After spending thousands of dollars on tests, appointments, and supplements, I am left worse off than when I started. Every appointment runs about 15-45 minutes late. She never knows anything about my case until I come in. If I need to email/phone about anything, her response is attacking (like there's something wrong with me if I have an adverse response to a medication and that upsets her or if there is an issue at the pharmacy, you are on your own). She is worth seeing if you can't get help from your GP and try lots of others. I did get one diagnosis from her that came from a test no one else would run. But if you have a complicated case and need someone who can keep atop of it, this isn't your doctor. read more

I've waited awhile to write this review. I thought perhaps I would see the experience in some new light with time, however, it has not changed. Marcey was 45 minutes late for our first appointment. I understand being unavoidably detained. However, she did not acknowledge the lateness, or apologize. When I met her inside her office, I realized that she had been the person who had come through the waiting room laden with shopping bags. I initially overlooked this, wanting to focus on getting help. Later I wondered how unavoidable the delay was. This was an auspicious beginning of the professional relationship. (As a health provider myself, I would not have handled lateness in this manner -- but, I wanted to give her a chance.) The most problematic aspect of her treatment, and the reason I left her care, had to do with demeanor. She was distant, lacking compassion, and judgmental. I felt worse after leaving her office. In terms of her clinical treatment, she offered no additional understanding, information. I have seen many western practitioners as well as eastern and alternative care practitioners, valued both, and have received great care from many. I am not a challenging person, nor a particularly challenging medical case. There are a small number of doctors I've encountered over the years whose care stands out in my mind on a continuum from unpleasant to harmful. Unfortunately, she is one of them. read more

If you are a wealthy middle-aged woman who has unlimited time and funds and is not horribly sick, you'll do okay here. If you are like me, struggling to find the $$ for alternative health care, tried everything for years and are very sick or struggled for a long time, you won't find much compassion or support over here. They strike me as being much more interested in taking money and if, somehow, you feel better, gee, they'll be happy to take the credit. The intake is $300, significantly higher than any other naturopathic physician I spoke with, but Dr. Shapiro was recommended by a trusted friend. I have since found that she has never personally been a client and had simply heard her speak publicly and perused her website. There is no question about Dr. Shapiro's medical credentials. Just like any physician, they are on the wall. What makes the difference between a truly gifted healer and a mere peddler of hope and nostrums is compassion. There isn't much of that in her office, unless, as I mentioned earlier, you are affluent. If you need real care, they will let you know in no uncertain terms they are not interested. For one thing, the doctor has a policy of NEVER speaking to her clients about their questions or concerns over the phone, unless you are willing to pay her $75 for 15 minutes (and more, if you need to chat a little longer, obviously). Instead, her patients must content themselves with e-mailing all their questions (which, if you are really sick, can take a long time as you may have a lot of questions or else are so sick that writing by computer is extremely fatiguing, or both). Otherwise, you may call and speak to the office staff - that's right, not even a nurse, just the woman at the desk. About all your personal and confidential stuff. And even if you choose to write, the same staff ;person will first read and review everything before conveying it (probably in a much truncated form) to the doctor, whereapon she will fire off a one or two sentence e-mail to you, or you may get a phone call from the staff person telling you what she said is the answer to your questions. When I confronted her with this shocking (to me, since I have had a lot of physicians and not one of them resorted to this questionable practice) she told me flatly that she has a lot of patients and it would take her a whole hour out of her work-week or more, if she were to have personal conferences with them. When I told her that this was a most unusual practice in my experience and that I had concerns regarding the sharing of my personal info with the rest of her staff (with non medical backgrounds, for the most part) she didn't blink an eye when she flatly intoned I was free to find another physician. Another quibble I have with her practice is that everyone, including her, is overweight. Not just by a little, but she and the entire staff is morbidly obese. As someone who treasures my health and has had to fight tooth and nail for it for decades and who takes exquisite care of my own body, I find confronting this level of toxicity in her staff repugnant and even hypocritical. I expect regular MD's to look like hell (obesity is rampant in the profession, higher than in the general population!) - but no a holistic specialist. That just goes against my judgement. Physician, heal thyself. So, what do you get for your initial $300 investment? About an hour in which she will listen to your complaints, possibly take a look at your eyes or have you submit to a physical, but probably not. She mostly just listens, then hands you off to her staff with a perscription of things to take. They are expensive, by the way - marked up, in fact. I found the same company's products on line for significantly less. You'll be asked to come back monthly, at $300 an hour, though follow-ups are generally 1/2 hour at $150. If you have a problem with the fact she only deigns to work three days a week, take it up with her staff, they'll be sure to tell you where you can stuff it. While not quite a racket, I didn't find the level of care here to be worth the high price tag, nor the mean-spirited mendacity of the staff if you try and complain. Steer Clear, esp. if you are truly sick and not super wealthy. read more

This place and Marcey I would NOT recommend . I went to her to get my hormones tested - due to low progesterone , and thought I'd give her a shot . First off she gave me the tests which I asked , but on top of that - she gave me a MILLION vitamins that she said would also help with the hormones ( this was even before she knew the results of the test ) . I wasn't going for vitamins - I was only going for hormorne testing. But I was stupid and put my trust in her and did it - which cost a fortune!!!!! . So weeks went by and felt no difference with vitamins - plus I didnt even know what vitamin was working and what wasn't , and why do you need so many - it was driving me crazy . The the hormone test came back - and I was a little low in progesterone ( but within range ) - so she came me some creams - and then also new kind of vitamins ( WTF) . Kept going with the flow - and that month with the creams was one of the worst months of my life - my reaction was awful , plus with the vitamins - it was making my body freak out - Went back to explain what was happening - and told her I didnt want any vitamins - crying my eyes out to her - she had no emotion plus during our session she had a person observe our appointment !!! Last thing I wanted . End result was she said to take more protesterone !!!!!!! and different vitamins - and also eat differently - but to not take this high amount of progesterone for long - what the hell does that even mean and whats the point of taking it in the first place I stop going and now writing this 6months later ( I thought of not writing this right away because I thought I could cool off and wait till Im was emotionally back on track ) But I want others to know out there - so they dont have the same experience as I do . Never saw her education backyard or where she studied from - and what women can "specialize" in a million things - how can you be an expert in everything . The best is when you see someone who specializes in "one thing" because you know their focus and continuing education is always going to be in that area Also - super expensive - even with insurance - not worth your time or money read more

My visit last week to Dr Shapiro's office had me once again feeling truly seen & heard. Her approach is holistic -- in every sense of the word. I appreciated that she really listened to me -- to what I said, to what I didn't say -- and to my pulses (as in Chinese medicine)! She then asked questions I would never have thought of. She addressed not only how I was feeling physically, but emotionally as well. Her focus on how my mental state was affecting my physical state was something I had heard about but seldom experienced in a doctor. And the fact that she now has me focusing on it too blew me away! I also loved the fact that her prescription pad wasn't the first thing she reached for. She discussed blood work with me -- not in a scary way, but in a "we just need some information" kind of way. She was very considerate of my time as well as my financial situation. She told me which blood tests were important and which could wait. I actually felt like I was making my own health decisions rather than "following doctor's orders." After leaving her office, I realized that I am feeling like I am in partnership with my doctor and that she's actually someone who empowers her patients! What a concept! read more

I have been seeing Dr. Shapiro for about 1 1/2 years, since my previous alternative practitioner retired. I had previously had blood tests for food allergies, but no one could make sense of the results. Dr. Shapiro looked at them and said, "classic leaky gut syndrome" and began treating me. It's a long process, but my life-long psoriasis is clearing up, so something is working right! As previous reviewers have stated, she cares about your emotional state as well as your physical, which is AS IT SHOULD BE!! I find her to be caring, knowledgeable and easy to work with. All that said, it's no headline news that healthcare delivery in America is BROKEN. Dr. Shapiro does not accept insurance. She will give you a super bill to submit to your insurer and she requires that you have a primary care physician who can deal with critical emergency hospitalization issues. While it is expensive to be her patient, she clearly has to operate as a business. She has an office staff of at least 3, who manage an in-house inventory of supplements that ONLY DOCTORS can carry, or that are difficult to find retail. AND she has to and deserves to make a living. I don't believe her office policies and charges make her unsympathetic, they just make her NOT a free, low-cost or sliding scale clinic. I respect her work, the way she interacts with people, and the way she manages her practice. Just because we don't have universal health care in America, doesn't mean that NO ONE deserves to have unusual care for unusual illnesses if they're willing and able to pay for it. read more

Dr Marcey is one of a kind. Her depth of knowledge and perspective is wider than but includes AMA knowledge, offering alternatives when nothing nothing else works. From her perspective on well being and health, she offered me a variety of solutions for symptoms I exhibited. My AMA doctor said there was nothing he could do. She saw me as whole as opposed to my diagnosis, yet she met me where I was at. She not only restored me to health, she restored me to a level of hope. I never go to see her where I don't come out feeling better. Like others have said, I too feel she treats both my physical and mental well being and I feel seen and respected. read more

I have been under the care of Dr. Shapiro for 8 years . I think I may understand the bad reviews for any doctor who has an alternative medicine practice after trying out different doctors. People who want to go those doctors who practice alternative medicine need to understand that it takes time to heal with the natural therapies and if symptoms get worse and are to be treated urgently , they need to go to a regular conventional doctor . Dr. Shapiro makes it clear with any patient that she is not there for urgent medical cases . Holistic doctors like Dr. Shapiro they assess the root causes of the disease or illness - they don't necessarily just treat the symptoms with a medicine just for the symptoms of the illness to keep coming back or get worse . And of course , the natural supplements and herbal medicine will be really expensive for anybody - health insurance does not cover anything natural . It's worth it to go to integrative doctor like Dr. Shapiro if you are a person tired of getting sick from the conventional medicine that regular doctors prescribe to you and want to find natural treatments that will slowly heal your illnesses that your body allowed in the first place . It's worth it also because it's really dangerous to rely on seeking advice on natural treatments from people who work at health food stores (non- practitioners ) and the Internet . I would advise to keep trying to find an alternative medicine doctor that is best suited for your needs. I left a naturopathic doctor because she was not knowledgeable about Weston Price diet principles like Dr. Shapiro was and more "vegetarian " than my liking . Dr. Shapiro was the only alternative medicine doctor who was knowledgeable about Weston Price diet principles . read more

Years ago Dr. Shapiro correctly diagnosed my son with blastocystis hominis and low IGA which contributed to debilitating gut symptoms. Children's hospital fought me all the way but after finally getting them to conduct stool test and blood tests confirming both, we were able to get referred to the infectious disease specialist st children's who was wonderful and successfully treated him. Marcy is great for adjunct care. I will always be grateful for her insight. read more

I have been to numerous doctors in the last two years, most of which whom practice Western medicine. Each time I left their offices feeling like they didn't take the time to review my case, didn't connect the dots (or look at the whole picture) and their solutions were band-aid approaches that did not fix the underlying problems (i.e. antibiotics or steroid creams); often, their band-aid treatments only caused more problems. Dr. Shapiro is uniquely and especially different. She takes the time to review my case; she actually "listens"; she demonstrates her wisdom with Western and non-Western medicine approaches; she connects the dots; she prescribes both effective and least-harmful approaches to treatment- which I appreciate. Her treatments work with the body and its natural healing processes and not against it. Dr. Shapiro models what client care and treatment SHOULD be if we were all given the care we all long for and deserve. 5 Stars! read more

I have been going to Dr. Shapiro off and on for nine years now, and am surprised by the negativity of the above reviews. I started seeing Dr. Shariro for anxiety and depression, and I did not want to take antidepressants to combat it. She put me on a supplemental regime that was very effective, and got my whole system back in balance. It is true that she is more expensive, but I found the office people to be very compassionate and fair in how they charged me. I was not wealthy at the time, making approximately 23,000 a year. They were very gracious, providing a sliding scale for office visits and a payment plan. I have my regular doctor for general office visits, and go to Dr. Shapiro to work with specific conditions that come up. In each case, what she has prescribed has helped me, whether it be for anxiety or PMS etc....I appreciate that her office uses pharmaceutical grade supplements and that she stays up to date on the latest herbal/supplments that are available for specific conditions. read more

I have never written a bad review for a business before, but I think some warning is necessary for anyone planning on seeing this doctor. She seems to be listening carefully and asks that you bring in all medications and supplements, but unfortunately she prescribed a medication for me that caused a pre-existing illness to get worse. When I asked her if she knew this might happen, her answer was "yes"! I think it was unethical of her to not tell me of the risk. I am still dealing with the effects of her negligence. Oh, and since she doesn't accept insurance, I am out almost $500 and much sicker than before I went to her. read more