Optimizing Mental Health: Brain Mapping and Neurofeedback with Rachel Lambert

Welcome to the Amberly Lago Show, stories of true grit and grace. Hey there, thank you so much for tuning in to the Amberly Lago Show. Today we are going to talk about how to use your brain to win at life and also why that talk therapy may not be working for you, how to cure stress, anxiety, and also solve ADHD, because today I have an expert, Rachel Lambert. She is the founder and owner of the Brain Code Center, and she's got several locations around here. And I happened to be able to go to the location in Dallas and did what you call brain mapping. And I can't wait to share this. So stick around, you are going to want to know everything she has to share because I was mind blown. I was mind blown. Rachel, thank you for being here. Welcome to the show.

Thank you so much. It's an absolute pleasure.

Oh my goodness. Yeah. So I didn't really know what brain mapping was. And I went going, okay, I'm willing to try anything. Let me try this. And I went to your office and they put a cap on my head and stuck like gel in there. And you sit and watch this screen with different images. And then they— you have a way of like looking and reading your brain. And I was like, okay, that's kind of cool. And I left. And then I get on the phone with you and it was like you were a psychic. You can tell, you were telling me exactly everything like you— and we hadn't talked that much.

No.

So it's not like you really even knew me. And you even said something that I was blown away. You said, well, I don't know what happened to you when you were younger, but you had trauma when you were younger. And you could see it in my brain. So tell us a little bit about what exactly is that? What exactly do you do at Brain Code Center?

Absolutely. I'm so glad that you asked. And I love brain mapping because it's a data-driven approach to mental health, right? Instead of just looking at symptoms, looking at our struggle, and then trying to figure out an opportunity in which to work on that. And so a qEEG is a way of quantitatively understanding how the brain is operating. So we're looking at the wave production of the brain. Right? Very similar to the beat of our heart, our brain produces frequencies that can be read and monitored with little sensors. So, just like you said, a lot of people think it's a little scary, like you're getting gel in the hair and there's electrodes on my scalp. And, it's actually not super scary if you know that it's non-invasive, right?

Oh, I was going to take a nap. It was so relaxing.

Yeah. All we're doing is reading and monitoring the organic production of this wave activity. So, there's never anything inputted into the brain. And then, what's really amazing is there's clinical clinical patterns for really everything mental health diagnosable in the field of mental health, right? Anxiety, ADHD, trauma, irritability, OCD, stress. We can really see these clinical patterns of it after we do the report. So what we get to do is sit with our client and not only validate them, right, but give them hope that, hey, your brain is capable of changing. You don't have to stay stuck like this. But many people say, like, How did you know all that stuff about me? And I always say, listen, your brain is almost like an archive of your history, your traumas, your defense mechanisms, your blind spots. Like, those are going to show up. But the other side of it is your blind— or your, um, your strengths also show up, right? Like, we can tell when people are resilient like yourself. We can tell when people have a significant edge of creativity. And that's the beautiful thing about the brain.

Yeah. How can you tell that someone's resilient? What does that look like in somebody's brain compared to somebody who— I guess what I'm trying to say is like, you know, why is it— I get asked this question a lot. Why is it that some people don't persevere and they give up? And why is it that some people are more resilient? And what does that look like in the brain?

This is very general, but there's this brainwave called beta. And beta is like our intrinsic motivation and drive, right? It's almost like the physiological feeling of being on the highway, right?

Yeah.

I'm getting where I need to go. I'm cruising. I'm being motivated. I'm getting my to-do list done. If you have deficient beta wave production in your brain, it is incredibly hard to feel energetic, to feel good energy, to feel positive affect, right? So, very much so on the brain when people have significantly overproduction of beta, that tends to be my clientele that are more successful, resilient, better able to combat depression, better able to win when struggles are presented for them.

Yeah. I was curious. I don't know if you know anything about this, but it just popped in my head about nootropics. What do you think about those? Because I had A company actually that sent me some and I tried it. Now, it was like, whoa, I'm awake. I'm like, it really like how— I don't know how it works and probably crazy that I trusted this company. I'm like, yeah, let me try it. What do you think about that?

Yes, the supplement industry is huge, right? I mean, it's everywhere. And, I think that there is great benefit to some supplements. I'm a very big proponent though of supplementing with some sort of education on the background, whether that is a hormone panel or some lab results or having more education like, well, what type of magnesium are you ingesting? Because there's tons of different types of magnesium and they each have different benefits. And so, when it comes to nootropics, there are some great nootropics on the market.

And see, I don't even say it right. I'm like, nootropics?

Neuro something, whatever.

Neuro something, yeah. Actually, yeah. This company, I really like their products.

Yeah. And, there's a lot of different research, but I definitely think that when you're ingesting some sort of nootropic that it's helping balance out some certain brainwaves. The only difference is as it's metabolized out of our system, this is why we take supplements every day. So, you don't want to necessarily lean on, oh, I got to take that nootropic or I have to have my 15 cups of coffee in order to get motivated. How do we start to produce more beta activity and change our neurological function organically. So really, we can show up to our best just with our own brain.

Well, I'm going to come into your Dallas center again to start getting treatment. And I was very curious because, you know, you said, why talk therapy? Sometimes I went to therapy for years. I still have a— I mean, I have a therapist. I haven't seen her in a while, but And I'm curious, like, I'm always like flabbergasted when I get triggered and I'm like, dang it, I thought I healed that trauma. I did the work, I read the books, I listened to the podcasts, like I did all my exercises. Why did I get triggered? The only difference is, is now when I get triggered, I'm like, okay, that's what it is. And I have the tools to work through it.

But Why—

I bet you pissed a lot of people off when you said that talk therapy, why it's not working and why what you're doing is working. Did you— did that upset a lot of people?

So I am a licensed professional counselor, so I do believe in the power of traditional talk therapy. I also look at the healing journey as very holistic, right? It's not going to just be the talk therapy or just be the medication or just be the yoga class that you take every day that's going to really allow your brain to heal. I think our society is more accustomed to, okay, I'm struggling with anxiety, I need to go get a therapist, or I'm struggling with anxiety, I have to go get some sort of prescription. And what we want to tell, tell really the world from a mission standpoint is your brain is capable of changing. Like, your brain is such an incredible organ that has the capacity to move and shift and get stronger, just like your body You just have to give it a catalyst in which to do so. And so, we look at what we offer more as a really intentional hardware reset, right? Whereas counseling, supplements, nutrition, diet, those are critical elements, right, as software updates. But you can software update all day long, and if your hardware has some sort of dysfunction, you have to address that to experience healing.

See, and this is why I think you are the world's best at what you do because you explain things in a way that people like me can understand. Like, you know what I mean? You explain things in a way where it's, oh, like, yeah, okay, nutrition's good. Like, that's all software stuff, but it's the hardware. It's the hard drive. So what do you do for somebody like me who tends to go, go, go? And you even said when we did our Zoom, you were like, yeah, you're the type of person, you're like, have a lot on your plate. You're like, I I got this, I got this. And you go, go, go, and then you can crash. And I'm like, yeah, because I just love to go, but then I do too much and I crash. How do you— is there a way to go in and you can reset my brain to focus on not creating balance, but maybe just leveling things out a little bit so I have a little more grace instead of all grit?

Yes. So we look at it more like increasing plasticity and helping create better efficiency in the brain. People like yourselves that are highly motivated, successful, they're wired to experience adrenaline. They want to go. You want to make an impact.

I'm an adrenaline junkie. Like, I love it.

We're not trying to take that away. It's a beautiful quality. It's an even more beautiful quality when you are able to take the off switch when you want to instead of your body handing you the ticket and saying, oop, you've pushed me for too long.

See, that's where it is. And that's what I need to learn. That's what I need to do because I go until my body shuts down. And I was just, we were talking about it before we started the interview where I was like, yeah, I did this speaking event on Saturday and I would, I was pushing so hard to where my body was like shaking.

Yeah.

And so, yeah, I can't wait to go get treatment for that. Now I want to switch this up a little bit because I know that you did a reel. And by the way, y'all have to follow her on social media, Brain Code Center. And then your personal account is you're Rachel Lamb, right?

Rachel. Yep.

Rachel Lamb.

The Rachel Lamb, I think.

Is it? If you just Google her name, you'll be able to find her. But you did a Reels that just kind of went viral, and it also upset some people a little bit about ADHD. And I said, we were talking about it before, and I said, well, actually, that's one of the questions that I have, because at this last speaking event that I did, I was telling everybody about you, and I was telling them about how, you know, the brain mapping and how I went in and wore this cap and how I was excited to have you on the show. And one of the other speakers was like, oh yeah, I did that and it healed my son's ADHD. In school, they wanted me to put him on medication. And she said, I was not going to put him on medication. Instead, she went for treatment. And so I think, you know, a lot of people, I don't know what it is because when I've said different things about CRPS, I've upset some people. And I know that you kind of upset some people with the ADHD.

Mm-hmm.

How does it work when you can go in if you have been diagnosed with ADHD? What kind of treatment is that that you do? What do you, you just reset the hardware?

Yeah, so we talk about we are optimizing human potential, right? I'm not trying to fix you. I'm not trying to necessarily take away, there's beautiful qualities that come from ADHD. Some of the most creative, intuitive, empathetic, thinking outside the box individuals have a scotia of ADHD tendencies or a formal diagnosis. However, if you really get real with people, we're looking at the blind spots. Okay, how do we maximize creativity while potentially mitigating the inability to focus, um, or having high distractibility or feeling like you're trudging through mud to execute on your creativity? That's where we come in. We're not trying to fix the person, we're trying to optimize the person's potential that's sitting across from us. And so I think that's what pissed people off is they're like, Well, don't solve my ADHD, I like it. Ooh, you know, not necessarily trying to change you, just trying to work on the areas of you that you also wanna work on, right? Or what are your goals? So what we specialize in is neurofeedback training. Doesn't matter if you're a kiddo with ADHD, a peak performance person like yourself, have major trauma, neurofeedback is gonna be our therapy modality. But what is very different on the back end is our protocols.

Mm-hmm.

So in a nutshell, neurofeedback is based off of operant conditioning. Some people are familiar with the concept Pavlov's dog or very Pavlovian in nature, right? Learned behaviors. Us as human beings, we are designed and wired to be curious when there's something novel or new in front of us. It's just how we are, right? And so, people tend to overcomplicate neurofeedback. But, if you think about how you learn how to walk, how you learn how to talk, how you learn how to ride a bike, nobody gives you a direction manual in which to do so, right?

Mm-hmm.

You figure it out by making constant autocorrections for a desired outcome, which is the reward, right? You want to learn how to walk without falling. You want to ride a bike successfully. So, that's all we're doing is we're providing real-time feedback to our clients with auditory and visual feedback. Their brain is hooked up to little sensors connected to our software. In our software, we're putting parameters. Okay. So, for you, Amberly is very motivated like she was saying. So, she has an overproduction of some certain brainwaves that also cause high stress and that tendency for burnout.

Anxiety.

Anxiety, right? I'm going to set a threshold and say, hey, you're only going to get rewarded if you hit a little bit below that. And then, right, what's going to happen is your brainwaves are going to pop up on our screen. I'm saying, hey, you're only going to get the auditory and visual feedback if you fall within this. Right when your brain hits it, you get that reward.

Wow.

Now, you're not sitting there like, ooh, I really like that ding. I want more of that. But your brain is actually doing that. It's like, what did I do?

That is wild.

And, it's beautiful because what we start to see is these brainwaves start to regulate and just come in harmony with one another over the course of time. And, that's where people's behaviors change, right? Feeling more focused, slept the best I've slept in years, healing things like bipolar disorder and mood disorders. So, it's amazing what the brain's capable of doing.

It's unbelievable. Well, I think nowadays so many people like to like self-diagnose, and there's all these tests on, you know, the internet that you can take to say, oh, yep, you've definitely got bipolar. Oh, yep, you definitely have a mental health disorder or something. I know that because my teenager has told me. What do you think about that with all this self-diagnosis, like people claiming it, saying I have or I am or I— What do you think about that?

I believe that we should be looking at the organ that we're treating as the expert for the information, right? Um, truly, like, if you look at the brain for the answers instead of just looking at surface symptomology, like, let's get to the root and get to the why of where mental health stuff is coming from. So, those brain maps are actually going to be able to show us what's going on. I bet you 8 out of 10 people that come into our clinic don't have the quantitative baseline in which that they would yield an ADHD diagnosis, but I can see exactly where all of their symptoms are coming from, right? So sure, we're still going to address your goals, right? You want to work on focus, you want to work on distractibility, but it's just a different way in which to get there. So I think having a data-driven approach is absolutely critical.

Mm-hmm.

And, you know, self-diagnosing can be helpful in a way where we're really trying to seek an answer. I think that's where that's coming from is I want to seek an answer. But to your other point, I would caveat that with be careful the way that you talk to yourself.

Mm-hmm.

One of my number one pet peeves, and I'm faulty of this sometimes, is saying my anxiety, my depression. Don't claim that. That is not yours to claim. But what you can say instead are things like, I am experiencing a heavy amount of anxiety today, or I didn't get the best night of sleep last night. Because over the course of time, you can rewire your own narrative, and now all of a sudden, good luck trying to sleep. Good luck trying to not make anxiety part of your world because you've already made it part of your world.

Yeah. And I do my best to— I don't like to say I'm in so much pain. I don't want to reinforce that. I don't say—

My pain.

My pain. I don't say my CRPS flared up or my flare-up. I will say the Or, you know, I just, I don't want to claim it.

Bingo.

I don't want to claim it. But there was something interesting on your Instagram about 17% of children are diagnosed with mental health disorders before the age of 6. So first of all, how are they even diagnosed with before the age of 6? What does that even look like?

You know, as a parent, right, we'll do anything for our kids when we see that they're suffering, right? So I think parents want to find help for their kids, right?

Yeah.

So, if you're getting poor feedback from a teacher or you're really struggling at home and you've tried everything as a parent to try to coach them or help them or change the way that you're parenting them, yet you come up against some sort of issue, that's, I think, where people are starting to say, okay, I got to go get professional help for this. And, what is a doctor's job? A doctor's job is to give some sort of diagnoses or some sort of maybe information. Now, I think that that's changing. I think people are starting to say, like, let's look at diet, let's look at these different strategies. But, there's also still a propensity to say, ADHD, here's a medication. And, we're seeing it across the board. I mean, we have 5, 6-year-olds that have prescriptions already.

Oh, my goodness.

And, it's tough because part of it is, yes, they're kids and yes, you as a parent wants to help them succeed. Is there potentially a different way in which to do that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, actually, when I was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome, the first doctor, I was like, nope, that's not me. Went to another doctor, yeah. I'm like, nope, not me. Third doctor we trusted, it was a family friend, and he came to the house and he's like, yep. And I just burst into tears. And they had me on 11 different prescription medications. And one day I was just like, I'm done. And I got off all of them. Now I still take one and I don't take it like I should. I don't take as much as they want me to take because I guess I'm stubborn. But I always think that you should look at different ways, like you said, diet, moving your body, what you do, you know, your environment, I think makes such a big difference. But anxiety, I, you know, my dad always says, oh, I've had anxiety all my life. I've got anxiety. So I'm very careful to not say I have anxiety, or— but there are times that I can feel my heart just like pounding. And is there anything that you can do? Like, let's say a person can't get in to your center. They want to, they're like, I can't get in just yet. Because you have centers in Dallas, where else?

Denver is our headquarters and then Tulsa, Oklahoma. But we have a worldwide remote program as well. So, we can actually, we have clients in Dubai, a ton of Canadian clients. And so, we actually send them hardware. But yes, if you can't get into a center or can't afford it or something, there's a lot of other things that you can do to utilize tools in your toolbox to help at least mitigate or disrupt those stress signals in the brain. Yeah.

Well, yeah. What are some of the suggestions you have for someone who's feeling anxious?

You know, I think one of the most underrated free tools that we have, right, is this air in our lungs and the ability to have HRV or heart rate variability. And, one of a very simple thing that you can do is just be a master at breathwork. I think breathwork is such a hot topic these days. A lot of people are talking about But it works.

It works.

And it's really about, do you have the discipline to do that? Like, did you take a second when you were starting to notice your heart be elevated or your palms to get sweaty? And did you say, oop, nope, I'm going to do some diaphragmatic breathwork, or I'm going to do some 2 minutes of box breathing?

I do box breathing. I've done that in the car in traffic.

Amen.

Yeah. Powerful. It really is. And then when I was living in LA, a friend of mine has a teepee. And, we went in the teepee and we were doing some really extreme breathwork. And, you could feel the change in you. So, that is such a great tip. That is—

Yeah, I know. It's fantastic. Another tip for people is bilateral stimulation tapping, which we talk often about. But, many people have maybe heard of EMDR. And, if you haven't, it's a therapy modality typically for trauma and triggers and stuff like that, but it's eye movement rapid desensitization. You can kind of do this bilateral stimulation tapping by tapping left, right, left, right on your physiological system. And, what it's doing is it's connecting and making your left and your right brain hemisphere start to talk with one another. So, it's very cerebral where you're able to, okay, calm things down. Now, I can focus. Now, I can execute on a task. So, taking a couple minutes to do some tapping can be extremely beneficial.

That's awesome. And I've also heard just going out for a walk in nature and just your, you know, your feet moving left and right, just getting in nature. That helps me anyway, just getting in nature and also being with the people that I love. You know, that really helps. Well, when we first met, I heard you speak at Renee Rodriguez's event, who we both love.

Yes.

And you were pregnant. And I was like, who is this gorgeous pregnant lady? And now what, your baby's 4 months? But I heard you speak on stage and I was like, oh my gosh, she is amazing because you have an incredible story. And then in the hallway I was like, hi, hi. And I introduced myself and I was like, hey, I got a podcast and I'd really love for you to be on my podcast.

I was like, oh my gosh, I'm honored.

And then so we just connected and now finally we got you I was like, whenever you're in Dallas, please let me know. So I'm glad you're here. And so you have an incredible story. I'd love for people to understand because I'm the kind of person that I— yeah, I like to learn from a doctor, but you are scientifically— you've got— you're the therapist, you've got the background, you've got all the studies, you, you know, you own Brain Code Centers, you have all the knowledge. But you also have the experience, and that's one of the things I really love about you is your reason why you even started into this. Can you share a little bit about that?

Absolutely. Neurofeedback truly did save my life. I really struggled with my mental health growing up, and it got me into some very horrible predicaments. Multiple times went to jail, have a rap sheet. I gave my parents a run for their money growing up. And that's the thing is I did come from a loving two-parent home and my parents were wonderful, but it was just poor decision after impulsive decision over and over and over again. And one time my parents sat me down and they just asked like, Rachel, do you think, do you think before you act? Like, what is going on here? And it really was that exact question that changed the whole trajectory of my life. This began the exploration of what else can we do to help our daughter? Counseling's not moving the needle.

Wow.

I personally didn't want to be on medication and dealing with the side effects for my whole life. And so, they found out about brain mapping and neurofeedback. I went and did a brain map and it was an aha moment because my results—

How many years ago was that? Oh, gosh.

I was 17 and pushing 40.

I didn't even know it was around for that long. It's been around that long?

A lot of people think it's brand new, but no.

I thought it was newer.

No.

I've been in the dark.

Most people have.

But go ahead, I'm sorry, I just had no idea. So you were 17?

Yep. But the results of my brain map showed a pattern of bipolar disorder, right? And for me, it wasn't necessarily hard to hear that. I was like, that makes so much sense, right?

Yeah.

But then I got to go do the neurofeedback, and a handful of sessions later, I did a post-brain map. I don't have one pattern clinically or symptom of bipolar disorder. And so I very much believe, like, like, it's not a life sentence of medication management. Your brain can heal, your brain can change, and we're capable of so much more. And so, it was after that experience, I changed my major. I said, I want to do this. I want other people to know that you can truly change the way your brain operates. And, it's been a wonderful journey. We've helped over 10,000 patients over the years just finding complete freedom.

That is amazing. And, I do believe that your brain Can change. I mean, I feel like I'm living proof of that because after my motorcycle accident, I was never a big partier or drinker, and I started drinking to try to cope with the pain. I just— because I was stuck in a hospital bed, I'd lost my career, lost everything, and I was like, couldn't get out of pain. And so I just like knocked one back, and then before I knew it, one became another and another and another, and I became—

An addict.

an alcoholic. In 2016, I got sober. When you look at somebody's brain, can you tell if somebody has a more addictive personality versus somebody who doesn't?

I was just with my social media team and we were talking about this because—

Really?

The creative director has a really powerful story as well, so he's very curious about addiction. And I actually did brain maps for an addiction facility years ago.

Really?

Probably thousands of addicts coming in for recovery. And I got so kind of nerded out a little bit, but I wouldn't even look at the client's intake to see what drug of choice they were doing. And I would start to very accurately guess cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, painkillers. Really?

How could you tell that?

The brain is ever trying to balance itself. It's trying to find something that it can do to compensate for an area that it is essentially weaker in, right?

I could see that. Like, for me, how you said I'm like highly motivated. And so, I would crave something that would just bring me down a little bit. Is that correct? Or is that—

I look at it more through the lens of brainwaves, which is a whole other thing. Marijuana and alcohol increases alpha wave production in our brain, which allows us to feel present and turned off and engaged. So, oftentimes, we go throw back a drink because we're trying to be present. So, to your point, yes, you're trying to downregulate a stress signal and upregulate a peaceful wave. Directionally, very correct.

What about coke? What does that look like? I've never done that, by the way, just saying.

Cocaine definitely is more of an activator. So, I look at that as if you have some slower wave production activity in your brain, people feel pretty good when you can activate some beta. These are the same individuals that often like the nicotine and the coffee, excess coffee. So, I look at it though Because addiction has such a stigma to it. Really, anything that we all struggle with has a stigma to it. Being curious about why am I doing these things that I'm doing, because it tells a story, right? If you're trying to compensate for something, some people get addicted to exercise. What is it that you're trying to compensate with? Because all it can do is maybe help you investigate yourself to find the true answer.

Yeah. That is just so interesting to me because I remember growing up going, oh, I'm going to be so different. I am not going to be like some people that I know that are, you know, alcoholics or people, some, some even in my family. And then lo and behold, I feel like it was always just right back there waiting for me. And then it, before I knew it, it, it came and got me. So when you have somebody that has this addictive personality, You would just go in and maybe increase their beta or increase their alpha brainwaves to help kind of level them out so they would reduce the craving. Is that how it works?

Yes, we're utilizing neurofeedback. I would say addiction is a slippery slope. If somebody is an active user and they need to have some detox or they need to go to some sort of like inpatient or outpatient facility before, addiction's the one element where I'm like, let's really, let's get things stable before we start doing brain training. But brain training, can very much so be proven to decrease relapse rates, right? So now your brain is not necessarily feeling that same level of cravings or instability because you've gotten to the root of it. So absolutely.

Okay. And I mean, by the grace of God, I'm blessed for this and I have a healthy fear of it. But, you know, I was on so many painkillers and stuff when I was in the hospital and when I got out of the hospital, And that bottle, that pills bottle never called my name, meaning I never wanted it. I never craved it. I quit all 11 medications cold turkey, which my doctor didn't like, by the way. But what is it, something in your brain, why some people get addicted to pills and some people don't?

You know, that begs the question. There's chemical imbalances, there's histories of unprocessed trauma, I, again, go and look at where is this coming from? Like, where typically addiction is rooted in something much deeper, right?

Yeah.

Oftentimes trauma. And so, if you are unable to actually process that, not just with a therapist very cognitively like this, but from a very somatic experiential level, you might experience some hangups. But, it's just a holistic picture, right? So, we're looking at trauma, we're looking at chemical imbalances. We are absolutely looking at brainwave instabilities. And oftentimes, it's, it's a trifecta approach, right? Same thing though with community. There's so many elements to truly experience healing that you have to put in together, and it might not look the same for everybody. This is why I'm a big proponent of individualized medicine and individualized protocol.

Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, I just think it's so interesting why some people like You know, my husband's a total normie. He does not crave alcohol or anything like that. And some people get addicted. So I think it's interesting. And you could— could you help somebody though that has, you know, say that— say they, they want to quit, they're like, don't have to go into a rehab facility or detox. Could you help them maybe stay stable?

If they've already been to rehab or been detoxed and stuff?

Yeah.

Yes, absolutely. So, we've worked with thousands of patients at this addictions facility and this owner of this company wanted to have lower relapse rates because addictions facilities oftentimes they get people sober and then, I mean, relapse rates are off the chart.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So, he wanted to be known as having one of the largest levels of not seeing those patients again in the state of Colorado. And, I believe that he had that.

Oh, that's amazing. That is amazing. What is your favorite thing to work on when you're, you know, you have a new patient that comes in? What is there something that's your favorite or do you like, like it all?

Yeah, that's hard. I love working with my, my peak performers like you, my highly motivated entrepreneurs, people just looking to get 1, 2, 3% better. That is a very fun population. I also love the, the, the 17-year-old struggle, right? I can't tell you how many parents come to us and, well, my, my teenager doesn't want to come to you. And I'm like, let me talk to him. And I talk to him, and it's like you can really tap into that suffering. And nobody likes to feel bad, or nobody likes to feel anxious. And so sometimes it's just really destigmatizing what this therapy modality, modality is. We also work with many first responders, so they're very near and dear to my heart. We have multiple government contracts with police and fire. And, not only do I love to get to serve the people that serve us, but they are by far some of my most favorite clients, getting to help them sleep deeper and not have PTSD and work better so that ultimately they can take better care of the community.

Well, that's amazing because let me tell you, I spoke to the California Firefighters Association. It was like all of the commanders, captains, commanders of California. And I spoke to them and my husband was like, those aren't your people. They wanted me to speak on emotional resilience. And I'm like, those are my people. I was like, firefighters like saved me when I was laying in the road bleeding out. Those are my people. And I was actually going to be a firefighter before I became a fitness trainer. I was like, yeah, I'm going to be a firefighter. Had the paperwork and everything. And then I found out I was pregnant and I was like, I guess I won't be a firefighter. But to go in and talk to them about emotional resilience, it was the first time ever. So I did Q&A after. Imagine a conference room full of like 300 men with mustaches and mullets and tattoos, tough guys sitting like this. And I'm like, okay, it's time for Q&A now. Not one person raised their hand. I'm like, not one? But I learned from that. So the next time I had an event, I was like, the first person that raises their hand gets my book, you know? But it was really hard because they did not want to admit That they had PTSD or stress or weren't sleeping or— how do they come to you? Do they do it? And you know what? This lady at the event said, that was awesome. It was just what we needed to hear. She goes, they might not raise their hand now. They're going to come up to you one by one. And you know what they did?

Mm-hmm.

How do they find you? And how do they find the courage to come to you? Do they come to you on the side?

There was a gentleman that came to see us and he had been police for 20-plus years. And unfortunately, he was in an on-duty shooting that left him paralyzed from the waist down. And obviously—

Did you post that in your— on your personal page?

Maybe.

It's a picture of you and 3, 3 beautiful women and you swipe through and it's a guy in a wheelchair.

Probably Dan Bright. He's, he's literally like an earth angel. He's fantastic. And, he'll always be near and dear to my heart. And so, yeah, he was just looking for other ways to address his mental health because what he used to do was cope via running. Well, running is out when you are now paralyzed, right? So—

That's what drove me down the road of addiction because I couldn't run and that was my drug of choice before.

Yeah. And, I mean, he was suicidal. He was in a dark, dark place. And he found BrainCode Centers, went through the program, and because of his story and his powerful testimony, I mean, this guy literally says, wow, I mean, truly getting to my brain health saved my life. And because of that, he developed a passion to help other first responder communities start more robust wellness programs. And so, we actually now have 7 or 8 county contracts. So, we're working with thousands of responders.

That's amazing.

point, we are still working on an uphill battle of the stigma around first responders and mental health. However, the best thing about first responders is one person starts sleeping and these people have so much trust with one another that they hear it on shift and then 15 people call the next day. And so, it's been a ripple effect of just watching.

Yeah.

You walk into one of our offices, you see people in uniform, people with all suited and booted up. And, it's really cool because now it's changing the entire culture around, hey, just like your body, you can develop strength and endurance and you guys work out all day long, what are you doing for your brain? What are you doing for the neck up? Because at the end of the day, that's right there an organ that needs to be trained.

Yeah. Oh, well, you're amazing. I can't wait to go back to BrainCode Center and put the cap on and all hooked up and get some— my brain fixed.

Not fixed.

Okay, not fixed. Optimized. Optimized.

You already have a beautiful brain, Amberly.

It's very cool. Thank you. Okay, not fixed. Optimized. Optimized. Y'all hear that? Optimized. How can people reach you? The best way to come, because you've got facilities all over, but how— what's the best way for people to find you? And I'll have this in the show notes too. Yeah.

First off, follow us on Instagram @braincodecenters. Whatever you're doing right now, stop and follow us because I love educating people about everything brain health, not just brain mapping, not just neurofeedback, but what can you do to combat depression? What can you do to help with your kids' ADHD symptoms that they're struggling with? So, following us is first and foremost. But, if you are truly wanting to have an initial free consultation, Just filling out an inquiry, giving us a call on our website, braincodecenters.com. And yeah, call us and we're happy to just listen and hear your story and hear how we can help.

Well, thank you so much for being on the show. I just adore you and I'm hoping you'll come back and speak at the Unstoppable Success Summit next year, 2025. And thank you so much for tuning into the show. If you found value in this, please share Share it with a friend, and we'll see you next week.