*after posting this review, 2 random reviews popped up in defense of this...within hours. They are…read moreboth 5 stars which leads me to believe the rest of the reviews may not be real. I am now validated in why I chose to write this. I actually came back on here to delete my review because I started feeling bad, and then when I saw the new fake reviews, I decided to leave it up. I am actually considering filing a formal complaint with the state licensing board of Psychology.
I came to this therapy center based on reviews and seeking safety and understanding while navigating an extremely difficult and confusing relationship with my ex-husband, who is a covert narcissist and also works in a high powered job. In the beginning, she gained my trust, she listened, validated my experiences, and made me feel seen for the first time in a long time. I felt like I could work on the relationship despite some deeply disturbing foundational truths. However, I felt rushed to fix the relationship before addressing the financial and emotional abuse. Something felt off. I realized a few sessions in the therapist was an associate (with a supervisor), but I wasn't informed of this. It caught me by surprise that she asked her supervisor his opinion and shared that with us. I started to feel our situation was beyond her expertise.
I stuck it out and over time, things shifted dramatically. After my ex had a 1:1 with her and shared his version of events, the therapist's attitude toward me changed completely. She began to dismiss my concerns, silence me so that he could speak but didn't silence him when he interrupted me, she minimized my experiences, and even reframed deeply painful events in ways that aligned with his narrative. Events that I told her in a 1:1 were beyond traumatic for me. She wanted us to co-parent which is understandable, but romanticizing my trauma was tone deaf.
I left the last session feeling retraumatized, unsafe, and blamed for dynamics that were rooted in manipulation and control. He is now using me firing her against me too and has now called me bipolar. A very common thing for narcissists to say to try to devalue and confuse their victim. It's not true. Maybe he told this therapist that too and she took the bait? He's very smart and manipulative. I have trauma response that is anxiety, and once you leave a narcissist they lose their energy supply. They panic. They call you crazy and start to convince others you are.
It was devastating to realize that someone I had trusted with my healing could be swayed so easily by appearances and authority, especially when working with a client already in a power-imbalanced and emotionally abusive situation. Literal facts about financial abuse and gaslighting in sessions. It was horrible. She couldn't spot this abuse. She did spot my trauma but then diminished it to please him.
I share this review not out of bitterness, but to caution others: if you are leaving or recovering from a relationship with a narcissistic or manipulative partner, please make sure your therapist is deeply trauma-informed and understands the dynamics of coercive control and narcissistic abuse. Trust your gut!!! If something feels off, it probably is.
Lisa assured me after I complained she would change things and take swift action, but I still fear for others who may experience this. What action would she take? How can this be prevented? Something horrible could have happened to a more fragile person. Maybe this review will save a life. Maybe Lisa did take me seriously and take action and make sure that will never happen again. But I can't risk it. I hope someone reading this will get some support from this and make sure they understand that not all therapists are skilled to handle narcissists or trauma. 1 star because Lisa did call me to apologize, she was very nice and helpful and told me she understood. (Fast forward a week I'm updating this to alert others she actually manipulated me and made promises that were not genuine. She was only trying to save her business and didn't care about me. She even sent me a ChatGPT response in her first response of my complaint and I let that go thinking maybe she was tired but now I see she didn't actually care.)
I just can't not warn others...something was a miss here, and it could have ended in a very different way for someone else. Most victims of narcissists end up harming themselves because no one believes them. I will say this therapist is lucky I have another therapist outside of her and lucky that I realized what my narcissistic ex had done to her. She was so easily influenced by him, a hard lesson to learn, and luckily nothing tragic happened as a result of this manipulation taking over. Thank you for reading I hope you ask a lot of questions before booking, be very careful and make sure the therapist can pivot if needed, and make sure the therapist is a good fit first. Trust your gut.