Meagan Hruska, MS, LMHC

12/30/2025

I think this is so well said ❤️✨

12/27/2025

Given that the holidays can sometimes feel so fast, jam packed and rushed, we can often find ourselves going from one thing to the next. Our barn crew is here to remind you that it’s okay to slow down and take some time to be! We want to remind you that presence and slowing down is also a beautiful gift to give and recieve, whether it’s with our families, kids, friends, animals or ourselves 😉✨

Most of our team was able to come together yesterday and just slow down. We were able to lean into being present with each other and our horses. No agenda, no rushing. Just slowing down, taking in the fresh air, being outside in nature, and spending time with one another away from technology.

We did some grounding into our own bodies too, and one of our therapists led us in some “volcano” breathing (thanks, Amber!). It helped us release some of the tension and stress of the holidays we all have experienced in some way. I have attached a link at the bottom demonstrating what this looks like.

We all hope you continue to enjoy the holidays in whatever this looks like for you! We also hope you give yourself permission to take some time to slow down and breathe when you need it too💚

https://www.usd207.org/apps/video/watch.jsp?v=387461

12/26/2025

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from our place to yours!! ✨💚🎄💫

11/27/2025

Per Dr. van der Kolk, one of the leading experts in trauma, “Study after study shows that having a good support network constitutes the single most powerful protection against becoming traumatized…. traumatized human beings recover in context of relationships.”

And I might add, in the context of healthy relationships- “any” relationship doesn’t help us recover. It’s the corrective relationships, the people that are willing to see us, hold space, show up presently, and let our authentic selves be known and accepted.

I recognize how hard it is to find these corrective experiences and community. A good therapist can be a first good step (or a horse! Which is why I love being able to be apart of Dusty Boots Barn Equine Services, where horses and humans create healthy partnerships together!). And so can support groups that good therapists put together to bring people together. Shout out to all the amazing therapists I know creating these spaces 🙌🏼🙌🏼

I hope that we all keep striving to create more opportunities for community and relationships in our daily lives! It’s powerful medicine 💚

11/26/2025

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, not only does gratitude and blessings come to mind, but also connection, gathering, community and shared experiences.

Our community and who we surround ourself with has such a pivotal impact on our well-being. Sometimes this is family, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it’s friends, or support groups or colleagues. Sometimes it’s our animals. And for a lot of us, sometimes we might be missing this piece in our lives.

I hope to continue to build a community and space for those who are looking for connections and relationships. I want to continue to create opportunities for others to have a safe space for experiencing support, belonging and community. A place where each of us can be seen and held by others for who we authentically are. 💚 I’m still in the process of cultiving this vision!

This is one of the reasons I am hosting this free event for men. I am posting the flyer below for anyone interested! I have the majority of spots filled but have a couple open yet.

For those interested in signing up for the last couple spots, or anyone who has questions, please contact me at the phone or email listed on the flyer.

11/22/2025

“Watch Parker bring some fun and play into the pasture! We even did a little running with him 😅 if you watch until the end, you can see his full out run. It felt like such freedom being in that space with Parker, where he chose to fully express this side of himself ✨

Being able to share this moment with Parker might encourage us to all reflect and look at what it might look like for each of us when let ourselves run free in our full expression 🥰”

11/20/2025

Love this 🙌🏼🙌🏼 how you speak and engage with your own body is so important.

11/12/2025

Free event for men! See details below:

The men I’m currently working with in therapy have inspired me to host a free event: How to be present and hold space.

My intention in hosting this event is to help men further rise into their own power. I also hope it begins to shift the narrative around what mental health services and therapy can be for men.

Being present and holding space is a common theme that has come up with the men I’m working with. They keep hearing that this is needed from them, but most admit they don’t know what it means.

Honestly, as much as we are using these words and phrases, especially with men, I don’t think a lot of us truly know what it means to hold space or be present in our lives or with others. It’s not just men, it’s a whole lot of us.

This is a skill and way of being that is hard to explain with words. I’ve learned it’s best to model and demonstrate space holding and presence first. Then, the men I’m working with know what it feels like before they learn to do it. Most of us have not had someone truly be present or hold space for us, so it makes sense why it feels so “vague.”

This event will provide an opportunity to experience presence and space holding. There will be some twists to this event that will also add a challenge! It will require some elements of learning this in challenging conditions: the dark, cold and being out in nature with no cell phones or technology.

The additional challenge will be spending times in our pastures with 1200lb. horses. Horses are master teachers in holding space and being present, so they will be part of this event. You do not have to have any horse experience.

There will be no outside distractions. It will be powerful and hands on. It is something to be EXPERIENCED.

It will also be an opportunity to connect with and be around other men brave enough to open themselves up to cultivating more presence in their lives, families and communities.

This event is NOT a therapy session but we will have other therapists present at this event so that after, we can answer any questions around what therapy ACTUALLY is and assist with any curiosities around mental health services in general.

I’ll be releasing more details on it soon, but tentative date is Saturday, December 6th from 4-7pm. It will be open to any man 18+. Limited spots will be available.

If interested, wish to attend or have questions, you can message me on here or email me at meaganhruskacounselingservices@hushmail.com

11/05/2025

We recently lost our horse, Jesse, whom we all loved so deeply. Those of us lucky to know Jesse knew what a gentle, loving soul he was. As I’m continuing to sit with my heart wide open in grief, I can’t help but be grateful to Jesse for all he has taught me, our herd, our barncrew and clients in both his life and death. I let every tear fall in honor of him because I know the heartbreak we all feel is just reflective of the love we have for him. He deserves to be felt for.

I wish everyone could understand the gifts Jesse brought to all who knew him. One of the greatest gifts was how so many people felt so deeply seen and loved in Jesse’s presence. Jesse really saw you with his deep brown, kind and gentle eyes. He could see your soul and let you know that you were worthy of love for the simple fact of existing. Per one of my clients: “It’s the first time I felt in my body that I am enough just because I am here. That it’s safe to be me and that I can truly be loved for me.”

I know there’s also deep medicine in grief. We’ve all had to hold space for ourselves, our team, the horses and clients in goodbyes and sadness. It’s been beautiful in how we’ve all had to learn how to lean in to the heartbreak and loss fully without numbing or checking out. Our clients have had to learn to be present even more deeply in their experience with life and death. They have even chosen to hold space for Jesse as he prepared for his departure and our herd in their grief. How powerful it has been to have witnessed this.

One of the most beautiful goodbyes I witnessed was a young teenage girl who sat with Jesse, and as she did so, her dad went over and sat with her, fully present and holding space for her goodbye. I still keep thinking about the deep medicine of that moment.

I think Jesse knew what he was doing by choosing us as his herd in the final couple years of his life. I know he left feeling loved and seen by us too, barncrew and clients both. And what a beautiful way to end life- giving and receiving love; showing others what true reciprocal partnership looks and feels like in both life and death.

I know Jesse will always remain connected to us all in our hearts, and I’m grateful we will always be able to meet him there.

There’s so much more to share on all the deep lessons I’m learning about grief through this experience and how it has expanded me, our herd and clients in ways I never expected. But for now, my heart and words quiet so my grief can continue to be felt and fully integrated.

Thank you, Jesse, for being part of my therapy team, but most importantly, for being my friend and teacher ❤️

10/10/2025

It’s world mental health day! 🌎💚🌺🦋

No matter where you are at in your journey, take a moment to honor yourself today. Mental wellness is a practice, and although we bring awareness to it today, it is worth bringing small acts of honoring yourself each and every day!

Choosing something small to bring mental wellness into your daily life, unique to you and your needs, is a radical act. Whether that’s a deep breath, a kind statement to yourself, time out in nature or something more, a daily small commitment to yourself cultivates mental wellness in powerful ways long-term. Mental wellness habits don’t have to be big. Sometimes the most powerful practices take less than a few seconds 😉.

10/07/2025

09/30/2025

I would encourage everyone to try a gratitude practice of some sort! It’s a great practice for couples, family and friends to participate in together too.

Ever “herd” of a gratitude journal (yes, pun intended 😉)?

Gratitude practices can be such a great option to improve our physical and mental health. Dedication to writing about the things you are grateful for has so many benefits, including reduced stress, increased feel good emotions, enhanced self-esteem, better decision making, creativity, nervous system regulation, improved immune functioning and better sleep, just to name a few.

With a gratitude journal or practice, we take the time to write out daily what we are grateful for. The more depth, the better! But it can also be just a short list. The more consistent you are, the more you also rewire your brain to look for the abundance in life and move from a “lack mentality” (I.,e. “ I don’t have…”) to a wholesome, abundant mentality. Shifting what we focus on boosts mood and has the ability to bring more vibrancy into our lives.

I also like to think of any consistent practice as building self-trust and as a commitment to ourselves. This is powerful. If we want others to be consistent and show up for us, we must also cultivate practices where we too show up for us. It is an action that cultivates our own worthiness, that we are “worth” the time.

I (Meagan) personally have a gratitude journal that I write in every (or almost every night) before I go to bed. It helps me reflect on my day and go to bed with a full heart.

Give it a try! And see what happens in your daily life the more you spend time focusing on what you do have vs. what’s missing 😊