About The Team
Who do we serve?
We help parents who are worried about managing their child’s explosive and out of control emotions to develop an individualized system to manage their kid’s explosive feelings when they don’t fit the examples in typical parenting books.
We know you are a parent of a Highly Sensitive Child and are ready to stop scouring the internet for new strategies, throw out those traditional parenting books that don’t match your kid, and develop an individualized system to manage your kid’s explosive feelings.
Ending the Meltdown Cycle:
The Research-Based Path to the
Resilience Rewiring Protocol™
You're Lost
When you don’t pass out from sheer exhaustion, you are lying awake at night worrying that if you don’t help your kiddo get it together, they will end up hurting themselves or someone else when they’re older.
They already say things they regret when they’re angry or overwhelmed, and this terrifies you.
You’ve researched the highly sensitive child personality trait.
You’ve read mommy blogs by parents of HSC’s, but you feel like you’re throwing paint at a wall trying random strategies, when you really want to be painting by numbers.
You’re Exhausted
You are tired of feeling like a hostage in your own home, but you struggle to take back control in a way that doesn’t lead your child to feel the intense sense of shame they show you every time they talk about their explosions.
The typical parenting book (if you have the time and energy to get through one of them) talks about consistency and talking out the feelings with the child, but often highly sensitive children need flexibility to feel validated, and STRUGGLE to name their feelings and trust their gut!
This leaves parents feeling FRUSTRATED with their kid who says they “just don’t know why” they acted this way, or what was behind their angry feeling.
Parents often feel lost when this strategy works one day, but not the next (even when they’ve been using it for a week!)
It All Seems Like Too Much!
The books for kids with explosive emotions are long, and complicated! The ‘simple’ strategies they propose require you to read over 200 pages!
They use complicated psycho-babble to explain their points, and you end up getting lost in the words so quickly you have to read them over and over again!
And THEN you have to figure out how to make it work for your family’s needs!
In my work as a child and parenting expert for over 14 years, I used to request that my clients read parenting books while I worked more closely with their children.
We would schedule meetings every 4-6 weeks, and I got frustrated when parents told me they couldn’t make it through the books, so I recommended podcasts.
They told me they weren’t able to listen to all of them.
THIS TIME, INSTEAD OF GETTING FRUSTRATED, I LISTENED BETTER.
Parents of highly sensitive children need quick, simple steps and much more support than a book or a podcast can provide in order to make lasting change in their families.
I started to give them support alongside their child so they could see the work in action.
I simplified my process, and sped up the pace for quicker results.
By the end of the third week of my 8-week program you will have implemented specific strategies that can head off the meltdowns BEFORE THEY BEGIN.
You will learn the exact phrases to say to your child that can decrease the feeling that you are walking on eggshells.
When a child is in therapy, it can take over a year for parents to make the mindset shift for this level of preparation.
The highly sensitive children I worked with in my separate private practice business considered me a part of their family, and so do their parents.
The kids took my business cards and hand them out to their friends (I also think they secretly collect them).
Their parents shout from the rooftops about how I’ve helped them get their lives back.
Moms are able to spend ALL DAY READING A BOOK WITH THEIR KIDS IN THE SAME HOUSE! As a parent of a toddler, this is something even I can envy!
Imagine being able to go through the grocery store without an outburst, or take on that challenge at work without fearing your career will be jeopardized for leaving early to tend to your child’s meltdown at school.
Consider lying in bed dreaming of the schools you will visit when your child is college-aged, rather than fearing hospital bills for inpatient treatment.
Experience Matters: Meet Our Highly Qualified Consultants
Megghan Thompson, LCPC, RPT-S
CEO
Megghan Thompson is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor and a Transformational Parent Coach/Mental Health Consultant.
She has been working with Highly Sensitive Children, teens, and their families for over 14 years post-Master’s, officially beginning her career in the mental health field at age 16 with her first internship.
She recognized her sister as a Highly Sensitive Person upon first learning of the trait early in her clinical career, and everything about her understanding of her family of origin changed.
She opened and grew the largest group private practice in Maryland that specializes in working with HSCs, HS teens, and young adult HSPs who engage in life-threatening behaviors like daily meltdowns, aggression, suicidal actions, promiscuity, and self-harm while simultaneously running Megghan Thompson Coaching, which has served over 600 families since inception in 2018.
Megghan’s company is built to defeat the statistic that HSPs make up 50% of the population that seeks therapy but only make up 20% of the population.
MTC's mission is to eliminate suicidal thoughts and actions for HSPs around the world.
She’s doing this by building an army of parents equipped with the support and accountability to rapidly transform their relationships with their children.
She helps parents of highly sensitive children and teens eliminate the daily meltdown/shutdown cycle in as little as 8 weeks through MTC’s coaching programs.
When she is not working she is enjoying time with her family and homeschooling her children.
Autumn Brennan, LCPC
Director of Coaching
Autumn Brennan brings over 14 years of experience as a licensed Mental Health Therapist/Consultant and certified trauma therapist.
She specializes in supporting children, teens, and families dealing with life-threatening behaviors like suicide, self-harm and trauma.
As Director of Coaching at Megghan Thompson Coaching, Autumn has developed a proven method for helping parents understand, respond to, and support their struggling child or teen in just weeks.
She started her career with a BA in Psychology at a therapeutic recreational respite for tweens/teens with social/emotional/behavioral problems.
As former Clinical Supervisor of a Residential Treatment Center integrating Occupational Therapy, DBT, academics, and mental health supports into the daily lives of teens, she brought a wealth of knowledge that was a natural fit to supervise the clinical team at Megghan’s private practice.
Outside of saving lives, Autumn's passion is spending time outdoors engaging in intense physical sports, and any activity involving animals, especially horses.
With a decade of collaboration, Megghan and Autumn are unstoppable in their mission to bring peace to homes of highly sensitive children around the world. Autumn is a HSP.
Nicolò Bernardi, Ph.D.
Mindset Coach
Nicolò Bernardi knew from an early age that his purpose was to support people in reaching their full potential.
With unshakable conviction and vivid curiosity in people’s ability to change their mindset and circumstances, Nicolo brings an infectious energy to helping others achieve freedom from judgment, doubt and distraction.
With a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience, and ICF Certified Mindset Coach, and over 10 years experience researching and helping individuals overcome self-limiting beliefs, Nicolò uses his expertise in mindfulness and stress reduction to help parents build emotional resilience, authentic communication, cultivate joy and confident leadership skills.
In just weeks, Nicolò’s science-based techniques have transformed families struggling with crisis into connected, joyful units.
Through improvisational violin and theater, Nicolò has learned that creativity, vulnerability and community are key to personal growth.
As a father of two, he is deeply passionate about empowering parents and youth to develop emotional intelligence and live purposefully.
When he’s not coaching, Nicolò loves hiking in nature.
He sees life as walking the path of accepting, loving and transforming who we are.
Sarena Sheckles, LCPC
Mindset Coach/Parent Strategist
Sarena Sheckles discovered her calling to support highly sensitive children and families as an intern under Megghan and Autumn's mentorship.
Now a Licensed Mental Health Therapist and Mindset Coach, Sarena has dedicated her life's work to equipping parents with the strategies and belief in themselves to overcome daily crises.
Through Megghan Thompson Coaching, Sarena uses her masterful ability to help parents see their leadership potential and a vision for peaceful connection with their child.
She lives and breathes the mission of eliminating suicidal thoughts and behaviors in highly sensitive youth.
In her innovative group work, Sarena inspires community and accountability that is life changing. When she's not changing lives, Sarena enjoys painting, paddle boarding, hiking and exploring nature with family.
An animal lover, she finds joy in tending to the animals on her homestead.
Sarena sees life as an adventure to be shared, and finds purpose in motivating others to overcome self doubt in pursuit of purpose and passion.
Sarena's gifts for cultivating connection and belief in people have been instrumental in the success and impact of Megghan Thompson Coaching.
As a Highly Sensitive Person with a passion, she will stop at nothing to see parents equipped, youth empowered and lives transformed across the globe.
Laura Sulfaro, LPC
Parent Success Coach
Laura Sulfaro knew early on as a HSP that her calling was to advocate for children struggling with mental health and family challenges.
Over 13 years as a Licensed Mental Health Therapist, she has dedicated her life's work to giving a voice to those who feel unheard and providing compassionate support for youth in crisis.
As a mother of two highly sensitive boys, Laura understands firsthand the difficulties of parenting children with big emotions and behaviors… and how hard it is to be an expert in the field and feel like nothing is working.
Her experiences breaking out of the meltdown cycle have fueled a passion for helping parents feel equipped to understand, respond to, and connect with their children.
To refuel, Laura taps into her creative spirit through drawing.
She believes in the power of vulnerability and has a knack for using sarcasm to foster an inspired community to help us become our best selves.
With a shared devotion to highly sensitive children and families, Laura is thrilled to partner with Megghan Thompson Coaching.
As a fierce advocate for Children's Mental Health, Laura will use her voice and experiences to spread awareness of resources and bring families the support they need to thrive.
Marcie D’Agostino, LMHC
Parent Success Coach
For over 10 years, Marcie has worked on the front lines of mental health crisis intervention, dedicating her life to helping those in urgent need of support.
As a clinician in crisis care, Marcie has overcome immense challenges and witnessed the power of playfulness and compassion to change lives quickly.
Her experiences have fueled an unwavering determination to help parents stop crisis cycles and build closeness with their child.
Through her work for Megghan Thompson Coaching, Marcie uses proven strategies to help parents address behaviors such as daily meltdowns, aggression, shutdowns and refusals.
Her ability to remain calm in the face of immense hardship and find solutions where others may see only obstacles has been instrumental to her success supporting parents of highly sensitive children.
A decade of crisis intervention work has left Marcie unfazed by immense challenges.
She sees through surface behaviors to understand root causes, and believes empathy and the right support can help any family transform hardship into growth.
Marcie brings a depth of expertise and an unflinching determination to spread that message of hope as part of the MTC team.
Marcie's two children keep her grounded in the importance of parental support and emotional connection.
Outside of coaching, she enjoys experiencing the warmth and sunshine of Florida with her family, and never misses an opportunity to witness the awesome beauty in nature.
We collectively have years of professional experience resolving the following concerns for clients:
We aren't just ‘parenting coaches.’ We are a team of mental health consultants and neuroscience experts w combined 50+ years of experience in our field… each of us with over a decade of experience effectively serving clients with evidence-based treatment in the following clinical areas:
Depression: suicidal ideation; chronic suicidality (multiple attempts)
Non suicidal self injury (self-harm)
OCD
OCD from PANDAS
Anxiety: (social anxiety; selective mutism; panic attacks; separation anxiety; rumination)
Body focused repetitive behaviors (skin picking, trichotillomania)
Grief (Complex, ambiguous loss)
Autism Spectrum (speaking/non-speaking)
Psychosis
Neuropsychiatric disorders
Developmental Disabilities
Trauma: (physical/verbal/sexual abuse or assault, children of parents with substance use disorders, chronic invalidation, bullying, divorce/separation, physical/emotional abuse; domestic violence; gang involvement (to include homicide witnessing); refugee/war trauma) dissociation, trafficking
Mood/Behavioral labels: DMDD/ODD/Conduct Disorder
Eating Disorders: (binge eating, anorexia, bulimia)
Gender and sexual identity (gender dysphoria, gender transitions, coming out)
ADHD
Chronic medical conditions (IBS, Ehlers-Danlos, Chrons)
Explosive anger/physical aggression: (Battery; homicidal attempts; ideation- acute and chronic)
Learning issues/disabilities: (school refusal, intellectual disability; dyslexia; dysgraphia; auditory processing; expressive/receptive language; speech delay)
Substance Abuse Disorders: (teen/adult abuse and dependence)
Family crisis: kinship care/adoption/foster care/divorce
First Responder: trained staff; provided therapy to First Responders
Early Childhood (0-3)
Personality Disorders
Sleep issues: (insomnia; night terrors; sleep onset/maintenance)