Richard D Schenkman, MD

Though I only saw this guy a few times, I have strong mixed feelings about him.
He seems to REALLY care about his patients– he has to have all of your previous records, will not prescribe certain medications (as he believes they can do more harm than good), and checks up on you after hours (I got calls as late as at 8:30 at night). My mother swears by him, and continues to work with him to this day. He is also not like the typical psych that gives you your medications and then boots you out the door– no, he is ALSO your therapist. He also makes doubly sure to have contact with your doctor, dietitian, and other professionals, so that they know what’s going on with your treatment, as well.
However, there are a lot of cons that weigh on my mind. After getting home from Remuda Ranch for anorexia/​bulimia nervosa, I desperately needed a good psychiatrist. My mom recommended Schenkman, and I was hesitantly hopeful.
He’s very serious about what he does, but without insurance, you’re going to go broke– the evaluation to see him is a slick 300 $, and I believe appointments after that are 150 $? If you are a serious case, as I am, he wants you to come in 2 – 3 times a week. Yeah, impossible if you are already struggling for money in these hard times.
Also, he expects you to do a lot for him, such as: collect all of your previous medical records (a LOT for me), get blood tests, have a general practitioner, relinquish all mental health control to him (can’t have another therapist, as well), and THEN he MIGHT decide to take you on as a patient. The entire time, you are up in the air going, who is going to prescribe my medications (if you’re already on meds, that is) and what am I doing? Also, he misinterpreted things, quoted me incorrectly, and would be upset if I hadn’t done something for him (even though he hadn’t asked me to).
The office receptionist is nice, but a little distant and cooky. Also, she will forget to tell the doctor that you called on occasions. They only accept cash or check here, making it a little irritating for those who only keep easy little credit cards in our purses. If you FORGET to bring your money/​checks, you are out of luck, and the doctor will not see you. I mean, I understand why they do it (to make sure they get paid), but ugh! Frustrating!
The last thing that bugged me was that, after seeing him 3 – 4 times (driving across town about 20 minutes each time), he said that he wouldn’t see me until I was medically stable. He kept pushing and pushing and pushing for me to go into my fourth treatment centre for anorexia nervosa (which he didn’t seem to understand too well) and borderline personality disorder (which I haven’t even been diagnosed with before) at Harvard– which is all the way across the country. Of course, I cannot go into inpatient care again, because I’m literally out of money and my parents can’t afford anything more. He decided to bring my mom in and guilt-​trip her, by saying that other families would sell their cars and houses to get long-​term treatment for their children like I needed. My parents are NOT (repeat NOT) cheap-​asses. They have paid for hospitalisations, treatment centres, and doctor’s appointments on many occasions. So that just pissed me off.
So, I told him I would go to Harvard if he «would pay for it, since you want me to go so badly.» Obviously, he didn’t agree to that. The last appointment ended with me so angry that I was queasy, and him saying: «Well, I wish you the best of luck.»
Hmmmm.