Testimonials — Coaching Clients

“Lara feels like a guardian angel, the dearest of friends, and a wise mentor as she helps me learn to live with the aftermath of a life-changing stroke… She is so gentle and compassionate—I can feel her heart hurting with me.  She is helping me gain confidence in my own inner strength… It feels like she’s a mirror to my best and highest self that even I hadn’t seen. She is truly gifted." — Rebecca Bauder

• “Lara has been integral to my healing process. She has guided me to learn, grow, and most of all, be able to love and live a full and rich life. Experiencing (guided somatic) trackings with Lara has been the most deeply healing. She is an expert and guides in a nonjudgmental way that has allowed me to go into my body and truly understand my chronic symptoms. This is the “WORK” that heals. I highly recommend Lara. She is a true gift to the world.” — Lisa Gold

• “I’m so grateful that I chose Lara because she’s spent years in suffering and pain, walking through the dark tunnel. And through great courage and persistence found the light at the other end. That’s the kind of courage and persistence I wanted in my life. I wanted that courageous energy to be reflected back to me during our work together.… Lara has a way of being so deeply and non-judgmentally present... and creat[ing] that safe space where the magic happens.  It feels almost like going on an adventure with a friend.  It’s a space of trust.  Lara’s clear, supportive reflections are like looking in the mirror and seeing myself for the first time. Working with Lara has been a complete and utter joy…. How many people do you know who are saying they feel reborn at age 76? :-)” — Brandt M.

• “Lara really helped me identify my behavioral and thinking patterns that were keeping me stuck in chronic pain. I am so grateful for the time I spent in sessions with her as it changed my life. In my journey to deal with chronic pain Lara was my shining star.” — Jascha Sonis

• “Dr. Birk’s Pain Reprocessing Therapy changed my life. Within two weeks, the daily headaches that had plagued me for years had dramatically decreased. Throughout the course of our weekly sessions, Dr. Birk gave me the tools I needed to heal from my chronic pain. She is kind and patient and adapts to your particular situation to provide a tailored plan that can work for you. She provided resources that were incredibly helpful for me to use outside of our sessions. I am very grateful for the care I received from Dr. Birk and would recommend her to anyone suffering from chronic pain.” — Katie P. (Katie’s update : “I have had almost no migraines for the past 3 months. It really is amazing! I can’t thank you enough.”)

• “Lara gave me hope that I could reduce the toll of chronic pain on my life, and then delivered above and beyond what I ever could have imagined. After a more than decade-long journey with chronic pain, including surgery, I had felt like I had exhausted every avenue possible to treat my chronic pain. Lara not only proved me wrong, but gave me profound insights into the causes of my pain and a new and effective approach to healing. Her understanding of chronic pain from both clinical and emotional perspectives is unmatched. She is also an excellent listener and educator. I can’t recommend her enough.” — Michelle Thaler

• ”Working with Lara over a five-week span was truly transformative for me. Having dealt with chronic pelvis/hip pain for ten years, Lara's sage guidance and support helped me reframe my perception of pain from overwhelming obstacle into a conquerable fear. We went over a ton of helpful topics during our time together, but the idea that resonated with me the most was the concept of 'starting messy,' which helped lower the stakes for me and demonstrated that progress can be achieved even amidst chaos or imperfection… Lara’s emphasis on self-trust and agency in managing chronic pain has been invaluable. Her wisdom, rooted in her own experience, shines through in every session as she intelligently and empathetically navigates you towards a deeper understanding of your body and its needs…. I am deeply grateful for Lara’s support and expertise, and I wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone seeking guidance on their own pain journey. Rest assured, what you’re going through now doesn’t need to remain permanent.” — Peter Breining

• “Lara has been an absolute lifesaver! I have had chronic facial pain for years now. I have had every medical test and I have seen every medical doctor. I have tried it all. I felt hopeless and truly felt that I was all out of options. Lara made me feel hopeful again. She helped me realize that pain is not my enemy. My pain is there to help me take better care of myself. Now that I have a more positive take on my pain, I am better able to manage it. Not only did Lara help me find tools to manage my pain, but she also made me feel less alone. She made me feel safe and listened to. I am beyond grateful for her. Anyone would be lucky to have Lara in their life.” — Andrea M.

• "Lara's approach to healing integrates neuroscience, emotional processing, and the identification of learned patterns that contribute to chronic symptom presentation.  She gently guides her clients to uncover beliefs and behaviors that put the nervous system on high alert.  Through our work together, I have become more self-aware, more resilient, and more empowered in my own healing journey.  I am so grateful to work with Lara and garner her wisdom- she is an expert in mind-body medicine!"    — Katie C.

All quotations taken from the feedback of coaching clients

Testimonials — Curable Groups Participants

“I consider it no less than divine intervention that my path crossed with Lara’s in this fortuitous way.”

• “Lara is brilliant and made a very difficult job look very easy.”

• “I consider it no less than divine intervention that my path crossed with Lara’s in this fortuitous way. She modeled a compassionate and supportive presence so beautifully in our time together. I feel well on my way to more self-compassionate living.”

• “I was telling a friend today about how, from the beginning, Lara drew us all into a practice of resonating with each other and supporting each other. Some groups are leader-centric, but Lara has the gift of creating the kind of group where we all learn to count on each other, to see our similarities, to rely on each other. At the same time, she created such safety for each of us and modeled the healing we can look forward to.  We were so lucky to have Lara.”

• “Lara, we appreciate the magnificent job you’ve done as the facilitator of our group:  you have been masterfully unobtrusive in providing an example of leading with love, extending gentle invitations to share (thus giving us the opportunity to inspire each other with our vulnerability and courage), yet rising up with clarity and guidance when needed to keep us focused on moving forward and on the path of mutual improvement and cohesion.  I like to think that each of us will go on to become a version of you… impromptu ambassadors for Growth and Hope that whatever ails those we meet is indeed, curable.”

• “Lara is amazing and very talented.”

• “Lara Birk is a skilled, delightful facilitator - incisive and kind.”

• “Thank you so much to Lara for all the support over the last 12 weeks. Both her personal story with chronic pain and her facilitation skills are truly inspiring. I'm brand new to facilitated groups like that but Lara has a real talent for naturally/effortlessly bringing the most out of all the participants - certainly not an easy task when you're bringing together people of all different backgrounds facing some of the biggest challenges of their life. Lara made each and every session all about the group further empowering each of us on our individual healing journeys.”

• “I am so grateful to have met Lara and had her as our facilitator and mentor. She is such a calm and kind person, and I am sure it was because of her personality and skills that our group was so successful. It was a new experience for me to be vulnerable in a group. I will always remember her and the impact she had on my life. I have tears in my eyes as I am writing this.”

• “Lara was amazing. I have done a lot of programs over the years and Lara is a pro. She nurtured a safe, trusting environment for us to explore and grow.”

• “I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that Lara Birk made our Curable Journey very special and that Curable is very lucky to have her.”

• “Lara was an absolutely amazing as a facilitator; I just loved her! She was very attentive and engaged in each person’s comments. She was a very empathetic and supportive facilitator. She did a great job presenting the material - very well-spoken and engaging. She seems like a wonderful person also.”

• “Lara is just a wonderful facilitator and so knowledgeable and able to distill what is going on with each of us.”

• “Lara was absolutely brilliant and I will really miss her!”

• “I appreciated Lara very much; she is a kind and gentle soul that could relate to all of us with empathy but also was a great example of how to give and help others without losing yourself.”

• “Lara does a great job listening to what people have to say and reimagining how that issue or feeling can be handled. It's also lovely to [meet other people and] hear so many perspectives on what boils down to the same issues. It's not about your specific symptoms (though sometimes that helps), but about how you deal with those sensations physically, psychologically and emotionally. I'm finally admitting this is a lifelong way of engaging with life not a "course" and then you're fixed initiative.”

• “Lara is an amazing facilitator. I feel so fortunate to have been in her group.”

All quotations taken from the exit surveys of anonymous Curable Groups participants

Testimonials — Viewers of Interviews

“I love how God and divine timing places things in your life when you need them, and I definitely needed to hear this video today.

• “This was such a great conversation. So informative and so inspiring. It really resonated with me. Particularly the whole notion of just putting aside the question of structural issues and just doing the work. It makes so much sense. Thank you so much” — @RickRowan

• “Thank you so much Lara for your shared story! You are an amazing role model and fantastic facilitator. Truly grateful for you both.” — @roxannescully5745

• “This video was hugely helpful for me today! I love how God and divine timing places things in your life when you need them, and I definitely needed to hear this video today. I feel I have slipped back into my pain cycle of fear and the fear of being stuck in the pain. Thank you so much. This helped to reframe and rephrase my mindset.” — @christinajohnson7907

All quotations taken from YouTube

Testimonials — Former College Students

“Lara Birk is an amazing professor, woman, and lunch date. Take her class, you will not regret it. She will change your life.” — Anonymous (Ratemyprofessors.com)

• "Lara is both an extraordinary human and mentor. It feels important to specify her incredible-ness on both of these fronts because the two are inseparable from one another. She is an incredible mentor because she infuses her humanness and lived experience into her work. I had the privilege of being a student in one of Lara's sought-after courses and have never experienced a teacher who pours her heart so fully into the work she does. In a mentorship capacity, Lara offered not only compassion but empowerment to own my pain and vulnerability and to configure a roadmap to healing and self-love. Knowing Lara Birk and learning from her has pushed me to grow personally and intellectually and I am a better human for it."  — Matty Phelps

• “Lara has a way of making people feel heard, understood, and important. From day one, I learned and grew in self confidence, which allowed me to pursue my goals and passions. Lara teaches invaluable life skills. She is passionate about the well-being of everyone she works with, the community, and even strangers in the world. She exudes peace and joy, and her objective is for us to become transformed in our thinking and lives. It’s definitely not a surprise so many people keep in touch with her for years later.”  — So Hyeon

• “Lara has been the most influential professor I have ever had; the way she teaches class really challenges the way you think and engages everyone. She's not afraid of digging into sensitive topics, and that's the way it should be.” — Anon. (ratemyprofessors.com)

• “She is the best professor I ever had.” — Anon. (ratemyprofessors.com)

• “Mark Twain stated, “Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.” Lara Birk has always been one of those individuals for me…” — Calvin Jara

• “Professor Birk is an amazing teacher and person.” — Anon. (ratemyprofessors.com)

• “Dr. Lara Birk is an excellent educator, an attentive listener, and an engaged facilitator; she is a comforting figure —kind, calm, and empathetic. Lara sheds light on invisible [suffering] and gives voice to the unheard. I have watched her give her whole self to her students—as a teacher, resource, and friend… I promise you, after working with her, you will surely respect her, learn from her, and love her, too.” — Madelynn Paul

• “Dr. Lara Birk has such a talent for cultivating an open, safe, and welcoming environment. Her vulnerability in sharing her own life experiences was so powerful as she taught us lessons in resiliency and perseverance as well. As we talked… Lara gracefully weaved in stories of her own medical journey, effectively bringing the words in our textbooks to life. Her class felt like a beacon of warmth and humanism filled with lively discussion interspersed with tears and laughter. It was a special place where we as participants felt comfortable sharing our own stories of depression, triumph, family loss... Five years later, as a medical student I still think about the conversations we had and how she helped shape my own path as an aspiring healthcare provider.” — Alex Zhuang

  “Lara Birk is a woman of great wisdom, who holds our opinions in the highest regard and is an ally to the social issues that concern the broader world… She works with a desire and a fire that ignites within. I see her as an ally to the anti-racism cause.”  — Marilyn O.

  “Professor Birk’s class was a breath of fresh air, and I always was at ease. It is that exact quality that allowed for the connections and comfort that were constantly present.... When speaking to Lara, you can tell that she has a genuine concern for the well being of each one of us. Her passion is very visible which makes each person feel important and allows for a genuine connection that breaks down the barrier between us.” — Patrick Williamson

• “Dr. Birk encouraged me to challenge not only societal perceptions of identity around illness, but my own. She transformed the way I thought about illness identity.  That has served me well throughout my career and certainly since I was diagnosed with a chronic illness. Lara is deeply committed to encouraging us to stretch our thinking and dig deeper to challenge existing ideas or schools of thought. She has both the know-how and the compassion to meaningfully connect with her students and clients. No one is better equipped to help people become empowered participants in their own healing.”  — Liz Doherty

• "Learning from Professor Birk was an incredible experience - from her warm demeanor to her ability to create a safe space during vulnerable conversations. I appreciated Dr. Birk’s… dedication to establishing an environment where each of us was able to feel comfortable, and allowed me to participate in conversations openly and with ease. Her empathy and powerful facilitation skills aided in empowering everyone in the group consistently. Lara is the kind of person who will go out of her way to help you in any way you need it - she’s someone I could go to for comfort, advice and support whenever I needed it. She holds passion, kindness, strength and wisdom inside of her and is impossible to not admire." — Hana Memisevic

• “Our online class was so magical, I found myself eager to see everyone, discuss, and just listen to all the conversations that we were having.  Dr. Birk’s facilitation style was impeccable, and she was very accommodating, respectful, and understanding to everyone's individual needs, as well as fostering a cohesive group unit! I loved every minute!!!” — Yassmine Raoui

• “Lara is able to engage and inspire students. She transformed our class into a safe space and encouraged students to open up about their various experiences… With the opportunity to hear others’ stories, I would like to believe we all walked out wiser and more empathetic towards others.” — Katheryn Ward

  All quotations taken from the testimonials submitted by Lara’s former students or anonymous posts on RateMyProfessor.com