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Meet Yetunde Battle

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Yetunde Battle.

Yetunde, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
So my background is quite interesting I went to school for economics and had all intentions of working in the business sector after college. I actually started off that way—award for a midsize bank in North Carolina. Let’s just say my tenure there was short-lived; I’ll blame it on a mixture of naivety, Boredom in being overall ill-suited for such a stuffy conservative company. You think that I got enough of being in a very structured environment, but no I decided that it was my patriotic duty to serve Uncle Sam plus the loan forgiveness program seemed like a sweet idea to me. I joined the military a month after 9/11 and served four years in military intelligence.

After serving for years with a tour in Iraq, I came home to The Great Recession. I found myself bouncing from various jobs and logistics to restaurants two security until I finally decided to go back to school to work on an MBA. I wasn’t Enthusiastic about the program until I took a coaching and leadership course .it was in that class that I had a really big Aha moment. This class exposed me to the possibility of offering advice and guidance two other people and getting paid for it!

All jokes aside, I knew first-hand that therapy was so much more than that. When I was stationed in Germany. I got depressed. I felt angry, trapped, sad, and alone. The hopelessness that I was feeling was engulfing and I didn’t know what to do to “snap out of it”. It wasn’t until I got help from an Army psychologist and our unit Chaplin that I was able to regain a piece of myself again. That ability to talk about my thoughts and worries without judgment was a refuge in a storm I didn’t realize was I dangerously close to being lost in.

So I dropped the MBA and I quickly shifted my focus to counseling. I started to learn more about the different tracks within the counseling field and found myself falling in love with love. So I chose marriage and family given that I came from a loving family where I was exposed to a beautiful marriage and I thought I would love to help other people achieve that in their lives. And here I am today doing exactly that.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Getting from school to private practice has not always been a smooth road. Mainly because it took me awhile to define and solidify how I was going to implement my private practice goals. But, I quickly learned that the therapy field is what you make it. I worked my way up from a paraprofessional (therapist assistance teaches life skills) to a therapist, and then to a Functional Family Therapist supervisor before taking the leap after a severe illness to strike out on my own.

The road has been riddled with bumps for sure. For starters, I didn’t have a clear path when I entered school. I was driven purely by the desire to help. After being in the field a year, I started to create a vision of working for myself in private practice. However, I had no idea how to start a private practice or what type of practice I wanted to create. I figured I had time, and I gave myself five years to figure it out. A smooth part of the journey for me was that I started off my Masters’ program the same time I entered into the therapy field. So, I wasn’t blindsided by the limited options that can present themselves to the therapist if they don’t look ahead.

But still, I had those five years. So, during school, I worked as a paraprofessional at several child and adolescent agencies in the Metro area. I was privileged to work alongside some incredibly talented therapists throughout my time at the agencies. They challenged me, shaped me, and helped me to hone my craft, which leads me down my path to working independently.

I don’t want to paint the picture that this was an easy journey. It wasn’t. Working at the agency was heartbreaking (emotionally, professionally, and financially at times lol), grueling, and exhausting work. Despite the difficulties, these experiences gave me the exposure I wouldn’t have had had I chosen an easier path. My last agency afforded me the opportunity to work with a diverse population of children, adolescents and families who were dealing with complex and systemic issues such as physical, sexual, emotional abuse and trauma, racism, poverty, substance abuse, child welfare and juvenile judicial issues, and mental health concerns. These experiences could be heartbreaking at times, they were was also rewarding. Though I would like to think I gave to each of my clients what they needed, I know that what they poured back into me was more than they may know. Through this, the time I grew professionally as a therapist and emotionally within myself. This journey helped me to choose confidence and compassion for myself and for my clients.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a licensed Marriage and Family therapist, as well as a Compassionate Love and Relationship Coach. Before Covid-19, I saw clients in person in Atlanta and Alpharetta as well as, I provided some therapy and coaching services virtually to local and international clients. Currently, I see all clients virtually for individual and couple therapy sessions. Though I enjoying working with clients who are struggling with mental health issues, I have a passion for working with couples and individuals who are wanting to heal internalized messaging that has caused pain and hurt to their relationships or has prevented them from getting the love they seek. I also provide coaching to help couples deepen emotional intimacy and vulnerability.

I have completed level 1&2 of the Gottman Method of Couples Therapy. I strongly believe that optimism and hope are the most necessary elements to help clients overcome their obstacles, face their challenges, rebuild relationships, and create the outcomes they seek. I have worked with couples with an array of concerns such as communication problems, conflict resolution, intimacy, and issues surrounding infidelity.

What sets me apart from other Couples therapists is that I have an eclectic approach to Couple’s work. I believe that couples are unique and there isn’t a one-stop approach for helping them get the love they seek. My treatment is centered in systemic, affective, and strength-based therapies drawing from Family Systems, Gottman Method Couple’s Therapy, and Emotional Focused Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. I approach each couple with warmth, respect, non-judgment, openness, and curiosity, working in a collaborative way. What’s on the horizon for me is I am developing some courses and tools for clients to help them love more compassionately, honestly, and fully.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
This is a difficult question, at one point in my life, I would have rattled off a list of goals and objects that I wanted to achieve or accumulate. Currently, I have expanded my mindset to think of success as living in my purpose and giving myself the grace and self-compassion to grow and change. For me, my career success is about compassion, being authentic, forgiveness, curiosity, and openness.

When I think about my clients, I measure success by the changes that clients say they have gained from our collaboration. When I think of their successes, I listen for stories about where they have tried to and/or successfully applied healthier and more compassionate skills on their own and how it has helped them break free from life and love restrictive behaviors in their life. This gets me excited and helps me to feel that I am working towards the values in my life that ultimately lead to my perspective of success.

Pricing:

  • Couples Therapy session $150
  • Individual Therapy session $125
  • Relationship Coaching Packages starting at $200
  • Premarital Counseling $500 6 sessions

Contact Info:

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