Testimonials

Mark delivered an exceptional presentation at the Vicarious Trauma Workshop. The great humanity, background and challenges he faced as a highly competent Victoria Police member, were conveyed honestly and openly to an audience of senior managers, detectives and analysts.

With enormous skill and empathy, he bravely recalled his own journey, affording those present with the insight, triggers and pitfalls of vicarious trauma and the challenges we face as police every day. In a brilliant, raw and brutally honest assessment into his own mental illness did he connect his vulnerability to everyone present. An exceptional presentation by an exceptional human being.

​Senior Sergeant Marty O'Donoghue

Mark's presentation was excellent and well received. Certainly, we appreciate the support to our conference and business by both Beyond Blue and Mark himself.

​Chelsea R

Mark is a passionate, articulate and experienced person who has clearly been through a lot of trauma.  It is the accumulation of these things and may (or may not) be just the single event that triggers things.  His journey is a great one to demonstrate there is hope and this is something you can manage and get to a point of coping towards a ‘normal’ life.

​Todd M

Mark is a presenter of the highest calibre. His presentation style of not shirking away from the ongoing difficulties he has to deal with, really drew the audience to him. His presentation touched a chord with everyone that attended.

​Amber M

I thought Mark was quite brave in sharing his personal battles/stories with depression and anxiety and gave great advice on how to manage/live and overcome it. He was realistic about the topic and didn’t sugar coat anything, making you believe that you can just get over it and to seek help or speak about the issues as soon as you experience any changes within yourself or others arise.

​Joanna B

He was awesome.  He did a great job helping the audience feel more aware of the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety in themselves or others. They were also made more of where they could seek help if they were experiencing signs of depression or anxiety.

​Rita M

Speaking with colleagues after the event, people were touched by Mark’s raw and honest accounts of his struggles. He moved many people with his words and the way he told his story.​

Kate H

Thanks for your excellent presentation today. You have a really honest approach that shows the importance of your message.

I had some good feedback from those present and it fitted really well what Glenn and I were hoping to achieve

​Ian S

I  wanted to  follow  up  personally  and thank you very much  for  your  presentation.

Your  conversation-presentation  was  very  raw  and  you shared with us in such  a relatable  and frank  way what  and how  you  felt and  your  experiences  with  seemingly  not  much held  back.

As the  night  progressed, and with  the  small  group in attendance,   it  was very  moving to  see it  evolve into  a  forum like  discussion. Several  who  attended shared  some  very  personal  experiences and  emotions  they  have had and continue to  -  which  many  in the  group  was unaware of.

On return  to  my  employment,  I  discussed with  our  HR Manager  your presentation , and  suggested  that a presentation from  yourself specifically ,  to our  workplace  to  the  Directors, Senior Management  and supervisors would be invaluable. 

We have had discussions  in our Management  and  Supervisors Meetings but  there is  nothing  quite like  a presentation  by  someone  who  has had firsthand experience.

​Amber M

He was great. Spoke simply and from the heart. Projected his voice nicely and made good use of the floor space he was given.

​Nicholas N

(spoke in conjunction with one other) Both guest speakers, the fact that they had problems and how they overcame them, found their own way to firstly admit that they had a problem and their process to recovery. The speaker’s positive attitudes. Great, very thoughtful and thought provoking.  Speakers really added to the awareness of others and yourself… thank you Mark.

Andrew B 

Mark did a fantastic job. Thank you very much all the feedback has been nothing but positive.

​Colin D

Mark made us aware that mental health is just as important as site safety… Mark’s talk was interesting and very informative. Mark talked of his own personal experience with mental health and Post Traumatic Stress which gave us an insight into his own struggles and how these things can affect anyone in many different ways.

​Stephanie T

Mark was great and the group were very receptive to everything he talked about. His talk evoked a lot of sharing of personal stories. Mark was the perfect fit for addressing the participants of the SOTW in the City of Maribyrnong. Mark was down to earth, honest and very relatable. Thank you.

​Alyssa H

Thanks again for your time yesterday and for sharing your lived experience with us.  It takes both courage and vulnerability to share your experience and we are very appreciative that you were part of our RUOK? Day event.  I'm sure it has started many conversations across the organization.

​Lynette W

Great job, proud of the way Mark has worked through his issues. Mark did a great job helping the audience feel more aware of the signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety in themselves or others. They were made more of where they could seek help if they were experiencing signs of depression or anxiety.

​Brad A