Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheila Burns.
Sheila , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My journey into counseling is deeply personal to me. I’ve always been someone who naturally listened to people, cared deeply about what they were carrying, and wanted others to feel safe enough to be honest about their struggles. Over time, through both my own life experiences and walking alongside others, I realized how many people are quietly hurting while still trying to hold everything together on the outside.
There were seasons in my own life that shaped me profoundly — experiences that taught me about pain, resilience, emotional healing, and the importance of feeling truly seen and understood. Those experiences helped me understand that healing is rarely just about fixing problems — it’s about rediscovering who you are beneath the pain, the survival patterns, and the experiences that shaped you. My Christian faith became an important part of that understanding and ultimately shaped the way I approach counseling today.
That’s what eventually led me to create Refreshing Waters Counseling & Consulting. I wanted to create a space where people could exhale a little — where they didn’t have to pretend they had it all together. A place where counseling feels compassionate, authentic, and grounded in both evidence-based practices and Christian faith.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with individuals, couples, and families navigating trauma, anxiety, grief, relationship challenges, and major life transitions. One of the things I love most is helping people reconnect not only with themselves emotionally, but also with their sense of identity, purpose, hope, and relationship with God.
I’ve also become passionate about the connection between emotional health, the nervous system, our personal stories, and spiritual well-being. That perspective has shaped the way I approach therapy today. I believe healing happens when people feel emotionally safe enough to tell the truth about what they’ve been carrying and are supported both practically and spiritually as they move forward.
Looking back, I never could have imagined exactly where this path would lead, but I’m incredibly grateful for it. This work is meaningful to me because it’s not just a profession — it’s something I genuinely care about on a human level every single day.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all. Like many people who work in the mental health field, some of the struggles I’ve faced personally are part of what shaped the compassion and perspective I bring into counseling today. There were seasons of my life that involved significant emotional pain, loss, uncertainty, and growth. Those experiences deepened both my faith and my understanding of how difficult healing can sometimes be.
Professionally, building a counseling practice has also come with challenges. Supporting people through trauma, grief, anxiety, relationship struggles, and crisis situations is meaningful work, but it can also be emotionally heavy at times. There have been moments of self-doubt, exhaustion, and learning how to balance caring deeply for others while also taking care of myself and my own family.
As a Christian counselor, one challenge has been learning how to thoughtfully integrate faith and evidence-based therapy in a way that feels genuine, compassionate, and safe for people. I’ve always wanted clients to feel truly supported — emotionally, practically, and spiritually — without pressure or judgment.
I also think one of the biggest struggles in this field is that healing is rarely linear. People often want quick answers, but real healing usually involves patience, honesty, grief, growth, and learning new ways of seeing yourself and your story. Walking through that process alongside clients has stretched me personally and professionally in many ways.
I’m grateful for the difficult seasons because they shaped the heart behind the work I do today. They taught me resilience, empathy, dependence on God, and the importance of creating spaces where people feel safe enough to heal honestly.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Refreshing Waters Counseling & Consulting?
Refreshing Waters Counseling & Consulting was created with the heart of helping people heal deeply — not just manage symptoms, but truly understand themselves, their stories, and the patterns that have shaped their lives. We work with individuals, couples, and families navigating anxiety, trauma, grief, relationship struggles, emotional overwhelm, and major life transitions. Our approach integrates evidence-based counseling with Christian faith for clients who desire that perspective as part of their healing journey.
One thing that is somewhat unique about our practice is that we are often not the first counselors people have seen. Many of our clients come to us after years of struggling, trying different approaches, or feeling like they still haven’t fully gotten to the root of what they are experiencing. A large part of our work involves trauma-informed therapy, including EMDR, somatic and nervous system-focused approaches, and helping people understand how emotional experiences are stored not just in the mind, but also in the body.
We specialize in helping people slow down enough to recognize patterns they may have been carrying for years — patterns related to anxiety, relationships, self-worth, people-pleasing, emotional reactivity, grief, or trauma responses. We focus heavily on emotional safety, self-awareness, nervous system regulation, and helping clients reconnect with both themselves and healthy relationships.
What sets us apart is the balance between clinical knowledge and genuine human connection. Therapy can sometimes feel overly clinical or disconnected, but we strive to create an environment where people feel deeply seen, heard, and cared for. We believe healing happens best when people feel emotionally safe enough to tell the truth about what they’ve been carrying without fear of judgment.
Brand-wise, I’m probably most proud of the atmosphere and reputation we’ve built. People often tell us that they feel comfortable, understood, and genuinely cared about here. That means more to me than anything else. We want clients to know that they do not have to have everything figured out before reaching out for support. Whether someone is struggling with trauma, anxiety, burnout, grief, marriage issues, or simply feeling disconnected from themselves, our hope is that Refreshing Waters can be a place where healing, clarity, and hope begin to grow again.
What’s next?
Looking ahead, I’m excited about continuing to expand both the counseling and creative side of the work I do. Two of my books, Echoes of Eden and Sheila, God’s Girl, have now been published and are available on Amazon, which has been incredibly meaningful to me. Echoes of Eden is a workbook focused on generational patterns, emotional healing, identity, faith, and personal transformation. It brings together many of the themes I’m most passionate about — trauma recovery, self-awareness, nervous system healing, relationships, and spiritual growth — in a practical and reflective format.
Sheila, God’s Girl is much more personal and shares parts of my own story and healing journey. Writing it was both vulnerable and deeply rewarding because it reflects not only painful experiences, but also resilience, faith, restoration, and the process of becoming whole. My hope is that readers walk away feeling less alone and more hopeful about their own healing journey.
Right now, I’m also working on a third book, which I’m very excited about. Writing has become an extension of the counseling work I do because it allows me to reach people outside of the therapy room and create resources that help people better understand themselves, their stories, and their healing process.
Professionally, I’m looking forward to continuing to grow Refreshing Waters Counseling & Consulting in ways that allow us to support even more people. I’m especially passionate about continuing trauma-focused work, EMDR, somatic and nervous system-informed approaches, and helping people reconnect with their identity, relationships, faith, and sense of hope.
More than anything, I’m excited about continuing to create spaces — whether through counseling, writing, speaking, or future projects — where people feel safe enough to heal and move toward greater peace and life fulfillment.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.refreshing-waters.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Refreshing-Waters-Counseling-Consulting/100063767671877/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheila-burns-40a166145/
