If you were the scapegoat in your dysfunctional family, this article by Sarah Swenson, MA, LMHC titled “The Blameless Burden: Scapegoating in Dysfunctional Families” may be an incredibly powerful read for you. Oh, and CONGRATS! It likely means you were put in that role because you are the strongest and healthiest!
I know I’m in for a good time when Stephanie White and Dan Vonderheide invite me to be a guest on their podcast, Fortyish. For Episode 93, they wanted me to come on to talk about my new book, Don’t Go To Sleep. Click HERE to listen!
Don’t Go To Sleep is a silly and fun bedtime book to help children (and their grown-ups) get relaxed and calm at bedtime. Essentially it’s a guided meditation that parents read to their kiddos that actually may be just as beneficial for the parent as it is for their kiddo. It is a method I developed and used with my own daughter when she was 4 years old. We had always struggled at bedtime to get her to relax and calm at bedtime. For years she would flip and flop for a good hour or more and want me to stay with her until she fell asleep. Not knowing exactly what was going on, I tried all kinds of ways to help her. A few things we tried with limited success: a bedtime routine, limited screen time close to bedtime, aromatherapy, homeopathic remedies, flower essence, chiropractics, and craniosacral massage.
Finally, I decided to put to use some techniques I was using with adults in my practice at Louisville Mindfulness Center. I helped her get out of her head and more into her body. I utilized her senses to get her focused and keep her mind occupied so she wasn’t preoccupied with a fear of the dark, monsters, or being left alone. What I noticed as my method developed more fully was that not only was she responding to it well, but I was much more relaxed at bedtime. In fact, I now would look forward to tucking her in since I knew she’d be asleep in five or so minutes. It was incredible!
Eventually I thought, “If this can work this well for us, I wonder if it can work for others?” So I gave it a shot. I started writing the method down how I thought it could be most helpful for others. It went through several revisions after trusted feedback. One suggestion was to make sure it had pictures. My husband and I had a good friend whose drawings I had always admired so I asked him if he’d contribute a few drawings to the book. The illustrator, Erik Schullstrom, is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and now spends his time scouting players for the Hiroshima Carp.
Overall, I’m thrilled with how the book turned out. Don’t Go To Sleep is available on Amazon! Check it out for yourself, or send it to someone who could use it!
Click HERE to listen to Megan on Episode 93 of Fortyish!
Click HERE to buy the book, Don’t Go To Sleep!
I’m so excited! This book is a bedtime book for parents and children to get relaxed and calm at bedtime. It’s essentially a guided meditation I developed for my 4 year-old daughter after years of struggling with bedtime. After a week of using this with my daughter, bedtime at our house was much smoother and my daughter went to sleep quickly and easily. Not only that, but I realized that I calmed down and was more patient and lovey with her. It helped us both!
If bedtime is a struggle at your house, or your child fights going to sleep, or you have tried multiple methods for good sleep hygiene and nothing seems to work, then this is the book for you! Go ahead, give it a try! Let me know how it goes!
What do you do when two important people in your life don’t get along? While it could me your mom and your husband, your roommate and your boyfriend, or your husband and your closest co-worker, Martha Stewart Weddings wanted to know what is a bride to do when her best friend (and maid of honor) and her fiance don’t get along. Oooooo, that’s a good one! I was all too thrilled to give a very insightful and tried and true answer. Click here to read the full article!
Not only have we moved to a new, beautifully-renovated office suite, but we are looking for more therapists to come join us!
Do you have what it takes to be a part of our team? Send me your resume and cover letter and we’ll find out!
As a therapist I am constantly aware of the words we use with ourselves and others. Wanting to accomplish goals leaves you “wanting” to accomplish them, not necessarily getting them done.
When we use present-tense and the phrase “I am” ( or “I love”) it sends the message to our subconscious that THIS is what is happening right now and we start seeing it show up. “This is” who we are and our subconscious starts to feed and nurture it.
When setting your goals and intentions for 2018 use phrases like:
“I am wildly successful at my job.”
“I love my job.”
“I have all the money I need to feel secure.”
“I love the way I feel in my body.”
Remember, even if you aren’t feeling that way just yet, when your subconscious hears you speaking and thinking that way, it starts to get on board. You start to feel the way you want to feel and start seeing the results you “want” to see. Give it a try! What do you have to lose?
I get asked all the time, “How can I stop doing this?!” Or, “I really want to change ____(fill in the blank)_____! How can I do what I want to do instead of what I don’t want to do?”
These may be my favorite questions to help clients with. There is no magic pill or magic formula. It definitely ISN’T about will power!
Whether you’re dealing with anger, anxiety, depression, feeling suicidal or they want a better relationship with their spouse or significant other, there it hope…even when you feel hopeless. Have you tried the DIY method to no avail? Want to know what Mindfulness has to do with it (and the answer is not meditate more!)?
So what is my response? Come to the Louisville Salt Cave on Thursday, August 31st at 6pm and find out! Space is limited so buy your tickets now online. Click HERE and choose Speakers Series.
I look forward to helping you do more of what you want to do and less of what you don’t want to do!
I’ll see you there!
Megan Bayles Bartley, a well-known marriage and family therapist in Louisville, KY, is excited to announce that she has expanded her counseling practice by opening the region’s first mindfulness center. After seeing an increase in demand for her therapeutic and meditation services, Megan hired two additional therapists to join her practice and to help establish the Louisville Mindfulness Center.
The Louisville Mindfulness Center mission is to help participants find peace and joy within themselves and their relationships through therapy. Megan, and her new team of therapists, plans to provide the necessary mental tools available to clients, so that they can more effectively deal with life’s stressors in a practical manner.
Megan is making it easier to access therapeutic services incorporating a different view of mindfulness in Louisville, KY. She hopes that as a result individuals will be able to decrease their levels of anxiety. The coping skills taught are designed to calm a person and help them think in more peaceful and joyful terms.
For more information on Louisville Mindfulness Center, Megan Bayles Bartley, and her expanding practice, click here. If you are looking for a therapist in the Louisville, KY-area who incorporates mindfulness into their practice – contact Louisville Mindfulness Center today. Megan and her two new therapist associates have open appointment slots available for new or returning clients. You can register for an appointment online by clicking here.
