Stony Brook Psychiatric Assoc

“Absolutely awful experience. I reached out to Stony Brook Psychiatry back in January looking to make an appointment for anxiety and very deep depression. There was a 5 month wait to see a doctor, and when I finally did, he brushed me aside after the second appointment and told me I would be a much better fit with another doctor that I would AGAIN have to wait 5 months to see…I’m not sure how you basically turn someone who is suffering away with zero answers and tell them they have to wait another 5 months to get any help at all. I feel worse now then when I went in.”

“Response to their response - this just goes to show how terrible they are as I ALREADY filed a complaint with them and got equally blown off there too. I was just in the process of switching from one therapist to another. She scheduled the appointment for me with the new therapist and when the day came there was no email link for the session. When I checked my portal there was no appointment scheduled. When I contacted the therapist I was just with she blew me off (again) with "if you need scheduling help call the front desk." No, YOU made the appointment, YOU messed it up, YOU fix it. I'm contacting another place that actually specializes in ADHD instead of these cookie cutter crack pots! You only get to see interns and only for a couple of months at most before you’re rotated to the next intern so this makes it hard for consistency but since I do just med management it’s not as bad. They spend enough time just checking in to see if the meds work and you’re not having issues or any major risks psychologically. Despite there already being a continuity of care with the rotating interns it's made worse when they can't figure out how to keep their scheduled appointments during the transition. This also means missed prescription refills. I have been repeatedly diagnosed with several things through the years by multiple doctors and therapists that I spend a hour with weekly but they disregard those and “un-diagnose” these after spending 30 mins every 3-4 weeks and never actually speaking about the issues. They do, however, LOVE to diagnose anxiety and that’s the one thing I don’t have. And I have to say so at EVERY SESSION! And they just “ya okay, so we’re going to increase your meds for anxiety” no, no you’re not. It’s deplorable how often I have to fight them about this. When I do go to them with concerns about issues and want to explore medication to help with my ADHD/Exec Function disorder which was my primary complaint they refused medication for it repeatedly and wanted to just give me depression/anxiety medication. When I finally got them to do one of the two meds for adhd they just want to increase other meds instead of giving me the one I want for adhd. This isn’t my first time with therapy and I’m not self-diagnosing but I am self-advocating. I don’t think they know how to do anything other than say everyone has depression and anxiety and if you push them outside that they double down. If that’s all you have then this is a great place for you but if you want someone who knows anything about all kinds of psychological issues go somewhere else. I can only imagine how terrible the school’s classes are if this is what they’re churning out.”

“Mental health care should be accessible, not punitive. I rarely ever write or give reviews, let alone negative ones, but I’d give this place a zero from what I’ve experienced. It’s no wonder it only has three stars. I was basically banned (!!) from this clinic (more so, not allowed to make another appt “for at least a year”) all because I missed an appointment due to a midterm running over and was a few minutes late to my first appointment. When this was first told to me I couldn’t believe it— I’ve never had this experience, and was never made aware of this outrageous rule they have! They blamed it on me being unreliable and their office being very busy. This “miss one appointment and you’re banned” rule is a huge disservice to students, especially those without transportation who are from other states or even countries. When I was 10 minutes late the first time (due to my 40-minute commute and severe current mental struggles—the very reason I need help), they had three open slots the following week, proving they aren’t as overbooked as they claim. When I asked for referrals—after explaining I needed this appt so badly and have had moments of struggling with suicidal thoughts— the receptionist simply told me in a very condescending manner to call 911. Then proceeded to hang up on me, without giving me any referrals, and later said with glee, “oh that was me,” when I called back for the referrals and stated the last receptionist hung up on me. She 👏 should 👏 not 👏 be 👏 in 👏 psych 👏 AND NEITHER SHOULD THIS SUPERVISOR. Just throwing me away like trash. Excuse me? I wish I got this receptionist’s name and I did get this terrible sounding supervisor’s name, but alas have forgotten it. I acknowledge my mistake in scheduling, but this policy is unnecessarily harsh. The supervisor who created it, along with the that straight up MEAN receptionist, should be ASHAMED. Mental health care should be accessible, not punitive!!! The supervisor will be hearing from me. Wait until the school services refer me to their office in a week or two 😜 they’ll have to take me then, NOT THAT I WANT TO EVER GO TO THIS OFFICE NOW OR EVER. -From a junior year stony brook university student”

“I needed help. Instead I was asked to get lab results from docs,other docs,sent away with no treatment,no medication,no advice. When therapist called back it was to tell me I had to get results in a “darker” ink because she couldn’t read it. She should have called lab that sent it. I’m not a secretary and I needed mental health therapy desperately. Now they keep sending messages that cannot be responded to,not accepted. And there is no other way to let them know I WILL NOT BE AT ANY FUTURE SCHEDULED APPOINTMENTS,THIS IS MY CANCELLATION NOTICE. IF I CALL PHONE NO. PROVIDED IM TOLD I HAVE SUBMITTED ALL PAPERWORK,AND CANNOT LEAVE MESSAGE. MOST RIDICULOUS METHOD OF COMMUNICATING-especially since you are dealing with mental health issues. Very disappointing experience.”