Marist University student testimonials
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"Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with our class. Your vulnerability and strength is recognized by us all. Hearing a personal story in a learning setting is super impactful and I think actually helps us to remember what we are learning by seeing how it applies in real world scenarios. Your desire to share with others from a teaching perspective, both through working with Dr. Dill and through writing your book, is extremely inspiring! Congratulations on all of your hard work!"
— Marist student
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"Congrats to Lori for fighting through her mental challenges and adversities to be here and share her story! It's very inspiring to hear her journey and how it shaped who she is today, and admirable that despite everything she stands strong and advocates for others like her who may be fighting the same fight."
— Marist College student
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"Lori is really strong for being able to share her store and everything she has been through. She should be very proud for how far she has come!"
— Marist College student
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"People like you are why I want to go into a helping profession. There is absolutely a reason why you were placed on this earth and a reason you are still here today! Your resilience and strength are inspiring. Listening to you talk about her lived experiences to a bunch of students who you don't know is motivating. I admire how courageous and brave you are to work through your trauma and your past and grow into the wonderful human you are today! Thank you for sharing your story. "
— Marist College student
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"Thank you so much for sharing your story! Lori is proof that someone can have a lot of trauma and still rise above it all. Along with having to put your mental health, because if you are not taking care of yourself you cannot be emotionally available for others. This is something that I have struggled with and that I am working on and trying to be better about. I truly appreciate the advocacy Lori has done for those with mental illness. She is a great example of resilience and of not letting traumatic experiences define you. Lori is definitely a role model to me, and I plan to apply her insights about healing and growth in my own life."
— Marist College student
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"Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story! It is truly inspiring hearing you tell your story and perspective on mental health. I found it interesting and helpful to hear your real life story as things I have learned about have helped me be able to grasp your story even more. One thing that really stayed with me was when you were talking about the stigma in the mental health world. You mentioned how this was making people shy away from telling their story but how you wanted to take away the stigma. That is extremely powerful and I appreciate you working to create that change."
— Marist College student
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"A message I would like to share with Lori is that I am truly inspired by her and her work. Especially as someone who has gone through my own trauma, I've realized I don't put my own mental health first sometimes and Lori has truly taught me that it is best to always put myself first. Lori has also taught me that going through trauma doesn't always have to be a horrible thing to talk about when needed. I would like to thank Lori for giving us the opportunity to hear from her interview."
— Marist College student
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"A message I'd give to Lori is that she is so strong for telling a story like hers. Being able to tell people what you've gone through is really tough and I want her to know that there are people willing to help her out."
— Marist College student
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"A message I would like to share to Lori is how inspiring it is for her to share her story. I love how she mentioned that through her experience, she gained a desire to help others heal. It is so important to share your experiences with others so that they can relate and see that things can get better. I really appreciated listening to this interview and gaining a new perspective on such a heavy topic. Thank you for your courage and kindness!"
— Marist College student
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"It is very clear, even from the short twenty minutes of online interview we saw, that Lori is an incredibly resilient person. Even the ability to openly talk about one's past trauma and some of the hardest times in life to people that she does not know is extremely inspiring. There were many things in this interview that stuck out to me. Firstly, I loved how Lori pointed out one of her favorite qualities of therapists she has had in the past was their stress on accountability. IN helping professions and social work especially, we are told to focus on the positive of every situation. However, the best way to build rapport with clients is to speak to them at an even playing field and not seeming like a power figure who knows it all. Acknowledging any wrongdoings or areas that could be improved upon helps a lot more than sugarcoating certain things. Secondly, I think it was so important that Lori explained her background. She stated how she didn't really think these things could happen to her because she came from a very privileged life. As she stated, one can have support, education and money, and still phase tremendous trauma. It is so important to see that addiction and mental health struggles really do happen to everyone, to help reduce that stigma and spread more awareness. Lastly, Lori's resilience is truly inspiring. The fact that she was able to take her traumas and her own struggles and turn that into a whole lifetime dedication to helping others that may be int he same boat is truly amazing. Not only turning her own life around but helping others in any way she can is absolutely amazing."
— Marist College student
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"Thank you so much for sharing your story; we all appreciate the time you have taken to tell it. I was inspired by the idea of holding yourself accountable. I think this is a really important character trait to have, it can help build you as a person. Hearing you talk about accountability made me realize how little I do this myself. So, I hope to work on this and try to better myself in any aspect of my life that I can."
— Marist College student
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"Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with our class so we can learn how to better help others. Your resilience is inspiring. I know a bit about bipolar because my mother’s father had it and was unmedicated. Nobody truly knew what was going on behind the scenes. So it resonated when you were saying how the general public does not understand the extent of the invisible struggles of mental illness, especially bipolar. For this reason, the work you are doing is so important. This kind of discussion needs to be more widespread. I really liked your point about those in the helping profession needing to stay open minded. Nobody is ever truly done learning and growing. It is obvious when somebody is not helping themselves, and in turn they can't even help others that way. I am never tired of hearing stories about the leaders who have inspired people or changed their lives. For me, it was my teachers in school when I was a kid- I will never forget them. Hearing the way you regard those 3 therapists so highly and value their lessons is honestly the reason I do stuff like this. It really only takes one person to change somebody else's world. Even when you were in such a dark place, there was light. This brings us to the last thing I want to acknowledge, which was you realizing that you weren't untouchable from mental illness. Mental illness is so stigmatized, but yet so common. It takes a ridiculous amount of strength to own up to the fact that you are not invincible and choose to make your life better. Addiction is such a vicious loop to break out of. So I guess my final takeaway from this interview is that it’s never too late, and that you are the only one in charge of your own destiny. Ultimately, you could have received all of the help in the world, but it was you who decided to pick yourself up and try your best each day. The fact that you did after everything is awesome. Like you said, we only have the present, and we must keep moving forward."
— Marist College student
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"One of the main takeaways I got from Lori's story was the power of faith. I think Lori says it beautifully when she talks about her experience with faith in both a religious and non religious sense, speaking about how being open to her faith helped her in not letting her bipolar disorder define the type of person she truly was and wanted to be. I think that this faith and support that Lori had in and out of the church is what ultimately led her to giving back to the mental health field by sharing her lived experience."
—Marist College student
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"I loved how open and honest Lori was about her relationship with her mother. She states "I adore my mother but because of my bipolar, we had issues in our relationship." which is what ultimately led her to seek support from various groups and individuals. I loved how she shared this as a positive experience however, and shared with us how it's okay and should be encouraged to look for support from other people who can meet our own various needs when we need support. Like in our video with Oprah and Dr. Perry last week, Dr. Perry states that in order to have a healthy environment which is essential for motor, social, and cognitive healing, we must surround ourselves with different people who can meet our different needs instead of just relying on one person to meet all of our emotional needs. Lori also makes a similar argument when she speaks about the various support systems she had and how she recognizes that in order for her to have healthy relationships with others and with herself, she needs to understand the value of utilizing different people who could be there for her in different ways."
— Marist College student
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"I really admire Lori's strength and resilience despite the difficult circumstances she had endured in her life and I admire even more how she wants to use her testimony to help others who may also be struggling. Lori if you're reading this, I admire you and the work you have done for yourself and for those around you. Your impact and your grace despite the circumstances you have endured is beautiful and comforting knowing that no matter the trial, faith and resilience of the self always perseveres."
— Marist College student
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"Thank you so much for sharing your incredible story with us in this interview. It was truly inspiring to hear about the remarkable transformation you’ve undergone. You should be incredibly proud of how far you’ve come. The way you’ve been able to reshape your life in so many meaningful ways is truly beautiful. I was also deeply moved by the message in your book, I Dare You to Walk in My Shoes. The emphasis on not judging others until you’ve walked through their experiences is such an important and thought-provoking lesson. Thank you again for sharing this powerful insight with our class!"
— Marist College student
Client Testimonials
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
— Quote Source
“It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”