Ep. 109: Drugs, Culture, Ketamine, and the Fear-Pain Connection | Robert Steffke
Release Date: 07/20/2026
Ep. 109: Drugs, Culture, Ketamine, and the Fear-Pain Connection | Robert Steffke
Resilience Radio
Why are alcohol and caffeine treated as ordinary parts of daily life while other mind-altering substances remain heavily stigmatized? In this follow-up conversation, Irvin Eisenberg and psychotherapist Robert Steffke explore how culture, legality, intention, and context shape our relationships with substances. They consider how social acceptance can be influenced by criminalization, and what changes when substances once used in cultural, ceremonial, or medicinal contexts become commercialized or routinely consumed. Robert reflects on his own experience with addiction recovery and time spent in...
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Ep. 108: Non-Ordinary States: Ketamine-Assisted Therapy, Trauma, and the Healing Power of Connection | Rob Steffke
Resilience Radio
Episode Description In this episode of Resilience Radio, Irvin Eisenberg and Rob Steffke explore ketamine-assisted therapy, trauma, non-ordinary states of consciousness, and the healing power of relationship and connection. This conversation looks at how ketamine may support therapeutic work, why “set and setting” matter, and why the medicine itself is only one part of the process. Key topics include: ✅ What makes ketamine-assisted therapy different from recreational ketamine use ✅ Set and setting, intentionality, and the role of the therapeutic relationship ✅ Trauma, depression, the...
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Ep. 107: Calm You, Calm Baby: Parenting Stress, Co-Regulation, and Nervous System Support | Amy LePage
Resilience Radio
In this episode of Resilience Radio, Irvin Eisenberg and Amy LePage explore parenting stress, co-regulation, and practical ways to calm yourself while helping soothe a baby. This conversation looks at how a caregiver’s body mechanics, breath, voice, and nervous system state can shape the energy of an interaction, and how small shifts can sometimes help both parent and child settle. Key topics include: ✅ Co-regulation and why soothing a baby often starts with the adult nervous system ✅ Practical body mechanics while holding or calming a baby, including widening the stance and shifting the...
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Resilience Radio
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Ep. 105: Sleep, Stress, and Nervous System Regulation | Amy LePage
Resilience Radio
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Ep. 104: Top Surgery Scar Work: A Client Perspective on Healing, Safety, and Tissue Change
Resilience Radio
In this episode of Resilience Radio, Irvin Eisenberg and Syn Graham explore what scar work actually feels like after gender affirmation top surgery—and how a gentle, collaborative approach can create meaningful changes in both tissue and body awareness. Key topics include: ✅ Why scar tissue isn’t “bad” and how it supports healing ✅ Differences between forceful vs. gentle scar techniques ✅ How scar work impacts mobility, contour, and comfort ✅ The role of safety and communication in clinical care ✅ Why scar work can still help years after surgery Syn shares their lived...
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Ep. 103: Dad Guild— Fatherhood, Identity, and Social Expectations in Everyday Life
Resilience Radio
In this episode of Resilience Radio, Irvin Eisenberg and Keegan Albaugh continue their conversation, building on themes from Part 1 and exploring how fatherhood, identity, and social expectations show up in real-world experiences. This discussion moves into the lived side of parenting—what it feels like to step into caregiving roles, how fathers are perceived in public, and the challenges many men face navigating expectations around vulnerability, responsibility, and identity. Key topics include: ✅ How fathers are perceived in caregiving roles ✅ Why many men feel unprepared for...
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Ep. 102: Dad Guild— Lonely Men, Public Anger, and Holding Two Truths at Once
Resilience Radio
In this episode of Resilience Radio, a representative of the Dad Guild discusses the tension surrounding conversations about lonely men, public anger, and social responsibility. Rather than choosing sides, the conversation explores how multiple truths can exist at once — acknowledging harm while still recognizing isolation and unmet needs. Key topics include: ✅ Why discussions about lonely men provoke such strong backlash ✅ The difference between compassion and excusing harmful behavior ✅ How social narratives collapse nuance into blame or denial ✅ Why “both things can be true”...
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Ep. 101: 100 Episodes of Resilience Radio — A Retrospective with Irvin Eisenberg
Resilience Radio
In this milestone episode of Resilience Radio, Jeremy Lesniak interviews Irvin Eisenberg to reflect on reaching 100 episodes of the podcast. They discuss what it takes to sustain a long-form show over time, why most podcasts fade out early, and how consistency, pacing, and curiosity matter more than chasing trends. Irvin shares how the podcast has evolved, what themes have stayed central, and how future episodes may expand into panels, practitioner conversations, and movement-informed discussions. This episode is less about celebration and more about reflection — taking stock before moving...
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Ep. 100: Movement, Exploration, and Why “More Steps” Misses the Point — with Turner Osler
Resilience Radio
Episode 100 of Resilience Radio continues a core theme of the show: rethinking health, movement, and ergonomics beyond simplistic metrics. In this conversation, Irvin Eisenberg sits down with Turner Osler, founder of QOR360, to explore why counting steps, standing more, or “fixing posture” often misses the deeper issue. They discuss movement as exploration, variability as nourishment for the nervous system, and why ergonomics should support curiosity rather than control. Key topics include: Why “more steps” isn’t the same as better movement The limits of standing desks and...
info_outlineWhy are alcohol and caffeine treated as ordinary parts of daily life while other mind-altering substances remain heavily stigmatized?
In this follow-up conversation, Irvin Eisenberg and psychotherapist Robert Steffke explore how culture, legality, intention, and context shape our relationships with substances. They consider how social acceptance can be influenced by criminalization, and what changes when substances once used in cultural, ceremonial, or medicinal contexts become commercialized or routinely consumed.
Robert reflects on his own experience with addiction recovery and time spent in 12-step communities. He describes recognizing when substance use was helping him avoid pain and disconnect from life rather than engage with it—and the value he found in supportive community and in experiencing life without mind-altering substances.
The conversation then turns toward the relationship between pain and fear. Robert shares a personal experience of encountering physical pain without the usual fear surrounding it and considers how fear can intensify or shape painful experiences.
Irvin and Robert also discuss ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, trauma, and the possibility of observing a difficult experience without feeling completely overwhelmed or defined by it. They explore how distance, support, and self-compassion may allow someone to develop a different relationship with pain or an experience from the past.
This episode follows an earlier Resilience Radio conversation with Robert about ketamine and his psychotherapy practice. Listening to that episode first may provide useful context.
CHAPTERS
00:00 — Drugs, Culture, and Social Acceptance
Why some mind-altering substances are treated as normal while others remain taboo.
01:33 — Intention Behind Substance Use
Robert reframes the discussion around purpose, enhancement, and conscious choice.
02:01 — Criminalization and Cultural Stigma
How policy, criminalization, and social judgment can influence cultural attitudes.
03:32 — Context, Moderation, and Sacred Plants
Tobacco, corn, coffee, and what can happen when something is removed from its original context.
05:29 — Everyday Substances, Addiction, and Recovery
Robert reflects on recognizing when substances were creating disconnection rather than helping him engage with life.
07:03 — Experiencing Pain Without Fear
A personal story about separating the experience of pain from the fear surrounding it.
08:28 — Ketamine, Perspective, and Pain
How gaining some distance from an experience may change a person’s relationship with pain.
10:19 — Trauma as an Unintegrated Experience
An analogy about childhood injury explores how support may affect the way a painful experience is carried forward.
12:23 — Meeting the Past with an Adult Self
Robert describes approaching earlier experiences with care, perspective, and greater internal resources.
13:02 — Closing Thoughts
A brief conclusion and invitation to hear the previous conversation.
RESOURCES
Resilience Occupational Therapy
https://resiliencevermont.com/
Music: “Some Biological Process” by Aaron Marcus
https://aaronmarcus.bandcamp.com/
DISCLAIMER
This conversation is provided for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The opinions expressed by the guest are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Irvin Eisenberg or Resilience Occupational Therapy.