3 years ago
I wish I could give less than this. I made an appo...
I wish I could give less than this. I made an appointment at the beginning of August, and couldn't be seen until the end of the month. The man I spoke to was very friendly, and gave me a very good impression. He was very helpful and got me set up with someone who he thought would be a good fit. He helped, we said goodbye, and that was that.
Fast forward to the day of my appointment. They call me at 7:00 in the morning from a number with no caller id or anything. I didn't answer, because I'm prone to getting scam calls, and numbers with no id is a no-go for me. So I let it ring, and that was that. Another number calls me about an hour later from an unfamiliar number, which, again, I didn't know it so I didn't answer, and I thought, "if it's the therapist's office, they'll leave a message." I never was left a voicemail, so I thought that it was another scam.
It gets closer to my appointment time, and nobody (to my knowledge) has called, and I'm starting to get even more anxious than I already was. So I look up the number with the intent to call myself, and I realize the second call was from them. But why didn't they leave a voicemail? I call, and the receptionist I spoke to was the most unfriendly, rude person I've ever talked to in my entire life. I explained the situation and that nobody left a voicemail, and I was just calling to make up for the one I missed, and she says, "nobody left you a voicemail?" in a disbelieving tone that put me on edge. I say no, that's why I'm calling, and she goes "it says you didn't do your paperwork. you need to fill that out before you come in." and I say, "I haven't been able to create an account." "You should have gotten a password from the person you spoke to before." "They never gave me one." "They never gave you a password?" As she's speaking, she's getting more and more agitated with me, and makes it clear she thinks I'm lying. I said no once again, and she says in the most condescending tone: "Well you'll have to come in a half hour early and fill it out here. Is that doable for you?" I say yes, and she hangs up without a goodbye.
I have extreme depersonalization/derealization. It's 100% debilitating sometimes, and I can't even get up to go to the bathroom without sending myself into an episode. Stress triggers it in a horrible way. The way I was spoken to on the phone left me almost unable to get into the car so I could go to the office. It's a very unwelcoming place, with bright lights and an unfriendly, small waiting room. It made me feel worse being there.
I went up to the counter with my mom since my insurance is through her, and we were trying to get things sorted out, and she hands me a clipboard with over 20 pages of paperwork to fill out, and basically says to just give the information on paper. I go to sit down, completely disassociating at this point, and I fill out everything I can, and ask my mom to help out on stuff I can't do myself. There was one question neither of us knew the answer to, so to save me a bit more stress, she went up and asked the receptionist herself what to do.
This woman looks between my mother, and me, and back, and snaps at her, "She's twenty-five, she needs to fill out her paperwork on her own." This about had me in tears because I just wanted to leave. My therapist came out after a little bit and called me back, and she made a few snide comments that set me off, one of which being about my coping skills and how I've handled this up until now (video games).
When I left, she told me to go ahead and set up another appointment before I went home, which I planned on doing, because I felt a bit hopeful by the end of the session. I went up with my card so I could pay and make another appointment, and the receptionist snaps at me, "we're still waiting for your insurance to clear, you can't pay." and shuts the glass in my face.
As it stands, it's the middle of September. I haven't been billed or contacted by anyone about anything. My anxiety is ten times worse than it was, and I have no help. DO NOT go here, even if you're desperate.