I am originally from the surrounding Indianapolis, IN area and received both my Bachelors in Psychology and my Masters in Counseling from Indiana State University. I moved to Naples, Fl in 2023 to help care for my aging parents. I am licensed in both states and see clients in via telehealth. I am a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional and specialize in OCD and Anxiety. I have been trained in Exposure Response Prevention, which is the gold standard treatment for OCD, as well as ICBT, which is the other evidenced-based OCD treatment. I have also been trained in Com-B to treat Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors such as trichotillomania and excoriation, which are OCD-related behaviors. I also have a lot of clients with trauma backgrounds, for which I use Brainspotting and IFS.
“Our life is what our thoughts make it”
Marcus Aurelius
My Therapeutic Approach
I am warm, laid back, and personable. I connect with my clients using humor, empathy, and non-judgmental support. I use an integrated and personally tailored approach to change your relationship with anxiety/OCD to put you back in control of your life. Some clients come to me already knowing they have OCD and some are not sure. I am able to give the YBOCS (Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale) Assessment, if this is something we agree would be helpful.
The tools I give clients directly deal with the fear and anxiety, and go further than deep breathing, thought-stopping or distraction techniques. I help clients decrease the overwhelming power of their emotions (amygdala), while increasing the power of their thinking (pre-frontal cortex). Together, we can generate new neuroconnections and starve those old useless ones.
This new way of thinking and behaving involves "homework/practice" between sessions. The more you practice and repeat, the more competent you become and I am here to cheer you on. You can go as deep as you would like to go with your therapy, so the length of treatment varies significantly.
Highly functional clients, who have undergone treatment, and do not need mental health counseling anymore may graduate to a Coaching Program if they still desire services.
Distance Therapy
What do I need to do have an appointment?
Client must have privacy, a good Wi-Fi connection, and may access appointments from a phone, tablet, or computer with camera and mic.
Distance therapy, also referred to as "telebehavioral health" is the use of a digital platform that provides secure,
encrypted, audio-video conferencing to communicate with a client in real-time. The professional and ethical
standards of care used by counselors when working with clients still apply.
In contrast to some popular advertised therapy platforms that use "texting" or "chatting", which are not NBCC therapeutic approved methods, all my sessions are by real-time live video. The only time text or email would be used would be to set up/confirm/cancel appointments.
Before you commit to meeting with me for therapy, we would conduct a free initial video conference to review your goals of counseling, the in's and out's of distance-therapy, and decide if it was a good fit.
There is nothing more convenient than not having to leave your home for therapy. Another benefit is having more anonymity than going to an office.
Continuing a distance therapy platform post-covid allows me to continue to see more clients during the day, as well as see clients from all over the states of Indiana and Florida.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are your hours?
I take appointments at various times Sunday - Thursday and try to have flexible hours for client needs.
What are your fees?
My fee is $120 for 55-minute sessions, with the exception of the first diagnostic meeting, which is $150. I accept debit or credit cards for direct-pay or the insurance providers listed below. (Appointments must be cancelled at least 24 hours in advance or the entire fee will apply).
Do you take insurance?
I accept Optum Behavioral Health/United Healthcare, Florida Blue/Anthem, and Aetna PPO plans.
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Clients are responsible for checking the details of their insurance coverage such as co-pays and deductibles.
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If you call your insurance company, you will need to refer to me as Madeline instead of Maddi in order for them to find me as an in-network provider.
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I do not accept Medicaid or Medicare plans
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Do you have an office?
My office is a home office. I do not have a traditional walk-in office for in-person therapy.
How do I make an appointment for the initial free consultation?
In order to avoid spam calls and playing phone tag, please text or email to set up our first consultation appointment. My direct business phone line to text is 574-227-2227. Email me at maddi@maddiwatkins.com
Client Resources
Client Portal
https://madeline-watkins.clientsecure.me
These are the forms that you will be signing through your own private patient portal, but you may review the PDF versions here.
Schedule a Session
Want to hear more about how I can transform your life? Contact me today to schedule a session.
Email: maddi@maddiwatkins.com
574-227-2227 (Please Text)
