Jennifer Tierney of Parker Neurofeedback On 5 Ways That Businesses Can Help Promote The Mental Wellness Of Their Employees
An Interview With Luke Kervin
It is essential to check in with your team and also encourage your team to check in on each other. That is how you build a community. As a leader, a colleague may not feel comfortable coming to you right away but may feel comfortable speaking with another employee about their struggles. Having empathy and asking people how you can support them rather than waiting for people to come to you, is a very important step to ending the stigma. We need to reach out and make sure people are okay — whether they’re in need or not. However you divide your organization, it’s important to create the feeling of community as a group. Sense of community leads to less health problems in general, especially mental health.
As a part of my series about the “5 Ways That Businesses Can Help Promote The Mental Wellness Of Their Employees” I had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Tierney.
Jennifer Tierney is the owner and founder of Parker Neurofeedback, LLC which provides NeurOptimal Dynamical Neurofeedback sessions to clients of all ages and needs, including businesses, in order to improve brain function and overall well-being. In addition, after having worked in operational management for 15+ years Jennifer is now COO at Full Velocity Consulting, a Denver-based consulting firm providing fractional C-suite services. A strong advocate for mental health, Jen teaches several business classes at Red Rocks Community College where she incorporates the importance of mental health into how to run a successful business.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
After almost 15 years in the corporate environment, in 2018, I was diagnosed with PTSD which required me to take time off from work to seek treatment and improve my mental and physical health. I had been experiencing debilitating anxiety and panic attacks for months, along with suicidal idealogy, before I was connected with my current therapist that specializes in trauma. My therapist introduced me to NeurOptimal Neurofeedback as part of my overall treatment plan. As my brain gained clarity through my use of NeurOptimal, while I was driving down the street one day, I decided to start a neurofeedback practice of my own to help others. I knew it helped to save my life, I knew how to start and run a business and I knew I had to bring this type of support to those suffering from mental health challenges as well as just the struggles we all face. Thus, Parker Neurofeedback was born.
What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?
Not only in my industry, but in any industry, it is essential for people to set boundaries for themselves and not bend on them for any reason. Setting boundaries allows people to make mental health, physical health and relationship health a priority. In addition, to avoid burnout, it is so important to take time for yourself and actually use your vacation days and not work during them. It is important to not get too wrapped up in the day to day of work without feeling like you can’t leave or step away when needed.
What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?
I would advise other leaders to first and foremost practice empathy and understanding for other people in their work environment that might be suffering through something. It is easy to think “that person’s just gone all the time” and instead we should try to understand and be empathetic as to why. The majority of us will all experience some sort of mental health struggles or have a family member that does in our lifetime. Also, creating an environment where people are comfortable to speak to you as a leader and get rid of the stigma about mental health conditions is important for creating a fantastic work environment. The goal is always to create a space where people feel comfortable and support each other.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
My favorite quote is from a speech that Jim Valvano gave where he said, “To me, there are three things we should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is to laugh. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special. “
This quote is very special to me. I have this hanging on my wall and put it up when I was going through my mental health crisis back in 2018. This was me every day — I felt every emotion possible during any given day. I know he gave this speech as it relates to cancer, but I pulled my own strength and meaning from his speech/quote during a time when I really needed it.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. As you know, the collective mental health of our country is facing extreme pressure. In recent years many companies have begun offering mental health programs for their employees. For the sake of inspiring others, we would love to hear about five steps or initiatives that companies have taken to help improve or optimize their employees’ mental wellness. Can you please share a story or example for each?
These ideas are wonderful, but sadly they are not yet commonplace. What strategies would you suggest to raise awareness about the importance of supporting the mental wellness of employees?
The number one strategy I would suggest is to simply just talk more about mental health in the workplace and get rid of the idea that it is a taboo subject. As a leader in a corporation, if you’re instilling a wellness program of any kind, go into it with 100% integrity and intention. Staff will know if you’re not truly a believer of the program. Discussing mental health and how you are feeling during one-on-one meetings or even smaller group meetings, if the employees are comfortable, is a great way to show that you are open to any discussion around mental health.
From your experience or research, what are different steps that each of us as individuals, as a community and as a society, can take to effectively offer support to those around us who are feeling stressed, depressed, anxious or having other mental health issues ? Can you explain?
It is essential to check in with your team and also encourage your team to check in on each other. That is how you build a community. As a leader, a colleague may not feel comfortable coming to you right away but may feel comfortable speaking with another employee about their struggles. Having empathy and asking people how you can support them rather than waiting for people to come to you, is a very important step to ending the stigma. We need to reach out and make sure people are okay — whether they’re in need or not. However you divide your organization, it’s important to create the feeling of community as a group. Sense of community leads to less health problems in general, especially mental health.
This might seem intuitive to you, but it will be helpful to spell it out. Can you help articulate a few ways how workplaces will benefit when they pay attention to an employee’s mental health?
There’s two ways to look at how a company can benefit from this. From a leadership perspective, you’re going to get better performance, more accuracy, productivity and a higher performing individual therefore a higher performing team. All of this leads to the overall success of the organization. Focusing on your employees mental health can create employee loyalty in a climate where employee retention has gotten harder.
From a team member standpoint, the benefit is more about what it does for them personally. Paying attention to mental health creates happier staff members, team members who are appreciative, less stress and better sleep. All of this leads to having a great company culture along with the increase in productivity.
Do you use any meditation, breathing or mind-calming practices that promote your mental wellbeing? We’d love to hear about all of them. How have they impacted your own life?
I personally use several different techniques to improve my well-being, with the primary one being NeurOptimal Neurofeedback. As the owner of my own practice, I often give myself regular sessions in order to keep my mind from feeling dysregulated. I can tell when my sleep gets bad or I start to feel anxious/stressed from work and life. When I feel this way, I like to do sessions at the end of my work day in a relaxed setting where I can read a book and just relax.
Other techniques I incorporate into my routine are meditation and pilates. I love starting my day out with pilates where I get to breathe, relax and clear my mind first thing in the morning. It also allows me to be in a strong community with people who give me energy. Again, community is a huge part of mental health.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
The movement that would bring the most good is ending the negative stigma around mental health. Simply being an advocate for mental health and not being afraid to speak up about my own experiences but also to provide support and affirmation for others dealing with the same struggles. Having the courage to say “this is a real thing and it needs to be taken seriously” is a huge step in getting rid of the negative words associated with mental health. I will continue to bring Neurofeedback to the masses through individual sessions, corporate wellness, expanding office locations, donating sessions to high risk kids and more in order to work towards ending the stigma.
What is the best way our readers can further follow your work online?
- Check out www.neurofeedback-parker.com and follow us on social media!
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParkerNeurofeedback
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkerneurofeedback1/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/parker-neurofeedback/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
