Meet Christine Finnegan of Replenish Her Counseling

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Finnegan.

Hi Christine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
After finishing my bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy, I started working for an inpatient hospital in Nashville, TN. I initially was hired to work in a dementia unit but was later floated to the other floors of the hospital where I began working with young adults that struggled with anxiety, depression, trauma, and substance abuse. I decided to go back for my Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling to feel more confident and able to treat the patients in my group more effectively.

My internship for my master’s degree was at Nashville’s Domestic Violence Division – a program that is now referred to as the Family Intervention Program (FIP), a division under the Metro Nashville Police Department. I worked with primary women that were currently or just getting out of relationships that were physically, emotionally, and sexually violent. It was during that internship that I began to feel called towards making a greater difference in women’s mental health.

After graduating with my Master’s degree, I was promoted at the hospital I had been working for, for the last 6 years, to be a Outpatient Therapist in their Intensive Outpatient Program, and to help develop and launch a specific women’s mental health track in their intensive outpatient program. During that time, I also started seeing clients in a private practice a couple of days a week.

My private practice was surprisingly fulfilling to me – and as much as I loved the group work I was doing for women in the IOP – I loved the autonomy and fulfillment I received from getting to work more intimately with women and teen girls inside my private practice.

Replenish Her was named after my mission and desire to help women and teen girls begin to build their life around no longer living empty. During my days working inpatient – I would lead a group that would help patients identify all the areas they poured out energy from their metaphorical pitcher of water- and name all the ways water is poured back into them.

Unsurprisingly, many patients, especially females, would be able to list off numerous ways in which they pour out to others. But would struggle to identify ways in which they are poured into. I started to Replenish Her with the mission to help teen girls and women build confidence and empowerment to not just build worth off of what they do for others- but to know and believe that they too are deserving of being poured back into.

Through my love of teaching and following this passion, my practice has grown from it being just me in 2016 – to now being a team of 11 counselors, 1 art therapist, and 6 graduate counseling students. We empower women through individual therapy, group therapy, art therapy, couples therapy, and family therapy. We specialize in treating low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and trauma.

My business has moved three times. My first office was a tiny room with no windows and a used couch – to a 12-office suite in Cool Springs with a gorgeous waiting room, art therapy room, and music therapy room.

We also have an adorable therapy dog named Norman that sits in on women’s and teen individual therapy sessions. He is trained in AAI – Animal Assisted Intervention. My husband now also works with me at my practice as both a practice manager and a couples therapist.

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. My husband and I were struggling with fertility issues for two years leading up to my starting a private practice. Ironically, after I left my work at the hospital I became pregnant with my firstborn. So, while I was growing Replenish Her within its first year I was also pregnant with my daughter.

My husband also worked as a Metro Police Sergeant over East Nashville’s homicide investigation team. He worked evenings and was always on call. So he and I were always working on opposite schedules. After my daughter was born in 2017, I added a student to my business to help support my clients in the evenings. My husband also started grad school for counseling, while continuing to work full-time as a police sergeant.

In 2018, I hired my student, as well as my first 2 employees. In 2019, I was pregnant with my second daughter and grew to a group practice of 5- moving into a new office space of 3 rooms instead of 1.

In 2020, I had my second daughter in January, navigated a pandemic that started during my maternity leave, moved my practice exclusively virtual, had two employees move away, and hired 3 new employees. All while my husband was away for multiple protests on the weekends, completing his master’s in clinical mental health counseling, caring for my baby and 3-year-old, and running a company of 8 (4 clinicians, 1 art therapist, 3 students).

In 2021, my practice took off. Because my practice works with a lot of adolescents, the need for therapy amid the pandemic became huge. My practice grew from 8 to 13 (8 clinicians, 1 art therapist, and 4 students). We added children’s therapy to our list of services, as well as couples counseling. My practice also moved again from the 3 office suite to a much larger 12-office space, where I could create a unique room just for art therapy and just for music therapy.

Because of my practice’s success, my husband was able to retire from the police department, after 12 years of service, and devote his time to his internship in counseling, which he was allowed to do at my practice. In 2022, we grew even more-adding new 6 clinicians and 4 new interns. Growing our internship program to Vanderbilt students, along with Belmont and Trevecca. We began establishing ourselves in the Cool Springs area. Growing out our group therapy services, and multiple clinicians completed specialized training in EMDR, EFT, and IFS.

In 2022, we held 7,157 sessions and served 1055 clients. 30% of those clients were given sliding scale or pro bono cases to help support those that struggle to afford mental health services. My husband graduated with his Master’s in Counseling in May of 2022 and became the practice manager at Replenish Her – helping me fully focus on my Clinical Director role- adding monthly training and treatment planning support to my team.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Replenish Her is a unique counseling space where we create a warm and compassionate energy for both clients as well as employees. I value self-care and authenticity – and those values are integrated into the work we provide to our clients, but also to our employees.

We also stand apart in that we love to lean into art, music, and expressive therapies. Two of our clinicians (myself included) are board-certified art therapists. We also have a board-certified art therapist with over 25 years of working in mental health.

I want readers to know that Replenish Her is a space of warmth and safety. Where we will help evoke a more compassionate inner voice, that leads you towards the relationships you want and to separate from those things that are no longer serving you or healthy.

We are an affirming practice that wants every person that walks through this door to feel seen, heard, and supported.

Pricing:

• Full Fee Post-Masters Therapists- $160/individual session
• Sliding Scale Post-Masters Therapists- $80/individual session
• Group Therapy- $65/Group
• Full Fee Graduate Counseling Student $80
• Sliding Scale Graduate Counseling Student $40

Contact Info:

• Website: www.replenishher.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/replenish.her/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReplenishHER/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJP9_RW4_4oPB902MJnLRfg 

Image Credits
https://mandyliz.com/