Rachel Pinto (she/they) is the owner and clinical director of Cardinal Counseling Services. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arkansas (Lic. No. P1608112) who holds a Master of Science degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from John Brown University. In 2020, she was listed among AY Magazine’s Best Healthcare Professionals of 2020.

Rachel has worked with individuals, couples, and families in the central Arkansas area as a private practice clinician and clinical director for the last seven years. She will approach each session with an open mind, an open heart, and a deep desire to walk a mile in your shoes, to help you find kinder and more helpful ways to relate to yourself and the world around you. Rachel’s primary experience is in working with individuals and couples to heal relationship wounds, recover from trauma, and find new ways to interact with life’s most stubborn issues. Her ideal clients probably have really tough problems, and they may be hurting very deeply, but they are also ready to think out of the box about the healing and change they seek.

Rachel utilizes CBT, DBT, EMDR, EFT and ego state approaches to therapy, as she and the client deem appropriate. Rachel has been trained by industry experts in these approaches, including Scott Pedersen (DBT), Dr. Sue Johnson (EFT), and Jill McCoy Archer and Gary Scarborough (EMDR/ego state). Rachel also continues to attend trainings with Dr. Barry Duncan about Partners for Change Outcome Management System and integrating PCOMS into every aspect of the client experience at Cardinal.

Prior to becoming a professional counselor, Rachel worked in the fields of education, marketing, retail management, and church ministry. She has a varied experience in life and in vocation that helps her relate to what clients are going through. Rachel was named in the 2018 class of Women to Watch by Little Rock’s Soiree magazine. She lives in Sherwood, AR, with her wife and two children. When she’s not at work, she is probably volunteering in the community, reading cookbooks (yes, that’s a thing), playing music, or finding new ways to make her kids laugh.