THINKWELL

AGEWELL

The Falcone Method: Why Learning and Healing Must Work Together

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (00:01.184)
Welcome to this episode of the Think Well, Age Well podcast. I am your host, Dr. Heather Sandison, and I just can’t tell you how excited I am to have Madeline Falcone here today. She and I have been chatting a little bit before we hit record and I had to stop her. We were both getting so excited and I had to say, wait, wait, wait, we have to record all of this so that our listeners can get the benefit of the conversation that we’re just both elated to be having today.

Today’s conversation is about something that many of us sense intuitively, but don’t always hear named out loud. And this is, we’re connecting the dots between learning and healing. These are not separate processes. They are deeply intertwined. And so today, Madeline is the founder of the Falcone Institute and the creator of the Falcone Method. And these are holistic approaches that bring together emotional growth, education, and whole person healing.

Madeline Falcone (00:56.645)
you

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (00:57.184)
She has been doing this for more than 40 years and her work has been guided by a belief that feels both radical and deeply compassionate. So our differences are not in our deficits. They’re in our opportunities for learning, transformation, and fulfillment. You can see why I’m just so excited to have Madeline here. She began her career as a K1 through 12 special education teacher with children. And she saw firsthand

that real progress required more than just academic accommodations. It’s not just about longer testing times, right? And this insight led her to become a licensed marriage and family therapist and to create a heart-centered practice around serving children, adults, and families in that ecosystem. Many of her patients previously felt unseen, misunderstood, and mislabeled by the traditional systems.

She draws from evidence-based practices, neurocognitive science, and wisdom traditions from around the world. And her approach is unique. At her core, she is a teacher, therapist, and mentor who believes lasting change happens when people feel safe, seen, supported, and empowered to learn to learn. So I just am so tickled and excited and already in love with what you’re doing. Welcome, welcome, welcome, Madeline.

Madeline Falcone (02:17.678)
Thank you so much, Heather. It’s a real honor and a pleasure to be here today. it’s a great journey. It’s a great journey. Yes, absolutely.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (02:26.952)a
So we’re titling today’s talk, When Learning Meets Healing. What does that mean to you and how does it capture the heart of what you do professionally?

Madeline Falcone (02:38.19)
Well, what has happened for me is it started with one child and then it obviously expanded. But I was working in the school system with a child who was in great distress and had many labels and realizing that they’re not doing well in their ability to learn. They didn’t know how to read or they don’t know how to write, they don’t comprehend. And understanding that it was influencing their whole life.

in a way that at the time education or people did not pay attention to emotions. They were separated. And what happened was I began to, yes, work with them, teach them how to read or write, and began to also then provide the vehicle of language to help them understand their emotions. And when we started understanding and I realized that, okay, your emotions are entwined with these other issues. They are not separate.

okay, then we have to go on a journey of understanding what these emotions are and facilitating healing. Not just a learning healing, but an emotional healing that then encompasses your whole person. And when I did that and began to see it was like a carrom effect, a child who never thought they would be able to go to college, though who was innately bright, was able to say, hey, I got accepted and that’s a healing.

and began to understand, I make choices that are part of my, you know, learning processes, but they’re healing me. They’re making me a better person. They’re making me someone who cares about myself and others in a very humane way. And that’s how it started. It really started with one child many, many years ago. And it caused me to change and to go on a journey of also learning how

learning develops my own healing and then they’re interfaced.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (04:39.819)
It sounds like in that particular child, there’s this foundation of self-acceptance and of self-awareness and self-love that creates self-confidence and that that then precipitates this ability to learn. When we talk to people in our coaching program and at the clinic,

When we can get some wins, that we get the dopamine hits of some wins, that can be super helpful. But there’s a lot of layers and complexity to this. And it’s very individual. I guess when you’ve worked in both education and therapy for decades, and what do you see repeatedly that allows people to fall through the cracks? And what are the gaps there that you basically were filling?

Madeline Falcone (05:02.968)
Yes. Yes.

Madeline Falcone (05:10.51)
Yes, yes.

Madeline Falcone (05:29.112)
What happens is that we educators, even therapists, we form a judgment. We make judgments about behaviors, make judgments about attitude, we make judgments about intellectual level and capabilities that are not always valid. We underestimate the individual’s capacity for change, for transformation, and

that becomes a problem in and of itself. I worked at a continuation school for a number of years, and I’ve been in special ed for a number of years. I work now with children, some of whom have big, big emotions, and we don’t believe we lose the aspect of believing in miracles. Miracles happen. You provide for an individual as you’re talking about self-esteem. You’re talking about for individual a sense of hope.

and a sense of belief that they can change, that their past they can look back and say, was that, I am now this person and who I am now is how I’m going to approach the world. That’s where we sometimes lose perspective. I’ve seen miracles, people call it miracles. Seriously, individuals, kids, little ones who could tear up a room, they’re never going to change. And in a year’s time,

you address hardware and software and I got news for you. It’s a completely different individual. All of a sudden they get smarter, they get kinder, they begin to communicate differently. You’re talking about self-esteem, you’re right. You’re talking about self-acceptance. You’re talking about self-awareness. You’re talking about self-compassion. These aren’t just words, they are true essences, true learning skills that a person

can and does use. Even, it doesn’t matter the age. It doesn’t, that’s not it. It’s the ability to gain this skill. I look at his skills.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (07:35.168)
Yeah, there are ways of being that can be cultivated, right? And how wonderful that you’re doing it for children, right? How many times have I come across something where I’m like, everyone should know this before they graduate from high school. We’re teaching it to people in their 70s and 80s. Another piece of this that we talk about a lot is how when we’re in a rest, digest and heal state, when we’ve cultivated that parasympathetic tone, we actually are able to heal and learn better.

Madeline Falcone (07:38.422)
Yes.

Madeline Falcone (07:45.976)
Yeah

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (08:04.161)
And when we’re in a fight, flight, freeze state, we can’t, we don’t have the capacity to learn. We don’t have the capacity to grow. We’re just focused on survival. And so it also sounds like what you’re doing is, is cultivating that. You’re creating a container for learners to get into that rest, digest and heal state, which one of the best quickest way to get there, ways to get there is to feel safe, seen and supported and empowered.

Madeline Falcone (08:31.192)
Yes, yes. we create, I mean, we create here, at least in the office, it’s a, I call it a safety zone. It is a safety zone. And it is a place where any emotion is okay. Now that doesn’t mean they can destroy or anything. But what I mean by that is teaching them to accept the fact

that okay you have a big emotion or you’re not showing any emotion or you don’t have a language to it or your body is going through these movements or these gyrations. It’s not is it right or is it wrong. It’s what does it mean and how can you help yourself through your language and understanding, through methods, whether it’s breathing methods, whether it’s listening to music, whether it’s self-talk, whether it’s movement.

How do you help yourself to understand it, to move through it, and then begin to have that awareness? Once they’re safe, once they’re feeling safe, then they can learn any skill. You’re right, absolutely. And also, when you’re in this fight, flight, this fear state, language is depressed in the brain. Language is depressed.

your IQ score, this goes for all of us. mean, our IQ drops anywhere from 10 to 20 points. And when we’re in that state, we can’t think, we can’t understand, we can’t process, we can’t sequence information. It’s when the nervous system is calmer, we’re able to then say, wait a minute, I have an internal locus of control, and I’m able to understand what’s going on outside of me. So yes, absolutely.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (10:27.213)
I often will hear patients tell me about, I ask everyone, do you have trouble with word finding? And this is when you’re sitting at lunch with your friends and you’re having a conversation and you’re like, wait, wait, what I was talking about, I can see it, I can describe everything about it, but I can’t name the couch or whatever, some simple thing. And often what’ll happen is when they notice they can’t find that word, all of a sudden they become stressed.

Madeline Falcone (10:27.406)
We have to be calm.

Madeline Falcone (10:45.924)
you

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (10:54.465)
and now they can’t find the next word and the next word, and then it’s like a shut, they become shut down. And this, you know, I think in the context of ageism also comes up, I use the example of a physical therapist. So if you go to a physical therapist because you’ve had an injury, you’ve sprained your ankle, say, or you’ve had a fall, the way a physical therapist will treat you and their expectations for your healing,

Madeline Falcone (10:59.96)
Yes.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (11:20.045)
and learning and being able to do the exercises is different if you’re 94 versus you’re 64 or 54. And being aware of that, of the expectations others have of us and how ageism can show up in these relationships, sometimes we can notice that we’re more stressed, right? We’re more stressed if we don’t feel like people believe in us. And so I live like,

Madeline Falcone (11:45.71)
That’s right.

So.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (11:49.454)
You say that differences aren’t deficits, and I feel like that really, really applies here. And so how does this shift the way we support older adults who’ve been labeled as behind or old or challenging or any of those things that kind of come with aging?

Madeline Falcone (12:09.38)
I’m really laughing because obviously I’m an older adult. Okay, you’re just looking at me. You’re a young one compared to me. Okay, and and what you are saying is so true because I never ever I I associate with individuals of all ages. All right. I mean I in my practice I see four-year-olds to adults that are in their you know, 40s or 50s. All right. I Don’t like telling people my age

It’s difficult enough to hear you say, you’ve been doing this for 40 years. Because what they want to do is they want to say, when are you going to retire? When are you going to do this? Yes. OK. And the issue is, hey, I’m never going to retire. I’m always going to be doing my exercise. And I don’t want somebody telling me I can’t do this. maybe I need to go a little slower, but I still am able to do it. The attitude.

is that I really feel strongly I have to model and I have to be that which is the unexpected many times in our own society. So that if I go on a hike and I’m hiking with people that are 10, 20 years, maybe 25 years younger than me, I can’t, I can’t, I don’t want to let them know. You know, I just got premature gray, okay, that’s all it is here. You know, because, because

If you do, then you’re right, people get an attitude. You can’t buy into that kind of energy level. You can’t buy into that resonance. I mean, you know, I have a daughter and I have a granddaughter that’s two years old. You ever been around a two-year-old that’s highly active and wants to run around and wants to be picked up and do this, play soccer, do that? Hey, no. We cannot give into that personally.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (13:38.669)
very.

Madeline Falcone (14:02.668)
And yes, we have to do those exercises, those things, eat the healthy way, take care of ourselves, because we’ve only got one body. And we have to have an attitude that says, all right, you can think what you want to think, but I’m going to think what I want to think. And I am going to continue.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (14:27.691)
Yeah, this mindset, right? I’m in my 40s and I remember when I turned 40, I think there were some people who assumed like, poor you, you’re getting older, blah, And I was like, finally, finally 40. Like, I’ve earned this. And my experience is that life is just getting better. I know myself better. I prioritize, you know, good relationships. I feel like I am…

good at what I do these days. I’m not a brand new baby doctor who is just kind of flailing through entrepreneurship and practicing medicine. There’s so much that comes with aging. There’s so much that gets easier as we age. And so I’m curious sort of what your thoughts are about that.

Madeline Falcone (14:59.95)
That’s right.

Madeline Falcone (15:18.756)
What comes easier? You know, that is a really, really good question because one of the things that has been most important to me is learning about myself and being comfortable with those parts of myself that I’ve always wanted to hide.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (15:21.045)
Yeah.

Madeline Falcone (15:47.165)
not wanting to admit those parts, the shadow. I can be really intense. I can be really loud. I have passion, okay? And that is not going to go away. It’s not going to go away. It’s feeling more comfortable admitting those things, admitting that, yes, there are times when I yell, all right? And is it out of negativity? No, it’s out of love and concern and this and that. My staff can tell you that. But my point is feeling better.

and not always worried about what I’m saying, am I embarrassed about what I’m saying, feeling more comfortable in tolerating and understanding the differences of people’s opinions and attitudes, and the willingness to laugh at myself and to see the joy and the beauty in those areas that I would at one time neglect.

Also, think understanding that I’m always going to be learning something new. So I’m always going to be understanding that I get I’m vulnerable. Because you’re vulnerable when you’re learning something new. You start out and you have to take it in little steps. And being okay with that. And appreciating each step. So when you talk about mindset before, there’s an expansion.

and an appreciation that I didn’t have. I didn’t have time to have it. I didn’t even understand it. And now it’s just different. It’s just a way of acknowledging and accepting. Maybe it’s called bringing more love into me.

And I don’t mean love in this soft mushy kind of stuff. mean love that has boundaries, love that has endurance and discernment and courage. know, I mean, when I think of courage and I talk about this love, I think a lot of Brene Brown works and the magnificence of, and the courage she’s had to bring forth a whole new way of looking at and communicating.

Madeline Falcone (18:15.076)
about ourselves and what happens with the individual and in relationships. that’s what, if you want to call it has been about. I really talk about and I look at things as though I am, you think, I am actually getting younger in lots of ways. I was a very anxious person.

most of my life and then through meditating, the grounding, we talk about grounding in the earth and the hiking or the appreciation of conversation, heartfelt conversations with friends. That anxiety through therapy, learning from a guru, a teacher,

who is spiritual teacher, all of those aspects allow me to be where I am now. And as you say, it’s a good place, not an easy place necessarily, but it’s a good place.

And that’s a long answer to a short question. That was, just gave you, okay, what do you want?

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (19:36.142)
Well, know, part of the reason I wanted to invite you here is because of your wisdom and experience, right? Not in spite of it. It is because of the value that comes with age. And you have these insights because you’ve spent 40 years doing it, because you’ve navigated this. And the insights that you have, I’m sure stumbled upon personally,

impact the Falcone method, right? At its core, it’s different from traditional education and therapeutic models. And I want you to go into that, but I’m sure there’s a very deeply personal reason why, right? It’s not just what you’ve seen with your patients and the people you serve, but with your personal experience.

Madeline Falcone (20:08.27)
Yes.

Madeline Falcone (20:26.18)
You know, yes, I say that short answer yes. you know,

Learning.

Madeline Falcone (20:44.836)
What happened was understanding for me what was the foundational aspect in myself. Because I was always really anxious. I had this pervasive anxiety. yet there was this joy. I grew up in an extended Italian family and it was everything you could possibly imagine. Everything.

In that learning, I mean, I was also a very, believe it or not, very quiet child. And I wanted to understand why am I so anxious, what’s it about, and what does all that mean. So one of the first things that came out that evolved, and this is way back even, like I said early on in teaching and so forth, emotions. And there was a woman by the name of Candice Pert.

who wrote the molecules of emotions. And I remember reading that book and it was like a light bulb went on. It was like, wait a minute. We are foundationally emotional beings and every creature on this earth has emotions. And it was like this, whoa. Now I didn’t understand, I’m not a doctor. didn’t understand that. All I knew is that we had these opiate receptors and emotions were part of it.

And I had a dad that always talked about the mind. He said, if you can control your mind, you can do anything you want to do. OK, now he was this World War II veteran and a very strong-willed and mentally strong man. And as time went on, hearing that, it was like, well, if I have these emotions, I have to use my mind. So mind-body integration came in as part of

of what the foundation was that I felt for myself and also seeing it for kids, alright? In observing, observing behaviors, understanding, taking various courses and so on. And in the process, I always had to come back to myself because, you know, heal or heal thyself, teacher, if you’re going to teach it, you’ve got to learn it and you’ve got to know it. If you’re going to talk the talk, you better be able to walk the walk because those kids

Madeline Falcone (23:11.502)
They will test you and they will ask you and they ask these most amazing poignant questions at times and you can’t lie to them. They, they, they’ve got to be able to massage your language which is the next field of, of we have to use language. I’m communicating you with language, verbal and nonverbal language. And so those areas became really important I thought foundationally as part of what I was looking at and what the development had to be.

Now in order to have language and in order to understand all this, have to be a good critical thinker. You have to be able to, we have to be able to discern and be able to sequence information and to really understand what is being communicated. Alright? And you have to use language. If we’re in a state, as we’ve mentioned before, of conflict, confusion and stress, and

We can’t manipulate language very well. We can’t sequence it. We can’t understand it. And when you look at individuals who have learning issues, language is a big component of part of the reason why they have learning issue. so then what happened is the critical thinking. It’s a skill. You can teach people how to critically think. It’s not magic. There are skills. That’s it.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (24:22.861)
Hmm.

Madeline Falcone (24:35.812)
Because I was working with kids in academics and I had to understand, these areas apply to academics, they apply to content. And content learning is a skill. Test taking is a skill. There’s a number of ways of teaching that and they have many, obviously people all over teaching many of those skills. But there was the other area that struck me and something that came from

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (24:43.117)
Mm-hmm.

Madeline Falcone (25:04.236)
because I’ve always been high energy, always. That the issue of movement, now I look at that as athleticism and I don’t mean that you have to be a professional athlete, movement, you become, that becomes athleticism. Walking up and down the stairs, you’re taking a walk on the beach, you’re doing this, you’re doing that. No, you don’t need to be competitive, but you’re moving your body. The person who does yoga for just fun.

or goes on a bicycle trip, that’s being an athletic, that’s athleticism, that’s movement, because that’s important, because your body has to have endurance, your body has to have that movement to function, you have to have a motivation and a certain amount of internal locus of control. People frequently become very self-competitive and so on. You see it all the time. That to me was really important also in terms of if you’re looking at a holistic profile of learning.

And then for us, because yes, I’m a marriage and family therapist, you have to look at families because the family is where so much of it all begins, not just in society, it’s in the family. And that family may be a very nuclear family or it may be the extended family. So you have to look at it all. So that’s what happened. It was an evolution. It was an amoeba.

allowing that growth and that development so that it encompasses the whole person in a way that made sense not just for us to conceptualize and know where they needed support and so forth, but for them to conceptualize themselves as a learning tool, as an awareness tool for the rest of their life. If I’m going to do something, you do it for their life.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (26:55.565)
One of the ways that you organize this is across these seven core areas of the Falcone Method. And I’m curious how, you know, the NeuroCognitive Program expands and deepens that work, but would you just take us through those seven core areas? I think you’ve mentioned some of them, but I want to just make sure everybody’s tracking with us.

Madeline Falcone (27:00.996)
you

Madeline Falcone (27:13.956)
The seven areas are one, emotional intelligence, two, mind-body integration, language, huge area, verbal and nonverbal language, and we also look at in writing, reading, and comprehension, and mathematical language, because that’s a different language. And then we look at critical thinking. We look at academics or content learning.

we look at that athleticism and we look at family intelligence. So those seven core areas compromise the Falcone method. And it’s like an amoeba, they’re not rigid. Yes, we have skill sets inside and we have programs that are evidence-based, but it’s an amoeba and they change based upon the development of the person. It’s no different than looking.

and patient coming in and saying, you’re here now, all right, this is what I’m giving you now, and then, okay, this is where you need to go. It’s the same thing, yeah.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (28:17.429)
Yeah, yeah, that makes a ton of sense. who typically finds their way to you and who benefits most? Like who’s calling the Falcone Institute to make an appointment?

Madeline Falcone (28:30.884)
People who, and some are adults, they’re not all children. We work with adults who have learning and emotional factors that interrupt learning. And parents with children who are not demonstrating skill acquisition. The skill acquisition can be in their emotional arena, it’s in emotional intelligence.

Skull acquisition can be in the body mind, those individuals that have what we would call, you know, somatic proprioception or interoception challenges. Individuals who are, titles like dyslexia, they have, they’re neurodivergent. Individuals who can have, they’re adopted. We work with a lot of adoption individuals. individuals,

who have, my God, Tourette’s or aspects of a neurological issue. Seizures. yeah, ADHD, they have autism, they may have emotional management, big emotions, and they don’t know how to manage them, or they may be unable to communicate their…

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (29:36.429)
Imagine like ADD.

Madeline Falcone (29:54.831)
whether it’s oral or written communication. basically, a lot of our referrals are word of mouth. We have been able to keep the doors open over the years because of the reputation. We’re boutique. We create an individualized program in all of these seven areas. And then we educate the parents. And we will work with the school’s support.

We’re advocates but not in a huge confrontational way. We like to work with the system as much as possible.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (30:35.809)
What do you find people are most surprised to learn as they go through your process?

Madeline Falcone (30:42.713)
wow, I hadn’t thought about that one.

think they’re surprised to learn that the change is holistic. That their child and they themselves, they are not just changing in one area. Their emotional parenting for parents change. The children who throw tantrums at home, they’re the quiet tantrums, but they’re really disturbing for a family.

those change and they don’t come back and they see a child who is gaining skills and self-awareness. So they’re surprised, think they’re happy, but they’re also surprised because they come in here frequently hopeless. People frequently do not seek our services unless they are desperate because it’s a radical change.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (31:40.161)
Yeah, they tried everything else.

Yeah.

Madeline Falcone (31:44.389)
It’s a radical method in terms of saying, it’s not just the child. We’re going to look at the whole family structure and system and the communication. Yes. Well, yes. And there are times when schools are sometimes limited. They do not have the resources to support

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (31:57.07)
Yeah, the IEP at school hasn’t worked. Yeah, and so they’re looking for alternatives.

Madeline Falcone (32:13.392)
certain individuals. Kids who throw have big emotions, that throw tantrums and they’re very, they can be very frightening. They require some very specific direct intervention and that we do work with, we do work with in terms of addressing and how to calm the nervous system because when I’m looking at mind-body integration, we do have three rooms in the office.

They’re low stimulation rooms and you’re going to see, it’s a massage table in that room. And what we do is we use aromatherapy, we use sound, we use different movements and breathing patterns or mindfulness. We do a lot of metaphors and stories in terms of facilitating a child’s ability.

to have what we call internal locus of control and then we expect that responsibility. will rise to the occasion. parents are surprised, you know, they go, my gosh. And then the parents can come in. use the method, they get the methods also. It’s part of the process. So it’s, and this applies, the methodology applies to all ages. There are adults that come in that

you know, learning how to learn also because they had pretty traumatic, tumultuous childhoods and they come in and they’re surprised. know, six months a year they look back and they go, people are not believing that I’m writing these text messages or these emails because I couldn’t write any of this stuff. I couldn’t do any of this stuff before. that’s the surprise.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (34:08.087)
Can you explain the neurocodex mapping and assessment process, especially comparing it to what standard evaluations often will miss?

Madeline Falcone (34:19.09)
my gosh, okay, this is interesting. I am not a neurologist, so that is, I think I want to at least be able to communicate. How the neurocodex came here is, can I share that story so that people understand? All right, what happened was we had a client who we had been working with and he ended up

getting involved with some heavy-duty drugs and ended up at a rehab.

And while he was at the rehab, they were using the neurocodex because it really facilitates brain healing, especially in dealing with addiction of all sorts and also brain traumas and so on. so what happened is he was going to come here. And all right, they wanted to continue the neurocodex with him here. So that meant…

we who I had been wanting, meditating on wanting, a brain-based, a truly brain-based method. Not something that’s going to help with reading or writing or math or any of that. I wanted brain-based. Now, did I know what I want? Did I know what it meant? No, but I knew that I needed brain-based. So along comes Dr. Kripe with his neurocodex and we met. And Dr. Kripe created this proprietary-based methodology.

and he was fascinated by us because he was fascinated by our seven methods and he calls that the software and I understand that. It’s the software, it’s the tools. The brain is the hardware. His program is a brain-based program and the reason why he created the company NTL which stands for Never Too Late.

Madeline Falcone (36:23.128)
And the reason why he did that is because he has a stepdaughter who was a micro-premie and was given a very poor prognosis and he knew about the brain, knew about this method and said, he’s not going to buy it. And so he created and did a lot of the scientific work with the program and we are here today with all of the upgrades and so forth. And his stepdaughter is functioning way above what was

prognosis and I have clients in my office who are functioning way above what anybody ever thought that they would be doing. So I said okay we’re gonna do this I’m gonna learn this I’m gonna take bring this on and we it’s been here for 12 years and it’s been amazing because it’s not only been with the children we have had in the office adults who wanted to have you know a brain

revitalization. They were older and they’re looking at doing, you know, a brain-based support program. And they had really good results and changes. So the neurocodex, what happens is that’s how it came about and we’ve kept it and it works. So how it dovetails, what it is, is it’s a program that actually

rehabilitates, it revitalizes, and it fosters a development in the brain. It’s like a resurgence is what I’m going to say. It repairs those areas that are not really functioning well together. right? And so you have individuals from all backgrounds, because everybody has a brain, and what happens is the

EEG that we use, it’s called a QEEG, that we use and we administer here is what allows for, because the rate of the EEG allows us to understand the real rate of the brain functioning in real time on real tasks. So the art of this particular program is we use the Woodcock-Johnson 3 that is

Madeline Falcone (38:42.048)
attached to the program so that you’re actually doing the Woodcock Johnson 3 while the person is being tested with the EEG to see how the brain parts are actually working in real time for tasks. So it looks at your default mode network. It looks at your salience network. It looks at the frontal parietal networks. It looks at the working memory network, which is so important. And it works at the singulate

I think it’s called network. These are the main networks in the brain. don’t even know. And all I know is that we get a report that does a whole mapping of all these parts of our brain in real time. We get results as to what’s actually happening. So we’re looking at what parts are working, what parts are not working, what parts are over-functioning, what parts are under-functioning.

And it shows also what we call our health pieces, which this is where the naturopaths come in. Because it shows on the mapping, you read this, and you go, ooh, this is the part, and this looks like it might be a gut issue. Or it might look like, oh, wait a minute, you might have metals in your system. Or wait a minute, you might have food allergies. And then you go to the doctor, and you

you get actually tested for verification. So this program is very comprehensive.

And it is, put on it, you look like you’re an astronaut because you put on a cap, you have a piece in the back, you’ve got headphones and then you have bone conductivity headphones and you have a computer in front of you and you play quote unquote these games. And the remarkable aspect of this particular program is there’s a fading mechanism. And the fading mechanism.

Madeline Falcone (40:49.72)
happens when the brain is over-functioning or when the brain is under-functioning because there is an optimal area for the brain to function. And so if you’re under-functioning, you have to be able to do internal self-regulation to allow for your brain to get back into the zone where the screen again presents the gain.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (41:17.595)
Is it a type of neurofeedback?

Madeline Falcone (41:20.76)
The issue is, it’s not exactly a neurofeedback because it is using a, it’s called a neurocodex process because what it’s doing is it is allowing for the brain to regulate internally.

It’s not just the fading mechanism. There’s a way of having the brain regulate internally that is different than just the neurofeedback. It looks at the different areas of the brain in that real time while you’re playing the games. So it’s not just that you’re getting a neurofeedback from the machine. You have to be able to be demonstrating these games.

while you’re functioning. So it’s not just the fading mechanism. That’s one mechanism. There are other mechanisms while you’re playing the program.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (42:29.045)
You frequently collaborate with other practitioners, including naturopathic doctors like myself. And I’m curious how that integrative approach, that collaboration with other providers changes the outcomes for your clients and how important you feel that is.

Madeline Falcone (42:44.322)
We are learning that.

Madeline Falcone (42:53.486)
We are energetic system, we’re an energetic system. the body takes a certain amount of energy and the brain takes a certain amount of energy. When the brain is not functioning optimally, i.e. you have a health factor that’s involved, then you’re looking at there is really less energy for the body.

So when you want to optimize your brain functioning, we do know that the foods you eat, we do know that if you have contaminants, metals in your system, it depresses brain functioning. We know that if you haven’t resolved your gut issues or if you have a situation

that is an inflammatory aspect. That affects your ability to process information. It affects your brain functioning. So we are very clear with parents in terms of, yes, you need to get the health piece followed through. And what we do frequently is that the program will extend beyond the three times a week to one time a week.

while the individual is going through their health, peace, cleansing, or healing process. So it’s like understanding that we do get the reports, the health reports from the naturopaths. That’s who we usually make referrals to. having a traditional doctor, they don’t even sometimes consider

some of these factors to be important. We are really clear that we look at individuals to start noticing. We work with the children to understand, to notice the differences in their system.

Madeline Falcone (45:09.826)
when they are eating foods that they are healthy or not healthy. Start noticing if you’re feeling sluggish. Start noticing if you’re feeling sleepy or you start getting wired or what’s happening. So that’s part of the educational process because that mind-body is really, really critical and it’s critical for the rest of our lives.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (45:31.275)
Great, yeah, Connecting those dots of how do I feel when my blood sugar is doing this.

do I feel after exercise? How do I sleep? And connecting those dots for someone, I think it’s wild, and especially as kids, right, and young adults, we can just push through a lot of that. But when you really start to connect the dots, I remember when I was in college, I ate all these dates.

you know, thinking that they were healthy, they’re fruit, you know, they’re natural. And I remember feeling this awful feeling of just having my blood sugar probably skyrocket to some crazy high number. And I looked at my friend and I was like, what did I just, I just made myself sick with these dates. And she was just like, nodded, like looked at me and nodded and it was like, welcome, welcome to identifying this connection between what you put in your body and how you feel. It really is.

Madeline Falcone (46:00.527)
Yeah.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (46:23.957)
an eye-opening moment. I love the continuous glucose monitors do such a great job helping us to do exactly that, connect those dots. I’m curious if you wouldn’t mind sharing an example, if there’s a patient that stands out to you, particularly an adult patient, that illustrates what becomes possible when learning and healing are addressed together.

Madeline Falcone (46:46.456)
Well, I have a colleague, her background is an electrical engineer, and she made a decision. She knew about the program, and this is specifically the, I’m talking about the neurocodex program, because she was feeling her brain was age-related sluggishness, as she would call it.

She’s a very bright, talented woman and very self-driven, internally motivated, all right? And it was fascinating to watch her and to see the actual changes. And the changes, I mean, when she was talking about sluggish brain and then after doing the program, how it totally optimized.

her overall functioning. came back and she says, feel like I’m in my 30s now. And I said, whoa. I said, well, you’re in your 50s. said, you were really, I mean, doing really good. I said, you’re in your 30s. She said, yeah. We were talking. And she had to go through the health pieces. I mean, you you have to look at that also. And it’s…

That’s a very important factor, especially when you’re talking about the contaminants of the metals, our earth, water and so forth. And though the body is supposed to flush them naturally to certain extent, there are individuals where it doesn’t flush very well. And so that’s a factor. have to look. So you look at

you know, doing cleanses and so forth. But she was like amazing. mean, and you know, went on to do a number of other, what we would call writing books, several books and doing all different kinds of things. And so it’s very, it was very rewarding. Another, person, older person who was concerned about dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Madeline Falcone (49:09.492)
She, though you can’t prevent it, I’m not going to say the neurocodex prevents it, what it does do is it delays it considerably. That’s the thing that we can say. And so she, many years ago, did the program. And she does look at, as you talk about all those tools in your beautiful book, what is it called, reversing Alzheimer’s.

And those tools are important, alright, but she still is functioning very, very well and is defying many of the initial statements. Okay, so.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (49:50.54)
That’s amazing. Yes, that’s like, in addition to the foundations of diet and exercise and stress management and sleep, having a process like this that’s additive for helping us to learn, be better learners, sounds like it could be really valuable. I’m curious if for parents, maybe grandparents who are listening, educators or other adults who feel discouraged or overwhelmed by their capacity to learn.

What do you want them to know maybe about themselves or about the children in their lives that would help them learn, grow, and heal?

Madeline Falcone (50:26.936)
You know, I think…

Madeline Falcone (50:31.704)
The word that comes to my mind that really, I think, helps us all is to bring in more joy. Bring in joy and bring in your heart. Bring it into your heart. Bring in that state of love. And I don’t mean love as a mushy kind of thing. I mean love where it’s strong and it brings in that passion and it brings in that curiosity.

And to know that alone, those states that we carry make a big difference in how we acquire information. How we are able to allow ourselves that space that’s needed to learn any new skill or to revitalize an old skill that you haven’t done in a long time. It’s like it’s so important.

because that’s, you know, we talk about, watch a little kid, everything is new to a little kid. And, you know, we get in our treadmill and we’re doing the same thing. It’s how do I notice that there is something new about it? You know, a little difference. It’s like adding a different spice to what you’re cooking. And my gosh, it changes the whole flavor of the food. So.

I do think that that is really important. for parents or grandparents that have grandchildren and children that are challenging, changing our heart, changing how we look at it, changing that energetic field. I’m going to show you something. This is a little off the top, but I think it’s on. See this thing? Do see this?

All right? This is what you call an energy stick. And I say we are all connected energetically. So if I had your hand, Heather, and then you put it on this little metal piece, and then we’d be connecting. So this energetic field is around all of us. And those children read our energetic field. So we’re filled with love, and we’re filled with joy. They’re going to resonate more with that, and they’re going to be more receptive and open it to.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (52:56.193)
And I think this has a lot to do with caregiving as well. think for someone caring for someone with dementia, this is a really important thing to keep in mind is how our energetic field, how we come into any situation, any conversation with someone we love really has an impact. We are responsible for the energy we bring to that. Mel, I want to ask you.

Madeline Falcone (52:56.728)
That’s right, learning.

Madeline Falcone (53:01.892)
Madeline Falcone (53:12.11)
Yes, yes.

Madeline Falcone (53:22.564)
You are so absolute. Absolutely.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (53:26.029)
I’m glad you agree. I want to ask you, what brings you joy at this stage in life?

Madeline Falcone (53:34.756)
you know, I am really blessed. I get to do what I love, and I love what I do. I get the privilege of every day being around amazing individuals. And I’m not just saying that. It’s not always easy.

and they’re so unique that they’re all puzzle, you know? And I get to do that. I get to share in their moments of joy and their moments of struggle and the moments when they’re really angry at me, you know, because I’m asking them to do something that they don’t want to do and this isn’t, I don’t know. But I get to share in it because then I get to see.

And because I’ve done this long time, I get to actually see sometimes many years later when they will come and say, I was the worst client. I yelled. I screamed. And now I’m going to go be a special ed teacher. And I want to do this or that. Or, hey, I hated that math. And I hated you taught me how to visualize or how to do this or that. And now I use this. I’m becoming a financial wizard. Or I’m becoming someone who teaches those skills.

to my trainees.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (55:00.353)
It just unlocks transformation.

Madeline Falcone (55:02.82)
Yes, you have to believe that that’s real. You gotta believe that. I mean, and that includes us. I get the luxury, even at this age of the game, to still transform.

It’s amazing.

Dr. Heather Sandison, ND (55:22.175)
It really is. Madeline, thank you for reminding us that learning is not just about information, right? I think we can fall back into those patterns of like, I’m going to read that book or listen to that podcast. I’m going to learn some information, but it’s, there’s more to it than that. It’s about connection and safety and trust and people feeling truly seen and supported so that they can not just learn, but grow through that.

And so you, to our listeners, whether you’re a parent, a grandparent, an educator, a practitioner, or someone, a caregiver navigating your own healing journey as well. This conversation, I think offers a powerful reframe that our differences are not necessarily problems to be fixed, but invitations to understand ourselves more deeply. And this idea that learning and healing, when they come together, something radical shifts and the struggle softens a little bit.

And there’s more space for curiosity and new possibilities can emerge. Not through like this pressure, but through compassion and passion, which I just love that being so much of how you show up, Madeline, because it’s infectious. So thank you. Thank you for infecting me with your passion and compassion and these new insights today. I really appreciated this conversation.

And to all of you listeners, until next time, may you continue to create spaces within yourself and for others where learning feels safe and healing feels possible and growth feels sustainable. It’s such a privilege having you, Madeline.

Madeline Falcone (57:02.2)
Thank you and thank you to all you listeners so much. Take care.