Four years ago, Licensed Professional Counselor Sheila Reinoso-Jimenez, took her extensive experience from working at a nonprofit helping victims of domestic sexual assault, and followed her dream of opening her own cutting-edge private therapy practice.

Healing Pathways Counseling & Supervision Center was founded with the goal of providing counseling to adults suffering from anxiety and PTSD looking to access their authentic selves.

Healing Pathways also provides vital clinical supervision to associate counselors and social workers pursuing their next level of licensure.

Day to day, Sheila leads a group of experienced counselors who are passionate about delivering quality, trauma-informed counseling, and strength-based mental health care to their valued clients.

Utilizing evidence-based and culturally cognizant therapeutic approaches, Healing Pathway’s clinicians are committed to empowering every patient on his/her journey to healing, relief, and resilience. With a deep understanding of the complexities of these issues, their expertise ensures personalized care tailored to the needs of each and every client.

Here is the history: In July of 2020, the nonprofit Sheila was employed by, laid off nearly all of its employees while she was on maternity leave with her second son, and headed to Ecuador with her family. She planned to stay a few weeks, however, due to travel restrictions she needed to remain abroad for four months as the world “shut down” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am not a person who likes to feel stuck, but I had the time to think about how I wanted to design my private practice based on my seven years of non-profit and clinical experience,” Sheila explained.

“During my time in Ecuador, I picked secure, safe, and HIPPA compliant platforms that could be expanded over time,” she said. “I didn’t know exactly what it would look like, and I didn’t know that it would take four years to develop it, but I know that everything I envisioned is coming true now.” 

Sheila is a Licensed Professional Counselor; Approved Clinical Supervisor; EMDR Certified; and Practice Owner specializing in trauma. She has had the privilege of working alongside people who have experienced trauma since 2014. EMDR is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, a form of psychotherapy that is a recommended treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

In April 2021, Sheila completed her EMDRIA-approved EMDR Training through the Personal Transformation Institute. This allows her to deliver evidence-based treatment for PTSD and other conditions. Currently, she is a certified EMDR therapist and is pending her EMDR-approved Consultant Status. 

Her professional achievements are only a part of her identity. She also proudly identifies as being a first-generation Ecuadorian-American; female; spouse; daughter; and a parent to two children. 

She said that she has a passion for health and fitness, including Spin and Barre Classes, nutrition such as cooking and supplements, and is a true foodie who loves trying new restaurants. Above all, she values time spent with her family.

After making her sons breakfast and driving them to school, Sheila heads to the Healing Pathway’s office, where she relishes being able to create a safe space full of compassion, empathy, and curiosity for her clients to begin to self-reflect and practice vulnerability.

“I love what I do! I work to help my clients facilitate their healing and thoroughly admire the courage that they have to be here and show up,” she said. “I take immense pride in them for actively working on re-processing their trauma.”

What is important to Sheila is that her patients know “that their voice matters and what they want matters,” she said. “I emphasize to clients that no one is going to know them better than themselves, and I am holding the space for them as they start to peel back layers of themselves.”

Healing Pathways specializes in providing support for clients who are struggling with the effects of trauma, PTSD, and attachment wounds. Traumatic events, such as combat-related, natural disasters, car accidents, or sexual assault, are often life-threatening, and require the help of mental health professionals to process and heal from.

These events can trigger distressing symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, and panic attacks. Pursuing mental health care for PTSD can come with a great deal of stigma attached to it, which is why Healing Pathways prioritizes accessibility and psychoeducation. 

Counseling services are offered in-person in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, or virtually via Telehealth. 

All of the clinicians in the practice have experience working with domestic violence and sexual assault victims, which Sheila is well aware encompasses individuals from all walks of life, regardless of background, and socio-economic factors. 

There are various forms of abuse such as psychological, physical, verbal, and financial. Sheila and Healing Pathway’s other clinicians encourage those who are ready to start learning more about domestic violence or are ready to start/continue their journey of healing to request a free 15-minute consultation.

In addition, Sheila and Healing Pathways prioritize the importance of educating the public via social media about trauma, PTSD, and abuse in all of its forms.

Sheila wants victims of domestic violence to know that there are resources available, and clinicians whose goal it is to help them process their experiences and the abuse they have endured. “It takes a lot of courage for these women to get help so they can get out.”

After receiving therapy at Healing Pathways, when her clients say that their lives feel better, richer, or less scary, she said the feeling is tremendous pride in observing them move from surviving to living.

“My heart smiles when I hear this,” Sheila explains. “I feel so happy for them because I know how hard they have worked.”

She recalls a particular client who was feeling stuck in a certain moment in the past, and we addressed what he needed right here and now to start to move forward.

“Addressing the trauma helped build his self-esteem and level of confidence, and he was ready to address some aspects of his early childhood.,” Sheila said. “The client got to a point where he felt better about himself. It is truly a privilege to provide each client with the safety for them to heal.”

 

Healing Pathways is located at 233 Mount Airy Rd., Ste. 100, Basking Ridge. For more information, call 908-434-6008, email [email protected] and visit Healing-Pathways.org.  See ad, page 25.

Debra Wallace is an award-winning, contributing writer for Natural Awakenings.