I wholeheartedly agree with the other poster…read more
Rita is an abysmal therapist, and I say this with the experience of good, great, and mediocre therapy sessions. She's the worst I've seen, and also the most expensive.
She actually caused active and growing harm in my own addiction recovery and marriage. As you might imagine, the harm in one of those areas fed the harm in the other. Worse, when I pointed this out, she threatened me with more harm and also took glee in the harm she contributed to. So not only does she not provide benefit, she actively harms and when confronted with that, she adds to the harm. In short, she's in the wrong business.
She also didn't know many simple facts about alcohol or alcoholism. Specifically, she didn't know how long alcohol metabolites can remain in your urine. That's a simple fact that someone with the claimed specialty should know about. She didn't know about modern, well documented alternatives to AA that have been around for over 20 years. Once again, she's nowhere near an expert on this facet of addiction, although she claims to be.
She doesn't listen or retain information that you provide her, even after 5 or so repetitions. So you can get a "diagnosis" based on flawed information because she doesn't listen to any aspects of your situation that make you unique.
She has a "one size fits all" diagnosis and recommendation for every issue. Like the other poster said, it's "go to Choices" no matter what. Alcohol, marriage issues, indigestion, stubbed toe, "go to Choices." I went, and Choices was a horrible waste of time and money and I could see how it could cause active damage to vulnerable individuals.
On top of all that, she's unprofessional. She constantly arrives late, even up to missing 25% of the session you agreed upon and paid for. She then offers passive aggressive excuses for her lateness. This is habitual. And considering how expensive it is, she should offer a refund or pro rated bill but she doesn't.
Which would be fine, but she's ruining lives. When a therapist should help someone fix their life. Steer clear, steer clear, steer clear. Luckily, there are many local alternatives that can and will help you.
I can't give a more forceful recommendation to the loved ones and supporters of those with issues: stay away. There's a distinct chance that Rita will add to exacerbation of the problem(s) at hand.
Luckily, luckily, luckily, there are local alternatives that can provide the help that you or your loved one might need.
Please find them.
