Practitioner Spotlight: Melinda North, LPC

Bridging Education and Neurofeedback

After 30 years as a special education and deaf education teacher, Melinda North, LPC, discovered something that transformed her understanding of how to help struggling children: neurofeedback. “I did good things, I’m proud of what I did,” she reflects on her teaching career, “but I always felt like ‘there’s more!'”

That “more” became clear following a personal trauma in 2015 that sent North on a journey into trauma research, exploring the work of Stephen Porges, Bessel van der Kolk, and Sebern Fisher. As she learned about neurofeedback, she became increasingly convinced that she had been “putting bandaids on kids all these years.” With encouragement from her son, she pursued training with the Othmers, later earning her counseling degree and license.

Building a Personalized Practice with Sadar

Linda’s practice exemplifies what we aim to foster at Sadar Psychological: supporting practitioners in creating their own unique approaches to neurofeedback. Through her training with Sadar, Linda learned frequency band training and qEEG & ERP data collection and analysis, skills that have become cornerstones of her evolving methodology. She also makes use of Sadar’s normed survey analysis service, which helps neurofeedback practitioners identify potential strengths and weaknesses in the brain.

Linda primarily uses Infra-Low Frequency (ILF) neurofeedback, which she finds particularly effective for trauma. However, her willingness to adapt—a quality Sadar encourages in all practitioners—led Linda to pursue high-frequency training after encountering clients who didn’t respond to ILF alone.

“I had one boy I was putting to sleep and he was getting more depressed with the ILF,” she recalls. “When I moved him over to high frequency—BOOM!—he woke up.” Now she often starts clients with ADHD presentations on high-frequency protocols, demonstrating her flexible, client-centered approach.

Linda’s commitment to continuous learning is evident in her recent enrollment in Sadar’s brand new Heart Rate Variability Training: Foundations and Practice course. She’s also pursuing BCIA certification with mentor Jay Gattis and recently began offering online neurofeedback through Divergence Neuro, constantly expanding her toolkit to better serve her clients.

Expanding Access

Linda’s vision extends far beyond her office walls. As a board member at a local charter school, she’s planning to bring neurofeedback directly to students, potentially using a mobile trailer—reminiscent of her days traveling to schools with audiologists during her deaf education career. She hopes to dedicate one day per week to school-based services starting next year.

Her commitment to accessibility continues to grow. Linda is currently considering adding a retreat-like property where clients can come and stay for intensive short-term neurofeedback sessions. She’s also expanding her practice to include another location in a nearby community once her COA certification is accepted for state-funded insurance providers, making neurofeedback more accessible to those who need it most.

The Heart of the Work

What drives Linda is the profound impact neurofeedback can have. She compares it to audiology in deaf education: “It gets to the heart of the problem and gives the most impact in terms of helping a person be ready to learn.”

Linda approaches her work with remarkable humility, describing herself as someone who learns from interaction rather than pure scientific study. “I’m just honored and grateful and humbled to be in the presence of these amazing thinkers,” she says of her mentors and teachers.

Growing Through Neurofeedback

The effectiveness of neurofeedback has been the driving force behind North’s practice growth. What began as a solo practice has expanded significantly, allowing her to bring other practitioners under her wing. Now she’s training these clinicians, paying forward the comprehensive education she received and continuing to embody Sadar Psychological’s mission of empowering practitioners to develop their own informed, effective approaches to neurofeedback.