Testimonials

“Thank you for helping me begin my path of spirituality and healing. Your work is soooo powerful and transformational. I haven’t cried in awhile because I have been so happy but thinking about what you have done for me makes me teary.”

“Dear Brooke, You are making a profound positive impact on my life. I do not know that I have ever really trusted until now. I say that as I realize that I have never openly revealed what I hold within me as I do with you. You have created a safe place for me to do this and I feel strongly that my life is going to open up incredibly in the weeks and months to come. So know that you are making such a huge difference in the world one person at a time. I look forward to soon making this kind of a difference too!”

“Dear Brooke, I now, more so than ever before, recognize you’re true gift in helping and healing. After receiving counseling here, I began to understand not all psychologists work the same. YOU gave me something special I will find no where else. You were able to create an environment that I was able to grow, learn and flourish. I see just how much you allowed me to work with myself. You’re belief that we ourselves have the power is truly revolutionary, that is not what I have seen elsewhere. I am only now coming to see the light of how truly amazing you are. No one has ever given me the support, patience and encouragement I have received from you. Even when the room was silent, love emanated from you. I felt this always. By contrast, with working with someone else, I can see this is your own unique gift. Truthfully, I have so much gratitude and respect for you Brooke. Know from the bottom of my heart, the treasure you have given to me does not exist only from the time we were together, but is growing everyday. Every minute I am healthy to myself, I hold a gratitude to you…It is with your wisdom that I can now seek my own self, my own being. I feel as though I truly am getting to know myself, and it is absolutely fantastic.”

” Dear Brooke, you have been one of the most impact-ful people I have ever met. Not only have you instilled within me a drive to get healthy and be loving to myself and others. But I also realized how powerful you were without saying anything. It is true, you have an essence that emanates from your being – giving support, love and encouragement. You have provided me with a safe ground to come share my feelings and an environment that made me feel more welcome than I had ever felt anywhere else. What I respected most about you Brooke, was your respect for me. I noticed this counselor wanted to persuade me in seeing nutritionists….but I loved that you gave me my time to chose for myself what would be best. You allowed me to find out how to trust myself on my own. This was so powerful. Brooke, you are an extraordinary woman.”

“Dear Brooke, I can not tell you how grateful I am for the opportunity I’ve had to meet you and learn from you. Your intuition and wisdom have helped guide me to find love for myself. Though I realize the journey is no where near over, not will it ever be, I have been inspired by you to know that every step of it will be perfect and is deserving of honesty, love, and most importantly compassion. Your kindness and generosity have greatly nurtured my Spirit and I am forever grateful.”

“I can’t begin to express my gratitude for having the continuous opportunity to learn from you. The second I met you I knew something big would come from it but I had no idea what true Beauty would arise in me from the months and months of working together. What started as interest and a fascination about meditation and your clear ability to connect with yourself and others turned into a deep respect and appreciation of what influence you have had in my life. Not knowing much of anything about USM a year ago and now being blown away by how I perceive myself, others and the world has been magical and such a blessing. I can literally see more clearly and through my struggles, I wouldn’t change a thing because I now have such understanding and acceptance of how everything is a learning opportunity. Thank you for seeing something in me that no one else did and that I’m now beginning to see in myself. How exciting!!!”

“You’ve helped me to recognize the Truth inside myself. I think working with you has literally made my heart bigger. The tools you have gifted me with are so precious. Your generosity has been such a blessing. Thank you.”

“Brooke has changed my life. She gave me exactly what I needed to face the task of healing myself. She gave me a mixture of courage, love, faith and patience. Her deep sense of empathy makes me feel less alone in this scary process. She is a teammate and role model of recovery. I could write a book on the things I have learned from Brooke. To mention a few – I have learned how to love other people for exactly who they are. How to accept parts of myself I am ashamed of. And how to return to a life filled with curiosity and enthusiasm!”

“I have been going to Brooke and her groups for over a year now and am incredibly grateful to have found someone like her. She is an attentive listener, a teacher, and an inspiration to all who come through her doors. Her precise intuitions have given me epiphanies and discoveries that have awakened me to confidently uncloak myself to love and nurture my naked vulnerabilities. Brooke’s groups are a guaranteed time to laugh, make friendships and grow in a safe environment. Brooke is a gifted healer and I can’t wait to see what she helps me to unravel next!”

“Dear Brooke, I cannot thank you enough for your part in my growth and learning and for the support and guidance you have given me. You have inspired and challenged me, lifted and nurtured me, and you have done it with heart, wisdom and with care and patience. I have such gratitude.”

“Brooke’s personal approach to individual and group therapy has allowed me to learn about myself and to be more open to sharing myself with others. Because of her guidance I accept myself more and am better able to face life’s challenges with confidence and the right tools. I am so thankful and appreciative that I have found someone so passionate about life to lead me on my journey.”

“I had such an amazing experience working with Brooke Megdal! Prior to meeting Brooke, I had been working with another therapist for 2 years straight, with minimal results. It was the standard walk in, talk about your week, and walk out. Not with Brooke. Brooke gives you the experience that your greatest expectations hope therapy might be. You really dive deep into yourself as a person, as a spiritual being (not in the religious sense, but in the sense that you have feelings, emotions and a soul), and as an individual who exists in greater society. You see how you relate to the world, your friends, your co-workers, your family, and how that translates to your relationship with food. Another thing that Brooke does in her practice that is rather unique is that she CARES. Hands down, she is there for you and that is very, very evident from the moment you walk in her door, throughout the duration of the appointment and even in between appointments. She is there for her clients, always thinking of ways to help heal them, always making herself available, always going the extra mile, for no reason other than the fact that she has so much in her heart to give. That is something that is extremely rare and a gift that Brooke is always ready and willing to share with her clients.”

“On the positive side, seeing Brooke about my eating disorder didn’t mean sitting there and talking about food and meals for the entire hour. In fact, food wasn’t even discussed that much. Brooke focuses on the macro issues and doesn’t sit there and drill you about what you had for lunch or dinner the previous day. Every time I saw Brooke, I felt like I took a huge leap towards recovery. It’s hard to put into words exactly what she does, but the simplest way that I can put it is to say that she heals you, from within. For me, she calmed the frantic, anxious feelings I had, helped me break free from the compulsions I had towards food and guided me through the journey of recovery.”

“Brooke is herself recovered from an eating disorder, which works wonders for her ability to understand and relate to the things you are telling her. There is nothing that you can tell Brooke that she will judge you about and she doesn’t dismiss any thought or feeling you have (or even anything you’ve done) as being “ridiculous.” You can sit there and tell Brooke you feel fat, even if you’re underweight and she won’t say “well you don’t look fat” and move on, she will make you dig deep to uncover why that feeling is there and after you work through it with her, it’s very difficult to leave with that feeling. She takes the fear out of exploring the reasons why you’re hanging on to your eating disorder and she helps you find things about yourself that are waiting for you on the other side of it that you can look forward to.

Another great thing that Brooke does is remain totally objective in her treatment. Just because one way worked for her in recovering from her eating disorder, absolutely does not mean that she forces that on you or advocates that as the “best” or “only” way to recover, as some recovered therapists do. She lets you take recovery at your own pace and do it your own way. Essentially, I looked at it metaphorically as Brooke and I being in a car together, trying to get to a destination (recovery), I was driving, but she had the map. She let me navigate the various roads and routes as I chose, but if I took a wrong turn or got lost, she was there to help get me back on the road headed towards our destination. She doesn’t MAKE you take the shortest route or the route that she would prefer, she lets you decide, and that is what is so amazing about Brooke, because ultimately you do get there, but in my case, that wouldn’t have been possible without her.

I could really go on and on about what a kind and generous person Brooke is, because really, she is a diamond in the rough. I came to her in desperation and she accepted me for who I was, where I was at in my recovery (or lack thereof) and helped me make sense of it all. It is because of her that I am the happy and healthy woman that I am today and I am forever grateful to her for that. I feel blessed to have met her and was thrilled when she said she was willing to take me on as a client and treat me. I first met Brooke in an Eating Disorder treatment center and after the first time I worked with her, I knew she held the key to my recovery. She is that powerful. Every girl in our group looked forward to our sessions with Brooke and having seen her in both settings (individual and group), I can say she is equally amazing in each.”

“Brooke Megdal has run groups at New Directions Eating Disorder Center for almost two years. The feedback I have received about her from clients has been consistently positive. Clients experience Ms. Megdal as not only very warm and caring but also extremely insightful. Clients report that their work with Ms. Megdal has lead to greater sense of self acceptance, and an increased ability to understand and express emotions. Ms. Megdal teaches clients mindfulness and meditation skills. Clients report that after working with Ms. Megdal they are more accepting of their emotions and more comfortable being present in the moment. Certainly Ms. Megdal has very sharp clinical skills but she also has an innate ability to connect with clients. She is a gifted therapist whom I recommend highly. Brooke Hailey, Ph.D”

“Brooke makes me feel brilliant. Her patience when I talk gives me room to openly explore my ideas. When I talk, her responses are always honest and without judgment. They do not simply put my words into jargon. Instead, she deeply emphasizes with my words. Then she encourages me to listen to my inner counselor, helps me see my shadow or guides me with ideas to understand the topic. What have I learned? I have learned to be loving and compassionate with myself. I have learned to be curious and conscious. I have learned to connect with myself in order to discover my own healing path. I have learned to be accepting of reality – to have an honest view of the world. To accept there is evil in this world. To accept my process. To let go of things holding me back. I’m letting go of my shame for wanting to be taken care of. I have learned to love others for exactly who they are. Most important, Brooke provides a safe place for me to explore my most sensitive and scary issues. Her love fills the room. Her empathy makes me feel less alone when I talk through painful subjects. Her patience and faith in me helps me develop the same trust. Her excitement when I listen to my inner counselor helps me see how exciting it is to connect with myself again and to heal myself. She gives me a loving outlet to say what I used to feel were outrageous thoughts. Having this outlet gives me encouragement every week to learn more. I don’t feel alone in this process. She is my teammate. She is also a role model. A real example of how I can move from the scary place of an eating disorder to the warm place of peace. I am so grateful to work with Brooke. She gives me the courage to continually let go of my old “safety nets” that tied me down emotionally. Thank you.”