Resilient Butterfly

Sometimes the people who help us heal become part of our story forever.

When stage three colorectal cancer returned as stage four with liver metastasis, Pam Feinberg-Rivkin found herself facing a very different journey than the one she had traveled before. Looking for support beyond treatment alone, she connected with Dr. Jen Green, a naturopathic physician and integrative oncology expert whose guidance would become an important part of her path through chemotherapy, recovery, and remission. What unfolds is a thoughtful conversation about what it really means to care for the whole person during cancer treatment.

As Jen shares her approach to integrative cancer care, the conversation moves beyond supplements and research into the deeply human side of healing. They explore survivorship, purpose, stress, sleep, movement, meditation, healthy relationships, and the importance of creating a life that supports long-term wellness. Pam reflects on the lessons that emerged from her own cancer journey, including learning how to receive help, embrace community, and step away from the relentless pace that once defined her life.

Jen also shares her experience as a cancer survivor, the role of resilience in difficult seasons, and the unexpected ways connection, gratitude, dance, mindfulness, and presence can help carry us through uncertainty. Healing is rarely about one thing alone, but about finding the courage to belong fully to your life again.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

What does it look like to build a full, meaningful life when no one handed you a blueprint for it?

Dr. Sonya Friedman grew up in Brooklyn with little money and a father who wasn't present, and she turned every open door into something remarkable. She talked her way into a newspaper column she'd never written before, brought psychology into mainstream media decades before it was welcome there, worked alongside Barbara Walters, became one of the first anchors at CNN, and wrote books about women's self-worth that were ahead of their time. All of it, she says, came down to one word: yes.

The conversation with Pam moves through a lot of territory, from Sonya's early books on women's independence and relationship patterns to a jaw-dropping story about filming a Ku Klux Klan meeting in Kentucky as an ABC correspondent. What runs through all of it is a woman who never let her origin story become her ending. She talks about the moment her thinking shifted from "what was wrong with me" to "what was wrong with him," and how that single reframe changed everything.

Now approaching 90, Sonya is still seeing clients, still swimming and doing Pilates, and still thinking about what women over 50 need most from each other. Her life is a quiet argument against the idea that where you start determines where you land.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Dr. Steven Klein came to addiction medicine through an unusual convergence of paths. A physician and scientist triple board certified in addiction medicine, pediatrics, and medical genetics, he also carries lived experience in recovery that shapes everything about how he shows up for his patients. He speaks openly about his own relationship with substances, with food, and with the kind of internal noise that most people in active addiction know intimately. That noise, what he describes as a hierarchy of craving that drowns out everything else, is at the center of his clinical work.

Much of that work now centers on GLP-1 receptor agonists, medications most people associate with weight loss, that are showing remarkable promise in quieting the craving signal in people struggling with alcohol, opioids, and other substances. Steven describes it not as a cure but as a way to lift the needle off the record long enough to learn a new song. Recovery still has to be built. But these medications may be buying patients something that's always been in short supply, time. Pam and Steven also explore the genetics and epigenetics of addiction risk, why relapse is better understood as a neurobiologic stage than a moral failure, and what it means to finally have a tool that could shift care from reactive to preventative.

There is something quietly revolutionary happening at the intersection of science and compassion, and this conversation sits right in the middle of it.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

What does it look like when someone spends decades performing function while quietly falling apart on the inside?

Brad Walsh grew up in a small Illinois town where drinking was woven into every family occasion, and by sixth grade he was already the ringleader with a box of liquor and a habit of filling bottles back up with water. What followed was decades of being the life of every party and the loneliest person in the room. Ski weekends, bartending shifts, a short marriage, OWIs, a boot camp in Montana, a stint at ASU, and a seizure in the middle of a trade show floor in Chicago. Through all of it, Brad held onto one identity above everything else: functional alcoholic. He could do the work, ace the class, show up. He just couldn't slow down long enough to ask himself why he was running so fast.

The intervention that eventually changed things didn't feel like a turning point. It felt like a trap. Brad walked into what he thought was a workday and found his parents, his sisters, a close friend, and a stranger all waiting for him around a conference table. He was furious. He left. He came back a week later, not because he was ready, but because the one thing he couldn't afford to lose was his job. What Pam and her team had set in motion became the thread he followed, even when he didn't believe in it yet.

Five years of weekly family coaching calls, treatment at Hazelden's Center City campus, a daily checklist that starts with prayer and ends with Spanish study, and a retreat in Costa Rica that turned into a permanent life. Brad is now engaged, expecting his first child, and living somewhere quieter and truer than he ever imagined reaching.

Some people have to go through all of it before they can finally stop running from themselves.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

What does it take to face stage four cancer twice and come out the other side not just surviving, but fully alive?

Pam Feinberg-Rivkin was re-diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2020, this time with a spot on her liver, and just a year after losing a brother to cancer. She had already done the chemotherapy, the radiation, the surgery. But she knew something else was needed, something the oncology appointments couldn't offer. That search led her to Dianne Porchia, a spiritual therapist and holistic practitioner who Pam found through the documentary Heal while sitting alone on the Fourth of July, terrified and looking for a way through.

Dianne's path into this work is its own story worth hearing. A divorce, a massage session that opened an unexpected floodgate of emotion, a master's degree in spiritual psychology, and years of working with law students, cancer patients, and anyone carrying wounds they hadn't yet found words for. Her approach moves beyond the thinking mind into what she calls the deeper levels of the heart, the soul, and the subconscious, where the inner saboteur lives and where real shifts begin. She speaks honestly about trauma, the inner child, and why so many people with serious illness share a pattern of giving endlessly to others while quietly neglecting themselves.

Five and a half years later, Pam is cancer-free. She travels, she volunteers with her therapy dog at a cancer center, she created this podcast. Dianne now tends a regenerative eco-farm in Oregon and continues seeing clients from around the world. Their conversation is a quiet testament to what becomes possible when Western medicine and inner healing work are allowed to exist side by side. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is admit that treatment alone was never going to be enough.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

In this episode of Resilient Butterfly, Pam Feinberg speaks with Dave Aronberg about the “Florida Shuffle”—a term used to describe fraudulent and predatory practices within the addiction treatment industry. This conversation explores addiction treatment fraud, regulatory oversight, and the urgent need for accountability to protect individuals and families seeking recovery.

The episode honors the legacy of Jamie Daniels, a young man who died from an overdose at the age of 23 while receiving treatment for a substance use disorder (SUD). In response to this tragedy, his parents established the Jamie Daniels Foundation to advocate for ethical reform and provide hope and support to families navigating addiction and recovery.

Together, Pam and Dave examine the intersection of law, public policy, and behavioral healthcare. They discuss how trusted provider networks, care coordination, and treatment navigation help ensure safe, ethical, and effective pathways to recovery. This discussion also highlights the importance of due diligence when selecting treatment providers and the role of cross-sector collaboration in improving outcomes.

Presented by Feinberg Consulting, a leader in complex care coordination, behavioral health consulting, and treatment placement guidance since 1996. Learn more at FeinbergCare.com

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

What happens when the thing that once felt like relief slowly becomes the thing that takes everything from you?

Brad Lamm shares the long arc of his story, from growing up in a Quaker household in Oregon to discovering alcohol at 15 and feeling, for the first time, a kind of emotional numbness that felt like safety. What started as a powerful escape eventually cost him relationships, trust, and a career he loved as a morning television weatherman. After years of drinking, meth use, and trying to manage it on his own, a conversation with a trusted friend pierced the secrecy and led him toward treatment.

He speaks honestly about how hard early recovery was, the anger, the vulnerability, and the unexpected grace of people who stood beside him. Brad and Pam reflect on the many paths to healing, why there is no single right way to recover, the role of trauma, family involvement, and even the importance of avoidance when something continues to wound you.

From founding Breathe Life Healing Center to training families in compassionate, invitational interventions, Brad’s life has become rooted in service. His story is a reminder that recovery is rarely easy, often messy, and deeply human. And sometimes, the most meaningful work grows out of the places that once broke us.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Some stories stay with you long after you hear them. This is one of those conversations. Pam sits with Jenni Frumer and Holocaust survivor Rose Rosenkrantz, whose life began in a Siberian labor camp during World War II. What unfolds is not just history, but a deeply human story of survival, loss, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going.

Rose shares how her parents endured unimaginable conditions, how she was born against all odds, and what it meant to rebuild a life after everything familiar was gone. There’s a tenderness in the way she recalls her childhood, the small moments that carried meaning, and the lasting impact of trauma that doesn’t simply disappear with time.

As the conversation continues, it gently shifts into something just as important—what we do with these stories now. Through reflection, dialogue, and the willingness to listen, there’s an invitation to carry these voices forward. Not with fear or anger, but with awareness, compassion, and a sense of responsibility to speak when it matters.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

What does survival really look like when the world you knew is gone?

Pam Feinberg-Rivkin sits with Dr. Jenny Frumer and Carol Weinstein to honor the life of Carol’s father, Joe Rubenfeld, who survived eight concentration camps, including Auschwitz, after being separated from his family at just 11 years old. Carol shares the pieces of her father’s story that he was able to tell, the mysterious words he repeated every day to stay alive, and the unexpected reunion that eventually brought him to family in New York.

The conversation moves gently through the realities that followed liberation. Nightmares that echoed for decades. A return to Auschwitz later in life that finally quieted those dreams. A man who carried survivor’s guilt yet chose to live with generosity, faith, and forgiveness. From becoming the beloved candy man at temple to teaching his children to always say thank you, Joe’s resilience shaped generations.

Dr. Jenny Frumer reflects on intergenerational trauma, the strength of second and third generation families, and the mission of the Holocaust Learning Experience to bring stories of courage and moral clarity into classrooms across the country. Together, the conversation honors both vulnerability and resilience, and the responsibility we carry to remember, to teach, and to keep these stories alive.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Trauma does not always come from one clear moment. Sometimes it lives in layers, in patterns that repeat, in reactions that feel bigger than the present moment. Host Pam Feinberg-Rivkin sits down with therapist Brian Gong to talk through what EMDR really is, how it works beyond talk therapy, and why insight alone is not always enough to create change.

Brian shares what drew him into therapy, how he found EMDR, and what he has seen over more than a decade of working with both big T and little t trauma. They explore how memories get stuck in the nervous system, why people can feel triggered without knowing exactly why, and how EMDR helps process experiences in a way that feels deeper and more complete.

The conversation also touches on EMDR intensives, virtual versus in person work, trauma in addiction recovery, and Brian’s experience providing EMDR support after the Parkland school shooting. Throughout, the focus stays human and grounded, honoring the messy and often uncomfortable process of healing while holding space for hope, relief, and real change.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059 

Looking for a practical takeaway from this conversation?
Download our complimentary companion resource, Looking Beyond the Behavior, designed to help parents and caregivers shift from asking "What's wrong with my child?" to "What might my child be communicating?" The guide explores how looking at children's emotional, behavioral, and physical health through a holistic lens can open the door to greater understanding, connection, and support.

Contact Pam Feinberg-Rivkin:
Facebook: @FeinbergCare
Instagram: @FeinbergCare
LinkedIn: Feinberg Consulting Inc
YouTube: @FeinbergConsulting8059