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Janet Green Thomas, Recognized by Influential Women, Founder of Healing Heart Counseling and Grief Advocate
Hedgesville, West Virginia — Janet Green Thomas, LICSW, is the Founder of Healing Heart Counseling, where she provides trauma-informed therapy and grief counseling to individuals and families navigating some of life’s most difficult experiences. Licensed in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, Janet brings both professional expertise and deep personal empathy to her work, helping clients process trauma, grief, and major life transitions with compassion and practical support.
Janet earned her Master of Social Work from Walden University, graduating with honors and a specialization in crisis and trauma. Her professional background spans healthcare, behavioral health, and social services, experiences that helped shape her understanding of the emotional, psychological, and practical challenges many individuals face during periods of loss and adversity.
At Healing Heart Counseling, Janet specializes in trauma therapy and several forms of grief counseling, including child loss and situational grief connected to life-altering events. Her therapeutic approach is compassionate, direct, and practical, focusing on helping clients understand how trauma and grief affect both the brain and body while providing concrete tools to support healing and long-term resilience.
In addition to her private practice, Janet serves as a volunteer therapist with A Home Within, supporting individuals impacted by foster care and complex trauma. Her dedication to underserved populations reflects her broader commitment to creating safe, supportive environments for individuals who may otherwise lack access to emotional support and mental health resources.
Beyond her clinical work, Janet is a passionate advocate and educator focused on raising awareness about grief, trauma, and public safety. For years, she has worked to increase awareness surrounding distracted, drunk, and drugged driving through public memorial displays and educational speaking engagements. Her advocacy efforts are deeply personal and rooted in her desire to help prevent future tragedies while supporting individuals and families impacted by profound loss.
Janet also serves as a mentor and Virginia Chapter Leader with Ellie’s Way, where she provides peer support and guidance to individuals navigating grief and life after loss. Through both her advocacy and counseling work, Janet continues helping others find hope, healing, and connection during difficult seasons of life.
Janet attributes her success to perseverance and faith, using the memory of her daughter as a source of strength and purpose throughout her personal and professional journey. She believes her experiences with profound loss have helped shape her compassion, deepen her understanding of grief, and strengthen her commitment to serving others.
One of the most meaningful pieces of career advice Janet received came from a social worker friend who told her, “You can be part of the problem or part of the solution.” That guidance inspired her to pursue a career as a therapist and continues to influence the purpose-driven approach she brings to her work each day.
Janet encourages young women entering the mental health profession not to feel pressured to have every step of their future fully planned. She believes growth often comes through embracing change, learning from experience, and allowing one’s professional path to evolve naturally over time.
She also recognizes the ongoing challenges within the mental health and grief counseling fields, particularly the stigma surrounding grief and mental health, as well as the lack of support systems available in some communities. At the same time, Janet sees significant opportunities to better serve overlooked populations and expand public understanding of grief as a lifelong and highly individualized experience.
The values most important to Janet in both her professional and personal life are resilience, faith, and a commitment to serving others. She believes those principles guide her work as a clinician, advocate, mentor, and community leader while helping her remain grounded in compassion and purpose.
Outside of her professional and advocacy roles, Janet is a wife, the mother of an adult son, and the proud Rottweiler mom to a rescued dog named Baby. She credits her family and personal experiences with continuing to shape her perspective, strengthen her resilience, and reinforce the compassion she brings to every aspect of her work.
Through Healing Heart Counseling and her advocacy efforts, Janet Green Thomas continues to make a meaningful impact by helping individuals and families navigate trauma, grief, healing, and hope with understanding, support, and care.
Learn More about Janet Green Thomas:
Through her Influential Women profile, https://influentialwomen.com/connect/janetgreen-thomas
Influential Women
Influential Women provides a platform where women from all backgrounds can connect, share their perspectives, and create content that empowers themselves and others. Through storytelling, thought leadership, and creative expression, Influential Women amplifies voices that inspire change.
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