Check out the latest talks, interviews, and articles from Megan Bruneau. For hundreds more, check out her author pages on Huffington Post, Forbes, MindBodyGreen, Thrillist, Thought Catalog, Gaia, Entrepreneur, Verily and Quartz.
I’ve been working with Melissa* for close to two years. Her initial email, with “Can u help me?” in the subject line, was spurred by a recent breakup – yet another relationship, I soon learned, that Melissa’s eating disorder had stolen from her.
Read MoreI’ve been following the incredible Megan Bruneau on Instagram for some time now, and am absolutely delighted to introduce you to her on the podcast today!
Read MoreAlthough these days I focus primarily on entrepreneurial mental health, I began my counseling career immersed in the eating disorder recovery world. The prior decade of quietly trying to heal myself from bulimia and anorexia had instilled in me a fervent desire to support others – both directly as as clinician and indirectly as an advocate.
Read MoreI intentionally describe myself as a "writer," not a "therapist" on my Hinge profile. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of what I get to do for a living; however, the dudes who aren't immediately scared off because they think therapists can read minds will inevitably ask how I got into psychology – and I just prefer to save the "wounded healer" monologue for in-person.
Read MoreAs a therapist and executive coach, I frequently speak with badass women encouraged to medicate away their feelings. Ashamed over what they perceive to be "emotional instability," they fear they're "too sensitive" to warrant a seat in the boardroom. They've been told tears don't belong in the workplace. They believe they're frauds the moment they notice anxiety creeping in (and then feel another layer of anxiety telling them to get rid of their anxiety).
Read MoreWith an estimated 67 percent of Americans at least a little anxious about paying the bills, and 58 percent worried they won't have enough money for retirement, it's becoming increasingly clear that being financially well is an integral part of overall wellness. Of course, money management isn't one-size-fits-all, so we're talking to people from all walks of life to find out how they achieved a healthy relationship with their finances. We hope it empowers you to live a life Well Spent.
Read MoreI have a sterilized version of this story, where I say I’ve just always been fascinated with psychology and helping. I remember a clear conversation with my dad at about seven or eight years old, where I decided I would be a psychologist (after he killed my dreams of being a singer songwriter, artist, and journalist, respectively *sigh*). This version is not untrue, but like most therapists the full story is that my curiosity about the human condition grew out of personal experience with pain.
Read MoreI didn't realize I had insomnia until I was in college, when a friend told me he'd "woke[n] up in the middle of the night" – and that was his whole story. I remember feeling confused – didn't everyone take hours to fall asleep, then wake up in the middle of the night six, seven, thirteen times like I did?
Read MoreYou know how you always forget you’re so thankful there isn’t a screaming child on your plane, until there’s a screaming child right in front of you on your plane? This happened to me last week.
And, as desperate passengers shook their keys and made faces in a futile attempt to silence the human alarm, and couples everywhere rethought their plans to conceive, it got me thinking:
We need to be more comfortable with people being sad around us.
Read MoreSimon “Thor” Damborg is a former competitive CrossFit athlete, small business consultant, and the owner of Raincity Athletics and the Functional Fitness League in Vancouver, Canada. In this episode, which isn’t your typical TFF conversation, Simon opens up about the challenges of building his businesses, dating in a culture of toxic masculinity, his “privileged guilt,” the pain, isolation and shame of creating a “macho” personal brand, and how to make room for failure as an entrepreneur. LISTEN NOW
Read MoreAmy Briant met her current cofounder, Lisa DeLarco Bonoff, on a flight from Palm Beach to New York City. They bonded over yoga and a mutual thirst for entrepreneurship, ultimately creating LUMION: a skincare line that boasts a proprietary ingredient, hypochlorus acid. A year and a half after launch, I interview them for The Failure Factor in Bonoff's Flatiron apartment – and Briant shares her story of learning the hard way how not to behave in a cofounder partnership. LEARN MORE
Read MoreAs psychotherapist, writer, wellness & executive coach, Megan Bruneau is a leading voice in the health and wellness community. She has pursued her passion to help others to no end, even if it meant taking an unconventional approach. After graduating from a prestigious counseling psychology Masters program, Megan couldn’t seem to land a job and rather than letting her situation get the best of her, she chose to pursue the thing in her life that brought her joy: yoga. In this episode, Megan traces her winding path from a yoga mat cleaner to successful entrepreneur and discusses the importance of therapy and using one’s privilege to help others.
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BELLA Magazine asked me for some tips on dealing with the holiday season. Here’s a screenshot ( although…please ignore the “Eating Healthy During the Holidays” bit and pretend it says “Eating Happily During The Holidays ).
Read Moref you’re ever stressed and need to look at a calm, reassuring instagram feed, take a look at @meganjbruneau. NYC wonder woman Megan Bruneau’s long list of accomplishments include a successful career as a psychotherapist and hosting the podcast “The Failure Factor” (highly recommend giving it a listen). Her feed displays serene scenic views of British Columbia, an ode to her Canadian background, and empowering quotes like, “Feeling abnormal is normal.” Through her extensive work in therapy and lessons from her own experiences struggling with perfectionism disorders, Megan serves as a knowledgeable and experienced voice for wellness and self-compassion.
Read More“You know if your leg is broken,” Bobby Kim assures me with a laugh in the opening moments of our interview for The Failure Factor. He recounts how he recently “hit an edge skate[board]ing in the half bowl” behind his company’s California headquarters.
I cringe – flashing back to my own experiences with broken bones – yet I can’t help but feel slightly heart-warmed the founder is still embodying the culture his streetwear line was built around fourteen years ago. Since then, The Hundreds has become a worldwide brand, worn by celebrities Kanye West and Justin Bieber
“I met someone else.”
I’ve been on the receiving end of this statement so many times, it’s almost comical. I’m at the point where I can predict my reaction with tragic accuracy: It begins with my heart dropping like a plane that’s hit an air pocket. Then I feel like I’m going to throw up for about five minutes — during which I frantically text my group chat, familiar tears welling
Read MoreIn my 20’s, I hoped the proverbial “baby clock” just hadn’t kicked in. I’d always felt ambivalent about having kids, and this awareness was disconcerting for me. Not yearning to one day be a parent as my friends and clients did left me questioning my makeup – and my worth. So I desperately hoped something would shift inside of me. Life is seemingly easier when we want the things we’re “supposed” to.
But said “clock” has yet to turn on, and despite my extensive training in psychology and my non-conformist mindset, I still feel ashamed of my ambivalence at times. Logically I know there’s nothing wrong with me, and voluntary childlessness is on the rise; emotionally, though, I fear others will perceive me as cold, less attractive, or “flawed.”
Read MoreLauren Berlingeri and Katie Kaps have made it their mission to help people “get high” – but it’s not what it sounds. The team birthed HigherDOSE, the company that’s making infrared saunas mainstream (“DOSE” stands for dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins).
In our interview for The Failure Factor, the women explain how they originally intended to install infrared heating systems in yoga studios – without much success: “We started presenting to investors without really having any data to back up how it would work, or any proof that New Yorkers would like that sort of thing.” Kaps explains. “The best advice we got from investors was ‘prove out the concept.'”
Read MoreI had the pleasure of being interviewed by the fabulous Ian Trottier of Wynwood Radio. We talk perfectionism, heartbreak, entrepreneurship, and my hometown of Kamloops ;).
Read More“Everything is great with Josh… except our sex life.” My client Leah explained. “It’s like night and day compared to my last relationship. I actually feel valued and loved for once, but things are so vanilla in the bedroom. Maybe it was because my ex and I were so volatile — and I feel badly saying this — but our sex was sooo much better. I don’t want to hurt Josh’s feelings, plus I’m afraid to tell him about the kinky shit I’m into because I worry it’ll freak him out.”
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