I normally don't write negative reviews, but my experience with Dr. Robbins left me deeply…read moredisturbed, especially during our last couples therapy session.
One of the most concerning moments was when he told me that my childhood trauma was my "perception." I shared that my mom would wake me up in the middle of the night to console her through panic attacks. I then asked him if a child being molested by a parent would also be "perception," and he said yes. He later clarified that perception doesn't mean it didn't happen--but using that word felt extremely invalidating. When I expressed that, he dismissively responded, "Okay, I just won't use that word if you don't like it."
Throughout our sessions, he emphasized "self-control." When I shared that I believe control and self-control are often used to push away feelings, he immediately told me we could not work together. When I tried to explain my perspective, he shut down and refused to share his own thoughts.
During that same session, he disengaged almost completely--remaining silent and appearing to stare me down. He said he didn't want to "argue," but I was simply expressing how I felt. Therapy should be a safe space to communicate openly, not one where a therapist withdraws when challenged.
There was also a situation where my wife stormed out of last session because I didn't want to spend our 45 minute session going through a 50-page workbook. I preferred to do that outside of session time. Despite this, Dr. Robbins placed the blame entirely on me.
And because I kept urging Dr. Robbins to look at the underlying root issues in our relationship, he acted very childishly by using that same approach in a crude way on me. My wife lost our family 500k by gambling it away in stocks and crypto. He asked how it made me feel and what trauma that was coming from. Obviously, it makes me feel like I don't matter, but I want to break the cycle of my childhood trauma where boundaries were not allowed, and I want to set boundaries with my wife. When Dr. Robbins heard that, he didn't care to respond, because his main goal was to one up me by using the root cause methods I was urging him to use.
At another point, he asked, "Where do feelings come from?" I said the inner child, and he responded, "No, it comes from behavior."
I am always talking to my son about feelings and emotions, and after the session I told him what Dr. Robbins said about feelings not coming from the inner child. My six-year-old son's immediate response was, "what the h*ll." Even my six-year old son is emotionally smarter than Dr. Robbins.
I would not recommend working with Dr. Robbins because he uses his pain and his coping mechanisms to dictate the session. After ten sessions, we had no real improvement in our relationship.
