Here are a few testimonials from patients who participated in the Avatar Project.
I want to sincerely thank you for the opportunity you have given me to undergo Avatar Therapy, and also to become a Partner-Patient. This therapy has changed my life forever. Within these past 3 years, I have grown enormously. You believed in me and you integrated me into your team despite my mental health diagnosis. Within these past 3 years, I began and completed my Peer-Helper course at Université Laval, I started working at the Centre de recherche de l’IUSMM, and I am currently taking a class at the Université de Montréal (Faculty of Medicine) as a Mentor and Peer-Helper. More particularly, I have a greater self-esteem and I am a lot more confident. The voices that I had were paralyzing and I had to fight them off constantly, which took all of my energy. I was not a functional human being. Thanks to the therapy, I decreased my medication by half and I began to feel emotions for the first time in 16 years. I used to always be indifferent, I simply felt nothing. I like that I am beginning to feel again. Just that, on its own, is wonderful. I have found my humanity. All this would not have been possible without the Avatar Therapy. I will always be forever grateful for what you have done for me and for the opportunity you have given me to help others decrease their paralyzing voices. Once again, thank you! I have found a purpose. I am working, I feel useful, and I contribute to society. Avatar Therapy has changed my life. It is as though a simple “thank you” is not powerful enough to express my gratitude. Sincerely, with all my heart, I THANK YOU, Dr. Dumais and all of your team.
RICHARD BRETON
Partner-Patient and Peer-Helper
Oh! What to say… A warm and wonderful team!
LUCIE RACICOT
Doctor Dumais… A great angel!
And everyone else! You have that charisma, that fire, that passion that characterizes so well Who… You… Are…
When I was alongside you, it was for me a privileged moment!!! A wonderful process that has brought me Love and Hope!
My dearest, I am infinitely grateful!
I have already been living with voices for 34 years… Those voices that caused me great pain and haunted my existence.
This project, which is Avatar, has soothed me and has reconciled me with… Life.
More and more with each passing day.
Long life and hats off to all.
Dr. Dumais!… With your project, as creative and innovative as Avatar.
You have given a new wind to the medical world and have made a considerable contribution to science.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Participant in the Avatar Project
Note: The above testimonials were translated from French.