✎ Written by: Dubravka Rebic
Heather Newton is a certified neurofeedback specialist, Amen Clinic certified brain health coach, a trauma sensitive certified HeartMath practitioner, and former CEO at NAMI Rochester, a nonprofit organization that supports individuals who struggle with mental health.
But Newton is also a mom of three, and that's exactly where her neurofeedback story began.
After her son was diagnosed with ADHD, she and her husband searched for ways to help him manage the symptoms. When a friend suggested brain mapping and brain training, it was an eye-opening and validating experience for her, sparking her passion for neurofeedback.
Since then, Heather Newton and her husband have been successfully running Loop Brain Health, a clinic offering personalized at-home neurofeedback with Myndlift to people who struggle with mental health and those who want to optimize their cognitive performance.
In a short time, they helped many people, revealing neurofeedback's potential for scalability. But how do you run a successful clinic, and what are the most valuable tips Newton wishes she had known when she started? Here's what she shared with us:
Tip # 1: “Don’t be afraid to lean into what you already know.”
According to Newton, deciding to specialize in a certain mental health concern or a variety of concerns can be extremely helpful.
“In my work, I have leaned into places that I know I can really add value and expertise, which isn’t to say that I don’t serve a broad base of clients, I certainly do, but narrowing your focus can be really helpful,” notes Newton.
Apart from leaning into your strengths, it’s also important to be able to estimate if you can help your client, and if not, to stay within the scope of your practice and suggest that they work with other mental health professionals.
“If someone is coming to me, and it’s really clear to me that neurofeedback could be helpful for them in a couple of months, but not just now, I’m not afraid to say that to the clients. Again, right from the beginning, I make it really clear where I can help them and where maybe another professional is more helpful to start.”
Tip # 2: “Connect with like-minded professionals.”
There are many ways to market your practice, but Newton found that the most effective method for reaching appropriate clients is to network with like-minded professionals and offer joint service promotion.
“When we first started, we sought out a group of practitioners. We largely fall under the same umbrella of brain health, but we all have our specific niche, and because of that I feel comfortable knowing that if I’m not the best first stop to help a client, I can send this person to someone who’s working across the hall from me, and I also know that when referrals are coming to me from that group of people, they are a good fit.”
Apart from being a part of a professional community, Newton also notes how it’s helpful to seek out presentation opportunities in your niche so that you can bring neurofeedback closer to the relevant audience.
She had also tried offering discounted brain mapping to potential clients and found that it could be a helpful strategy.
“That’s an effective way for someone to really understand what the brain map is and what the neurofeedback process is. In my personal experience, what I have seen is that if I offer someone the opportunity to come in for a map, and they get back to me to book that map in a week or so, that means that that person probably is very interested and wants to follow up.”
Tip # 3: “Think of the brain map and neurofeedback as two separate services.”
Once clients reach out, Newton sets up a free 20-minute consultation to understand their needs, see if they’re the right fit, and schedule a discounted brain mapping session. According to her, this step is crucial because it helps clients understand neurofeedback and its benefits in a way that’s not overwhelming.
“What I say to them is that what I’m looking for in a brain map is where has their brain activity shifted into a faster gear, where are things functioning optimally and where does their brain activity not giving them enough power to be able to get done what they need to get done during the day. And then, how it all connects to their symptomatology.”
Newton also states that coming to that initial brain map is very validating for most people and very reassuring to understand where their brain is letting them down. From that point, it's easier to explain what neurofeedback is, how it can help them, and get them excited about the training.
“When I’m explaining neurofeedback to people, I tell them that I set up customized live light and sound protocols from my end that they’re doing daily to train their brain out of non-optimal patterns and toward more optimal patterns. And then I stop and let them ask questions.”
According to Newton, following this flow resulted in a very high conversion rate, meaning that the vast majority of people who come for a brain map end up doing neurofeedback.
Tip # 4: “Invest in a powerful and affordable at-home neurofeedback solution."
One of Newton’s business goals was to make neurofeedback as accessible as possible. When they first started as a company, they used software that didn’t really help them scale their practice.
“The software was expensive, and remote capability wasn’t even anywhere near as high-functioning and accessible as Myndlift. So, what happened when we joined Myndlift is that we lowered our prices which was really advantageous for us because our costs went down pretty drastically.”
Thanks to Myndlift, Loop Brain Health was able to make neurofeedback more accessable and affordable, which increased the number of clients they were able to assist. But they also gained access to a sophisticated clinical dashboard that allows seamless protocol management and training customization, ensuring that each client's needs are met.
Along with the use of EEG, advanced brain maps, Continuous Performance Tests (CPT), symptom tracking, and journaling features, they are now able to monitor and demonstrate progress, as well as provide clear, data-driven insights into the effectiveness of the training.
Tip # 5: “Market what you can do for people rather than how you do it.”
As the most helpful first step in marketing your services, Newton highlights the importance of perfecting your elevator pitch:
"What I found helpful is not to lead with what the brain map is and definitely not what neurofeedback is because it can be quite overwhelming, but to lead with what I help people with. So I can help you with sleep, I can help you with focus and clarity, and then they would start asking me questions, and I would answer from there."
Apart from being able to introduce neurofeedback seamlessly in person, Newton also notes that what worked for Loop Brain Health is having a very clean, simple website with links to research.
And to help keep her client base on a growth path, she also found asking for Google reviews helpful, as well as seeking speaking opportunities in her community, which are often free.
"I think two things can be accomplished there. One is that people do actually listen to those things no matter how small the reach is, but the second thing is that it allows you to stop for a minute and think about, for example, how to perfect your elevator pitch, or talk about your business in a way that's very helpful to communicate to other people, that in itself is a great exercise."
By focusing on serving clients with empathy and compassion while providing cutting-edge solutions such as Myndlift, Loop Brain Health has improved many lives not only in its community but worldwide.
They were on a mission to make people's brain health their top priority every day, and they succeeded faster than they could imagine, sparking hope and inspiration for mental health professionals everywhere!
Myndlift offers data-driven care and better client outcomes through neurofeedback. Schedule a demo today and join 1000+ providers already seeing the difference!
About the author:
Dubravka Rebic puts a lot of time and energy into researching and writing in order to help create awareness and positive change in the mental health space. From poring over scientific studies to reading entire books in order to write a single content piece, she puts in the hard work to ensure her content is of the highest quality and provides maximum value.