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Meet The Team
Hello, I am Shawnda Thornton, MS, LCSW, IECMHC. I have been providing services for families and individuals since 2011. As a Clinical Social Worker, my goal when working with clients is that everyone has positive experiences and can utilize the skills that they have gained from the therapeutic process as they begin to navigate smoothly with their individual journey to wellness.
Being a clinician is rewarding because, I am given the opportunity to help others get through tough times in their lives by providing a safe outlet that promotes wellness in their lives as well as hope as they continue their path of greatness by implementing the tools gained from therapy.
Working with me is beneficial and rewarding to clients because I believe that what is from the heart reaches the heart. Building a trusting therapeutic relationship is essential to therapy and my approach is genuine and empathic as my goal is for clients to feel comfortable when working with me.
At the beginning of my professional career, I worked in the Criminal Justice field and it was challenging to give ideas and suggestions to better help the population of juveniles that were struggling with recidivism. Desiring to make community wide changes and help youth advocate for themselves, I began to pursue higher education in social work.
Now I can be a social change for youth and adults as well as better serve other populations that are going through life issues. I am privileged and honored to be chosen to be a part of individuals/families' lives as they start their therapeutic journey. My job is to give every client a welcoming experience where they can be comfortable and share anything.
With a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and a master's degree in Social Justice/Criminal Justice, I continue to work with individuals/families involved in care. Along with continuing to work with families as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I possess certifications in Crisis Prevention (CPI) and therapeutic Crisis Intervention for families, Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, and I am a certified group trainer in the Chicago Parent Program and Circle of Security® Parenting™.
Mission & Vision
Expert counseling and consultation services for individuals and organizations to foster positive change.
Vision
The vision of Growth Through Guidance is to offer early childhood mental health consultation services to providers looking to receive knowledge on developing capacity of infant/young children and how to allow children to express a full range of their emotions. Growth Through Guidance also seeks to enhance mental health services in young children, adolescents and adults by providing individual therapeutic counseling services.
Mission
Growth Through Guidance offers consultation to organizations and counseling services to individuals and looking for guidance through the mental health journey. We are a multidisciplinary agency that is driven by informing, educating, relationship building, and supporting individuals who need advancement within themselves or within their organization.
Services
Individual Therapy
At Growth Through Guidance, our goal when working with clients is that each client has a positive experience and that they can utilize the tools provided to them in order to navigate smoothly with their individual journey to wellness. Some areas of specialization include helping clients to manage stress, creating healthy thoughts, identify and change unwanted behaviors, coping skills, growing self-awareness and self-esteem, relationship stress/issues, anxiety, depression, and life transitions. We use a variety of therapeutic approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy, emotion-focused therapy, solution focused brief therapy, trauma focused therapy, substance and addition interventions and person-centered therapy.
Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC)
IECMHC provides an evidence-based approach that pairs mental health consultation with providers who work with young children and their families. Here at Growth Through Guidance we work directly with childcare providers, day cares, home visiting programs, child welfare providers etc. to enhance the early childhood workforce's response to the evolving developmental needs of children. We partner with early childhood programs to build capacity in strengthening responsive learning and nurturing environments that include home, classroom, and other program settings. Our consultation services consist of relationship building, observations, screenings/assessments, educational trainings and direct meetings with families.
Therapeutic Parenting Groups
Here at Growth Through Guidance our parent groups are about creating a sense of belonging in the parent-child relationship. Boundaries are developed to increase safety and nurture is used to reduce shame. When this is achieved, both parent and child feel safe and lovable enough to engage in a healthy attachment-bond. Our groups also help parents to learn that they are not alone and that there are other parents that have similar problems. Our groups can give parents hope as they see other families learn, change, and grow as they receive support and encouragement. Growth Through Guidance currently offers two evidence based therapeutic parenting groups, The Chicago Parent Program and Circle of Security® Parenting™ Program.
The Chicago Parent Program is a national, evidence-based program designed to address the needs of parents raising young children (2-8 years old) in underserved communities focusing on parent-management skills.
The Circle of Security® Parenting™ program is an attachment-based parenting education program that helps parents better understand and build on their relationships with their children. This program supports parents to understand their child's emotional world by learning to understand emotional needs of children. If you are interested in hosting one of these parenting groups, please email us to get started!