From the Depths of Addiction to Helping Others Recover

September is National Recovery Month, and here at Feinberg Consulting, we want to honor our employees who are in recovery by sharing a few of their personal stories of hope and healing. Part of what makes our team of professionals so unique is their personal experience or connection with recovery, whether it be from mental health issues, process addictions, or chemical dependency. This allows them to connect with our clients in a deeper way, and also helps their family members or other team members who do not have personal experience with addiction understand the disease from a different perspective. Personal experience, combined with clinical knowledge, is just part of what makes our team so great.

Steve Feldman

1.) What is your current role with Feinberg Consulting?I am the Chief Operating Officer of Feinberg Consulting. I have been trained as an Interventionist and Recovery Coach. I work to help an individual or family get in touch with good reasons to recover (their big "why"). I work with families to connect them to services and providers that are helpful in supporting all aspects of life and recovery, as well as providing education and accountability.2.) What is one of the most valuable things you have learned or experienced being in recovery?That meaningful and profound change is possible through being open to new experiences and by holding myself accountable.3.) What is it about helping others to recover that you enjoy the most?I enjoy the moment when someone shifts from denial to acceptance, and they experience life in a way they thought they never would again.4.) What has been your most memorable experience working in the field of addiction?It is really two-fold. I love working with the people in my company who have so much to offer and the other experienced professionals to learn from them. I also love guiding a family through the process of an intervention. When we facilitate an intervention, we often walk into what feels like a hopeless situation. The preparation can take days, during which we work closely with the family to create alignment, establish bottom lines, and develop an appropriate treatment plan. The most rewarding part is when all of the preparation is complete and we invite the person of concern to accept treatment and they do so.

Tori Hodge

1.) What is your current role with Feinberg Consulting?I am a Recovery Coach and Family Coach. Through my role with Feinberg, I am able to support and coach families and individuals through the healing process so they can have the life they deserve full of peace, love, connection, and forgiveness!2.) What is one of the most valuable things you have learned or experienced being in recovery? The most valuable thing I learned in recovery is that it works best with a team of people who give lots of love and acceptance and provide the space for the person recovering, to be honest, willing, and openminded.3.) What is it about helping others to recover that you enjoy the most?I love creating powerful connections with people and helping them to find their inner beauty. Watching people blossom with their newly discovered strengths and helping them to see that anything is possible in their lives is very powerful.4.) What has been your most memorable experience working in the field of addiction?My most memorable experience was when I worked with an individual who came to me for his 22nd inpatient treatment when he was feeling hopeless and suicidal. He trusted me enough to go to the darkest places in his life and was willing to do the work. I was able to attend his celebration for completing his first year in Alcoholics Anonymous and watching him pick up the 1-year medallion after enduring a 20-year addiction was so memorable. Afterwards, he shared with me that I was a source in his life who gave him hope with no judgment that he could finally be sober. He has been sober for over 13 years now, enjoys reconnecting with his children, and is the owner of his own business.

Don Chouinard

1.) What is your current role with Feinberg Consulting?I am a Recovery Coach, and as a Recovery Coach, I work with clients to establish goals, hold them accountable, connect them to local support and recovery resources, and help them find their purpose. All of these steps help to guide our clients from active addiction to a life of recovery. For me, this is accomplished by reflecting the joys of living the recovered lifestyle and being able to understand where our clients are at, no matter what phase of recovery they are in.2.) What is one of the most valuable things you have learned or experienced being in recovery? The most valuable lesson I learned is that it is possible to live the happy and free life that I desperately desired while in the grips of addiction. I also learned that anything is attainable if I am willing to work hard for it.3.) What is it about helping others to recover that you enjoy the most?What I enjoy most about helping others to recover is watching them transform into happy, joyous, and free individuals who go on to lead productive lives.4.) What has been your most memorable experience working in the field of addiction?One of my most memorable experiences has been helping others to recovery while remaining in recovery myself.