What is art therapy and how can it help people

Is Art Therapy Right for You?!

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Hello there! My name is Rachel Taylor Martin and I am a Licensed Professional Art Therapist. I’m wondering how long has it been since you colored, drew, or made some type of art. Unless you are artistic, you probably stopped making art around age 11 or 12. Creating art can help you to de-stress and relax. It can give you the opportunity to get lost (in the zone).

Have you heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words?” The reason behind this is that a single image can inspire many words. Art therapy helps us to work through our emotional issues.

When this occurs it can bring underlying thoughts and feelings to the surface where they can be examined and worked through. This can enhance and speed up the healing process. Sometimes we don’t have the words to describe how we are feeling inside. Art can increase self-awareness visually without using words, opening up a new way of expressing ourselves. It can be beneficial to anyone who is experiencing distress and looking for relief from the emotional pain that is keeping them from enjoying or moving forward in life.

Some of the people I have worked with have found the experience of art therapy eye-opening and empowering. It really doesn’t matter what age you are. Can you remember a piece of art you saw that took your breath away, really captured your attention, or made you more curious? Whether you experienced the artwork in person, in a book, or online art is powerful. It truly is a way of connecting with ourselves and others.

Here are some things I love about Art Therapy:

+ Art is universal
+It doesn’t matter how it turns out – it is about the art-making experience
+It can enhance the healing process
+It is a great way to take time for yourself which is self-care
+It can be a rewarding experience.
+It is a wonderful way to increase self-love and self-worth
+Sometimes just opening up and letting go of the things that have been causing you pain can provide a sense of peace and acceptance.
+Making art allows for self-reflection
+Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zone to learn something new which helps us to grow and become the best version of ourselves
+It can give you a chance to look within and discover what is actually bothering you so you can express it
+It can help you to organize your thoughts and improve clarity and focus
+It allows you to get in touch with your senses through various types of art media
+Connections can be made as you resonate with the art.
+It can provide quiet time

When we take time for ourselves and try new things it makes us feel better and gives us the courage to make the changes we want to make in ourselves and our lives. It can alleviate the pain we have been holding on to and give us relief. Art therapy is a way to restore a sense of well-being and help us become unstuck. Being open-minded and trusting the process can allow emotions to move through you as you experience the therapeutic value of art.

If this sounds like an interesting experience for you, and you’d like to find out more, feel free to schedule a free 10-minute consult with me at your convenience online HERE!

art therapy, art therapist, rachel martin, rachel

Rachel Taylor Martin, LPAT specializes in art therapy with people of all ages to help process, heal, and make sense of feelings and experiences that are hard to put words to. If you have a sense that art therapy could be an interesting experience and/or right for you, then likely it will be! Plus, there’s no need to be artistic! It is in the act of creating that healing and insight can come, not necessarily in the finished product. Creating art connects us to our subconscious which is full of wonderfully helpful information. Clients report Rachel is genuine, compassionate, holistic, and non-judgmental.

Megan Bayles Bartley is excited for Rachel to join the team and knows she will be a wonderful resource for you.

Find out more on Rachel’s bio page on the Louisville Mindfulness Center website!

How parents can use tools like self-compassion and reframing at home to help.

Tools for Your Parenting Toolbox: SELF-COMPASSION & REFRAMING

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Welcome back to the third and final post in my series on how we can support our kids by using some simple therapeutic strategies at home. I’m Kim Hamilton and a therapist at Louisville Mindfulness Center. I specialize in working with kids, teens, and parents to create family harmony. I love to support parents by offering them tools for their parenting toolbox to handle the stress and uncertainty that comes along with parenting.

In the past weeks, I have told you about three other tools  – Attunement, Emotional Literacy, and Self-Regulation. With these skills, you are able to take notice when your child needs a deeper level of attention, help them to understand what they are feeling and why, and give them tips on how to cope in the moment. Be sure to check out the previous posts for more detail!

Today I will share with you the final two tools: self-compassion and reframing.

SELF-COMPASSION

Give yourself and your child a break! If your child is hard on themselves, don’t just tell them to calm down. Instead, talk with them about the three steps to implement self-compassion:

  1. Acknowledge that you are experiencing pain and be kind to yourself. Being kind to yourself increases well-being, reduces anxiety and depression and can help fend off other health issues like substance abuse, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation.
  2. Recognize that you are not alone. We are so creatures and mostly all harbor some amount of empathy for other people. If someone around you is feeling anxious, you will most likely pick up on that and feel some anxiety. This is especially true for close relationships, like parents and children. 
  3. Put your experiences in perspective to moderate your own negative reactivity. If your child is having a high-intensity moment and you are feeling yourself getting worked up, instead of exploding, implement self-compassion instead. You can do this by speaking out loud or silently to calm yourself. Your child benefits regardless.
REFRAMING

This final tool is one of my favorites! When we get annoyed, mad, or frustrated with our kids, we often begin labeling them either out loud or in our heads. Instead of automatically going to that place, try thinking about other ways you can look at the situation.

By avoiding assumptions and judgments you can see and become open to other possibilities and can envision positive paths forward. For example, if your child is upset because they are having trouble with a friend, they may immediately go to the worst possible scenario and assume things like the friend doesn’t like them anymore or maybe even that nobody likes them. You can help them feel better by reframing the situation and asking questions like, “What’s the worst thing that could happen? Is it forever or just temporary? Is it everybody?”

Help them to question the assumptions they are making and to think optimistically. This way they are able to see bad things as temporary and specific. It’s easy to generalize and view bad situations as permanent when we are sad or upset. By reframing, we can see the other, more realistic, possibilities.

I hope you have enjoyed learning these five skills and are now able to implement them into practice with yourself and with your family! By learning how to be a more effective parent and really listening to our kids, we build their resilience so they can be happy, motivated, and empowered.

If you have experimented with these tools with your children, I’d love to know how it went! Feel free to email me and let me know: [email protected].

If you liked what you read and feel I could be of assistance to you and your family, feel free to schedule a free 10-minute consult with me at your convenience online HERE!

Kim Hamilton, MAMFT specializes in working with kids, teens, and parents to bring emotional regulation and harmony to families and households. She works from a non-judgmental, solution-focused, non-pathologizing perspective that creates win-win scenarios within relationships. Megan Bayles Bartley is excited for Kim to join the team and knows she will be a wonderful resource for your family.

Find out more on Kim’s bio page on the Louisville Mindfulness Center website!

 

 

*This blog was inspired by the Washington Post article: “Five skills parents can learn so they can help their children cope”

speaking your truth

Tools for Your Parenting Toolbox: EMOTIONAL LITERACY & SELF-REGULATION

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Welcome back to my series on how we can support our kids by using some simple therapeutic
strategies at home. My name is Kim Hamilton and I’m a therapist at Louisville Mindfulness Center. I
specialize in working with kids, teens, and parents to create family harmony. I love to support
parents by offering them tools for their parenting toolbox to handle the stress and uncertainty
that comes along with parenting.

Last time I talked about Attunement and discussed three ways of noticing when they need a
deeper level of attention, therefore strengthening our relationships with them and helping
them to better understand themselves and their feelings. We can do this by 1) paying attention,
2) reflecting, and 3) validating. If you missed it or want a refresher, you can check it out here.

Today I’ll share two more tools: emotional literacy and self-regulation.

EMOTIONAL LITERACY

Let’s start with Emotional Literacy. We can help our kids by helping them to understand their own feelings and how their body physically responds to those emotions. We’ve all experienced “butterflies” in our stomachs when we get nervous, but what about that stomach ache or headache; or that pressure in our chest or inability to catch a breath? What do they mean? When they can learn to tune in to their emotions, to become aware of them, and notice them, they will not only get better at managing their emotions but also at being able to predict them.

SELF-REGULATION

But what do we do when it is already happening?

When we are in the moment of strong emotion, it is difficult to regulate that feeling. Think about when your child is having a tantrum or has asked you 20 times for the same thing. It is easy to feel overwhelmed with emotions, which often lead to behaviors we may regret later. The same is true for kids when they are fighting with a friend or anxious about a big test.

By learning to self-regulate in those moments, we can be in control of how we react. Pausing and breathing intentionally is key to this.

One breathing technique I like is box breathing – breath in for four second, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds, and then hold for four seconds again.

You can also use grounding techniques like 5-4-3-2-1. Name five things you can see, four things you can hear, three things you can touch, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. You can also go for a
walk, jump up and down, listen to music, or do anything else that helps.

Model this self-regulation to your kids and explain to them what you are doing. This will show them how they can also cope in the midst of difficult feelings.

I invite you to experiment with emotional literacy and self-regulation and see how it goes! Feel free to email me and let me know: [email protected].

If you liked what you read and feel I could be of assistance to you and your family, feel free to schedule a free 10-minute consult with me at your convenience online HERE!

 Kim Hamilton, MAMFT specializes in working with kids, teens, and parents to bring emotional regulation and harmony to families and households. She works from a non-judgemental, solution-focused, non-pathologizing perspective that creates win-win scenarios within relationships. Megan Bayles Bartley is excited for Kim to join the team and knows she will be a wonderful resource for your family.

Find out more on Kim’s bio page on the Louisville Mindfulness Center website!

 

 

*This blog was inspired by the Washington Post article: “Five skills parents can learn so they can help their children cope”

Tools for Your Parenting Toolbox: ATTUNEMENT

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Parenting is hard. Period. But it is especially difficult and disheartening when your child is struggling and you don’t know how to best help them. Kids are experiencing unprecedented amounts of mental health issues due to the coronavirus pandemic, but we as parents can support them by using some simple therapeutic strategies at home. This will be the first in a series teaching you various healthy coping skills to implement with your children.

Hi! I’m Kim Hamilton. I’m a new therapist at Louisville Mindfulness Center. I specialize in working with kids, teens, and parents to create family harmony. I love to support parents by offering them tools for their parenting toolbox to handle the stress and uncertainty that comes along with parenting.

ATTUNEMENT

Let’s start with attuning. Our lives are busy chauffeuring kids to activities, helping with homework, making dinner, and still trying to fit in our own needs. It is easy to get caught up in the stress of it all and not pay attention to what is actually going on in our kids’ minds and lives. By noticing when they need a deeper level of attention, we strengthen our relationships with them and help them to better understand themselves and their feelings. So how exactly do we do attune?

Pay Attention

The first tool for your toolbox is to simply pay attention! Has their mood changed or has there been a shift to their normal routine? Take notice and dig deeper. They are most likely going to say they are fine and nothing is wrong, but don’t let the conversation stop there. Share with them what you are noticing and even offer a guess at what might be wrong in order to get the conversation started.

Reflect

Reflective listening is another tool that is great to use, not only with your kids but in all your relationships. Begin by listening closely to what they have to say. Then, repeat back to them what you heard them say in a paraphrased way. Lastly, ask your child if your understanding is correct and if you missed anything. For example, if they are arguing with a friend, ask them to explain to you what is going on. You can repeat back to them what you heard by saying, “What I heard you say is…Is that correct? Did I miss anything?” This will allow your child to process their emotions, consider how their actions contributed to the situation, and decide how to move forward.

Validate

Lastly, and possibly, most importantly, is validation. Your child may tell you something that you don’t like and is upsetting, and it is important for you as the parent not to react immediately. Just listen. Then validate their perspective instead of dismissing their feelings or trying to change their mind. As parents, we want to fix everything for our children. When we do this, when we fix things or give them the answer, they don’t experience the struggle that comes with the learning process. It’s ok for our kids to struggle a bit. Growth doesn’t happen without some discomfort. Validating doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, but by acknowledging their pain, the struggle becomes easier for them and leads to behavior change.

I invite you to experiment with these steps to attune with your children. I’d love to know how it goes! Feel free to email me and let me know: [email protected].

If you liked what you read and feel I could be of assistance to you and your family, feel free to schedule a free 10-minute consult with me at your convenience online HERE!

 

Kim Hamilton, MAMFT specializes in working with kids, teens, and parents to bring emotional regulation and harmony to families and households. She works from a non-judgemental, solution-focused, non-pathologizing perspective that creates win-win scenarios within relationships. Megan Bayles Bartley is excited for Kim to join the team and knows she will be a wonderful resource for your family.

Find out more on Kim’s bio page on the Louisville Mindfulness Center website!

 

 

*This blog was inspired by the Washington Post article: “Five skills parents can learn so they can help their children cope”

Join Us As We Meditate For Louisville, KY!! Sept. 11-21, 2022

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Louisville Mindfulness Center has been asked to partner with the Louisville Resonant City Peace Project as they assist the Global Peaceful Cities Project study the effects of 3500+ people joining forces to spread peace throughout Louisville during a two-week span of time. The intention is to decrease Louisville’s crime and violence rate by 25%. Previous cities have seen a 25+% reduction in crime and violence during the two weeks of meditation.

Are you interested in participating? Go to PeacefulCities.org to sign up to receive a daily email with a 20-minute guided meditation. This is a wonderful way to join as you’ll have a different member of the Louisville community devoted to peace leading you through that day’s meditation. Our fearless leader, Megan Bayles Bartley, will be leading one of the meditations… perhaps you can listen for her!

Join Megan and friends at the Kickoff Celebration on September 8th at 6:30pm – 740 Old Harrods Creek Rd.

Louisvile, Peace, Peaceful, Cities

Shifting Our Shit, Shifting Shit, Shit, Shifting, Podcast, Megan, Bartley, Rob, Giltner

Introducing Our NEW Podcast!!!

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Shifting Our Shit, Shifting Shit, Shit, Shifting, Podcast, Megan, Bartley, Rob, Giltner

 

After years of making guest appearances on podcasts and lots of encouragement from friends and clients to do my own, I have teamed up with one of Louisville Mindfulness Center’s very own therapist extraordinaire (and experienced podcaster), Rob Giltner. We talk candidly about our work with mindfulness and mental and emotional well-being. We also share plenty of our own personal stories so we can shift our shit right along with you!

Why stay Stuck With Sh!t when we can Shift Our Sh!t?!

UPDATE: We are now on SPOTIFY! (CLICK HERE TO LISTEN)  and APPLE Podcasts (CLICK HERE TO LISTEN). You will soon be able to find it wherever you normally get your podcasts AND we plan to release the video of our recordings as well! Sign up below to stay updated on new releases!

And thank you. Thank you all for all your encouragement. We couldn’t make this happen without you! <3 – Megan

Indian Springs, Retreat, California

Napa Valley Retreats, Take 2!!

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That’s right! I’m headed back to Napa Valley in January 2023 for my annual retreat and would love to bring a few people along with me!

Who nurtures you, the busy person that you are?

This is a question I ask many of the people I work with. Oftentimes I get blank stares. No one ever asks us that question. And we tend not to ask ourselves that question because we’re avoiding the answer…

This is the chill reset trip you’ve always wanted but perhaps just didn’t have the right people to go with.

Just because this is in Napa Valley, doesn’t mean you have to drink wine or any alcohol! While we will be visiting some wineries, it’s the overall feel of the area and the winery experience that is healing and calming. It expands our thinking when we learn new things and wonderful metaphors abound between how grapes are grown in Napa Valley and who we are as hard-working people! Intrigued? I thought you might be…

There will be some group learning time, reflection time, and lots of self-care, self-compassion, laughter, and lightness. We want this to FUN and LIGHT! 

Also, we want to encourage you to do what’s best for you during this time. If you need to sit something out and do something else to best take care of yourself, we want you to do that!

This is your chance to review the past year and be intentional about the upcoming year.

Let’s look at all that is included in the registration:

  • A Curated Napa Valley “Wine Country” Experience by a native Californian – Megan! (Priceless!)
  • Bohemian-Luxury Resort Accommodations at Indian Springs Calistoga, CA  which feels like the adult “summer camp” you’ve always wanted!
  • (Often) Beautiful Weather – Sunny, Blue Skies, and 60/70 degrees
  • Most Meals – Paleo-ish unless otherwise requested
  • Retreat Workbook/Notebook
  • Group Classes with Megan B. Bartley and her 20+ years of wisdom and experience
  • Casual Bike Ride to Nearby Calistoga Wineries  – Tastings Included!
  • A relaxing day in St. Helena – cute shops, great food, wine, and local OLIVE OIL!!
  • Relaxing “Pool/Spa” Day at the 100 degree spring-fed Olympic-size swimming pool – PURE BLISS!

This year we have TWO options:

Early Bird Registration is OPEN NOW – (CLICK HERE!) through August 26 to help you save several hundred dollars! After August 26, prices go up.

If you want to come but have specific questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] or log on to a Virtual Meet & Greet via Zoom on Wednesday, August 17 from 3:30-4:15pm. Drop in for a few minutes or come for the whole time.

If you can’t make this retreat, we will likely have retreat notebooks for purchase so you can do a retreat on your own!

Peace.

-Megan

Ready for a RESET?!

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Ready for a reset?!

Yeah, me too!! It’s definitely that time of year!

With that said, I LOVE summertime! Every year I think that I’ll take the summer “off” and not work so much. That lasts about one week and then things start moving and shaking. All the balls I juggle don’t just disappear, they’re still there and need my attention. So I’m currently back to juggling all my balls while balancing the kiddos out of school and trying to get in a bit of time away…one weekend to Nashville, another to Lake Cumberland.

I will say, now that my kids are older (9 and 12) I’m not (YET!) as desperate to get them back in school ASAP as I was when they were younger. They are pretty self-sufficient and my husband, who works remotely from home, loves having the company…so do the pups – Lemon Drop and Deuce Pugalo!

Now, let’s dream of the reset we need… time, space, quiet, relaxation, nature, beauty, creativity…what would you add?

In January I will be heading back to Napa Valley for my annual retreat time and would love to take a few people along who are looking to reset and refresh as well. Could that be you?

This year I will host a women’s retreat (January 9-13) as well as a co-ed, weekend (January 12-16) retreat.

Early Bird Registration will be open for two weeks beginning mid-August. General Registration opens September 1st.

Check out the details below. Early bird registration will be availabe mid-August through end of August. Full registration opens September 1, 2022.

CLICK HERE for more DETAILS and to sign up for UPDATES!!!

A Gift For You!

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A Gift For You! 

We had a wonderful time during our Open House as Louisville Mindfulness Center celebrated its 5th anniversary!  We enjoyed catching up with friends and family from near and far with a few fun blasts from the past to boot! 

Again, we want to thank all of our supporters, whether you were able to make the event or not!! We are definitely feeling the love!

AND…. we want to spread that love even more! We are extending our half-price offer on our online courses through the month of July in honor of our anniversary! 

The two key online courses we currently have are “The Art of Saying No” and “Dealing With Difficult People”.

Whether you’re new to setting mindful boundaries, needing a quick yet comprehensive refresher on your boundary-setting skills, or you’re wanting to take your self-care practice to the next level, these wonderful, bite-sized videos are written and presented by Megan Bayles Bartley herself! For those of you who have spent time with Megan, you know she’s bursting with inspiration and empowerment to help you live your best life! You don’t want to miss out!

Plus, these courses are cheaper than ONE therapy session! Who can say “No” to that?! 

Check them out here: https://mindfulness-center.com/awaken-autopilot/

Celebrating Five Years!

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The Louisville Mindfulness Center is five years old!

It’s hard to believe. Even though, in a sense, our organization was decades in the making, built upon years and years of collective experience and shared visions… we still could’ve never guessed how much we could accomplish in a short time!

It’s time to celebrate everything we’ve done, all that’s to come, and most of all, our incredible community: you!

Join us next Wednesday, June 29th, from 4-6 pm at the Louisville Mindfulness Center to commemorate this milestone. Hang out with us, enter to win prizes, hobnob with some VIPS, and grab some cool LMC merch! All are welcome. We look forward to seeing you!

Hey, some PR attention!💡

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