I want to start off by saying if you are looking to for care and support with mental health, this is NOT the place to go. I began seeking treatment for PTSD after being referred by my primary care in January. I had a wonderful intake process where Rebecca, who did my initial appointment, made me feel valued and heard when it came to my treatment and wellness. She was empathetic to what I was going through, and supportive when I expressed feeling most comfortable speaking with a female psychologist. I left feeling hopeful and motivated after my intake.
Everything since then has gone downhill to the extreme. I see Laura Selle as my psychiatrist. On our first visit, I expressed exactly what I went over with Rebecca, and included that I pretty routinely have bad reactions to most medications. My goal was to start things slow given this- hoping to treat my insomnia first to get me sleeping and then following anything in additional she thought I needed. I was immediately put on 3 different medications, and saw her after a month with worsening symptoms of all issues than when I started. Each following visit, she continued to up my mood stabilizer even after expressing I felt my anxiety had been worse, and even went up to 4 days without sleep. I have tried, and been on in the last 2 months: lamical, seroquel, prazosin, Ativan, trazodone, olanzapine, clonidine, and lorazempam. I have never felt more unheard or like medication was just being thrown at me in my life. It never felt like Laura was attempting to hear or understand my symptoms, and she gave me push back when I told her I felt like my symptoms were worse than they'd ever been and it was my wish to come off of everything until I found something that worked well for sleep.
In the midst of weekly appointments and new medications, if I ever had any questions about anything, the office staff was extremely rude, condescending, and unclear with their information when I called in with questions. I spoke to Laura about this in early February, and she was sympathetic, stating that this was a reoccurring issue she heard from patients and to ask for her directly next time. In early March, when we started Trazodone, she requested I give her a follow up call after 3 days to discuss any reactions, mania, or if it had helped with sleep. I also asked during this same appointment about FMLA, and Laura said she would be happy to fill out any forms for that. I did have side effects, and I called on Friday as requested. I didn't receive a call back, so I called again Monday. With no follow up by Wednesday, I called again and was transferred to an answering machine. I received two call backs, one from a secretary also named Laura. I expressed on the second call to secretary Laura that I didn't appreciate the ways I was being spoken to, and that my provider had asked me to call her directly. She said to me that she was busy with other patients, which is valid however Selle had TOLD me to call. Secretary Laura also told me to keep in mind that Selle did not have to fill out the FMLA form for me, and that this was being done as a favor. I wasn't even aware Laura Selle had my form, as there were things on the form Unum sent me to fill out for myself. I had no idea what form, if any, she had, nor could I discuss my concerns with the trazodone. I called last Thursday morning and left another message, expressing that I would like to talk to Laura Selle, my provider, directly.
No one ever called me back, so I reached out to my primary care who was extremely alarmed by my experience this far. I am moving the rest of my care back to her until I can get in elsewhere. I finally received a call back, but from secretary Laura, who said Laura Selle wanted me to see another psych and today. I forget the name she gave me, but I explained as I have explained to Laura a number of times, I work a 9-5. I also have the appointment for the sleep specialist Laura asked me to see- however never gave a referral which I got with a single phone call to my primary care. I didn't want to have to explain this all over again to the secretary, along with the fact that I have advocated a number of times that I am only comfortable seeing females during my treatment. The name offered to me today was of a male. With this in mind during my first visit with Laura Selle, I was pushed to see a male psychologist named Mike. When I said I wasn't comfortable, she told me he had Sesame Street tattoos...? And that he could really help me with my PTSD. It was pushed firmly, so I felt like I had to say yes. That appointment was also a horrible experience, where I was barely spoken to and told to go home and watch YouTube videos of this famous psychologist Mike was VERY excited to tell me he met. It felt like a fan event for this woman, with absolutely no feedback other than "holy shit" on the small bit of trauma I did share.
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