Embrace Life Consulting & Wellness is a private practice offering both Christian and secular counseling through Tele-mental health. I specialize in issues that negatively affect your mental health such as trauma stemming from mid-life crises, separation/divorce, narcissistic abuse, sexual abuse, or abuse of any kind to marital/family discord and co-parenting/parenting support. I would love to support you through many other life defining moments. Located in Atlanta, GA, I am excited to not only help you heal, but to heal well!
Embrace Life Consulting & Wellness is a private practice offering both Christian and secular counseling through Tele-mental health. I specialize in issues that negatively affect your mental health such as trauma stemming from separation/divorce, narcissistic abuse and recovery, or abuse of any kind, grief, marital/family discord, and co-parenting/parenting support. I would love to support you through many other life defining moments. Located in Atlanta, GA, I am excited to not only help you heal, but to heal well!
Licensed Professional Counselor
Welcome! I am so glad that you’re here! My name is Martina Watson, and I am the owner of Embrace Life Consulting & Wellness, Inc. which I began after graduating in 2009 from Richmont Graduate University. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Atlanta, GA. I have served in many different communities and organizations as a therapist in Georgia.
I love working with clients who are committed to achieving their own happiness even if they feel ambivalent, afraid, or doubtful about it. That’s normal. In fact, most of my clients enter into therapy at some of the hardest, painful and most difficult points in their lives. Therefore, you are not alone.
Some clients are couples who are entertaining divorce or a temporary separation; others are parents who want to connect with their children but find their relationship strained or near destruction; still, many of my clients are individuals who feel stuck, lonely, and are having a difficult time making decisions based off of their current life stressors.
Nevertheless, life will always present us with challenges, but we can either struggle through them or learn how to embrace them.
Everyone experiences life challenges, but it can be especially difficult when you’re single and/or feel all alone in the world. Estrangement from your family, difficulty establishing achieving a work + life balance, or coping with other personal adversity, or a desire to live a new and unfulfilled life are just a few of the issues that are great for working through in individual counseling.
Whether your relationship is in trouble because of an affair, empty nesting, a vast difference in financial attitudes or some other issue, I can help you overcome those barriers in couples counseling.
Families are the cornerstone of our society, which is why it takes so much to make them run smoothly. Although parents and caregivers can have the best intentions, a family often must compete with jobs, financial difficulties, and other social providers, among other things. Oftentimes, this leads to discord, disengagement, and difficulty with making sure that everyone feels seen, heard, and most of all loved. In family counseling, we will work together to repair those bonds for the better.
While it is not a new, Trauma Resolution Therapy (TRT) is one of the best kept secrets in mental health counseling for many reasons. First, it allows clients to process traumas in an environment that is contained by the therapeutic relationship. Furthermore, it is also supportive, validating, and empathic in nature. Next, it allows clients to resolve not only the original trauma, but also the triggers, emotions, and negative ways of coping that often are attached with an unresolved trauma. Moreover, this resolution allows minimizes and/or greatly reduces undesirable behaviors. Lastly, TRT helps the client to establish healthy boundaries with others, is transformative, and allows clients to take back control of their lives. This means that clients get to live their lives on their terms.
Beginning counseling isn’t always easy. It can be scary to admit that you need help let alone make the first move. Your first consultation with me will be free and will last 15-20 minutes. In this consultation, I will attentively listen as you give me a summary of what has brought you to counseling. I will ask several questions related to your issue to examine if we can build a healthy therapeutic relationship. If I determine that we are a good fit, we will discuss next steps. Nevertheless, I may also determine that there are other therapists with a specialization that may be a better fit for you. If so, I will provide you with three contacts as referrals. If you choose, you may follow up with these prospective providers so that you can continue to prioritize your mental health and get the help that you need.
My hours of operation are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Final appoints begin at 8:00 p.m.
Yes, I currently am on the panels of Cigna, EAP: Cigna, EAP: Optum, and United Healthcare/ Optum, Aetna, Ambetter, Anthem, Humana, and Kaiser Permanente. I also see clients who pay out of pocket. Please keep in mind that should you desire to utilize your insurance, I will be required to give you a formal diagnosis using the DSM-V-TR. This formal diagnosis will go into your health records and remain there permanently throughout your life. All healthcare professionals and staff will have access to it. Moreover, this means that should you visit the hospital for medical treatment, you may be screened and/or assessed by a mental health professional even if you are not experiencing any psychiatric or mental health issues. Utilizing insurance can be a very cost-effective way to receive treatment. However, if you are concerned about maintaining your privacy then paying a monthly out of pocket expense may be the best option instead.
No, I do not treat these clients solely and exclusively. There are times when I do see clients with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and/or Major Depressive Disorder, but this usually occurs in the context of a family or marital dynamic. If you are in need of referrals for disorders that I do not see, please do not hesitate to email me a referral list. Please note that referrals are not recommendations therefore if you receive or request a referral, you assume responsibility for any outcomes that result from your having chosen any mental health provider on the referral list.
No. Like others who utilize their weekend to rest, I too, look forward to not only recharging on the weekend, but also connecting further with my family as well as outside hobbies and interests.
In our first session, which will last between 45-60 minutes, clients can expect to meet with a very compassionate, warm, and welcoming professional eager to listen to their most pressing concerns. I will also ask about your family of origin as well as other people, events and areas of concerns. These questions help me create a mental map to explore exceptions to your initial problems, possible solutions, and conscious and unconscious strengths to build and work from. I will also inquire about desired goals for treatment to create a direction and focal point with which to travel.
Because my Master’s in Marriage and Family therapy, I am well versed in a myriad of theoretical orientations. Since I have also learned to integrate many of the therapies that I use from session to session, I consider myself to be an eclectic therapist. However, the therapies that I utilize and integrate most are from theories in cognitive behavior and object relations, brief solution focused, structural/Minuchin, Bowenian, transactional analysis, and Trauma Resolution Therapy among many others.
Currently I do not see any children as clients below the age of about 13 at this particular time. However, I do know Play and Expressive therapy. Typically, if parents desire counseling for a younger child, I may do family therapy and work more closely with the parents than I do with their children.
Unfortunately, I do not currently see clients in person however, I hope to begin seeing clients in person in the near future.
Presently, I do not see clients who self-harm or have a tendency towards suicidal ideation.
Currently, I do not offer any counseling groups as I enjoy working with clients individually or jointly with their significant others and/or their families.
Every person is different, therefore the duration of counseling for each client varies greatly as well. However, motivation is the commonality that I have found with which all clients seem to have who want to successfully make changes in their lives or overcome a serious problem. Furthermore, willingness to trust the therapeutic relationship (i.e. therapist-client relationship) is also key. This relationship often serves as an anchor to help sustain and support clients as they transition through many rough and difficult periods throughout the therapeutic process. Clients are usually done with therapy when they experience a reduction or elimination of symptoms, view themselves as capable and competent enough to manage their own life or problems, and perceive themselves as being free to move on without any additional counseling sessions.
In a world of transactional relationships and dynamics, my clients have continuously praised my ability to remain constant and consistent during our therapeutic alliance. They have all agreed that it is my unwavering empathy, compassion, and attentiveness. Clients acknowledge how relieved they are to feel heard, seen, validated, confident, and encouraged after each session. Likewise, they have emphasized that no matter what they disclose, they do not feel judged, condemned, or criticized. Want to read more? Check out the multiple reviews that have been written by past clients.
Yes, I have done speaking engagements. Speaking engagements begin at $250/hr. with an additional $160 traveling fee for places that are 30 miles or more from my home roundtrip ($80 from my home and $80 back to my home for all speaking engagements that are within 30 miles of my home).
Unfortunately, I do not see clients and their families within their homes.
Occasionally, there may be a time when both you and I may agree that the client-therapist relationship is no longer suitable for working together. In addition, it is possible that other therapeutic relationships may be more beneficial in helping to meet your goals. If this is ever the case, then we will begin to decrease sessions and agree on a certain number of sessions to work towards healthy termination of the relationship. If so desired, the client would receive additional referrals for professionals who might be of better assistance to them in their journey of healing and growth. All fees for sessions paid for would be would be non-refundable. If clients paid for advanced sessions, that money would be returned to them within 2 weeks depending on the client’s banking institution and its process for returning money to their customers.
Disclaimer: It is important that all clients, when faced with any number of mental health struggles have access to professionals that are fully competent to treat and resolve whatever issues that one might encounter. Therefore, I reserve the right to refer existing and prospective clients to other mental health professionals who may have more experience and be explicitly well versed in various and/or specific mental health issues to help treatment continue to progress and move forward. Furthermore, although I am a therapist, I may not be your therapist. Therefore, clients reading any content on this website may not utilize this information to treat theirs or anyone else’s mental health issues exclusively. When necessary, please seek help from a professional and in case of an emergency, please call 9-1-1.