Kaiser Permanente Psychiatry — Local services in Roseville

I hated everything about my first experience with this facility. Like many people, I called because I need help, right now. I have undiagnosed ADD and the regular set of debilitating issues that come along with that. This is my first time reaching out for a mental health issue, and it was deterring.

I called for an appointment, discussed what and why, and was scheduled to come in. They needed me there a half hour early for paperwork, no problem. I imagined that I would take some assessments, talk with a therapist, and walk out with a prescription. You know, begin a road to recovery with some starting tools, follow up sessions TBD.

I was 100% wrong.

First I was charged $100 "copay". I don't think there was any co in there, but that's fine. That's what it costs for a therapy session, right?

The paperwork was filled with deeply personal questions, I was uncomfortable but I answered them all honestly. I'm there to get help after all, extending my trust has to be part of the recovery. Out comes a woman who quickly tells me that she's an "intake therapist". I have no idea what this means but it has the word "therapist" in it, so here we go! Let the healing begin!

Back in her office we go over the answers on my paperwork in detail. It's deeply personal, stuff I never talk about to anyone, the emotions are raw, I tear up on more than one occasion. It's embarrassing, uncomfortable, but this is why I'm here, right? She's a therapist and this is therapy, right?

Well imagine my surprise when we get to the end and she tells me about the next part of the process and getting a session scheduled, "you'll get a call in 24 hours to a few weeks". Suddenly I realize, she's not a therapist, she's a glorified admin, and here I've been pouring my heart out to her.

Moreover, she explains that because of my answers I have to wait 60 days before we can talk about medication for ADD.

"I don't need help in 60 days, I need help now." I tell her.

She's sympathetic. She explains that I need to get some lab work done to get the doctor who schedules the appointment.

Off I head to the labs, feeling disappointed, embarrassed, and more than a little betrayed by this process. Not to mention I just paid $100 for the privilege of someone filing paperwork for me. No help, no treatment. It's Christmas, money is ridiculously tight.

Along the way I call my wife and she suggests I check on the cost of this lab before I do it. GREAT ADVICE! Turns out the labs would have cost $311. I turned the car around and won't be returning to Kaiser for mental health care.

$411 dollars, when times are tough, all to be denied the treatment I'm requesting. Indeed to have NO TREATMENT AT ALL. What other business model works like this? You don't pay $100 in the emergency room so they can tell you to come back another day. Hell even my plumber will apply the assessment fee to the cost of repair.

$400 dollars. That's like 7+ sessions with an actual therapist, outside of the network. Which is where I'll be going.

Kaiser, if you're reading this, you need to restructure your processes and intake fees in the mental health dept.

Also, you need to coach your "intake therapists" on properly identifying their roles and setting expectations. Here, I wrote it up for you. "Hi, I'm [Name], I'll be your Intake Therapist. Just to be clear, I'm NOT AN ACTUAL THERAPIST and you will NOT RECEIVE ANY THERAPY TODAY. I will be filling out some paperwork with you for YOUR REAL THERAPIST."

Everyone else: Avoid Kaiser...

0 stars, the whole system needs an overhaul. At first I thought these reviews may have been skewed, took them with a grain of salt, but nope they're not. Heed the other reviews, they're not wrong! You will be put in a box with everyone else and treated with the same "care" and ultimately they'll just put you on medication and send you to mental health education classes. Therapist only wanted to schedule "therapy" classes instead of talk about my problems. Oh and forget trying to get a face to face appointment, it literally took 4-6 weeks for me (sounds like I got lucky getting an appointment that soon). Psychiatrist put me on medication that had HORRIBLE side effects and wanted me to keep taking it or switch to other drugs I explained I had problems with in the past. This whole thing is designed to be done as cheap as possible and it's painfully obvious. I'm currently trying to get Kaiser to help cover my actual therapy costs but it's been TWO MONTHS and I'm yet to get an answer (shocker right?!). I'm also being treated as if it's my fault that I've sought outside treatment to get better. Forgive me for wanting to not wanting to feel suicidal anymore.

How am I healing without Kaiser's "care" now? I've had much better results with meditation (free), Qigong (parent form of Tai Chi, also free), and neurofeedback therapy (unfortunately not free but amazing results where the only side effect is feeling better). All of those combined have brought me some relief.

If you do go here, PLEASE think for yourself and research the medications and "therapies" they want to prescribe you before you take them as there are other ways to treat mental health disorders that won't make you chemically dependent on designer drugs, especially if you're only experiencing mild symptoms...

I went to Kaiser for a mental health evaluation, expecting to have a poor experience and be pushed toward medication. I almost cancelled my appointment after seeing the reviews and learning that I was going to talk with an intake clinician. I've been looking for a diagnosis and struggle with a physical illness condition, cptsd, depression symptoms. I also suspected asd and/or a mood or personality disorder. I had a hard time connecting with counselors and therapists in the past. The clinician I met with was surprisingly understanding. She even asked a follow-up question about my health condition that made me feel seen. She seemed knowledgeable about childhood trauma, bpd stigma, and that asd can only be recognized at certain levels at Kaiser. We didn't even discuss medication or group therapy. I felt led to the right next step, a therapist referral and dbt therapy (which I've never tried). After a scheduling error, my clinician even made the effort to call back on the same day and patiently explain her error. I was impressed with my clinician, the building cleanliness, and the resources I was pointed toward. After reading the reviews, I hope this experience wasn't some facade and perhaps it was most helpful for my...