McLean Hosptial Review

***My Psychiatrist was not very helpful***

The towels smelled like wet dog

Absolutely no access to the internet is allowed

Extremely boring, not much activities outside of therapy

Therapy was good though

Food was pretty good

A majority of staff were cool when I went there

I have never had an issue with Mclean until dealing with a case manager named Emma (unsure of spelling). She would rude and abrasive and treated my family member like a file. She went out of town and assured me her counterpart would call me and that never happened. She also had no interest in looking for a solution for my brother only a way for him "to have somewhere to go" without discussing any options or concerns. Emma's behavior is blemish on the name of any institute that would employ her.

My father was in here multiple times for anxiety and depression. They tricked him into making him think his last resort was a certain type of magnetic therapy for the brain. He is not the same person and his brain formula has completely changed. My dad is no longer the man he was anymore due to careless doctors convincing an already mentally ill mind that this was his last resort. His depression is not cured and he is over medicated thanks to this place. They don t care about you at all I visited him myself and saw it first hand. Do not send your loved ones here they will come out worse or completely different.

This place is so backwards. The Patients are not allowed outside unless they "earn this privilege". In many ways it's worse than prison...I must admit that the food is pretty good, even though they serve it on styrofoam, which it not biodegrade. Dr. Ongur is a power tripping individual, who cares only about his professional standing in the Medical Community, and grant money for his publications. He doesn't care about the well being of the people who are trusted into his care.

McLean Hospital is without a doubt, the most highly structured mental health hospital in the United States. The level of care offered here is unprecedented. The hospitals grounds are that of a university campus. With lots of buildings spread throughout a beautiful, peaceful plot of land that is relaxing, calming and full of nature. McLean Hospital's many buildings are very old, but the are magnificent architectural structures that are very well maintained. Inside the buildings are absolutely breathtaking and very clean. The staff is very friendly for the most part. I think there are staff there that may not be liked by some people, while praised by others. I have been a patient here multiple times over the last five years, or so. I've had very good experiences and interactions with staff, for the most part. In a few negative instances, it was usually my mental illnesses that blocked my communication with staff and it was my emotions that prevented a positive experience. McLean remains the oldest asylum still in operation, in the United States to date. They have the very latest, cutting edge therapies and techniques and all the brain scan imaging equipment available. McLean is also a field leader in psychiatric studies. Don't be imposed by the appearance of Mclean's brick, gothic-like buildings. The are impressive works of architecture and proof that McLean Hospital has certainly stood the test of time. It's a beautiful place and the atmosphere inside the buildings is warm and friendly. Great structured programs, attentive friendly staff and a very clean environment. Once again, voted number one psychiatric hospital in the US for many years, I say "Thank you McLean." Thank you for being there for me when I was truly desperate and needed your help. Thank you for keeping me alive giving me hope and teaching me that I get back from the program only what I was willing to contribute. As everything in life.

~Kristen

While on holidays my wife was treated with the utmost haste and professionalism when she presented with a severe allergy condition. Although it was Boxing Day the admin staff, nurses and doctor were friendly and helpful. Although obviously busy, they soon had Melanie feeling better. Thank you for your help Maclean Hospital.

This is for the outpatient program ONLY. The inpatient programs have been pretty good and I ve done a couple excellent groups. However, my treatment at the DBT training clinic was unethical, dangerous, and nearly led to my death. No one at the hospital has provided an explanation, from the clinicians involved, to the outpatient director who told me the clinic had nothing more to offer. Even the quality control officers, the human rights officer, and the director of the hospital refuse to engage with me and to facilitate and resolution. It was a horrific time in my life, one of the single most traumatic things I ve ever experienced. There are parts of Mclean that do outstanding work and I ve received good care in parts of it. But I feel obligated to tell others about how genuinely terrible and dangerous a year of my life was because of Mclean. Be careful when you go here. Some parts are excellent (proctor house for example, some of the individual clinicians). Some parts you need to run from.

ETA to respond to the response from McLean below: yes. I have filed complaints with the Tsimprea as well as the human rights officer. I have also filed a complaint with the department of health, but I waited too long. I also emailed the hospital CEO. I have still not been able to sit down a member of my "treatment" team and have my questions answered.

They ask for voicemail for intake.

I had to wait for like 3.5 hours just waiting for intake in person.

They re busy, they say.

I feel they get so much money from inpatients they don t make it a priority to get outpatients.

It s really hard to get in.

Now that I m an outpatient I just come for my prescription.

Sad that this is #1.

I like my psychiatrist, but the registration process is timely.

One member of the pharmacy staff continually harassed me while I was sleeping over arbitrary rules.

They also force all new patients to stay inside without being able to breathe any fresh air or take a brief walk outside. That s inhumane.

I came here voluntary but from what I see, a staff leaders are not skilled nor talented. Disappointed.

Weekends serve no function for patients as the doctors are not here.

All food is served on toxic styrofoam. Why have a
Large Screen TV s going with horror movies
with blood and gore when it s a Trauma Unit? No common sense and senseless and arbitrary rules.

My daughter has received the best care here. And she has been to several others so she has a good frame of reference. What impressed me the most is how they treat everyone, every single person, with the utmost in respect and dignity. Highly recommended!

This place is great. No better place to get your life back together

Website is plastered with if you need help, call now - don t bother. The person who answered the phone couldn t have been more useless.

Welllll, where do I begin????? 1. I was scapegoated by the BP women's group and the facilitator allowed it to happen approx. 4 times in front of the other women with the wrong placement twice in another Cognitive group with another PhD who wasn't sure why I was placed there either by Dr. Nancy Huxley who walks by as if you're invisible once she's given you more to be depressed about when in actuality it's her costly errors because her screening process failed you. 2. The BHP was a waste of time because the instructors had no real life experience to apply to their classes. 3. Why did I go? Because the Concord psychiatrist, Dr. Sharyn Lenhart with 9 internet complaints bullied me to "be under the umbrella of McLean with her scam artist social worker. Dr. Lenhart was money-hungry because she wanted to charge her billable rate same as a lawyer to speak with family or specialist. When confronted, she was manic herself and claimed that she had her contract she'd enforce. In other words, she wouldn't be compassionate. She interfered with the BHP PhD and the Dr. Menninger when I wanted, with notice, to take a week off from her rigid schedule and attend a supportive event in Boston for brain tumor awareness. This duo did more damage to my soul, and the Belmont RE magnate preying on the mentally ill inquiring about my bank account and when that measure failed, he, John Sciretta, gained and manufactured the trust of my daughters by mentally creating a cushion of honesty and asked boldly how much $$$ their grandparents had. My conjecture is that John and Sharyn own some property together and he's the business manager of his properties so hence, he becomes a quasi long distance guardian and attaches himself to the family by advising them to spend down the bank account of the patient and set up a trust. His staff of aides do home visits and charge the Boston prices, and John convinces you that these are specialists to be your friend when really there was no closure when I decided to cease using them. John also had this grand scheme to put me in an adult day care center called Waverly Place in Belmont which was unsuitable. Knowing the distance between my home and Belmont, John was fully aware that I wouldn't make the commitment. However, once there, I realized after a few months that I was no where near the mental illnesses which were chronic and dehibilitating for some. What's in it for John and Wild Acre? Am I supposed to eventually move to Belmont and be under his total control and services? He never really knew me. He recognized the RE value of my hometown and this launched him into the direction of sending me all the wrong services of McLean. Lastly, he and Dr. Lenhart ganged up on me and the vulnerability I was feeling with the 2 of them. He insisted that I would need a McLean doctor. I saw right through this. Dr. Lenhart was hostile and raged at me a few times. She called me names, and this woman should lose her license or by taking an early retirement. Is she still on staff at McLean? John assigned me (without my asking ) a young inexperienced foreign doctor who had no concept of my American life as a housewife, divorced, and a brain tumor survivor. Her medical school was the not best ER experience in a remote small city hospital. This was against my desire, and I was forced to try her. Turns out, she was unorthodox, and I realized instantly that this "girl" who looked like a student was unable to relate to my health crisis because her entitled life abroad was not mine to connect with. Dr. E. Shafit is the doctor who was eating during the session, talked about herself as a child, opined on political doctor of national repute, Guess who her mentor was? Dr. Lenhart, and she also was unable to control hand tremors and/or listen to any input long-term goals. Dr. Shafit was more engaged in physical health and keeping up the blood work instead of mental health. She breached McLean policy and protocol by speaking with family member without my permission and later the release was introduced.

While I was a patient in "North Belknap 2" I was physically attacked by another patient. During the assault my phone was broken. The hospital will not fix my phone or provide the other patients contact details so I may press charges. While being discharged I got into an argument with a nurse "Nick" and swore at him. In retaliation "Nick" through out two bottles of my medication that costs $1400 to replace.

Horrible "consultantation" with Dr. Cao. Forty five minutes late, distracted, unable to answer questions, and told me I needed to come back to have questions answered. Patients who have just received treatment put in reception area to sit and drink water. Never going to go back to McLean!

The above reviews were most likely written by doctors/staff members at mcleans.

If you want to be brainwashed, this is the right place to go.
Horrible clinicians take advantage of you when you are in a vulnerable state of mind.
They only care about money.
Don't go here because they just increase your amount of insanity.

They don't care about you. Patients are just tools to get a better resume or get paid a lot. I don't understand how they have #1 in the field,

I ve been to a few hospitals in Massachusetts over the past 20 years. This hospital is hands down one of the best. If you re ready to get sober and take control of you re life this is the place to be.

Unfortunately I am very disappointed . McLean Hospital Is not what it's cracked up to be. It is not what it once was. Putting there patients in danger in the after care department. Allowing an addict with mental health bipolar disorder to leave with no after care plan in place. Also not even giving the patient other places or options to go to from there which being number one they should know alot more and have the top notch services they claim to have. They have failed our family. And we have paid so much just yo get let down. There are so many more patients experiencing these issues as well. It saddens me that "being #1" they cannot even help with decent after care plans which is an important part of mental and substance abuse issues . McLean Hospital you have let our family down and have changed for the worst. Proctor house 1. They just want your money. They charge so much just to let you down. I'm so upset and appalled at the care team that took care of my husband. My husband was looking forward to getting the best care from this place only to get let down. Never again though. I'm glad we found out what they are really about !!!! If you love your family and loved ones. Please do not send them here . They charge so much only to let you down. Can't say I didn't warn you all.

Awsome care some of the nurses though like the pain meds alittle more than they should? They should be more careful slipping the patients meds under the med tray.hopefully it doesn't go on anymore.

I was a patient at McLean hospital 1 year ago, while I was going through a rough time with my mental health. I was so hopeful to get some relief and help, but any hopes I had were completely ruined. My mental health caused me to act up a little bit, and after I was told by the staff I was being discharged. I had nowhere to go and ended up homeless for months on end. Miraculously, I somehow managed to survive after meeting a volunteer that helps the homeless. The staff at McLean hospital are delighted to throw you on the street with nothing but a shirt on your back, no food, money or water. I am very lucky to be alive after my experience at McLean hospital. Never again

I am a PhD psychologist and have met many psychiatrists and psychologists throughout my years of practice. Dr. James Wines is one of the worst I have encountered. My daughter was hospitalized against her wishes by Dr. James Wines, psychiatrist at McLean and Fernside and then left for the weekend with no help. He said she was suicidal when she was not and when her own therapist, a psychologist, and another hospital said she did not need hospitalization. Her own therapist thought it would be very detrimental for her as indeed it turned out to be. Dr. Wines is quite authoritarian and does not respect patient's privacy. My daughter was never at risk for suicide.

Having been to mccleans twice in the past few years i feel blessed to be able to attend this hospital for me this is the best hospital there is the staff is superior and all the support staff are second to none thx u all for all your thoughtfulness and compassion during my difficult time mccleans hospital is definately the best by far there are no exceptions thx u again

I was admitted for electro convulsive treatment. A doctor looking he was in high school came in and reminded me I would still need pills or maintenance ect. I knew that already but had to put it out of mind to get through the treatment his discouragement made me change my mind and he then he threatened me several times with court. I Lester found out that he had just finished his training two months before. They make them attending doctors on inpatient floors right out of school. My chances would have been better anywhere else. I got out without ect because my family requested it was a horrible experience!

Patient & understanding staff who were dedicated to answer questions & made my experience there very personalized, as it seemed regarding the other patients there. The doctors I met with were amazing & my social worker was able to find a great-fitting aftercare plan for me. I definitely recommend McLean for anyone who is struggling with addiction/detox. I m very grateful for the help & support I received there! Thank you McLean staff!!!

I loved my visit at Mclean hospital in Belmont for 3 whole days the staff are amazingly trained in what they do. I have to thank my Doctors , my nurses , and my MHS for helping get through a tough time like this.

Thank you McLean, sincerely Thomas Deveau

my wife was admitted and she was well taken care of. Lot of options very friendly staff she got to meet with the psychiatrist daily had a Social worker assigned and great food and flexible options. She was discharged when safe and have been very patient during her episodes

Gunderson Outpatient Clinic is a fantastic program for those diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Highly recommend.

I was very impressed with the program I attended here. In a two week period I learned skills that I have been searching for over 10 years. This place has changed my outlook on life!!!

Went to behavioral health partial in fall of 2014. It was a great program, staff took time to listen, groups kept me very busy, but you were allowed out of groups or to leave group if you had a meeting with either your clinician, the psychiatrist, or your contact person....there were several people meeting with you through the course of the day in addition to group therapy. The program was heavily into the cognitive-behavioral therapy model (CBT) with some dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) thrown in here and there. Your contact person would assist you in choosing groups that were going to be the most beneficial for you. I now see a psychiatrist in the resident clinic who is absolutely amazing. He had been the only one in my life to ever recommend me being tested for sleep apnea and sure enough, that I have it and it is a major cause of my unstable mood and anxiety. Anyway, what I am saying is they look at the big picture, at least from what I have seen. They don't just use the take 2 of these and call me in the morning approach. They don't band-aid the hurt and hope it will go away, but rather they dig deeper. If you are struggling with any sort of mental health issue, depression, anxiety, anything, they can help. I don't know much about the inpatient side of things, but there may be some other reviews here that shed some light on that.

Last year, I took part in the Hill Center for Women residential program and I absolutely loved it. The staff members were so kind, the accommodations were nice, and everything about it was so comforting. I learned more about myself in those two weeks than I had during the many years of constantly changing therapists. I had lost the ability to properly care for myself during a deep depression, but as an overnight member, I, along with the other residents, worked on preparing meals, food shopping, dinner plans, and basic chores like washing the dishes. The women I met in this program were lovely, and I hope to find a wonderful community like this again some day. My whole outlook on life changed and I am in a much better place than I was before.

I recently finished up the two week trauma partial program at the Hill Center. I am someone who has been struggling for years with trauma and various other mental health conditions because of the trauma. No one has been able to address it nor help me keep an extended period of recovery before McLean. The staff were absolutely awesome, not short of terrific. If I could clone them, I would. Patient, caring and kind. They're beyond knowledgeable not only in the area of trauma, but in substance abuse, eating disorders and self injury. Could teach DBT and other areas of coping with ease and made it so it was understandable. I have had several rounds of treatment at various centers over the last 8/9 years and none have done what McLean has been able to give me and will give me. I would surely recommend McLean who is struggling.

McLeans is in the business of deliberately crippling people. What they do is about as sick and evil as it gets. They held me prisoner and tortured me for four days all based on the word of my recently jilted ex-girlfriend.

I was with my girlfriend for almost nineteen years, and we owned a house together. When I discovered she was having an affair, I ended the relationship. She and her lover called the police and told them that I had been to see a psychiatrist, and that the paperwork for my commitment was on the way. There was no psychiatrist, and there was no paperwork. At the time I was fully employed, with no criminal record and no history of mental illness.

On the word of my ex and her man hating therapist, Aurelia Palubeckas, McLeans labelled me as a delusional psychotic. I begged them to call my witnesses and they refused. They knew perfectly well what they were doing. They were creating a record for my ex to use in the fight over the house. Alton Williams, the psychiatrist who admitted me, went on to teach a course in how to use mental health records in civil litigation.

The staff at McLeans perform what they call checks where they peer in on you every fifteen minutes. It in itself is a form of torture, but they also make enough noise when they do it to be sure that you do not sleep.

The quid pro quo at McLeans is well known. If you take your drugs, you get to sleep, and if you do not, you get awakened every fifteen minutes. They wanted me to take Zyprexa, which kills brain cells. Zyprexa leaves it victims wandering around in haze while their brain tries to compensate for the damage.

Fernando Rodriguez-Villa, the sadist supervising me, also ordered me to submit to daily blood tests. The blood they took was never tested, they did it for the psychological effect of turning me black and blue.

Dr. Villa refused to tell me when I would be released. On the day I was released he came into my room and told me that I would not be released until I told him what was going on. I sat there silently until he left.

A short time later Djana Paper, the attractive social worker on my case, came in. She sat down on the bed next to me, leaned back and pushed her breasts out. She said she wanted to help me. Sleep deprivation torture makes you desperate to reach out to anyone who will listen, and I told her about the abusive relationship I had fled. She said, You must be really angry. I said, I guess so. She said, You must really want to hurt her. I sat there silently until she left.

When I got home, I looked at the needle marks on my arms and collapsed on the floor of my kitchen sobbing. Over the next six years I spent a lot of time curled up in a fetal position on the floor.

McLeans collected $1,500.00 a day from my health insurance, by claiming that my signature was on file to authorize the payment. My signature was not on file to authorize the payment, and when I learned about the deception I told them so. They collected anyway. It is a criminal offense to make a knowingly false statement in an application for insurance benefits, under M.G.L. c. 175H, but that did not stop them. The doctor who committed the insurance fraud was Joe B. Flores.

McLeans gets away with it by crippling their victims so badly that they do not recover in time to sue. I was the first one of their victims to ever file suit.

I filed my complaint six years later, when I had recovered enough to deal with the horror of it; after the statute of limitations had passed. Their vicious attorney, James Hamrock, retaliated with a motion to have my professional licenses pulled, armed with the finding that I was a delusional psychotic. Eventually my claim was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.

These people are predatory monsters. If you care about someone, send them anywhere else.

This program (Gunderson Residence) only made me more depressed and hopeless. The clinical staff made three dangerous mistakes on med dosing and then at times couldn't give me my meds because they hadn't refilled them yet. I feel much worse than when I came in.

Isn't this the same hospital, they filmed Girl, Interrupted? I wanna go here.

I've stayed twice at McLean, in the STU/Short Term Unit. There are several different units like for alcohol or drug detox is the Proctor Unit. McLean is hands down the most professional, modern, organized and therapeutic inpatient psych hospital and definitely meets the high bar set by its national reputation. I have been in several other inpatient programs & McLean was the most comfortable and therapeutic experiences I have ever had in treating my severe depression. The staff are very intelligent, the Doctors are open to everything you say and requests you have while coming up with very specific treatment plans for each patient, it's very individualized. They set up ongoing, long-term treatment for you at time of discharge to ease transitioning home, which is extremely helpful & eases anxiety about leaving. I met wonderful fellow patients, a few that have become life long friends. The daily schedule is entirely focused on wellness, whether giving time to exercise, attending on-campus AA & N/A meetings, Group therapy sessions that are teacher-directed but encourage a safe environment for patients to share their concerns and trust in other patients to be supportive, the groups being a wide range of topics, so it's never boring-there's something for everyone. There is just enough down time to relax, read, talk to other patients, you can have visitors, the cafeteria areas are fully stocked all times of the day, the overall environment is very very comfortable. The staff are always alert and do 15 min checks to ensure patient safety all day & night, every patient is assigned a contact person you can go to with ANY concerns or questions, the nurses are very nice people and helpful, I cannot say enough about how great McLean is for anyone looking to get back on track, and definitely getting well again. Just a tip to anyone looking to get into McLean specifically over another local psych hospital, they have a psych clinician at Winchester Hospital that does evaluations & Admission to McLean, all the time, so if you go to Winchester Hospital and say you need admission for depression, bipolar, social ideation, any psych illness no matter how severe, or for alcohol or drug treatment and detox, you will almost be guaranteed to get into one of McLean's units & it's a fast admission process compared to long wait times of other ER's! I highly recommend McLean Hospital.

Wow! The program at the Hill Center for women completely changed my life. Truly amazing, I never thought there existed, such a program that is capable of accomplishing such incredible results.

Megan(social worker) and Casey(RN)as well as all staff from McLean Hospital are the best at what they do. They are compassionate and caring individuals that made my stay at McLean hospital the best experience despite my mental health status at the time. I would highly recommend this hospital to family and friends.

I highly recommend McLean for mental health or addiction services. It is very clean, quiet, and private. The clinical care is exceptional and the food is acceptable.

Met with an on call social worker by the name of Ashley Watkins I believe. I had never known a more caring, concerned, and friendly licsw. Her knowledge was excellent as well and she carefully listened also. I highly recommend meeting with her if you ever go to mclean

People this is a psychiatric hospital. I had to request and beg for my son to return. He was there four years ago and still we do not have a med that works and he is willing to take consistently. Mental illness is still a trial and error area with not enough funding. They do have the best doctors but a lot of the time their hands are tied by the insurance companies for length of stay and number of treatments they can try. Compared to what is out there Mcleans is at the top. I feel luck to have my son there again.

They completely turned my 16 year old sons life around. He had an extreme social anxiety disorder, wouldn't leave his room, they changed it all in 6 weeks...now he's working and going to school, even has a girlfriend. ..they were wonderful. Changed his life! And ours, all for the better!

This facility knew about my mother's case in great detail. The coordinator, Leslie Keebler, read over several emails, not to mention the admission request letter and the letter from my mother's primary therapist. The hospital, upon arriving, told her they never saw a case as severe as hers, that she should have had other physical health problems addressed (although they knew of them already) first, that they had NO CLUE how severe her OCD was (although they do via email and the admission request itself, not to mention the hour long survey my mom took that detailed her case). Additionally, no care was actually provided to her other than showing her where the kitchen was and making her move her bedroom during dinner. For an OCD hospital the rooms weren't even "normal" clean, with cobwebs in the furniture as well as prior patient's garbage and loose change in drawers. They sent my mom home without helping her, with Michelle rudely stating "We would be setting you up for failure". Finally, they offered no alternate plan for her care going forward.

Honestly, I do not and would not trust this hospital.
1. Because they gave me more than one incorrect clinical diagnosis.
2. Because they condone abuse. To explain: I was on proctor 2 twice and because I wasn t ready to open up about my past they decided the abuses did not happen. Ironic, because the abuse id suffered as a child it came to the light the same family member had also abused other family members.
3. I had a clinical team who fought for me to be able to go back to Proctor 2 years later and the clinical supervisor said I couldn t because I hadn t been participating in treatment. That was kind of hard due to the fact I was in an abusive relationship at the time and everywhere I went was controlled and monitored. Or maybe because I was too busy getting multiple evictions because of my abuser.
But what really ices the cake and the reason why not to trust them even more is the fact they actually hired someone onto their staff who is friends with and supported the same abuser who almost took my life.
Which is concerning because it has to make one wonder if narcissism is acceptable to McLeans as a way of treating their patients.
And hiring on someone who is okay with domestic abuse and sexual violence has to lead one to wonder about what kind of standards they have.

terrible hospital

patients are very frequently thrown in restraints and put in seclusion when the situation could have been descalated by staff talking to them first. They don't-they just restrain and ask questions later.

It is basically like a warehouse-no groups-you just sit around and vegetate

You only see the psychiatrist once per week,and he/she is only at the resident level.

DO NOT go here