Meet our team
Our team of experts is highly trained in the science of performance. We’re here to help you transform your relationship to stress, maximize performance, and experience a deeper sense of self-awareness.
Laurel Thornton, MA, LPC/ALPS, EMDR Certified
FOUNDER
Laurel is the founder and practice owner of Whole Brain Solutions. She is a neuro-psychotherapist and coach by training. She grew up playing soccer and credits those experiences in sport with helping her find success in business, teaching, and leadership. She appreciates that playing and coaching have taught her that improving performance can be holistic, ongoing, and creative. Laurel is passionate about integrating neuroscience and neurobiology into daily practice and making it more accessible to anyone who is interested.
Laurel believes that by increasing your understanding of your own system and abilities, you build more awareness and capacity for adaptive change.
Tommy Minkler, Phd, ma, EMDR-T
LEAD CONSULTANT - RESILIENCE and PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT
Tommy began his career as a college lacrosse coach. It was in this role that he realized that the highest performing teams and athletes separated themselves from the rest not through strength, fitness, superior tactics, or raw talent (though those factors certainly help). Instead, the elite teams and athletes that Tommy coached (and coached against) demonstrated a willingness to embrace their experiences—particularly their stressful and/or monotonous ones—with creativity, cohesion, energy, and resilience. His collective experiences as an athlete and a coach drove him to pursue graduate training in mental health counseling and sport, exercise, and performance psychology to further understand how to support performers as they navigate the many challenges faced in the pursuit of excellence.
Recently completing his graduate studies, Tommy provides both individual and group psychotherapy as an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing-trained clinician in addition to individual and group performance consulting. Tommy is also actively engaged in sport and performance psychology research and strives to provide the highest level of evidence- based services to his clients. With a foundation in humanism and a person-centered approach, much of his work is rooted in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and he incorporates a range of mindfulness-based and mindfulness-related interventions. Tommy believes that everyone has the capacity to change their relationship with their complex thoughts, feelings, and emotions to more adaptively face and overcome adversity. At the most basic level, Tommy is passionate about collaborating to help athletes and teams at all levels pursue meaning, take values-driven action, and find purpose in all areas of their lives.
Josh Thornton, MA, NCC, EMDR-T
PERFORMANCE & RESILIENCE CONSULTANT
Josh enjoys helping people write the rest of their stories. He approaches this work with curiosity and acceptance. His first career was in soccer and after an injury ended his professional playing career, he eventually found his way to counseling through coaching among other things.
Josh works to help you examine how your past has helped shape who you are. By honoring those past experiences, we are able to use what we need to adapt to our present and future life demands.
Zenzi Huysmans, PhD, LPC, EMDR-T, CMPC.
FELLOW FOR PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT
Zenzi approaches performance enhancement from the foundations of emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and acceptance-based principles. She believes in the resiliency and creativity of our nervous system to help us survive and create meaningful lives for ourselves. She trusts that fulfillment, joy, and wellness can come to each of us when we develop compassion for the strategies we have developed to survive, create new ways to interact with our experiences, and honor our life stories.
Nic Short, Counseling Intern
Specialization in Athletic Counseling and Enhancement.
Nic has been involved in sport and performance all his life. Coming from a background in soccer, Nic played at a West Virginia and then started his career in coaching at Springfield College. As a player and coach Nic has identified the importance of mental performance and mental well-being. Through these experiences Nic delved deeper into the field of mental performance and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. Nic is currently pursuing a masters in Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Athletic Counseling.
With a person-centered and solution focused approach Nic works with individuals to build on their mental strength. Using evidenced-based interventions like motivational interviewing, mindfulness, imagery, and visualization Nic helps individuals perform at their ideal level. With a unique blend of personal experience, coaching background, and mental performance knowledge Nic believes he can successfully benefit any individual who wants to strengthen their performance ability.
