Meet the Family

Natalie, Jackie, and their son Weston: The founding family behind The Well Therapies, Inc.

Natalie Gibson has worked in the mental health field for over 14 years. She began her career as an office assistant in a therapist office as she worked her way through college. This transitioned into a therapist position in private practice as she worked through her internship and supervision, launching her into the world of counseling. After graduating from the University of North Georgia with a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, she went on to work as a therapist in an acute crisis setting at Northeast Georgia Medical Center. Spending almost 5 years in acute care working with dual diagnosis individuals, Natalie moved into the field of addiction as a therapist in a residential recovery setting. That was where Natalie would discover her true passion as a therapist, working with people through their trauma and being a part of their healing and growth as individuals. Her career flourished in residential care. During Natalie's time in that setting, she progressed from a therapist to a Clinical Director for a prestigious residential recovery program. During her time as Clinical Director, she was responsible for leading around 40 staff members including therapists, aftercare coordinators, intake coordinators, group facilitators, patient engagement coordinators, and more, while caring for up to 120 patients in their fight with addiction. 

Jackie Gibson has a background in civil construction and underground utilities. Starting at just 17 years old, Jackie began his career in underground construction working for a mechanical plumbing company as a labor hand installing sewer and water mains. Two years later, he moved into the grading and land development sector where he learned to read engineered civil drawings, surveying, and began to climb the industry ladder. Over the next 20 years, Jackie began moving into a management role, starting as a crew foreman, transitioning into asset management, and finally a superintendent for one of the largest civil contractors in the state of Georgia. During his time in these roles, he learned team building, leadership, budgeting, customer relations, permitting, government ordinances, and more. Jackie also went back to school during this time and earned a degree in business with a concentration in accounting from the University of North Georgia. Jackie has a true passion for building things from the ground-up. He loves to tell people that his favorite thing is looking over a site at the end of each day, in wonder at the progress that has been made.

Natalie and Jackie  began their journey together having their first date in 2009. Natalie was a college Sophomore who dreamed of Broadway and Jackie was your average construction worker chasing rodeos and dreaming of being a professional bull rider. These two personalities could not have been more different, but as the saying goes, "opposites attract". Almost 15 years later, this theme is still alive and well. Married 11 years to date, and having one gifted child, these two continue to confound people by how different they are but how well they pair. While no longer chasing bright lights or belt buckles, Natalie and Jackie are still dreamers - the one thing they do have in common. Following the birth of their son, their dream evolved into building something that would change the world for the better, to make the community around him healthier, and to teach him how to love and grow bigger.  Many late nights passed, filled with discussions about life, legacies, corporate complaints and grievances, and that dream started to take shape. 

 The growing presence of for-profit corporations in healthcare and mental health, who chase profits over client care, have been Natalie's primary complaint in her career for the last several years. No matter how hard she battled the system, she felt unable to give her clients or staff fully what was best due to budget restrictions or corporate procedures and red tape built around protecting profits and the corporation. The trend had become so prominent, it was beginning to overwhelm the joy of her once beloved career. The more Jackie and Natalie discussed this matter, the more obvious the answer became to them - a practice of their own. This practice would offer many different modalities of therapies to heal and transform the mind, body, and spirit. Offering more than just counseling, it would be a full service and holistic wellness center.   No longer a dream, it became a concept. Natalie, with her years of experience in mental health and administration, and Jackie, with his experience constructing and creating,  would take this concept and turn it into a reality, now known as The Well Therapies, Inc.