My experience with HPA/Livewell was less than ideal. I have an eating disorder which I've struggled with for about 10 years and have received treatment for in the past. I was referred to HPA/Livewell after being admitted to the hospital for health problems related to my eating disorder. At this point, I was eager to receive help and recover. I was recommended to see a psychologist and a nutritionist through HPA/livewell. Unfortunately, their nutritionist did not accept my health insurance and I couldn't afford to see them without insurance. One of the downfalls of HPA/Livewell is that their clinicians don't all take the same insurance - some take one type of insurance, while others will accept other insurances. I found it confusing and therefore if you aren't happy with your psychologist, it is very difficult to change to another within Livewell. Over the course of 2 months, I spent time and money to make almost no progress. I ended up feeling worse about myself than I already did due to their disregard for patients. I'll highlight some examples below.
1) I had 2 appointments with my psychologist and she seemed helpful during these times but the whole environment seemed cold/distant. When I was talking duing our session, she didn't respond. I know this is a valid technique used by psychologists, but it was hard for me to continue talking without some acknowledgement that she knew what I was saying - maybe that was her point, I'm not sure. When the session was over, she essentially said 'ok see you soon'. I walked out of her office and when I reached the front desk, I realized I didn't know when to schedule my next appointment. I asked the lady at the front desk how far in advance to schedule my next appointmen and she said 1 or 2 weeks is typical. I've seen a couple different psychologists in my life and none of them have given me the option of how often to see them. They have always suggested a time (usually the next week). It just seemed like my psychologist was annoyed by me and didn't want to see me more than she had to. I saw her 2 weeks after my initial appointment. Then, I went on vacation for a week and my psychologist was also out of town for a while so I ended up not being able to make an appointment with her for 4 weeks. I understand that she was taking a vacation, but it still added to the feeling that she didn't want to see me - at a time when I was very unstable and needed help.
2) One time HPA/livewell called me on the day of my appointment to cancel my appointment without any explanation. During my next appointment, I learned it was because of a power outage. It was just odd that they didn't explain that on the phone. Maybe my psychologist was avoiding me? Again, I have no clue why she would do that. Either way, it was unprofessional to cancel at the last minute without a reason.
3) My psychologist offered to recommend a nutritionist that was covered by my insurance. There was a long list of options and I really appreciated a recommendation because I didn't want to waste my time and money seeing a nutritionist that wouldn't help me (ironic, I guess). I gave her a list of nutritionists under my insurance and she told me to contact one of the first names on the list. She was very enthusiastic that this nutritionist was great and super nice and I would love them. She also suggested that I email her the list so that she could recommend more options for me when she had more time to read the list. I called the first nutritionist and she informed me that she only deals with children. No worries, my psychologist said she would email me other options, right? wrong. She never contacted me, even when I followed up with an email explaining that the nutritionist she recommended couldn't see me. I was waiting for her recommendation. I trusted her and her experience in the industry. Unfortunately, she never responded and this derailed my progress. It has been over 2 months and I still haven't seen a nutritionist. I spent a very long time trying to find someone who could see me. I wish I hadn't stupidly waited for her response and had just googled everyone on that list initially. THAT would've been more helpful.
4)I left HPA/Livewell because my health insurance changed and my psychologist wasn't covered anymore. I called Livewell and told them I had to cancel my appointment. They basically said "Okay, bye!" Again, no question of why I was cancelling and why I was never coming back.
5) After leaving Livewell, I had a hard time finding another psychologist. I called my former psychologist and asked if she could recommend me a new psychologist that is covered by my current insurance. Again, it took her a long time to respond and when I did hear back, it was from the secretary. She gave me 2 names (one of which is about to retire). This isn't helpful. I needed help 2 months ago! I don't think they understand that most people with eating disorders are emotionally/mentally fragile. read more
