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

Hi Whitney, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
As an intern and a new therapist, I worked in a community mental health clinic and was fortunate to be exposed to many experiences that taught me what type of therapist I wanted to be. This experience along with my own experience with postpartum mental health difficulties helped me to form my dream of having a private practice that served women, mothers, and birthing folx in the midst of struggles with their mental health related to their pregnancy, postpartum, infertility, and pregnancy loss journey in addition to navigating Matrescence. The ultimate goal of my practice was to provide a safe space for mothers to find healing without finances being a barrier.

Additionally to working with birthing folx, I focus heavily on working with women with mood disorders and personality disorders. I find this work to be tremendously rewarding as these diagnoses are heavily stigmatized and often underserved within the mental health community. I have spent tremendous amounts of time training and learning modalities of treatment as well as the intricate details of these disorders so that I am able to provide effective, beneficial care for this population. My experience with this skillset has led me to publish 2 books specifically tailored to this population for folx to use at home as a companion to therapy.

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?
My practice opened in April of 2019 and has endured many obstacles including my own maternity leave, the pandemic, and shifts in the economy. I am very proud that my practice is still open and I am able to stick to my mission of providing quality, effective mental healthcare to women in Colorado without cost being a barrier. Building my practice was not easy and I have faced many obstacles along the way, but I believe each obstacle that I faced helped me grow as a therapist as well as a business owner and taught me how to embrace change and take risks.

Earlier this year, I took the leap and opened a group collective that has been a dream of mine since 2015 called The Rylie Center for Hope and Healing. I opened this collective with the idea of an interdisciplinary approach to serving women, birthing folx, and their families through their pregnancy, infertility, and postpartum journeys. We have the same mission of providing quality, equitable care without cost being a barrier through utilization of grants, sliding scale rates, and accepting commercial and state insurance policies. Through virtual and in-person care, we offer mental health therapy, lactation support, parent education, sleep support, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, psychiatric medication support, midwifery, prenatal and postpartum doulas, pelvic floor therapy, occupational therapy and feeding support for infants, childbirth education and classes, prenatal yoga, fertility support, and social supports. Since opening in May, we have been able to touch over 200 families.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would have to start with breakfast at Jelly on the DU campus or Sassafras in Cap Hill followed by a visit to the antique stores on South Broadway. High Tea at the Brown Palace is a must along with a visit to Old South Pearl Street for some shopping and dinner at Jax. A visit to Larimer Square for Van Leeuwen is a must for the best vegan ice cream imaginable and while we are downtown, a visit to Puttshack is always a good time. No girls trip is complete without a spa day, or two, so a trip to the Broadmoor for some pampering, delicious food, and amazing views is a must! Shopping on South Pearl in Boulder is always a great time and offers a true Colorado experience with the beautiful mountains and the unique Boulder atmosphere on South Pearl, not to mention the proximity to Walnut Cafe for their Eggs Marcos and banana bread for brunch! That would leave any guest full of good food, maybe a little broke from shopping, and definitely relaxed!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am tremendously grateful for the experiences that helped teach me and shape me as a therapist. When I think about one person that was most influential in my growth and has helped shaped me as a therapist, I think of my clinical supervisor from the community mental health clinic, Belle. She was influential in my growth as a therapist especially in learning Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and treating women with personality disorders. I attribute my passion for working with this population to her encouragement and support while I was learning and finding who I was as a therapist.

Website: peacefuljourniescounseling.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-frost-39a271b5/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peacefuljourniescounseling

Other: Here are links to my books https://a.co/d/adyAXFV https://a.co/d/j3j2jDA Here is the website and IG for my group collective: theryliecenter.com. instagram.com/theryliecenter

Image Credits
Headshot Credit-Amber Braxton-Valuable Gem Photography

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