Janet M Thornton
Janet Thornton is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and has been counseling in Youngstown, Ohio since 1988 when she started her counseling internshipat Eastern Mental Health, a community agency. In 1989 she began her private practice work at YoungstownOsteopathic Hospital working under Dr. F. Jane Salkind, psychologist. At about this time she began her training in hypnotherapy and later became a certified hypnotherapist (NBCCH). Between leaving Eastern Mental Health and starting private practice she attended a four day training in New Haven Connecticut with Dr. Bernie Siegel and the ECap staff. In January, 1990, she began a support group she named Exceptional Patient Support for persons dealing with chronic and catastrophic illnesses. She ran the group for 9 years. Guided Imagery and relaxation exercises were a part of the group process as was sharing and caring.
In 1990 Janet began working with dissociative clients who quickly exposed her to trauma work and taught her the value of moving through trauma to the release of the trauma and to a new understanding. In 1995 a client told her a about a relatively new therapy called Eye movement Desensitizationand Reprocessing (EMDR) and suggested she get trained. Curious, she looked into it and received training in Columbus, Ohio and later in Philadelphia. She was quickly hooked on this therapy that desensitizedand reprocessed old, stuck trauma that had continued to trigger people, sometimes years after the trauma occurred. Janet became a certified EMDR therapist in 1998 and an Approved Consultant in 2001. Also in 1998 she became a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor (LICDC) to increase her knowledge base in order to help her clients. Workshops, retreats, and educational presentations have been presented by Janet in a variety of settings on topics ranging from imagery and self-hypnosis to stress management to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
A holistic approach to counseling has been the foundation to Janet’s counseling practice. Encouraging health and balance in mind, body, and spirit are important to her both personally and professionally. Much of Janet’s professional work is with trauma, both traumatic single events and those smaller events that compounded over time. Depression, PTSD, trauma, anxiety disorders, and women’s issues are her areas of focus. She also enjoys working with people who are LGBT-Q and their family members.