Dr. Thorkelson, MD is the founder and Medical Director of the Nexus Group. He is board-certified in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry. He completed his adult psychiatry training at Temple University and went on to complete a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. He completed additional psychodynamic fellowship training at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. At the University of Pittsburgh, he served as Associate Medical Director at the Center for Integrative Medicine, as a staff psychiatrist at the John Merck Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders, and as a psychiatrist with the Visceral Inflammation and Pain (VIP) Center based in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition.
He is the former Medical Director of Behavioral Health at The Children’s Institute in Pittsburgh. Dr. Thorkelson has completed additional clinical training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., and Saki Santorelli, EdD. He has advanced training and clinical experience with both Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and hypnotherapy and studied advanced nutrient therapies under Dr. William Walsh. Additionally, he completed foundational coursework in Functional Medicine, training alongside staff from the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine.
Dr. Thorkelson is an expert on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment in mental health disorders. He has completed advanced training in TMS through both Duke and Harvard Medical Schools. He often collaborates with providers in Germany and Japan to advance the field of TMS. Additionally, Dr. Thorkelson holds a prestigious European TMS Certification and was awarded a Visiting Fellowship in Electroconvulsive Therapy at The University of Pittsburgh.
He has written multiple book chapters, co-authored nearly two-dozen publications, led workshops for Fortune 500 companies, and provided expert opinion for wide-ranging media outlets from NBC and Today.com to Men’s Health Magazine. He is also a founding member of the Center for Mindfulness and Consciousness Studies at the University of Pittsburgh where he continues to teach residents, fellows, and medical students.
Fun Fact: When not caring for patients, Dr. Thorkelson enjoys spending time with his family. He recharges by hiking, biking, traveling, and listening to jazz, and he has a special affinity for airplanes and space.
Publications and Media
Chapter 18 – Diagnosis and Management of Agitation in Children and Adolescents in The Diagnosis and Management of Agitation, Cambridge University Press
Chapter 25 – Meditation and Mindfulness in Integrative Therapies for Depression: Redefining Models for Assessment, Treatment and Prevention, CRC Press
Numerous journal articles published in:
Conference presentations with the following organizations:
