Tamara Runge, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

“I highly recommend Tamara Runge, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. This appointment was for a loved one, and one of the things I appreciate most about Tamara is that she never makes us feel rushed. In the past, we’ve experienced psychiatric providers who seemed focused on moving quickly from one appointment to the next, but Tamara is completely different. She takes her time, listens carefully, asks thoughtful questions, and pays attention to the details. It never feels like she’s simply checking boxes. Instead, she genuinely seeks to understand the full picture so she can make the best decisions for the person in her care. What stands out most is that her focus isn’t simply on assigning a diagnosis or prescribing a treatment plan. Her goal is to make sure the person sitting in front of her is doing well, that the treatment is actually helping, and that they are feeling better. She takes the time to evaluate what is working, what isn’t, and how to best support the individual as a whole person. Mental health appointments can be very personal and sensitive, and Tamara creates an environment where people feel heard, respected, and supported. Her patience, compassion, and thorough approach are truly appreciated. In a world where healthcare often feels rushed, Tamara reminds you what it feels like to be truly listened to. We are grateful for the care she provides and look forward to continuing to work with her.”

“My Psychiatrist is amazing and really helpful. She tries to get to all her patients on time and doesn’t make me wait very long. However, there is no front desk staff at all! No way to make a payment unless you do it online. Online doesn’t allow payments of any amount just your whole bill. Good providers, difficult to schedule and pay.”

“Your experience with Lifestance as a whole will be entirely dependent on who you wind up talking to. Tamara has been fine to work with, but I have had a dozen or more experiences of practitioners not showing up for appointments, conducting virtual appointments while doing their dishes in their kitchen, not returning messages and calls, not filling out pre-authorization forms in a timely manner, etc. Regarding my experiences receiving support for my mental health, Lifestance is affiliated with both some of these best and worst experiences I've had. If you have other options, I'd recommend you look at them. If you don't, bee diligent until you find a person/therapist who is reliable and a good fit. RESPONSE TO LIFESTANCE: To be clear, if this review is about Tamara specifically, again, I've been happy with the level of care I've received from her. In regards to Lifestance, I have come to expect their performance on par with every other profit-driven, publicly-traded, healthcare conglomerate. Tamara, after all, is merely just an actual healthcare professional trying to treat patients and using Lifestance's platform to do it. It may not be “your intent” to provide the shoddy level of service I’ve received over the years of using your platform, but the sheer quantity of it is a crystal clear demonstration of how hollow and meaningless those words are. I’ve provided feedback to your patient care teams, they’ve scheduled follow up calls with me, but through all that, I have seen no adequate improvement. Your scheduling team tries to provide medical advice; some of your providers lapse on showing up for appointments. I had an in person appointment scheduled, with the email reminder to confirm it, drove 30 minutes with all three of my kids with a rental I kept for an extra day just so I could make my “once a year” mandatory appointment so I could keep my medication. Lifestance did nothing. I don’t find a new platform cause my needs are taken care of right now and I’m too busy to look right now. I get whoever responded to this is just doing their job, but come on. That response is a joke and I’m sorry they make you say it. But so long as profit is associated with healthcare, healthcare is going to be garbage. Lifestance’s leadership has consistently been a part of the problem; not the solution.”

“Today was my first appointment with Tamara Runge. It was a pleasant and smooth transition to a new provider”