Author/Health & Wellness Coach
COACH DANA WATSON Interviewed by Jennifer Diaby
ELEV8ATE HEALTH & WELLNESS Please introduce and tell us a little about yourself. My name is Dana Watson, but my clients call me Coach Dana W. I’m a native of Norfolk, VA. I am a divorcee and the proud mother of two beautiful children, Nikiya and Trey. In addition, I am the grandmother of my beautiful grandbaby, Amariah. I have over 18 years of experience working in the education field, the criminal justice system, foster care, and nonprofit sector. My educational background is in both Education and Human Services Counseling. I am currently attending school to obtain my PH.D in Christian Counseling. I also have 2 honorary doctorates in leadership and divinity. I am multi-certified coach and the owner of Elev8te Health & Wellness, providing holistic and restorative services. Most importantly, I am an ordained minister at Immanuel Worship and Deliverance Ministries, where I served as the Youth Ministry Director for over ten years. My personal mission is to rebuild one heart at a time, as I am best known for advocating for domestic violence victims, facilitating healthy relationships classes, and now providing certification training program for healers. Dr. Dana Watson, you are the Owner of “Elev8te Health & Wellness, LLC.” Tell the readers about your company and what services you offer clients? Also, where can the readers view more about your services? Elev8te Health & Wellness, LLC is both SWAM and BBB certified. I provide both coaching and consultation services to individuals, couples, and families who are impacted by stress and/or trauma by using evidence-based practices. I teach individuals how to to use their pain as a secret weapon to lose weight (emotional eaters), heal, become a published author, and/or start a business. In as little as 90 days, my clients can complete a total transformation program and turn their pain into their purpose. I also provide services to corporations and school systems teaching them about Trauma Informed Care and Social/ Emotional Learning. It’s important that leaders and those in the helping profession understand what being trauma focus means and how to show compassion in the workplace. I provide a wide range of topics (Anger Management, Stress, Nutrition, Grief, Trauma Informed Care, etc) that can be covered in both a workshop style or group coaching. In addition, I am currently working on obtaining my ADHD coaching certification because there is a great need in this area. What areas do you specialize in as the CEO/Instructor of “Healed Academy?” As the CEO/ Instructor of the I-Am-Healed Academy, I specialize in healing from trauma type courses. I currently have an online course for individuals who want to heal from emotional trauma due to break-ups, divorce, and betrayal. I also have a certificate program for Christian leaders who want to incorporate trauma informed care into ministry and a certification program for healers. The I-Am-Healed Coach Certification Program is a program you can receive healing from due to your own trauma and become a Certified Coach after completing certain requirements such as skills lab, quizzes, and providing proof of practice sessions.
I believe that a lot of people have a calling on their life when it comes to helping others heal from trauma. We often wonder why we’ve been effected by so much pain in our lives. But sometimes our life experiences are not meant for us to just sit as victims of pain, but for us to take that pain and turn it into power to help someone else heal. As a Transformational Coach, what advice would you give to someone who is struggling to move forward from difficult circumstances such as: Emotional trauma, grief, or a relationship breakup? The first step is to Acknowledge the brokenness and trauma. Secondly, seek help from a therapist or/and coach. It’s important that people understand that they do not have to heal alone. And with the right resources and tools you can heal. Another piece that is really important in healing is forgiveness. One must not only forgive their perpetrator, but they must also forgive themselves in order to move forward. I know you are a Tedx Talk Speaker and you spoke on the topic “When the Body Talks.” What is the reason you selected this particular topic? The theme of the Tedx was “It Takes a Village”. So, I had to find a way to incorporate what I do as a coach and tie it in with the theme. I remember after the death of my dad I began to emotionally eat. And my body was yelling at me with all types of aches and pain. The body talks to us, we just have to listen. When we think of the body we are usually referring to the physical being, but I want you to think of the body in a different way. You’ve heard of a body of water, a body of mass, a body of elected officials. But the village is a body too. We, a people of great diversity, make up one body of the human race. And right now, our body is talking. It’s talking through the protests on the streets, the tears of our children, and the constant deaths we see all around us; because our body is hurting. Villages are considered to be family and we must find healing for the body, the same way we have to find healing for our physical bodies. I was able to come up with an acronym for FAM in order to start the healing journey. F-Forgive and let go of anything that is holding you back (that includes those who have betrayed you), A-Affirm; positively affirm your healing today by speaking it over your life; and M- Move forward from the past and release all of the trauma stored in your body. Since you are a Motivational Speaker, how can someone book you to speak at their conference or event? I can be reached via email at danawatson.elev8te@gmail.com, Facebook.com/coachdanaw, and instagram.com/coachdanaw
