A mental health counselor who operates a private practice in the Valley and has provided services for Youngstown State University has agreed to a three-year license suspension after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a client,

According to a consent agreement reached last month with the State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist Board, professional clinical counselor Dr. Joseph T. Marzano admitted having the relationship with the client from 2019 to September 2020 while working at a mental health agency, in violation of Ohio law.

As a result, Marzano agreed to a three-year license suspension beginning on July 1, 2021.

In addition, Marzano must undergo mandatory counseling from a board-approved mental health practitioner for a minimum of two years.

Under terms of the consent agreement, when the suspension is lifted Marzano’s work will be supervised for two years.

According to his bio on the Advanced Counseling Solutions website, Marzano has been a mental health provider in the Youngstown and Warren region since 1994.

He started his education in psychology at Bowling Green State University and earned a bachelor's degree from that program in 1992. He completed the master's program in community counseling at Youngstown State University and was licensed in the state of Ohio as an LPCC (Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor) in 1995.

In 2010 he established the private practice Advanced Counseling Solutions, which has locations in Austintown, Boardman, and Canfield.

The biography says Marzano is currently the Program Director of Behavioral Sciences for the Family Practice Residency at Northside Regional Medical Center and The Director of Psychological Services at Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital.

In addition, the bio says Marzano has collaborated with Youngstown State University in the role of Sports Performance Counselor training students and student-athletes in improving academic and athletic performance. He also serves as an adjunct professor with local and distance learning establishments teaching courses in interpersonal effectiveness and general psychology.

This is not Marzano's first consent agreement with the board. In 2004, he signed an agreement acknowledging that when he served as clinical director at Comprehensive Behavioral Health Associates in Austintown from 1998 to 2003, he failed to take steps to make sure that client documentation in records was accurate and reflected services provided and didn’t include sufficient and timely documentation in records to facilitate the delivery of services and to ensure the continuity of services provided to the client in the future.

Marzano was reprimanded and his counseling supervisor designation was revoked.

After undergoing two years of board supervision and passing a graduate-level ethics course, the board announced that he completed the terms of the consent agreement in 2006.