Ellie Mental Health

“I spent a little under half a year talking with my first therapist, and its my belief that things progressed very well for me over that time. I feel my therapist went above and beyond my expectations, so you can imagine my disappointment when they suddenly informed me they would be moving on and would no longer be able to take me as a client starting next week. It was a big deal for me, and my therapist apologized profusely as well—explaining its not typical of how they would want a therapeutic relationship to end. Regardless, we picked out another therapist for me, and I did my best to keep my momentum up in the coming two months before I was suddenly informed my second therapist would no longer be working at Ellie Mental Health effective immediately. I received this news via email from the director of the clinic, whom I have never spoken to before, who informed me that "a member of the team" would be reaching out to me soon to discuss further. This is a very frustrating experience as a client. It's difficult to make progress on your issues, especially those that are deeply personal, when you have to start over every few months. You can't really form a therapeutic relationship with someone you've only really spoken to ~6 hours. However, my frustration is not so much with my particular circumstances as a client as it is with a systemic pattern at Ellie Mental Health. Ellie is a franchise, which means they have much of the issues other franchises have with staffing. A cursory google search will show what therapists typically expect from their employment at Ellie: Low pay, deceptive compensation structure, frequent billing and scheduling issues, poor management, excessive workload demands and more. It's not a secret, there are plenty of accounts by the therapists themselves saying as much on reddit and other platforms. So, while I'm in obviously in no position to comment on the exact circumstances of anyone now or previously employed at Ellie Hollywood, one can imagine. Its understandable to me, knowing now what I know, why of the nine therapists hired within the last year (as per their Instagram page, elliementalhealth_hollywoodfl), only the four hired within the last 3 months are still with Ellie. When I started at Ellie, there were roughly seven therapists on staff. As per their website, none of them are currently employed by Ellie. As a simple function of math, this would mean their turnover rate is already well over 100% for the year. To be honest, this is not only appalling and indefensible from an employment standpoint, but also medically unethical. You cannot in good conscience attempt to form therapeutic relations, which can often be personal and important to clients, with the expectation that they will be suddenly removed. That is the true crux of my disappointment with Ellie, not that they knowingly mistreat their employees. They knowingly mistreat their employees in a way that is actively damaging to their clients. It's a cynical scheme that abuses their therapists to generate revenue and victimizes those attempting to better themselves in the process. Personally, I suspect that the very structure of franchising is simply incompatible with effective mental health care. My suggestion is that if you're looking into Ellie, do yourself a favor and don't settle for the McDonalds of therapy. You are not some CEO's paypig to be extorted by whatever poor young therapist they tricked into working here this month. You deserve real care from someone who has the time to form a productive bond with you. You shouldn't feel worried about how long the next one is gonna last before you get tossed to someone else. Go on psychology today and find a proper private practice instead. I know I will. As of writing this, the director has called me personally several times to discuss my ongoing care options. I can only say I'm disappointed I didn't get to meet more of the staff as was seemingly promised in his carefully worded email. Perhaps everyone else has already quit?”

“My daughter loves her therapist at Ellie. They are attentive, caring, and have made her comfortable with sharing her teenager woes.”

“We are so grateful to have found Michael Sharf at Ellie Mental Health. From day one, he created a warm, welcoming, and safe environment where our child felt completely comfortable. He took the time to understand our child’s unique needs and provided us with practical, effective tools to use at home. The progress we’ve seen in our child's confidence and development has been incredible. I 100% highly recommend him to any parent looking for someone to entrust with your child's mental health.”

“Ellie Mental health completely changed my outlook on therapy. I spent years trying to find a therapist that I could connect with and that was consistent before finding Ellie Mental Health. I have been with my provider for over a year now and he is very helpful, patient, and is able to meet me where I’m at even on my bad days! I have made more progress in the year I’ve been seeing him than I did from the age of 13 to 19. All the providers are super sweet and the waiting area is well maintained and definitely makes it feel like you’re in a safe place. 100% recommend their services”