Hi, I'm Carrie, a stroke survivor and BIND member.
And I'm Kezia, a stroke survivor and a member of BIND as well. And today we're going to be having our second episode with Leigh Richardson who is a founder and clinical director of the Brain Performance Center and has studied the hu- the human behavior for over 30 years. Today, we're going to be focusing on her work in the brain injury community. So thank you so much for us, for joining us Leigh. And I'm so excited to have you here again.
Thanks for having me back.
Yeah, absolutely.
Welcome to BINDWAVES, the official podcast of the Brain Injury Network of Dallas. I'm Brian White, BIND's Executive Director. On each episode, we'll be providing insight into the brain injury community. We'll be talking to members and professionals regarding their stories and the important role of BIND's Clubhouse. We work as a team to inspire hope, community, and a sense of purpose to survivors, caregivers, and the public. Thank you for tuning into BINDWAVES. Let's get on with the show.
Um, so we were kind of creepers and trying to look into and see but learn some more about you before we met you to be a little bit ready. And we actually were a little bit wondering about your experience studying organizational and human behavior. Can you explain that to us?
Well, I started out in the human resource world. And that's where I lived for almost 20 years. And I got an MBA. And within that MBA, I brought in some of that organizational change work and really enjoyed that because when the work that I was doing was really in human resources was a lot in the strategic route placement of people in the right job, you know, because I worked for Exxon when they were starting the joint ventures.
And a lot of it was R and D and when you've got a square peg and you're trying to fit it in a round hole, it doesn't fit very well. So I enjoyed that and that's something actually that still, I want to go back to. I'm completing my PhD. I've completed all the coursework and I'm in the middle of writing my dissertation. And I want to bring in that aspect of human behavior. And brain behavior because mental health is brain health and the brain is an organ just like the heart is
oh, okay. No. That's true. And that kinda brings us around to the brain performance center. So tell us a little bit. For in our first episode, we learned a little bit why, but. Tell us a little bit more, you know, How you, why you founded the Brain performance Center and how long it's been around.
So the brain Performance That's a mouthful. The Brain Performance Center started in 2009. And it really has evolved. It started out under a medical model. And it has evolved more into a behavioral health model. And that part of that is that. I operate that business under the license of, of a professional counselor. And that's really more where my expertise is, and I enjoy that because it doesn't matter to me. E everybody comes at at life. We all have problems.
And whether it's anxiety, depression, there's four things that puts a brain in a dysregulated state. One is genetics. Second is physical head trauma, which is the avenue that I know very well. The third is emotional trauma and the fourth is stress. And I think one thing that I've learned in the last three years is we've all been introduced to stress on a whole new level. We had to, couldn't go to school, couldn't go to work. Couldn't go to church, couldn't go to the gym.
We were socially isolated and that really had a big impact on our mental, on our psychological wellbeing. And it's interesting to me because when you look at, I want to help people, I want to help people on an individual level. But the reason I've got went back for the PhD is I want to help people on a, on a different level, on an organizational level, because so many times the client will say, you know, If I don't get my stuff together. And if I don't get where I'm there. Quit being abstinent.
I know I'm going to get fired. And it's just, it's just the anxiety about getting there. That's holding it back, but they don't want to talk about it. Because they don't want to talk about mental health. I'm not mentally retarded. It's not mental health. It's brain health. And I took every single one of our listeners. I want to ask you a question. If you thought there was something wrong with your heart. What would she do?
You'd find a cardiologist and you'd be in that office as quick as you could. You get up in the morning and you don't really feel like getting up. You've got that negative talk going there and your brain. And what do you do? Oh, you probably tell yourself power through it. Suck it up buttercup. And those are negative conversations and those aren't the conversations you should be having with yourself.
Right. Yeah, that's so true. Um, and right now that you've been talking about the Brain Performance Center. Like. Well, you've talked about right now, it's like a lot of different tools to use and what people should be doing. Like more positivity. Um, but can you give us a little explanation about what the center offers and can anyone do that or do you have to have like a brain injury or, you know,
oh no. Anybody can. And a lot of people. Want to just take, I wrote a book, "Turn Your Brain on to Get your Game on". Because that's where it all starts is in your brain. The first thing that we do, whether you come in for peak performance or to increase your executive functioning, Or anxiety, depression, whatever it is, we'll do an assessment and we'll look at the brain two ways. One we'll look at the neuroplasticity in the brain. Neuro-plasticity is so brain's ability to change.
Sometimes at brain gets stuck. And the same things. Mentioned earlier that put the brain in a dysregulated state. We'll get that brain suck. So we use Lynn's low energy neurofeedback and we'll do a brain map and we'll see can that brain absorb up the really low level of energy that's going in. And the good news is, is if it can't, you can train the brain. To be able to do that. Then we'll do a Q E E G we'll stick a cap on your head and that cap's got built-in sensors.
And we'll record 20 minutes worth of data. 10 minutes, eyes open and 10 minutes eyes closed. From that, the gold standard is to get one good minute of each. And it can be harder than you think, because if you blink a lot or if you have jaw tension, You can see all of that in the brain waves. So once we get, we do that, I'll take that data and I'll go through it and I'll identify the good, the good minute.
And we compare that to a normative database and it'll show you where your brain is, dysregulated, where it has too much of something where it doesn't have enough. We look at the power in the brain. We look at the one to 30 Hertz, and that's what you use in your normal daily life. The people with a too much slow wave. Particularly, if you have it frontal, you may have a hard time paying attention.
15 years ago, if you would've said ADHD to me, and I knew what it was by then, I would've said, oh, too much slow way frontal, but we've learned so much more about the brain. We don't just look at the power. We look at the coherence. And that's how the brain shares information. Sometimes it shares too much. Sometimes then share enough. Doesn't matter. It's just dysregulated. The same with the phase, the timing. Sometimes it's too fast. Sometimes it's too slow. Doesn't matter.
It's just dysregulation and you can train all of those aspects of the brain. So once we have the data analyzed, we use it to identify what networks and hubs in the brain are. The most dysregulated. There's an anxiety network. There's a default mode, which is connection to self there's, an executive function network, which relates to depression. There's. So when you think about your brain, think about a computer. It is. Okay. And here's a, here's a true fact. That's amazing.
Every second, your brain is capable of taking in 11 million bits of data. Oh, wow. Research shows that somewhere between 40 and 126. You can hold that on a conscious level. And your mind, the rest goes to your subconscious. Personally, I think it's 40. I don't think it's 126, but it doesn't matter. We don't have to do the math. It all goes to your subconscious. And the cool thing about neurofeedback is it can touch the subconscious.
What do you call that brain down the subconscious calms down and can start to let go of things. They don't matter quite so much that ruminating thought that you've had planned in your head every day for the last year stops talking.
And that I read a lot about that and you just said it again. So that gave me my key to, can I ask her so. Neuro feedback. I'm trying, I'm trying to see if I understand that correctly you can't. Is that the, when you're talking about the 10 minutes eyes up the EKG, that isn't where you're going to neurofeedback.
Well, that is the basis for neurofeedback. With, when you do whole brain training, you put that cap back on your head. And we train for 20 minutes. We do four or five minute rounds. But you're looking at a screen and it doesn't matter what's on the screen. You know, little kids love you too. Adults before more like Netflix or Amazon, but whatever you're watching on that screen.
When your brain is changing the way it's wiring and firing to hit the thresholds that we set, the picture stays really bright and colorful.
Okay. So it's kind of like saying making sure the neurons are making sense.
It's making sure the neurons and dendrites change the way their wiring and firing. Okay. Oh, yeah. And it's created when you take medication. You can change the amount of like beta that you have in your head. You can do it organically by training the brain. That's like how they taught Pavlov's dog. It's the same thing except on steroids. But the brain knows it's getting the feedback that it's doing the right thing, because the picture staying bright.
Oh, wow. Interesting. And I know that right now, you're talking about like the work that you do at your, um, At your center, but we also invited you to our podcast because we also heard that you have a podcast or a radio station. Can you tell us a little about that and what has inspired you to work on and also sharing information to others.
So I do "In Your Head with Leigh Richardson". Every thursday. And I record it at, in a studio and then it's played back afterwards. And it's just been a really fun way for me to meet a lot of people and to get the word out about the brain. I, you know, one of my favorite shows was a financial person that talked about finances. And we talked about the relationship that you have with your money, and you do have a relationship with your money. Some people want to hang on to it.
Some people want to spend it way before they ever get it. So I enjoy talking everything. That's an everyday life and connecting it to the brain.
Yeah. So, um, you have a podcast as well. Um, we also heard it's a radio.
Well, it's, it's the same thing. Oh, it's and you can listen to it wherever you listen to any of your podcasts. It's just done at a rad- it's recorded at a radio station.
Oh, cool. Well, we'll also remind our listeners that you will be having all the resources on the description of our episode with Leigh. So you'll make sure to have that. And I also want to remind all of our listeners that you'll be able to hear bindwaves wave on Thursday on Thursdays as well. On all your favorite platforms.
So, um, that's interesting that in her mind, all the different things, talking about brain and I mean, Kind of what we're trying to, we're just trying to educate the world out there more about. Brain awareness, because as you said earlier, it's not just about brain injury awareness. I mean, it's brain awareness because anxiety, mental health, all of that, you know, we just focus more on the brain injury sign because that's where our lives have taken us.
Well and a lot of people, once they've experienced that brain injury, they experienced the other side. Because it's so frustrating that you can't do what you used to do and it's it's so, it's a downer. And it's depressing and getting your head in the right spot is really important. And I encourage people. If it bothers you talk about it, see a counselor. There's. Contact BIND. They, I'm sure they have resources that you can talk to. Talk to a pastor.
Don't try to get your partner or your parents or a family member to fix it for yah. Let them stay in their lane. Let them have the role that they have in your life.
Sure. Sure. Now, can I go back to the brain performance center? So we talked about the resources, how you start to figure out kind of maybe where the neuron feedback and uh, neurofeedback isn't working. Are there services that the brain center. Brain Performance Center actually offers to help whatever that area may be. And kind of what are those services?
Absolutely. Typically, we'll start with bio residency therapy and that's a biofeedback. And that focuses on the inter cellular communication between the brain and the body. The body keeps score of everything going on in the brain and the brain controls everything you do. But the autonomic nervous system controls the body. And when the autonomic nervous system gets out of balance and it doesn't take much, that window of tolerance is pretty small. Then you go to that fight flight or freeze state.
So the bio residency therapy is really good at calming the autonomic nervous system down and the brain down. And then we'll do the lens neurofeedback to create the neuro-plasticity. We also do neuromodulation once we know what your brain needs, we can send that to the brain, whether it's through post electromagnetic frequencies or alternating current or direct current. And the brain loves it. The brain psych. Yeah. Yeah. I want that. I want that. And the brain is called entrainment.
The brain will try to mimic it and learn how to create it on its own. And then we'll, we'll do the whole brain training, which is that we call neurofeedback. We'll also do we offer some coaching and some counseling along with it? Because once you get that subconscious calm down, then you're really ready to process it on a conscious level.
And do these tools work with brain injury survivors too, because I mean, where basically what we're told is you have to go to therapy, you have to go to this therapy and this therapy and this therapy, and we discuss neuro-plasticity all day long. I know more about neuro-plasticity than the normal person should know. And that, I mean, it's an amazing, the brain is amazing, but. So additionally tools you can teach us that maybe, you know, we've gone through all of them.
Speech and cognitive theory therapy. And it's a couple of years down the road and we need to jumpstart our brain. Or maybe we feel like we're lacking. As you said in the earlier episode, you thought maybe it was just cause you were getting older, but really, it was something in the brain that needed a little kickstart..
It does. And the brain, you make a good point because your brain is not fully developed until you're in your mid to late twenties. The thirties are rocking the forties, you plateau the fifties. Maybe you have some cognitive impairment to sixties. It turns into cognitive decline, the seventies, it goes on and on and on, and it doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter. W what your life experience is, you can improve the way that your brain is working.
You can teach the brain how to work in a regulated state.
Oh, okay. And I think that was actually one of my questions. Um, I think like Carrie was saying right now, like here, obviously for bindwaves and the BIND clubhouse. We really focus on. Brain injury. And we have, most of our experiences are going to the hospital and going through recovery and all of that. Um, how, like with the work that you do, when is it that. We can. Partake in that, like, is it after the hospital time or like when would be a better time to be doing something as.
Like all the services that you offer.
I think that the right time to do it is when you feel like, okay, I've plateaued. I've made all the improvement, you know, that I can make with, with doing what I've been doing.
Traditional therapy.
What else is there? Cause there's a lot, there's a lot more out there. And I encourage people. Don't take the attitude. Why just got to learn to live with it. I just got to accept it. Yeah. And if you want to do that, you certainly can, but you don't have to, you do not have to, when you feel like you're ready. There's gotta be another step that I want to take. That is when the brain performance center can really be beneficial.
Yeah. I th I think that's what we're looking at. Cause I mean, I didn't think, you know, I thought I was ready to start day one. You know, when I, well, first of all, I didn't think I had anything wrong with me, but that's a whole nother story, but.
Yeah. And you make a good point there because acceptance is a big part of healing and recovery. And you've got to be willing to accept. What, where things are, right. That doesn't mean they have to stay there. But you got to start with acceptance.
Yes, I definitely agree. I have one more question, actually. How did you hear about BIND? I know that you were just talking about it, but how did you hear about us?
Well, I believe it was through a client. The, actually it was Sue Sally, the lady that works with me when her son was in his recovery, she had had come out and worked a little bit with BIND. And it's something that brain injury is touched me on a personal basis. And it's just something that I, cause I know, I know that the work that we do can help people that have had a brain injury. But they don't know it. And unless you get out there and get connected. Nobody will know it. Right.
So that's kind of what just saying, Hey guys, don't give up. No, that. You know, know that you can take it to the next level, whatever that level is.
Yes. I know. One other thing I wanted to ask you about. So you've also written a book. Tell us a little bit about your book. And is it just one book or do you have multiple?
It's one one book. And it's "Turn Your Brain on to Get Your Game On". And I wrote that because the very first thing I do when people come to the brain performance center is I do a consultation. And I would be listening to him when I'd say, well, gosh, Sounds like there's some depression. Oh no, no, no, no. And automatically the eyes go to the floor. Or I would say, you know, I think you may have a little anxiety. Oh no, no, no, no, no. I'm not anxious.
And they're their shoulders become their earrings. And I realized that people don't want to admit that they have these things because they think it's wrong. Right. And it, you know, I'll tell everybody it's okay to not be okay. You, but don't stay in that, not okay. Spot. And that's really why I wrote the book as a general education. To inspire people to challenge and motivate people. To know that there are things that they can do to help themselves.
I love it. I love the title of it. That was really good. That's really good. Um, so I honestly, this has been really great episodes. I think the first book to learn about you personally, and all of the work that you do now here in this episodes. That's awesome. I think you've shared so much great information and resources. So thank you so much for that.
You're welcome.
And thanks so much. I think I'm going to suggest a new book to the book club. Yes,
and I would be happy to donate 20 books to the book club.
It never hurts to ask.
Well, thank you so much for coming in.
Thank you again, and we'd like to thank our listeners for taking the time to listen to us. And we hope that you have learned as much as we have had on this episode. And if you want to contact us. You can contest contact us at bindwaves@thebind.org or visit us on our website at thebind.org bindwaves. And you can also find us on Instagram at guess what @bindwaves.
And don't forget to like, share and subscribe on your favorite platform. And also don't forget that we're also on YouTube and you can continue listening to us every Thursday on there as well.
So until next time
until next time.