My initial disorder was sleepwalking and terrible migraines (migraines related to sleep issue). The first practitioner, a doctor I saw at BTI prescribed a rather heavy drug that helped me sleep through the night for a couple of nights but then I found myself sleep walking in a very heavily drugged state. I tried talk therapy with the doctor who I found too brutal and not effective for me plus the doctor no longer took my insurance. The practice suggested Amy the NP and she and I had a couple of sessions but the patient therapist relationship did not take at that time. I left therapy expecting my primary physician to prescribe the drugs given to me at BTI. She refused saying they were narcotic and addictive. OK, so I stopped all drug therapies for a couple of years. Perhaps there is a time in life when one is more receptive to talk therapy. My PCP would not prescribe the drugs BTI gave me but encouraged me to try to talk to somebody to help with what she saw as major depression. Now my insurance covered BTI and I returned to see Amy. When she clarified that an individual in my particular life situation would be wholly insecure and depressed just as a matter of human need, I realized I'd found someone to whom I could relate. I thrive best with a gentle nurturing therapist and I am very grateful to have found this lovely person who helps me on my journey to understanding why the heck I respond in certain ways and how to make my life better. She is a nurse so she can give practical medical advice. Clearly I am an anxiety ridden individual. After over 60 years of living with myself, one would assume I would have known?? But no, I did not have that perception. Amy suggested attention to breath and nourishment (eat breakfast - thanks Amy) habits to combat being controlled by fear. It seems so simple but nobody, general doctors, psychiatrists or psychologists had ever given me that insight. Yes, early life trauma will do a number on one's emotional and mental health but those issues were decades ago - not completely irrelevant, but after many attempts to fix myself through therapy, I came to Amy's practice, cynical & hopeless. Amy has made my life better. I come to each appointment with issues that we mutually consider; maybe consider further, and end with some resolution. There is a contentment and peace to my life in this therapy. I highly recommend Amy,for those of us who need a sensitive and sensible practitioner. Wishing all who read here, good mental health. Thank you wonderful Amy. read more

I went here to get diagnosed as having ADHD at 53 y.o. Kaiser would not even assess me, because "I was not diagnosed by age 12." As a woman, and turning age 12 in 1981, that was nearly impossible, because the belief back then was that it only affects boys. I emailed back and forth with the retired Chair of Behavior Sciences for UC Berkeley (forgot his name) who's specialty is females and ADHD. He and his colleagues recently did a review of all the studies done on Females and ADHD, and they cite the very first small study even asking the question: "Can girls have ADD (what they called it then)?" done in 1979. It was the first study ever to include females. And it was small. The next study addressing the same question was done in 1982, one year after I turned 12. So Kaiser's policy was ageist and sexist--there was literally no way I would have been diagnosed by age 12. And also, research has shown that ADHD exacerbates in perimenopause. So I reached out to this clinic and they accepted me as a patient on a sliding scale. It was affordable. I had a fully psychiatric assessment. The grad student I worked with was great. I was diagnosed as having ADHD, combined type, moderately to severely. Kaiser finally, after me screaming about their sexist/ageist policy did do an assessment. They said I "likely" have it, but it's "inconclusive," because I was not diagnosed by age 12." Ugggg. They just can't let the Sexism go, again. But the diagnosis from this clinic forced them to treat me. So I am very grateful. Thank you! read more

Horrible experience. The NP was very condescending. She made some big assumptions after speaking with us for 45 minutes and our teenager for 15 minutes. The second time we met with her, she didn't even speak with our son after talking down to us for half an hour. She then wrote a lab order to test his levels, but his name was spelled incorrectly. I asked for a correction 3 times and never got a response. I asked for a follow up appointment 3 times and never got a response for that either. I completely accept if she decided she didn't want to work with us. However, ghosting us is incredibly unprofessional and confusing. We are astounded by the combination of her unfounded judgement, lack of professional curiosity, and ghosting. No one goes to a psychiatrist because life is easy. This is a terrible way to treat people who are clearly reaching out for help. read more

Horrible experience. The NP was very condescending. She made some big assumptions after speaking with us for 45 minutes and our teenager for 15 minutes. The second time we met with her, she didn't even speak with our son after talking down to us for half an hour. She then wrote a lab order to test his levels, but his name was spelled incorrectly. I asked for a correction 3 times and never got a response. I asked for a follow up appointment 3 times and never got a response for that either. I completely accept if she decided she didn't want to work with us. However, ghosting us is incredibly unprofessional and confusing. We are astounded by the combination of her unfounded judgement, lack of professional curiosity, and ghosting. No one goes to a psychiatrist because life is easy. This is a terrible way to treat people who are clearly reaching out for help. read more

My short experience with therapy there was extremely demeaning and dehumanizing, bordering on traumatic, sprinkled with systemic oppression, which was brushed off by the therapist himself as "not a good fit." The therapist subscribed to outdated, deficit-based models of disability and had me read out loud the list of things I supposedly am unable to do due to my diagnosis, and then tell him how they map onto my own behavior. He constantly corrected the speed at which I read and my tone, and took my disagreeing with him as a sign of "defiant" behavior. He also spent a great length of one of our sessions trying to make me act "normal" by making eye contact (I am autistic, I can make eye contact but it's draining for me, so I do not do it in therapy sessions.) Although he claims to have never heard of ABA, his defense of this exercise utilizes one of the tropes used by ABA inventor Lovaas to defend his gay conversion therapy, which is that things such as eye contact and not swiveling my chair is a "skill" which I can use to broaden my "options". I am bewildered that someone who specializes in LGBTQ+ therapy could have such a commitment to normativity. This is one of the many interactions that conveyed to me that I am "subnormal," and therefore, sub-human. My interactions with this therapist constantly reminded me that he is part of an epistemological regime which was used to institutionalize people like me well into the 2010s. I would give him zero stars if I could. read more

I owe my life to Dr Shane McKay who recently retired but was at BTI for a long time . Dr McKay went above and beyond the call of duty to help me through many years of dealing with mental challenges. Everyone at the BTI office treated me with nothing but respect. I don't know here I would be right now had I not spent all those years at that office. (Liz Lubin) read more

If I could give NO stars, I would. My beloved daughter suffered a serious episode of depression--so serious that she was hospitalized for several weeks. Upon her discharge, we needed to find a psychiatrist that could monitor her on her medications. Because she's an adolescent, this is a serious concern. I made an appointment with Dr. Kevin White at the Berkeley Therapy Institute. All seemed well--he accepted our insurance (which is a HUGE deal, as we're not in a financial position to pay the fees and wait to be reiumbursed) and he had availability. This morning, I bring my daughter in for her first appointment, only to discover there had been a mix up. Either I noted it in my calendar incorrectly, or the person I made the appointment with noted it in HER calendar incorrectly. The first appointment was for YESTERDAY. Uh oh, says I. So sorry. Can we reschedule? Nope. We've been blackballed. That's their "policy." Again, I explain that there must have been a mix up and take full responsibility. I explain that my daughter's mental health is at issue here. The answer is unchanged. No. Dr. Kevin White will not see your child--not now, not ever. If you're struggling with any kind of mental health issue, do not--I repeat, do NOT--make an appointment with this provider. The idea that they'd leave my teenaged daughter hanging out to dry over a SCHEDULING mix up is unconscienable. If this is how they treat potential patients, you'd be well advised to find another doctor--ANY other doctor--who has some modicum of compassion. Because this guy? He's not it. read more

Okay, so I went here for affordable therapy. What I got was someone trying to bleed me dry for 25% of my monthly income. Why? I don't know, maybe the young woman working on her doctorate needed the money for school and I was the only one she wasn't making enough money from. Sessions went well, but were often short due to my therapist being late. I eventually ran out of available monthly funds due to other issues and stopped coming her, but it could have been worse. I did get to talk about a lot of things at a time when I really needed to talk. CHAD read more

I have been a patient of Dr. Richard Levine since 1995. Bottom line, he saved my life. As a depressed, anxiety ridden, drug addicted kid in my early 20's, I was all set to take myself out as I had no hope. Not only was I able to get my anxiety, addiction & depression under control with the help & compassionate care of Dr. Levine, but I felt safe there. When I started going to the current office, I was and have been treated with respect, empathy and patience from everyone there including the reception and billing departments. I have been in quite a few medical establishments, rehabs, hospitals etc. & I have to say that I wish every office/medical group was as helpful and kind. They deal with a crazy amount of people and they all have issues. I have missed appointments and paid for them. No one was rude or threatened to stop treating me. No big deal. I have worked as a social worker with lots of doctors and I can say with certainty that Berkeley Therapy is as good as it gets. All the other doctors at this office I have been in contact with have been very helpful when I needed help & Dr. Levine was not in town. I recommend seeking help at this office as Dr. Levine & everyone there actually cares and will not shut you out like many sub par Dr's and practices. You also won't get a bunch of unnecessary medication dumped on you. Again, no exaggeration, Dr. Levine & Berkeley Therapy played an essential role in my continued existence. Thank you!! read more

I went to Dr. Cohen for psychiatry visits for about 8 months. I was suicidal while on medication he was prescribing, having trouble waking up in the morning, and he didn't listen to me. During a low point in my depression, after I thought about walking into the lake, I asked him to help me with an FMLA form for work. Work was a major stressor on my depression and I needed time to get healthy. Instead he told me that FMLA was for sick people. I think suicidal people are sick, too. He ignored my cries for help, and didn't even consider that when I was medicated but still suicidal, that maybe the medication he had me on was not working. He also assumed the worst of me, and was pretty harsh in our sessions. I stopped seeing him and cut out some other toxic relationships in my life and got better. But the following year I made a serious attempt on my life, and was hospitalized for 7 days, and after, admitted to a psych hospital for 5 more days. Doctors have to listen to their patients, and admit when they're wrong. I don't recommend this place at all. I also had a few sessions with someone who was just a student or something, and it was pretty awful. I had a tough childhood and I felt like she thought of my history as entertainment. She was a little too objective and detached about my life. My doctors are great now. I'm doing well and writing, staying close to friends. read more

This review is for Dr. Kevin White. I have been working with him for about a year and half now and hands the best psychiatrist that I have ever worked with. I am saying in all honesty since I have worked with several psychiatrist before and have had the worst luck with them. He is a great doctor to work with, really takes the time to listen to you, ask how medications are affecting me (if I am on only), explains medications well and has not pressured me to take medication I don't want to, which was a reoccurring problem I had with the last psychiatrist I worked with. His availability is pretty good and depending on your current mental state he will get you in as soon as possible if it is an emergency. He is also pretty good about returning phone calls properly if there are any concerns or questions that need to be addressed. Like I said, he is great to work with and I defiantly recommend him to anyone who is looking to start at BTI. read more

I'm a parent of a distressed teen in need of treatment for depression. I tried to initiate a connection to Dr. Levine via the BTI, and found there was no way to have human contact by telephone, so I completed their on-line intake form. The site says that I should expect contact within 2 days, so I patiently waited, to no avail. When I called back mid-day, during their regular business hours, I finally connected with a live person, but it was only their answering service. I was told that, despite me calling during stated hours, the staff were not going to be available for two more days. I called and left a message directly in Dr. Levine's voicemail, but did not hear back from him or the BTI staff. After waiting a week, I tried again to contact BTI during posted business hours, and could not connect with a live staff member. I left another message with Dr. Levine's voicemail. Over a week later I had not gotten a single reply by BTI staff or Dr. Levine. They could have the courtesy to contact me and acknowledge my request, even if there are no openings - that would at least close the loop so I would know to turn elsewhere. The Institute and the doctor both are incomprehensibly unprofessional, in my opinion. This is no way to treat a frightened parent and a teen in time of critical need. So I hope they read this review and re-examine their intake process. read more

I worked with Dr. Daniel Goldstine back in 2017. I had approached BTI due to a recent breakup, a shift in work environment and subsequent stress from these major life decisions. I was looking for someone schooled in CBT and talk therapy to help me come up with a coping strategy and self-care plan. I was also diving further into the ways that privilege has affected my life as I entered into more social justice minded spaces. After a phone consultation I went in for two separate sessions with Dr. Goldstine. There were a number of red flags when I visited this place. The first was that he "diagnosed" me with depression soon after meeting me and asked if I wanted medication for it - while he wasn't a psychiatrist, he knew someone who could help me out. Seemed too soon in my opinion, but whatever. He then told me that I should reach out to my ex and refer her to him for therapy as he believed he could help her and save our relationship. He told me he worked with Daniel Kahneman (Nobel prize winner and author of Thinking Fast and Slow) while at Cal and that he should have been credited in his book. He also told me I shouldn't worry about my role in society as a white man - in a strained, tense voice he said that he had built the Berkeley Therapy Institute over the years and even bought the property and how dare I suggest that it was because of his privilege (I did nothing of the sort - this is a textbook white male fragility response). Also, dude, it likely did play a role. So pretty much this guy was unprofessional to say the least and didn't even come close to the level of my subsequent therapists. At times I wondered who was the therapist and who was the client. Additionally the billing department charged me multiple times for visits months after I had attended the facility and it took multiple contact attempts to get them to stop sending me these "missed payment" bills. Most therapists in private practice don't have the luxury of a billing department, so I was disappointed by the lack of accountability here. I realize now that I should have billed them for my time. read more

do not go to this place i beg you! they charge top dollar like $300 and they are all over the place and there is a huge chance you will get a 25 year old intern the psychiatry only wants to have no liability and they treat you like a mouse in a test and not like a human being i beg you to not go to this horrible institution. read more

The verbiage in the website seemed to indicate that this would be a place that would help people who are suffering from some very debilitating mental conditions. All of the bios evidenced highly experienced individuals who appeared to be committed to helping. Unfortunately the website does not reflect reality. First, it should be updated to indicate which staff is not taking new patients. After two attempts to find a therapist in line with my needs, I was told that they are not taking clients. So be it, but the last staff member was dismissive, cold and short. I do realize that they are also busy but remember who you are dealing with,very fragile people. After my experience with them, I went to Yelp to read the reviews. Perhaps I should started there. read more

The reason I chose BTI was because the psychiatry was cheaper than a lot of places. However, I've never been satisfied with my doctor there. I find her condescending. She hasn't been available for conversation in emergencies -- she just wanted to make an appointment -- and when I've mentioned concerns about the potential for dangerous side effects, she didn't seem to think it was a concern (I understand that it's about risks but I also think that bad side effects should at least be considered.) I also find it difficult to reach the front desk and they can be pretty condescending. Basically, the reason I haven't left is because I haven't found something cheaper, but it's on my to-do list. read more

Dr. MacKay has helped me over the years and he is the most personable, compassionate, professional and intelligent psychiatrist I've ever met. To know that he is in the Bay Area is very reassuring. Jenena Hansson Walnut Creek, CA read more

Never answered my email and their phone tree only leads you nowhere. When you need help and you reach out and get crap it ain't nice. Oh, and their website says they take Beacon/Alameda Alliance but they don't! read more

I've been seeing Dr. White for several years now. I moved to the peninsula a year and a half ago but I have continued to see Dr. White because he's the best doctor I've ever had. He always answers my phone calls at the end of the business day (usually around 7pm-8:30pm) and at times I have needed to talk to him urgently and he has been available through an answering service, even late at night, to help if it's urgent. My only (minor) complaint is that the front desk hardly ever answers the first time I call and sometimes takes a day or two to get back. The admin team is great but they are busy. read more

Add Kevin White to the superb team (McKay, Levine) at Berkeley Therapy Institute. As a new arrival to the area (but very experienced), it is not difficult to get an appointment. He is an intelligent, compassionate clinician with excellent assessment, diagnostic and treatment skills. He is a great listener, works collaboratively, and has been "on target" with each of his suggestions. He works well with men or women. read more

I have been going to psychiatrists for the past 15 years and have had a few. On top of that I work in the mental health field and know just how hard it is to find a good psychiatric. After moving here 4 years ago, I began seeing Dr. Kevin White and has been by far my best experience with a psychiatrist. He is friendly, takes the time to connect, and listen, and knowledgeable. I met with him monthly for 30 min sessions, which was a huge change from the 15 min session every three months I had gotten at other places. I felt like he understood what I was dealing with and used his expertise and human concern to help me. He also never made me feel like he was just trying to give me drugs or sell me the newest thing some pharmaceutical rep had pushed on him (another experience I have had in the past). Each session he would check in with other non-drug treatments I was doing to help with my depression like excessive, diet, meditation, sleep hygiene, an psychotherapy (They offer psychotherapy but I was already seeing another therapist before I began coming to the BTI and was only interested in their psychiatric services) Additionally, after being on the same medications for 9 years and most o f my symptoms had gone away, we both thought it would be a good idea to try and get off the meds to see if still need them. under his care i slowly weened off the medications. Within a relativity short time I fell into a full on Depression and we both decided it would be better for me to resume medications. During this process Dr. White He was supportive, knowledgeable, helpful and attentive. He was accommodating and the few times I called in crisis he would quickly return my call. The depression was a horrible experience, and truly helped knowing I had a supportive, and knowledgeable ally helping me get through. I can not say enough good things about the treatment I received at the Berkeley Therapy Institute from Dr. Kevin White. I for whatever reason you importunately need the services of a psychiatrist, I highly recommend Dr. White. read more

Dr, Mckay is a saintly shrink. I use him to adjust my meds. Depressed, anxious and mildly bipolar, I have struggled with phd mds and my diagnosis which varies. I have been in talk therapy since I was 15 so longer than woody allen... and this Great Doctor has no judgment and helps me filter though the meds.. like why " THAT" and not THIS. Its is old school Berkeley. Love the comments from the person living behind the place. Or the irate mother who missed her daughters appointment was asked not to return...I travel from San Francisco. ALL is quiet on this front. laugh often and hard. at yourself. at anything. read more

I had a terrible, dispiriting experience with Dr. Levine that set me back for years, as he talked me out of treatments that later saved my life. He once even let me wait while he talked on the phone with his stockbroker--I went upstairs from the waiting room to ask the front desk what was going on, and he had his door cracked; I heard him talking to his broker, not even caring if I heard (or assuming I was downstairs and couldn't overhear). He was the same way inside the office: incredibly dismissive, sometimes contemptuous. I don't know if she wrote here too, but a user on Levine's individual Yelp listing had a similar experience to mine. I wrote there too, and I recommend people considering him read her review as well. Both of us had the fun experience of being told that our experiences were completely invalid. Dr. Levine took me off of the right medicine for me rather than take me up to a therapeutic dose: this medicine, later prescribed by a good doctor who's since retired, was the most effective treatment I've ever had. I didn't need it, said Levine, because the illness I have since been properly diagnosed with and came to him having been diagnosed with (Bipolar II) "doesn't exist." It was in the DSM IV, but I couldn't have had it, because he didn't believe in it or didn't want me to believe it was possible that this was the cause of my exactly-the-symptoms-listed-in-the-DSM-IV symptoms. He talked me out of doing an outpatient day program because it would be of no use to me to be there at a place for people with "real problems" (or something similar to that). He told me that he had treated people with serious mental illness, and that I wasn't one of them, suggesting that I was exaggerating things as though I thought having bipolar disorder was romantic or something. I was so suicidal as to essentially be homebound, and he told me what I needed to do was stop thinking of myself a writer--that's...my job?--and thinking that I'm some special suffering artist. I needed a real job and to basically accept that I'm no special snowflake. And I'm not: I'm among the approximately 25% of people in this country who's experienced mental illness in her lifetime--and I experience it every day, severely, to the extent that I'm working on getting on disability. (I'm on the right medicine now and it changed my life profoundly, but this never really goes away for me, and I'm currently adding antidepressants to the medicine (Lamictal) that really changed my life and which I'll always take.) I've been severely sick since my early teens, and I made some little flirts with suicide in elementary school. I brought up a frustrating, near-incapacitating and very, very real problem with self-sabotage, and he scoffed and said he always heard from people saying they would be president if not for self-sabotage, as though this couldn't be an issue with me at all and that I once again just thought I was special and should snap out of it--that that was my only problem. A side effect I was having from an antidepressant "wasn't possible." Well, I had a friend who'd had the same experience, and, as the other reviewer I mentioned said, everyone is different. You'd think a grown man, a physician no less, would know that. I came to Dr. Levine because he has a great reputation. I regret it deeply. It was only like eight years later--for a while I just gave up on psychiatrists altogether, suffering horribly but not even bothering because I'd had two terrible experiences and felt like no one could ever help me or even pretend--that I got on the very medicines, with the very diagnosis, that Levine dismissed entirely. They were exactly what I needed and exactly what I was suffering from. To this day I marvel at the memory of a widely respected psychiatrist cutting into my appointment, with his damn door partly open, to talk on the phone with his psychiatrist. If you see Dr. Levine, that's where your money's going. I have heard good things about Dr. McKay. I wish I'd seen him instead. To this day I get very upset thinking about Dr. Levine and what those intervening years could have been like if he'd kept me on that medicine and not talked me out of getting the intensive day treatment I needed. I spent the next year in bed at my mom's house, battling nonstop thoughts of suicide. Thanks, Richard Levine. Turns out my experiences are real. read more

BTI has terrible availability -- at first appointments are available every week or so, but then shortly after appointments stop becoming available until you're scheduling 2-3 months in advance for each one. They're dishonest with their missed appointment charges -- sometimes charging even for a cancelled appointment. They're unclear with their insurance and deductibles and their rates are astronomical; they've increased to $475 / 45 min. The sessions themselves are extremely unhelpful. Their doctors aggressively push medications with proven histories of troublesome side effects, like Buspar, which aren't recommended by contemporary psychiatrists for most conditions. BTI is terrible at medication management: they limited the supply of medication I'd been taking for years, forcing me to come back into the office regularly for "counseling" when I only needed medication management, and before I knew it I'd been charged $1k+ for these appointments, when previously the office had told me that my insurance would cover it. Most of my sessions here were spent literally waiting for my psychiatrist to look something up on the internet for 30-45 minutes, so that he could meet the time limit for the session, then being handed a *paper* prescription and charged $475 for the privilege. Avoid at all costs. read more

I have been seeing Dr. Levine for over 20 years for anxiety related issues. I never once had any issues with this doctor or this practice. If it were not for Dr. Levine, I don't know what would of become of my life. He got my anxiety in check in short order and on the road to recovery fast. 18 of the 20 years have been follow ups. I could not imagine seeing someone else as Dr. Levine was highly referred and has one of best reputations around. Price could be steep for some but when your life is at stake, don't limit therapy by a price tag. Go with the best and only the best. read more

Terrible, they never pick up the phone or respond to voicemail so I have no clue how to set up an appoitment or get my perscriptions renewed. Dont put your life in their hands. Theyre in it for the money. One doctor literally started dozing off while I was pouring my heart out. Dont waste your time read more

I called the institute to make an appointment with their nurse practitioner. The receptionist started to ask questions as if she was doing an intake, and after a few questions, I asked how much the price was. She quoted $350 for a visit with the NP. I told her that was too much (!) and to please delete the info that she had already collected from me. The next week, the NP called me to set an appointment. That's weird, I thought I told them to delete my info. I asked her about the price and she said that the visit is actually $220. Still steep, but more doable, so I decided to call the BTI office to start over and set the appointment. I gave my name to the front desk, and the receptionist confirmed that I'm still in the system. I told her, that's surprising b/c I told the last person to delete my info. She said that it's hard to delete information from the system. Why would it be hard to expunge a person's basic information from a database, especially when she's not yet a patient? That seems to be a red flag in terms of their ability to deal with private information. I expressed concern and, instead of just apologizing and saying she'd look into the problem so we could move on, she told me that she would have the nurse call me back because if I was already having an issue with the office, then I should not seek services at BTI. So, in summary, their view is that if you have feedback about the business side of their establishment, you need to speak to a mental health professional and preferably not at BTI. If the staff reacts to multiple mistakes that they made by pathologizing the person who registers concern about those mistakes, that's good information about the way BTI thinks about the people seeking services from them and their ability to be accountable in general. read more