Discover the inspiring story of resilience and rebirth in our latest episode featuring Ron Klopfenstein, an adjunct professor at Utica University and host of Hot Seat Media Monday. After suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome for over a decade, Ron shares how he transformed his life from debilitating illness to impactful educator and community activist.

Ron’s journey is not just about overcoming a health crisis; it’s a testament to the power of choice in the face of adversity. He candidly discusses the struggles that come with chronic fatigue syndrome, including the physical and emotional toll it takes. You’ll hear about the innovative treatments that finally helped him reclaim his life, including the surprising role that colloidal silver played in his recovery.

In this episode, you'll discover:

- The lesser-known symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and its elusive causes.

- The unconventional treatment paths that led to Ron's recovery.

- How his experiences shaped his teaching philosophy and approach to life.

- Insights into the importance of choosing gratitude over bitterness after loss.

- The ways in which chronic illness can redefine one’s purpose and passion.

Ron’s story is a powerful reminder that even in our darkest moments, there is always a path forward. He emphasizes the importance of resilience, the strength found in vulnerability, and the impact of maintaining a positive outlook.

Whether you’re facing your own challenges or simply seeking inspiration, this episode is essential listening. Ron’s journey will leave you motivated to confront your own obstacles with courage and determination. Tune in and be inspired to live with intention and purpose

Ron’s Bio and Contact Information

Ron Klopfenstein is an adjunct professor at Utica University and has taught in the Utica New York school system for several years. He is also involved in various social causes in the Utica area, with his husband Jim Hale. Ron is also the host of Hot Seat Media Monday, a live podcast which highlights individuals and organizations who are having a positive impact in the Utica, New York community.

Ron’s Contact information

All Social Media: Ron Klopfenstein

Podcast: Hot Seat Media Monday

uticapheonix.net/media-monday , 95.5 FM The Heat, Mondays from 5–6 p.m, and on all major podcast platforms

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What if the behaviors that make you great at helping others are also the ones that keep you stuck, burned out, and disconnected from yourself?

Trauma expert and award-winning professor Dr. Adam McCormick joins host Dave Roberts for a deeply practical conversation about adverse childhood experiences, emotional survival, and why so many helping professionals are drawn to this work long before they ever realize it.

Adam shares how growing up with an alcoholic father and becoming a parentified child shaped his path into social work, and why so many adults recreate familiar pain in relationships, work, and self-sabotage without meaning to. He breaks down the difference between ACEs and trauma, why trauma is the wound rather than the event, and how shame, control, and survival adaptations like fight, flight, freeze, overfunctioning, and people-pleasing follow us into adulthood.

You’ll discover:

• Why emotional and relational trauma often shapes professionals more than overt abuse
• How childhood survival skills get rewarded in social work, teaching, and other helping roles
• Why “just do self-care” fails when someone has disconnected from their authentic self to survive
• How countertransference can reveal unresolved childhood material in the room
• Why connection, co-regulation, and being truly seen matter more than perfect advice

Adam offers a powerful framework for understanding how meaning gets made, how trauma spreads when it goes unrecognized, and how healing begins when someone finally stays present without judgment.

This conversation is essential listening for anyone who works with trauma, supports young people, or is trying to break generational cycles in their own life.

About Adam

Adam McCormick, MSSW, PhD, is an award-winning professor, social worker, keynote speaker, and author whose work explores trauma, burnout, emotional development, helping professionals, foster care, resilience, masculinity, and the emotional lives of boys and men.

Over the course of his career, Adam has delivered nearly 300 keynote presentations, workshops, conference sessions, continuing education trainings, and professional development programs for social workers, counselors, healthcare professionals, educators, universities, and helping organizations across the United States.

In 2026, Adam received the Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award, widely regarded as the highest honor for teaching excellence in the state of Texas. He is also a candidate for the 2028 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, one of the most prestigious teaching awards in higher education in the United States, and was the recipient of St. Edward's University's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2025.

Adam is the author of Healing the Helping Professional: The Unfinished Business of Childhood (NASW Press, 2026), a book exploring childhood trauma, emotional survival adaptations, burnout, authenticity, and the journey back to the self. He is also currently completing The Cost of Becoming a Boy: Trauma, Boyhood, and a Return to Self, a forthcoming book examining the emotional, developmental, and cultural experiences that shape boys and men. Dr. McCormick is the author of LGBTQ+ Youth in Foster Care (Routledge).

Known for blending trauma science, storytelling, vulnerability, humor, and practical application, Adam's presentations help audiences better understand both the people they serve and themselves.

Connect with Adam McCormick:

Follow Adam on LinkedIn for his social links and weekly trauma-focused newsletter.

His book is available through Amazon and NASW Press.

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Some paintings are beautiful. Mary Marquiss makes paintings that answer back. In this conversation, the Oregon artist and author of Behind the Painting reveals how grief, synchronicity, travel, and 30 years of watercolor work turned her art into a mirror for the most life-changing moments of her story.

Mary and host Dave Roberts trace the deeply personal paintings in her memoir, including the poppy that became a symbol of unexpected strength, the bird that felt like her sister Betty's spirit, and a cave in Scotland that opened into a moment of profound release. What begins as an art conversation becomes something much larger: a meditation on how creativity helps us survive loss, recognize meaning, and keep moving through the dark toward the light.

You'll discover:

• How Mary's psychology background shaped the way she sees art, memory, and emotion
• Why watercolor became the perfect medium for play, layering, and transformation
• The role of synchronicity in her travels through Ireland, Scotland, Paris, and southern France
• Why she believes life is not linear and neither is healing, forgiveness, or growth
• How kindness, boundaries, and self-compassion became central themes in both her life and work

Mary also shares the hard-won wisdom behind surviving divorce, miscarriage, cancer, and the death of loved ones without becoming bitter - and why one small act of kindness can echo for a lifetime. Dave brings his own reflections from psychology, teaching, grief, and spiritual meaning, creating a thoughtful conversation about what art can hold when words fall

MARY MARQUISS – BIO AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Marquiss developed her interest in art as a child, surrounded by the lush beauty of Oregon. Originally from Corvallis - she is a fifth generation Oregonian and has lived in Bend for 34 years.

Marquiss attended both the University of Oregon and UCLA, earning her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. After graduating she became the Admissions Director for a private psychiatric hospital in Reno, Nevada, owned by HCA with 500 hospitals worldwide. After two years as the hospital Admissions Director she was promoted to Marketing Director and then became a Marketing Consultant for HCA.

In 1995 she moved to HCA’s corporate offices in Nashville to become the product manager for Seniority – a benefit that only comes with age - which was franchised in hospitals across the country.

When her daughter was born 38 years ago, she left her corporate career and returned to her love of art and writing.

“I focused primarily on watercolor because it can be playful, has a beautiful transparency and teaches me about the challenge of controlling this medium – when to take it and when to let go – as in life,” she explains.

Marquiss has written and illustrated two cookbooks, and taught art and design classes to both adults and children in Bend for over 30 years.

Combing her art and writing she is the author of the forthcoming book: Behind the Painting – An Artist’s Memoir which holds ten of her paintings and a story interwoven behind each one over a thirty years trajectory. This book takes the reader on an adventure with both the high notes in Paris and finding love late in life through challenges she faced including family suicide, a stroke and cancer.

Her original art and book information can be seen at www.marymarquiss.com.

Email: mary.marquiss@gmail.com

Book: Behind the Painting on Amazon

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