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 attachment focused parenting books.
We know you are a parent of a Highly Sensitive Child who is constantly exploding (or imploding). And, you are ready to stop following general attachment parenting that doesn’t match your kid, design an individualized, systematic approach to eliminate your kid’s explosive meltdowns and finally raise a resilient, emotionally intelligent child.
Watch Our Free MasterclassEnding the Meltdown Cycle:
The Research-Based Path to the
Resilience Rewiring Protocol™
You're Spinning Your Wheels
You know you are going to help your child. And... you are constantly trying to find a better way, because all of the traditional approaches to gentle parenting has you waffling between enabling and getting so frustrated you can't help but to get stern. 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.
You may even work in the healthcare or educational field, like 70% of our clients, so this is a very special kind of imposter-syndrome inadequacy that feeds your parent guilt.
Your child already says 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 want your child to experience unconditional love, but you are sick and tired of feeling like a hostage in your own home. 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... and you know that this isn't working.
The typical parenting book talks about consistency and talking out the feelings with your child, but often highly sensitive children need flexibility to feel validated, and STRUGGLE to name their feelings and trust their gut!
This leaves you feeling FRUSTRATED with your kid who says they “just don’t know why” they acted this way, or what was behind their angry feeling... they can intellectually discuss the problem, what they did wrong and what to do next time, but your child is just not generalizing that skill from conversation to action.
Parents often feel lost when typical gentle parenting strategy works one day, but not the next (even when they’ve been using it for weeks!)
It All Seems Like Too Much!
The books for kids with explosive emotions are long, and complex! The ‘simple’ strategies they propose require you to read between the lines, and if you had the understanding of why, and what would work you would have fixed it by now.
These resources 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 troubleshooting 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 did 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.
I took the guesswork out of this process for parents, eliminating the need to microdose a solution over 1-2 years for a few hours a week. Instead, we work with clients intensively. Combine this method with driven, resourceful, intelligent, amazing clients, and we have created a process with a 98.9% success rate. Each family who works with us eliminates their meltdown cycle in as little as 8 weeks.
Experience Matters: Meet Our Highly Qualified Consultants
Megghan Thompson, LCPC, RPT-S
CEO
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor and a Transformational Parent Coach/Mental Health Consultant
I have been working with Highly Sensitive Children, teens, and their families for over 14 years post-Master’s, officially beginning my career in the mental health field at age 16 with my first internship.
I recognized my sister as a Highly Sensitive Person upon first learning of the trait early in my clinical career, and everything about my understanding of my family of origin changed.
I 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 700 families since inception in 2018.
My company is built to defeat the statistic that HSPs are 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.
I'm doing this by building an army of parents equipped with the support and accountability to rapidly transform their relationships with their children.
I help 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 I am not working I am enjoying time with my family and homeschooling my 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.
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.
Kathryn Beachy, Certified Mind/Body Coach, Certified Relationship Coach, and Yoga and Meditation Instructor
Mindset Coach
As a passionate and dedicated Mindfulness and Relationship Coach, Kathryn is committed to guiding individuals on a journey of holistic transformation.
With a deep understanding of the intricate connection between the mind and body, she helps clients navigate life transitions, facilitating personal growth and empowerment. With Kathryn's extensive background in psychology, mindfulness practices, and body-centered approaches along with her decade of coaching individuals and couples, she brings a unique and integrative approach to her coaching practice.
Kathryn brings her personal experience as an HSP and experiences in parenting her own HSC to the team. Through compassionate guidance and insightful exploration, Kathryn supports clients in identifying and overcoming internal barriers, embracing self-awareness, and cultivating resilience. She creates a safe and non-judgmental space for clients to explore their thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. When she’s not coaching,
Kathryn enjoys quality time with her partner and 4 teenagers exploring the beauty of Colorado, listening to live music and traveling to fun and unique destinations around the country and the globe.
Samantha Kaufman, MOT, OTR/L
Parent Success Coach
Samantha comes to us with a wealth of knowledge in OT! She is a licensed Occupational Therapist from Cincinnati, OH. She has extensive experience in sensory-processing, feeding therapy, fine motor skills, and self-care skill development. Over the past 12 years as an OT, Samantha has worked as a member of many multidisciplinary teams in various pediatric healthcare settings including hospitals, home-based care, outpatient clinics, home-based settings and telehealth.
She started her career working in acute care for the University of Cincinnati Medical Center providing occupational therapy services to people of all ages in the hospital setting. After about 5 years and having challenges with her own children from a developmental standpoint, she transitioned to working in early intervention for the state of Kentucky. In this setting, she provided home-based therapy services with a focus on parent coaching on topics such as fine motor development, sensory processing, and self-help skills for children ages birth-3 years old.
She also has an entrepreneurial spirit and passion for supporting and working with small businesses. She started her own mom-fitness franchise in her hometown where she supported postpartum moms and their babies in their development. She also taught fitness classes and ran playgroups for the kiddos in the community.
Most recently, she was Clinical Manager at a telehealth start-up called DotCom Therapy where she supported and supervised Mental Health Providers, Speech-Language Pathologists, and other Occupational Therapists serving children and adults of all ages who were receiving telehealth services. Her main role in this position was to support the therapy providers while promoting evidence-based telehealth evaluation and treatment.
Her favorite aspect about being an OT is sharing her knowledge with families to help overcome challenges and learn new skills!
When she is not working you can find her being active with her family, traveling, and enjoying the outdoors!
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 with 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)