Meet Rhiannon Fink | Contemporary Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and Addiction Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rhiannon Fink and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rhiannon, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Psychotherapy is my second career. My first career was as a yoga teacher and yoga therapist. In my yoga career, I was never the teacher who was passionate about helping you with your frozen shoulder–sorry, frozen shoulders! My talents, skills, and interests lied with catalyzing and supporting transformation in emotional, relational, and mental health as well as compulsive behaviors. After 10 years in the yoga world, to grow in my capacity to facilitate change, it became a natural next step to pursue a masters in counseling psychology. In my first career, I had unwittingly taken a bodhisattva vow where I was serving everyone except myself and often giving from an empty cup. After a come to Jesus realization around my codependency, supported by my own therapeutic and 12 Step work, I slowly put in place the internal and external resources I needed to do my second career differently. I was determined to learn to fill my own cup and give from my excess, not my reserve. I chose a graduate program that prepares its graduates for private practice, and for years have mentored with clinicians with practices similar to what I wanted to create and have now created. Starting my own business had become a feminist issue for me, and necessary for my evolution as a human and healer. It’s been a tremendous tool and teacher for stepping more fully into my power, worth, and path of service.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I provide psychotherapy, addiction counseling, and therapeutic consultation for the sober but stuck, sober curious, those close to someone misusing substances, and adult children of alcoholic or dysfunctional families. I’ve dedicated my career to understanding the highly complex syndrome of addiction and its impact on everyone in a family system. I worked in addiction treatment at every level of care prior to going into private practice to ensure that I have an excellent understanding of the full continuum of care and can refer accordingly. I’ve found that where traditional treatment models can fall short, a contemporary psychoanalytic approach can help clients find traction around the emotion and relationship (to self and others) challenges that often coincide with attachment to a substance while also complementing peer and behavioral recovery approaches. I’m proud of my specialization and dedication to these populations; therefore it’s been imperative that I scaffold myself from burnout through how I structure my practice. One way I do that is capping my practice at 20 clients per week so that I have abundant bandwidth to give 100% in each meeting and hold each client’s psyche in mind between sessions. Another way is by offering and encouraging collaborative care as part of a treatment team, which means that I regularly collaborate with treatment centers, interventionists, psychiatric providers, couples and family therapists, and recovery coaches. Engagement on a weekly basis at minimum with my own therapy, professional and peer consultation, and ongoing study, as well as impeccable daily self-care are key for me to maintain a standard of clinical excellence. Having a private-pay rather than insurance-based practice also allows me to prioritize my clients’ needs rather than the needs of insurance companies while protecting my clients’ confidentiality around diagnoses as sensitive as substance use disorders.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in the mountains, and the best of what I could offer my friend is an opportunity to slow down, be in the woods, get sweaty (or not) on local hikes and strolls, enjoy the thrill of seeing local fauna (moose, bears, deer, elk, foxes, eagles, mountain lions, bobcats, oh my!), take in the local flora (gorgeous wildflowers in summer or the turning aspens of fall), and finish the day in my hot tub under the stars. That being said, the following are totally worth going down the hill for: Red Rocks–is there a better concert venue? Boulder Zen Center–a zazen and dharma oasis. Dushanbe Tea House and Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art–yummy brews and bites in a stunning atmosphere followed by a wander through this small but mighty gallery next door. Bramble and Hare–the most farm-to-table restaurant in the country recently earning a Michelin Green Star. Pizzeria Alberico–the best salad, pizza, and budino far and wide. And, this one might be a little out of character, but Casa Bonita–I went a couple days ago thinking I’d be glad I went but never want to go again, but I totally want to go back!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”–Bob Dylan

My father, James William Fink, died unexpectedly three months ago. He loved Dylan, and this quote perfectly describes the simplicity and self-determination he valued and modeled. My dad was an entrepreneur who grew a successful engine and heavy equipment repair business before starting a second company building professional truck and tractor pulling engines. He was a man of character, allergic to conformity, who chose to never retire because his work was among his favorite things to do. Though his rural Ohio machine shop could not have been more different from my Boulder psychotherapy office, like my dad, I’ve built my dream career on our shared values of simplicity and self-determination, and I doubt I’ll ever retire.

Website: https://www.rhiannonfink.com/

Image Credits
Sammi Kate