Riverside Counseling Center

Reviews 3

PA

Patricia Blair

DISINTERESTED/UNPROFESSIONAL THERAPIST AND INCOMPETENT BILLING DEPARTMENT To start I had a horrible experience with the therapist Cara Kenny. After my mother passed way in April I felt like some therapy would help me out understanding my feelings and easing my pain. However, it just got me angry about how much I was paying for someone that was not even faking that she had any interest in what I was saying. On my first appointment with her I thought she was awesome, she took notes all the time and asked me several questions; lots of those questions were not related to my mother at all, but I thought she was asking those to have a background of who I am and how she could help me out. By the end of that first appointment, I made appointments for a whole month. However, on my second appointment, she was very distracted with my baby (I had to take my baby with me). My baby slept very soon and I thought that then she would start focusing on me and on why I was there. She would just keep looking at my baby and asking questions about her. And I would try to talk about my feelings about my mom and her death. When she finally talked to me about my mom, she asked how my father was dealing with that (they have been divorced for almost 20 years and my father has married again, which we had extensively talked about the previous session). I did try to focus on me again (I believe therapy is one of those times you should be allowed to focus on yourself). So she just talked about my husband and being a parent, and how to deal with my baby, and how her daughter this or that. And my time was up and she didnt allow me to talk about my issues, and she only took a look at my folder when I was leaving and said your co-pay is high, I am sorry about that. What did she think? That she could waste my time and my money looking at my daughter and not giving a damn about me because she thought I would not come back? At the time I was a mess, and if therapy was helping at all, I would pay the price to get the help I needed. My other complaint is with their billing department. When I went there the second time, I told them I had a new insurance. It took some time until I had a copy of my insurance card. Before I had a copy, they would not accept the information to bill the right insurance company for that appointment. After I got my card, I got in contact with them again asking them to send the claim to the correct insurance. They said they didnt have an email that I could send it, but then they said I could send it to the reception email, that they would take care of it. I have sent the email about a month ago and I have never received any response. Now they sent me another bill saying that they will send it to a collection company. It is ridiculous that they are not able to solve this matter thru the phone and email. I will have now to make time to go all the way to their office to solve this issue.

KR

Kristina Dolak

STAY AWAY! I originally was going to Riverside Counseling with a different doctor, who was amazing, but unfortunately she retired. So Riverside decided that her patients should go to Thomas Pillion. I had a problem with him from day one. First off, it started with his demeanor and his professionalism. He made me feel guilty for having mental health issues. He was arrogant, not easy to approach, and definitely not someone you would open up to. That is extremely disheartening when he was the person I was supposed to open up to. Secondly, I had to explain myself every single time as if it was the first visit. Visits were once a month. Instead of studying his patients and "knowing" him/her, he just basically had you explain everything all over again, making you feel like a stranger every visit. It appeared to me he was having me explain every time just to fill his "time" so he could charge his full price. I always felt worse leaving an appointment with him then I did going in. The reason why I stuck with him was because they had all of my medical history and I had been a regular patient. Its very difficult bouncing around having to explain yourself over and over again. Telling people youve never met all about yourself and your past. With mental health, its already hard enough to talk to ANYONE let alone a stranger. The fear of judgment is always there, along with it being exhausting. You are reliving and reliving every time! You want to be somewhere that "knows" you and it was just too much of a hassle to try and leave. He was issuing the medicine I needed so I pushed through for that reason. I had actually missed several meetings in the short amount of time he was seeing me for these reasons. He is the type of doctor who is in it for the money not for helping people. He was forceful with pushing higher dosages of medicine when I specifically told him that current dosages was not working and was giving me terrible side-effects. I had to be forceful back to tell him "no", but regardless, he still tried to push higher dosage and additional medication. Again, working for money not for his patients. This guy was charging $150 per visit and his "missed appointments" were $90! We now get a bill for $243 and we have NO IDEA why it is even that amount...nor did they even tell us it would be that amount. The Office Manager claimed I missed two appointments but had only missed one, then turned us over to collections without notice. She said I never complained, but what is an Office Manager going to do to help with doctor complaints? I turned them into the BBB, but they did nothing to resolve our complaint. Im never going back...STAY AWAY!!

DA

Dale Gardner

Riverside Counseling Center cannot be trusted to provide a safe and caring environment for mental health treatment, and should be avoided. I was a patient at Riverside Counseling Center for several years, initially treated by Dr. Donald Hall. When the medications he prescribed failed to control my depression, and I experienced an emotional crisis following the suicide of a friend, Dr. Hall referred me to Ms. Karen Mazzara, LPC for therapy. I then also became a patient of Ms. Mazzaras, and worked with her for 2.5 years. Literally in the middle of a session, while I was attempting to explain something, Ms. Mazzara interrupted me and brusquely informed me she was terminating her treatment effective immediately. Although she later said she had been considering ending her care "for a long time," she had made no preparations for the transfer of my care to another therapist. She made no such recommendation for a period of weeks, and when she did so it was to an individual to whom she should have known would be a poor match. She refused to meet to discuss the termination and transfer of care, despite having time available on her schedule. I felt -- and feel -- completely abandoned. I reacted to her abrupt and unprofessional termination with immediate and great distress. I literally begged her, repeatedly, not to end the relationship. Ms. Mazzara responded with insincere platitudes. When those meaningless words failed to calm me, she mocked me, asking me if I "thought therapy would last forever." The distress caused by Ms. Mazzaras rejection, and her apparent anger and frustration, left me deeply traumatized and depressed. I can appreciate Ms. Mazzara felt she could no longer assist me and desired to end the relationship. I respect and understand those wishes. What I cannot understand, and people should understand, is the cruel, callous, and remarkably unprofessional manner she chose to implement her decision. Dr. Halls response was equally unhelpful and added to my distress by refusing to attempt any mediation that might have eased my distress at being rejected, and implying my version of events couldnt be trusted because it was my word against Ms. Mazzaras. She cannot be trusted. No one associated with Riverside should be trusted to provide a safe and caring environment in which to seek therapy. I trusted Ms. Mazzara and Dr. Hall to provide a safe and caring environment for my care. In my opinion, they failed utterly and completely and dont seem to care about the damage they inflicted to me and my family.