCC-CLP

Geri has been a Speech-Language Pathologist since 1989 and joined the team at Bilingual Interventions Outpatient Clinic in October 2014. Her experience is well rounded in adult and pediatric Inpatient Rehabilitation, adult and pediatric Outpatient Rehabilitation, Home Health Care provider, School-based settings including Head Start Program through the Albuquerque Public Schools and the Pre-school for the Blind and Visually Impaired, as well as in the Adult and Pediatric Acute Hospital settings. Her past 31 years of experience has been focused in area of Dysphagia in the pediatric and adult populations and Feeding Difficulties with infants through school age children. Geri has received advanced training in areas of Dysphagia and Feeding Difficulties. Her expertise includes administration of Videoflouroscopic Swallow Studies and interpretation using the MBSimp. She has also attended advanced courses in Feeding to include the Sequential Oral Sensory (S.O.S.) Approach to Feeding and Get Permission Approach to Pediatric Mealtime Challenges. She developed well established relationships with providers in the Medical, Early Intervention and School-based communities. Geri works collaboratively on multidisciplinary teams to include physicians, nurses, Occupational and Physical Therapists, nutritionists and behavioral counselors. She enjoys working with families from a variety of backgrounds and cultures and values collaboration as it is key to success in the home and community.

Lizeth Mata

M.S., CCC-CLP

Lizeth is a native Spanish speaker originally from Mexico. She received her B.A. and her M.A. in Communications Disorders from the University of New Mexico. She has been providing speech-language pathology services with the Bilingual Interventions, LLC team since June of 2019. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association as well as current licenses from the New Mexico Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing Practices Board and from the New Mexico Public Education Department. Lizeth’s experience includes working with a wide variety of clients in public schools and private therapy clinics. She has had the opportunity to professionally work with children with Developmental Delays, Down Syndrome, Autism, Apraxia, Language-Based Literacy Disorders, Fluency Disorders, Medically Fragile Children, and Articulation/Phonological Disorders. She has performed diagnosis and treatment of receptive language disorders, expressive language disorders, articulation, phonological processing, voice, fluency, and pragmatic language disorders in infants, pre-school and school-aged children, and adults for those who are monolingual and bilingual. She enjoys working with her clients and building relationships with their families. Lizeth is passionate about working and helping all of her clients communicate in the most functional and effective manner possible.

Julia Zarate

M.S., CF-SLP

Julia is a bilingual speaker originally from California. She has been part of the Bilingual Interventions Family since July 2021, and has been practicing as a Speech Language Pathology Apprentice. She received her B.A. in Communication and Journalism and a B.A. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of New Mexico in December 2020. She is currently working on her M.S., at the University of New Mexico and is expected to graduate in May 2023. During her undergraduate studies, Julia has developed a strong interest in working with children with autism, and volunteered at the UNM’s autism lab from June 2019 – March 2020. Julia is extremely passionate about helping her community and enjoys working closely with clients and families to establish functional communication.

Ivonne Peñuela

M.A., CCC-SLP

Ivonne is a native Spanish speaker originally from Bogota, Colombia. She received her master’s degree in Communication Disorders with a bilingual emphasis from New Mexico State University. She has been a Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist since 2016. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association as well as current license from the New Mexico Speech-Language Pathology, Audiology, and Hearing Aid Dispensing Practices Board. She enjoys working with bilingual Spanish-English clients of all ages. Some of her many interests are providing services to clients with fluency and selective mutism among others. She possesses current certifications in The Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) for both adult and pediatric populations. Ivonne enjoys spending time with her husband, pet, family, and friends, as well as hiking, cooking, and travelling.

Teresa Phillips

M.S., CCC-SLP

Teresa has worked primarily in home and community settings with all ages and has been part of the Bilingual Interventions team since October 2018. She is skilled in early childhood development, autism, and speech and language therapy with an emphasis on parent training, naturalistic, and functional communication. She was on the UNM Autism Diagnostic Team for children ages 3-21 in the past, and completed a LEND Fellowship (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) at UNM in 2000. She has worked in the medical home health setting with home-bound adults, as well as with children and families in Early Intervention through the NM Family, Infant and Toddler system. She has worked extensively with multidisciplinary, bilingual Spanish-English teams in Early Intervention, and continues to study and work on improving her Spanish. Teresa grew up in a bilingual English-Spanish language home, and is fully supportive of families’ language choices for their children, in the home and the community.

Raquel Gonzalez-Sanchez

SLP - Apprentice

Raquel is a bilingual Spanish speaker, who grew up in the Midwest. She has recently graduated from The University of New Mexico with a BA in Speech & Hearing Sciences, hoping to continue her education to become a certified Speech Language Pathologist. She has 7 years of experience working in customer service and has worked in various healthcare settings including private practices, Presbyterian emergency rooms, and urgent cares…

Physical Therapists

Robert P Romero

Robert is very pleased to be working with the wonderful therapists and staff at Bilingual Interventions. He has worked as a Physical Therapist in several rural school districts, including the Los Lunas School District, where he was an owner/partner for 8 years with AmAble Therapies Inc. He has experience working with infants, toddlers, children, and young adults with various diagnoses including Developmental Delays, Cerebral Palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorder, orthopedic, and neurological disorders. Robert was born and raised in Santa Fe, N.M., took undergraduate courses at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. He is a 1990 Graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Physical Therapy. Robert was the Rehabilitation Director for Manor Care Health Services, and Altura Home Healthcare. Robert is currently a full time Physical Therapist of the University of New Mexico Hospital Home Healthcare team. Robert has lived in Albuquerque since 1985 with his wife, Lucretia. They have 3 daughters, Lucia who graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Hollywood, California, is an actress in Los Angeles, California, Leandra who graduated from Chapman University in Orange, California, is a producer in Los Angeles, California, and Linnea who has just finished her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of New Mexico and is now working for the Somos Unidos Foundation with New Mexico United Soccer Club. Robert enjoys fitness activities, golf, and fly fishing. It is Robert’s honor to serve the children of Bilingual Interventions and the people of New Mexico to help them achieve their best rehabilitation potential.

Occupational Therapists

Rosie Federico

COTA

Rosie has worked as a Bilingual certified occupational therapy assistant (COTA) for 22 years which includes working in Los Lunas school district and in skilled nursing facilities, Home Health, and at Presbyterian Hospital. She has experience working with adult population, pediatric, adolescents with various diagnoses, disorders. Rosie’s passion is in assisting her clients to achieve independence and purpose in their everyday life.

Rosie was born in Chicago Illinois, but was raised in Roswell New Mexico. She is a 2001 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University of occupational therapy assistant. She was the rehabilitation Director for rehab care for 3yrs. She is currently working at Presbyterian Downtown Hospital and here at bilingual interventions.

She has lived in our Albuquerque N.M. for 22 years with her two daughters, Clarissa and Analissa Federico Rosie enjoys dance fitness classes with her daughters and enjoys spending time with her extended family and friends.

It is Rosie’s honor to serve New Mexico families from various backgrounds to help them achieve their best rehabilitation potential.

Claudia Gallegos

OTR/L

Claudia graduated with a BS in occupational therapy from the University of New Mexico in 1997

and joined the Bilingual team in October of 2024. Originally from Germany, she has lived in

New Mexico continuously since 1993. Claudia has gained experience across a wide variety of

settings including adult rehab, home health, developmental disability waiver, rural public

schools, adult acute care, adult outpatient as well as pediatric home health for the family, infant

toddler program.

Claudia believes that the families are the most important team members in the therapy team, as

they know their children best. Through continuing education, she has gained skills in

addressing sensory processing disorders by using programs such as the Alert Program for Self

Regulation and the Wilbarger protocol.

Claudia lives with her husband Ralph in Albuquerque and has 3 children and 2 grandchildren.

Administrative Staff

Lorrie Griego

Billing & Scheduling Specialist

Lorrie is the front Office Manager at Bilingual Interventions, where she always has a smile on her face. Lorrie is bilingual and has been with us since November 2014. Lorrie is our expert in scheduling and billing and she thrives on keeping the clinician’s schedules full and giving her all to ensure everyone has access to our services. Lorrie has worked in this type of setting for over 15 years. She loves what she does and it shows in her dedication, commitment and work ethics. She also assists clinicians with preparation when requested. Seeing our clients make progress and “graduate” from therapy confirms that she too makes a difference in our team successes. In Lorrie’s free time she enjoys spending time with her family.

Jonathan Hollinger

B.S.T.M. IT Administrator

Jonathan joined Bilingual Interventions in 2019 to facilitate a company-wide technology upgrade, and has remained with the company since that time. He has over 15 year of experience in the IT field, and holds several degrees in Technology, Management and Engineering. Jonathan is a native New Mexican and a part time volunteer for the City of Albuquerque’s Zoning and Planning department. He prides himself on his creative ability to solve complex problems, and enjoys his diplomatic role as a community leader.

Evelyn Vazquez

Receptionist - Admin Support