5 stars for Nathalie. She is the best, hands down the best therapist I've ever had. Laura who does scheduling is always so friendly and understanding. read more

Terrible experience, which echoes what many others have already said - Bad communication, expensive billing surprises, and a very rude and offensive manager. They also trap you into a diagnosis, as the parent. I never asked to be diagnosed, I was seeking social skills development for my daughter. It's a very odd and bad experience, avoid this place. read more

Terrible experience, absolute disappointment, lack of transparency, lack of empathy by office staff. I had to ask 3 times for my invoices to be sent. Office staff lacking human touch, rude and unresponsive. Courtney and Laura both took 5 days to respond to me and in some cases didn't respond at all to concerns or questions. I spent about $1200 and hours on testing and sessions- only to receive an email from the admin- with no context whatsoever- to list "at least 3 updated symptoms"- I replied to the email that I didn't understand- and that there are no new symptoms... she simply replied with the same exact question- again, no context, no explanation. I didn't expect to have to have to tell the admin why I'm seeking therapy, after already have completed a series of sessions. They indicated I had to re-do my intake because I was overseas for 2 weeks. On top of that- after I was already paired with a therapist, I was informed that she was fully booked and they'd need to assign me to someone else. I expressed my distress to the office manager, Theresa- who didn't offer any sort of apology or make any attempt to make me feel heard. The office staff desperately needs customer service training. Absolute garbage, huge waste of time and money. Do not recommend. After posting my review- the office manager Theresa called 3x, left 2 voicemails and sent an email- not to address my concerns, but to discuss my negative review. She informed me that their lawyers were reviewing it. They should also review the seemingly false 5 star reviews placed between all the negative ones. read more

I came to this practice seeking help but the experience created more stress due to billing issues and poor communication. I was told upfront that my responsibility would be the copay per visit, but after services were completed I was billed additional charges that were never disclosed, including time-based testing charges applied to my deductible. I was also charged more copays than the number of appointments I attended, and the provider's statements did not match my insurance Explanation of Benefits. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this directly, the issues were not corrected by the office manager. The lack of transparency and follow-through was especially disappointing for a mental health practice read more

We truly try to find the best in everyone and give benefit of the doubt when trying to resolve any issues with businesses. I rarely give a poor review. But, I feel this needs to be shared. We found a FANTASTIC therapist for DBT in Tamara. She was just starting to get to know our daughter and JUST starting to understand how to best help her. We even liked the Gearings, to be honest. However, the billing system, as other reviewers mention is completely a mess! We were overcharged, and were working through on getting a refund for THEIR mistake, they sent us a formal letter asking us to sign a NON-DISCLOSURE. In that document we were told we sign it or do not receive the refund that THEY admitted was their fault. The document also said that any negative review of them would result in a lawsuit, suing for $10,000! Of course we did not sign. Even getting set up with them with all the forms was a nightmare. Multiple times they emailed the SAME form we had each filled out at least 2x! Teresa is a challenge to work with. She is the manager, but not in charge of billing?! She said it was "unusual and not something we do", when asking for an invoice with line items about ALL the astronomical charges. Not to mention our insurance has been billed over $6,000 in addition to our payments. Our deductible had already been met prior! My husband and I wish we would have read reviews before making the decision to hire their services. Basically, Teresa sent an email today saying they were dropping our daughter from their program because we are refusing to sign the non-disclosure. Absolutely ludicrous! I am so sad that my daughter is losing a great therapist in the process. Terrible timing as she is struggling. read more

I'm sure there are helpful providers at Gearing Up. However, our experience with contracts, billing policies, and the manager, Teresa Hinton, took such a toll on my daughter's mental health (and mine), that I feel it is my responsibility to warn others. Dishonest and unscrupulous are the only words to describe the manipulation and deceit we encountered. Appointments were scheduled without our knowledge and then threats were made to my young adult daughter to charge her card thousands of dollars if she did not attend them even though they did not provide any information about where or how to attend. For a client with autism and severe anxiety, this treatment caused panic attacks and paranoia towards future providers. I have never encountered such a scam in healthcare. It has been very upsetting. Please beware. read more

Dr. Grearing was super easy to talk to and very compassionate. She listened and asked good questions. She explained the next steps and the process. read more

GEARING UP overcharged me. They were overpaid for services and refuse to refund unless I agree to sign their Mutual Waiver of Liability and Hold Harmless Agreement. This is money they agree that is owed. I would assume it to be illegal to withhold overpayments that came from a patient/insurance. Saying I will unconditionally release them. Why would they need to require someone to hold them harmless before giving back money that doesn't belong to them. This is just one of the many oddities that I experienced. read more

This review is not for June but for the office practices and their over billing. What a horrible horrible thing to do to people who are looking for help. I reached out to discuss the (over) charges, was ignored, dismissed and charged anyway. Because this was on and HSA card I am struggling to dispute the charges. What a disappointment. STAY FAR AWAY!!!!!! Very sad to take advantage of people looking for a safe space. This is NOT that. read more

June is a great therapist and she has really helped me. Gearing Up is a big time commitment, but change takes time and commitment.

The communication was severely lacking with the office staff. I was charged for sessions that they messed up on. The staff never clearly explained things and then shift the blame to you as though you were not listening. I had proof via emails that they failed to properly communicate expectations and then they charged my card for issues they should have accepted responsibility for. read more

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. THEY CHARGED ME 900 DOLLARS AT 1 A.M with no heads up. Proceeded to blame me for this mistake. Teresa was very rude and called my dad abnormal and told me to man up and take accountability for my mistakes when they made the mistakes. TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY read more

I have to agree with all of the other previous reviews about their office staff charging you well after the allotted time. I was informed in July that I had an outstanding balance from 3 years ago because they failed to submit to my insurance. So much for the no surprise billing act. They also make sure to drag out the treatment so they can get as much money out of you as possible. I'm a big advocate for DBT but find a place that does it in a year. It's incredibly sad that this business takes advantage of those experiencing mental health issues. read more

Update 12/11/24 - Gearing Up has made zero headway with resolving the financial issues they have created. I have now identified that they have double and triple billed between the insurance company and me. There are a few instances where they took payments from both of us. They are not resolving their issue and do not appear to even be trying. I am moving to get an attorney and beginning the reporting process to the insurance carrier and medical license organizations to try to get help. read more

I wish i would have read the reviews prior to calling this place. They will take your money without asking and not give it back. Never ever have I had an issue with any other places like this. I am disappointed and happy at the same time that I learned my lesson early on. read more

After firing these people two years ago on 8/9/21, they charged my credit card $50 on 8/23/23 due to an "audit" finding per my phone call. One would ask why they still have my credit card information after two years!! After firing them, there is no legal agreement in place. During a group session on 5/3/21, Sylvia Gearing hosted the group session so drunk she was slurring her words. We lost not only respect but trust after this session. After two years we cannot get rid of these people!!! Run as fast as you can to stay away from this mess. read more

These crooks charged us $50 and $20 on August 23rd after more than 2 years later. Do NOT go to this place. They made it impossible to know what it was even for. They are just flat crooks. read more

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! After I discontinued treatment, they "audited" my account and charged almost $1800 from services 6 years ago. It was relatiatory in nature. The insurance EOBs all show paid. After disputing the charge with the card, they sent a letter to the card company blaming me for not replying to letters/emails/calls over multiple months (that they NEVER actually sent), then demanded they ignore this "fraudulent dispute." They have now been holding onto that $ since April. Any fraud committed here is on GearingUp's end. Their billing department takes orders from the owners, the Gearings, and they are completely dishonest to try to cover up for their internal incompetence. read more

Dr. Sylvia Gearing is so attentive and easy to talk to. She is quick to put a worried parent at ease.

STAY AWAY! This place is such a money grab with incompetent office staff. The most frustrating experience ever. I should have listened to the other reviewers with bad experiences. I just found that their rating with the Better Business Bureau is an 'F'. We truly hoped it wasn't true as Gearing Up was recommended by another therapist specifically for anxiety and DBT. I will be telling that therapist she should remove this place from their recommendation list. They twist your words, will not have rationale discussions, have an overcomplicated intake process with unprofessional looking PDF form fills. We never knew what the appointments were for and trying to coordinator in person versus Zoom was frustrating. Please save your mental health and money by going elsewhere. read more

While the Doctors Gearing (husband and wife) are both amazing people, I'm unhappy to report that their support staff, billing, and office management are sorely lacking. My wife was being treated with their DBT therapy and was consistently being charged incorrectly for her copays. Her 'therapist' would put her through terrible guilt trips and was very unsupportive. Also, beware that we experienced a bit of staff turnover and were not notified when a staff member was not in-network with our insurance. Their billing system is very confusing and even their own billing department can't fully answer your questions about copays and why they don't bill full copays. The support group therapy was the high point of Gearing Up. the rest was not on point in any way. read more

The people in the front office are thieves!!! They talk to you over the phone and are so nice, but then you wake up with a huge debit out of your account, then they lie to you and do not return calls. I had to get my bank and the police involved before they returned the $820 that was randomly taken out of my account. VERY sweet skills therapist Reanna. I will miss her very much. read more

AVOID THIS PLACE! Please look at the reviews BEFORE you allow them to do this to you or your child. We had our appointment time changed regularly due to double bookings. You are forced to do group counselling sessions for parents (both parents HAVE to attend), but it is not group counselling. It is just a lecture, they could have done it once, recorded it and not milked every person who is trying to help their child. The charges to our card did not matchup with service dates and they overcharged us hundreds of dollars. When we attempted to talk to the billing office, we would receive no return correspondence. We cancelled their services and they immediately hit our card for over $900. They did finally contact us after we disputed the charges on our card, but they refused to acknowledge what they have said over the phone or show any integrity. They still owe us money and we have been dealing with this since June. Our insurance provider (United Healthcare) has stated that they are not allowed to charge us for some of the things they have due to their contract with insurance providers. This place preys on families who are already struggling. The billing practice here should be illegal, I am filing complaints with the attorney general and the Health Professional Council. read more

Not only did they make me feel comfortable I was heard and understood. Loving and caring and sympathetic, I'm looking forward to see how much I can achieve and accomplish read more

I've had so many fraudulent charges from this office that I'd rather close the card and reset all my other recurring payments, than deal with anyone at Gearing Up ever again. The latest charge is 8 months after our last conversation with them, which was about charges for appointments that were never set up! And for all those saying that the Gearings are sweet... sure they are! At least to your face. But years and years of unethical and rude behavior by the front office staff in your practice, as the reviews here suggest, going unnoticed by the Gearings is hard to believe. They know, condone and most probably encourage the front office to keep these practices up and fill their pockets. Wouldn't recommend, even if they charged $5 per session, even if they were the best at what they did, because of their front office staff's behavior. Will need sessions at another practice to deal the anxiety my experience with Gearing Up gave me. read more

We chose gearing up for counseling for our teenage son for anxiety issues. The DBT treatment approach gave him some solid skills to manage his anxiety, and over the school year his ability to manage his anxiety significantly improved. He had two sessions per week, and we had a parenting session as well. The program has pretty rigid treatment protocols that clients need to be aware of when deciding if this is the appropriate therapy option for them. It can also be challenging to get information pertinent to billing. Overall, though it was a very good experience. read more

I think we finally have our answer!!! Everyone at Gearing up is amazing, they care, they pay attention to our need and they respond accordingly. Thank you!!!! read more

This is an edit on a review I wrote when I was about 15-16 years old and had posted on google. I am 21 now and I wanted to go into more detail because it upsets me a lot looking back. It seems like not much has changed based on the reviews. I would NOT recommend gearing up. Many of our appointments were canceled without notification, and when we showed up not knowing it was canceled, the front desk made it sound like our fault. When we would talk to Mr. Gearing he would change what we said about scheduling and testing, so we requested Mrs. Gearing and never once got to talk to her. After all this confusion and a little bit of arguing, and since we complained to the front desk about the bad service we were made inactive, which means we are no longer allowed at gearing up. I had to leave the counselor that was helping me because the owners were mad that we expressed our concerns. These are only a few of many complications. I wanted to add that this was such an emotional experience for me as I was a teenager that was experiencing mental health issues. I was seeing a therapist and had just started getting comfortable with her. Due to scheduling issues that the front desk made that my mom made them aware of, we were banned from the facility. My mom didn't cuss anyone out. She didn't yell or make a scene. She just simply said that it was not acceptable to keep canceling my appointment and prolong my care. Not to mention, my mom was very busy and had only a few times she could bring me to therapy. I just don't want any other teen suffering from mental illness to go through what I went through. read more

Gearing Up review We feel so grateful to have found Gearing Up. The therapy that my daughter has received and the support and education they have provided for myself and my husband have been invaluable. The only drawback to this wonderful place is the maddening mismanagement in the front office and the lack of accountability for incorrect billing. Because of filing errors with our insurance company, they owe us over $1000. We've been trying to get the money back for over a year. It's incredibly frustrating. If it weren't for the compassion and excellent therapy they are continuing to provide to my daughter, I would quit this place immediately due to the poor communication and lack of transparency in the billing department. read more

Do not trust these people with your credit card information. I found about $1000 worth of charges going through my credit card statements. They told me my insurance was slow pay so they just decided to charge me. I never got receipts. I never got statements or notifications that my insurance was slow to pay. I asked them to give me copies the claim so I can call the insurance about them. They refused telling me they can't because they were submitted electronically. Somewhere in their system, they should have copies. I called my insurance who told me they didn't have any claims and they normally pay within 30 days. I called counseling center back and asked them to call and clear things up because there's nothing I can do without the claims. To my knowledge, they haven't called yet and they've still charged me. Not to mention they require two sessions a week four children plus a mandatory parenting session weekly for children. If you have to cancel for a child's activity, you get shamed essentially and told you're noncompliant and you need to make that appointment up. Two hours a week is a lot for an elementary school child. I wish I never came across these people and this practice. read more

So glad to have found Gearing Up! It feels good to be learning and implementing skills to keep my emotions steady, so I can keep my life running smooth and stay healthy. read more

They pay for fake google reviews, see the picture attached below. They're out for money & don't seem to care much for their patients. My individual therapist is amazing & I regret having to stop seeing her but this place is too corrupt to stay. read more

Gearing Up - Example of their fake reviews. It's the same review under two different names, - Counseling & Mental Health Near Me - Plano, Texas

Lisa was an excellent therapist, she really helped us as a family to cooperate well and we really appreciate the serenity in our home.

It's been said that reading negative reviews on a site like Yelp can be skewed, because most satisfied customers don't post information, only those who have had a poor experience share those. If you're vetting a therapy facility, read and heed this review. I am not the patient who experienced the truly uncaring service, it was my spouse. In my mind that makes it all the more heinous when a company is charged with striving to assist with emotional and mental issues, and instead they only make them worse through a completely unprofessional and callous business model. For me it's a worse experience, because now my spouse is wary of ALL therapists, which is borderline criminal in my opinion. Like many of the 1 star reviews on this site, she experienced an office staff that almost seemed to be going out of their way to be difficult. Missed appoints, appointments suddenly cancelled, and literally no alignment on flexibility that the wife had shared with her by the Gearings who assured her they would "work with her schedule" as she is a fellow healthcare provider. That ended promptly after the first appointment. After over 10 weeks of formulaic therapy with no sharing of skills and little results, she finally had enough when they cancelled yet another visit with no notice. This period cost us close to $4,000 for literally no new skills, and a new dent in her confidence at the hands of those who were supposed to be helping. We must now start over, with my getting my spouse to trust the process again, which will be no easy feat. We are also challenging some of the mystery billings we are seeing on the roll up of charges we requested. In truth we don't expect to get any response from that, and in all likelihood, probably more stonewalling. If you're seeking mental health support for yourself or a loved, this is the last place you should consider. It's our intent to follow up with the authorities that monitor entities like Gearing Up to at least shine a bright light on their highly unethical and money-grubbing tactics. To others who have dealt with similar stories from these guys, I am sincerely sorry and hope you're able to find the mental health support you deserve. read more

Well, I absolutely hate that I'm having to leave this review. I've had my son receiving therapy at Gearing Up since Feb. 2020. He's seen Melissa Woods this entire time and I'll say.....she is the best therapist I've probably ever come across. She has been of huge help to my then teen now young adult son. Initially I didn't have any concerns about billing. We were charged our co-pay and there weren't extra charges. However, there have been random extra charges every so often going back at least to late 2021. Our insurance policy changed so at first they claimed there was a delay in receiving payment from the insurance company. Made sense at the time. By the end of 2022 I was seeing it a little more....I called and asked about it but sadly my mom passed unexpectedly in May that year while my dad was on hospice for lewy body dementia. He then passed in March 2023. It was a lot to deal with and I was barely keeping my head above water. By the end of 2023 I was questioning the charges a lot. I was estimating we'd been overcharged to our credit card by about $600. They claimed I was wrong, Said insurance was behind in paying them. Not to worry though, we'd get a credit. I called in January 2024 and then again in March 2024. At this point I wasn't being very nice and I told them these charges seemed excessive given we have great insurance that provided us with mental health care for only a $20 co pay. The office manager was rude and not nice with regards to my inquiry. She said I should call my insurance company bc they were not paying them. She blamed it all on the "change.org" breech. I gave it two more months to settle out......and this time I dug in. I downloaded insurance EOBs, all credit card charges, copied their "statement" from 2020-2024 that was full of errors and I can now honestly say and prove....They've overcharged our credit card by over $2000 in the last two years alone. Most of it is THIS year and it's only been just over half a year. I've notified my insurance of the irregularities. They called the practice on my behalf. I've called my credit card company to dispute charges. Sadly I can only dispute charges from May, June and July. But we did it and then will help me get $1050 back from them. I've sent Gearing Up all kinds of statements / excel spreadsheets etc. I'm hearing very little back. I really looked over this super statement that was given to me for the first time in March and noticed they were billing us for group therapy sessions for likely months after he was done with that portion.....maybe my memory is off. It's when my mom passed. I've asked for all of his records to date so that I can see for sure when his group therapy classes ended. They haven't sent them yet. I sure hope they do and I really hope they match up to this "statement" I have. If they don't - I'm going to have to report them to the insurance company for FRAUD. I'd normally never believe this would be something they'd do but after finally doing the "work" and digging in......their payment process is so, so, so bad that I believe it's possible insurance fraud is as much a part of their practice as overcharging credit cards and not keeping accurate records. I'm absolutely horrified and I will NOT give in or give up. Anyone know a good attorney??? STAY AWAY FROM HERE. I honestly thought this was just an issue we may be having until I read ALL of these other stories just like mine. I feel like such an idiot. lesson learned. read more

I've had a similar experience to most on here. Rude and malicious office staff. Gearing ups practice overloads you with expensive appointments, even with insurance I was paying over $150 a week. You're not allowed to miss any appointments, even though you have minimum 2 appointments a week, sometimes 4. No flexibility, if you need to rearrange a session, first you get chewed out by the office staff, then you have to attend a "make up" session which is always MUCH lower quality than the regular appointments. Avoid this place unless you're looking to throw money into a hole. read more

They randomly cancel your appointments and don't tell you, they have insane charges for the most random things, You are required to do group therapy. My therapist seemed neurotic and disorganized. She also told me about her being raped and how an ex client saw her stepdad lull himself which is an insane thing to tell a new client on a intake session. read more

This place is terrible. Took my son here for about 9 months. His therapist, Megan, was amazing, dont get me wrong. But the office staff are extremely rude! The Drs require that you attend several sessions every week and that decision is based off the opinion of a "team" that i never met. Recently, I explained that i could only afford and only had time to take my son every other week. And was met with "that is unacceptable for his therapy" and "if that's the case then we can't see your son anymore". I thought they were here to help.... This was a huge waste of time and money that i will never get back. Also, they require that they keep a copy of a credit card on file so they can swipe that bad boy every time you walk in the door. read more

This place is despicable and I have thoroughly gone through the reviews and have noticed most of the high reviews are fake on google. Believe the low reviews as I have experienced the same treatment. I have found the number for contacting the state of TX board. Here it is (800) 821-3205. I'll be contacting the state about their ethical mishandling of my mental health. read more

Turn back now. I'm incredibly regretful to have to leave a review like this after seven (7) years of attending this practice. This practice is a hustle. The first time I started realizing this was when I entered into the DBT program. I do believe in this program, I just suggest you take it elsewhere as the current adult instructor is simply put, boring and unengaging, and they draw the lessons out. It was suggested I take DBT and the sales pitch was it was a year long course. It took three (3) years to complete. Three (3) years, at two (2) times per week every week. That's three times (3X) what I was told it would cost. A sibling of mine took the classes as well, and it also took her 2.5X what was quoted to finish the courses. I absolutely believe these programs are drawn out intentionally to increase revenue for the practice. The back office is horrendous, and their intentions are painfully obvious; profit. While I understand managing a business and a profitable one at that, healthcare is a delicate balance between profits and treatment, and this practice has not mastered the delicate art. The insurance/billing issues I've had with this practice have been nothing short of wild. At one point they overbilled me about $1500 USD and did not return the funds. I had to call and find a) they had overbilled me to such an extent and b) they kept the funds as a "credit" on my account. $1500 is nothing to balk at when the average American barely has $500 in savings. They overbilled my sibling, her friends, and my own friends who I referred to this practice egregious amounts. It's not a one off issue, I believe they over bill to stay cash positive and then say sorry when they return their borrowed funds back to you with zero interest. Their behavior in the back office is egregious. You have to ask for a statement each month, which they will not automatically send you under any circumstances, to be sure you are being billed properly. When they owe you money, they are hard to reach. If they need anything from you billing wise i.e. updated credit card info etc. they will actually enter your Zoom sessions and request the information. They completely skip calling you or emailing you, and interrupt the therapy session they are billing you for to collect from you. Then, of course, it's upsetting, so now you spend the rest of your session complaining about their behavior. Have mercy, if you stand up for yourself and let them know their behavior is inappropriate. If you request to meet with the namesake of the practice, Dr. Gearing, the office will stonewall you. They will now allow you to meet with the Gearings to complain about the back office. Additionally, the back office uses what you say in your sessions against you. Primarily, to skirt their policies and charge you for cancellations. They have a 24-hour cancelation policy, except if you have a Monday appointment, then you have to know if you need to cancel a full 60 hours in advance. If you share with your therapist in your session you are cancelling the following week, and you cancel the day before your session i.e. within 24 hours, they will tell you that "because you knew sooner they are going to charge you a no show". They also will not allow your therapist to cancel your sessions based on the conversation, but they will use you updating your therapist around your attendance against you. Completely usurping their own policy. In 2023 the cost went from a historic $50 per "no-show" incident to $115. In between this official increase they changed their cancellation price without notifying me, charging me over $50 at times. $115 for a cancellation fee is a total side hustle. Especially when they don't honor their own cancellation policy. Additionally, they stopped taking marketplace insurance which is very elitist of them. Just don't give yourself the headache. There are plenty of other practices you can go to. Just keep thumbing it past this place. read more