Kaiser Permanente Health Education and Psychiatry Offices

I am very grateful to the people who have helped me and my group focus on the issues facing our situation related to stresses that seem so out of control. It was a healing time today when we discussed the roles of expectations and how to better manage our thoughts, emotions, and feelings. It was quite eye opening actually to learn and acknowledge we have the freedom to choose and think how we will react.
It was very healing. I realize that it is all a process that we have to undergo. It isn’t easy by any means. I came a little too early and thought I would have to return later, but fortunately I was able to participate.
This place is so safe, comforting, and just a healthy space where we all can share what is going on in our crazy lives. It is beyond nice to know that we are not dealing with similar issues alone. I also learned that we all care too much and we all take our work too personally and we should not allow stress to kill us.
I am learning so much it is nice to know that things have to change in order for us to grow into better functioning people who lead happy lives.
Thank you to the Kaiser therapists and doctors who make healing and health such a priority and allowing us to remember we need to take time for our own well being. In the modern society we live in, it seems that life is on auto pilot and there is just no joy to life. But I am starting to see that light in the tunnel, the light in the tunnel is this thing called hope, and we must never forget that we have so many choices to choose happiness over depression.
I am grateful to have the best health insurance coverage available. Kaiser staff is truly the best and I am thankful to have these programs that is slowly leading me to my renewed sense of purpose and back to a life that is truly worth living.
Thank you Kaiser staff, you really are like angels here to help. I admire and respect the work that health professionals do because you just know when people care. I will never ever leave Kaiser and am proud to be a long time member.

I walked out of there feeling more upset and depressed than I did going in for help. These people don’t care about anything but money. Kaiser Permanente is the worst!

UPDATE:
In short I was exploited for medicare fraud (for $ 35,000).
This is a company that encourages the industrial-​identity, money-​minded, career-​furthering concept via exploiting imbalances power rather than working hard and honestly.
I was patronized and institutionalized twice for what they declared in paperwork as «a precautionary measure»; or as I call it «the completely unregulated easy way to exploit people for medicare fraud» since the regulation is a complete joke. I have recorded phone calls where I tried to report issues and I was ignored by KP and 25 other organizations telling me they didn’t need proof, all institutionalized/​labeled people are automatically wrong.
I was told that «opinions by authorities» didn’t require evidence or reason.
The first time they said they thought that I secretly thought I wanted to hurt myself.
[I didn’t think they could do that with non-​existent thought crimes]
When I tried to explain what was going on at the clinic they sent me to, the clinicians asked me what I was being accused of, I repeated it, and they put it down that it was my confession.
I was held for 10 days being told they wanted to check my bloodwork.
I looked later online and found this is a typical way the clinic they sent me functions, as a way to hold people for extra time to commit medicare fraud.
The second time they said complaining about being exploited meant I was suicidal (how does that make sense)?
Both times they asked for police assistance to force me into their care without any reason or evidence provided to indicate something was wrong.
Now I’m $ 1,500 in debt, and they took in over $ 35,000 in medicare (fraud).
What services did I receive?
1.) Being held for 10 days in a clinic on a 5150
2.) Getting zero therapy, but being told «silence/​complacency training» was therapy
3.) Being victim blamed for past exploitation and oppression
4.) Being told reporting exploitation isn’t a duty/​concern of theirs [association oaths dictate otherwise]
5.) Being told to «see the good in abusers» [Hitler was used as in an analogy]
[I have that recorded]
6.) Being institutionalized twice for zero reason
7.) Encouraging the police to harass me
All of their arbitrators just sided with their employees and told me employees are right no matter what, and that no one needed to care about the law, human rights or my well being.
I was basically just laughed at.
And the reason why I signed up for KP?
To get a tooth extracted. Which was never extracted!
They didn’t even contact Delta Dental to get me a ID # or card until my second to last month with them!
I didn’t get it extracted because I’m on disability and it cost over $ 400 with insurance to have it extracted after I was told it would only cost $ 330.
These people took a broken life and basically stomped on it (with a pompous, huffy attitude).
Professionalism? None. Do they care about their clients? Factually not. To make that claim would be absurd.
I was never even asked how I was [health or mental health wise] by any of their doctors or therapists. They only asked what services they could sign me up for in order to increase their medicare flow.
Seriously.

This is more like a 3 ½ because appointments with therapists and doctors are difficult to schedule. That said, the majority of people who work here are extremely nice so it’s worth waiting if you can stand it. Classes are excellent. I started coming here in May after asking my primary care doctor for a referral. I discovered that mental health services had been added to my Kaiser plan and decided to try coming here to avoid paying for outside therapy. A couple weeks later, I had my intake appointment. I did not care for the therapist who did the intake. She minimized my symptoms («You aren’t really depressed, you’re just dysthymic. You’re only suicidal a few days a week and you haven’t lost weight.» That did not make me feel too great since it wasn’t true. It took another 3 weeks to get an appointment with my assigned therapist. The intake person also enrolled me in an anxiety class with Dr. Willner that began in the second half of June. His 10-​week class gave strategies for dealing with anxiety. After a few sessions with the original therapist, I didn’t click with her (I felt worse after therapy) so I asked for a different one It is very easy to change if one is not comfortable with the assigned therapist. I am happy with my current one, although, since August, I have only been able to schedule 3 appointments with her. It is possible to be on a waiting list but I haven’t had any luck getting more than 1 or 2 sessions per month. Ideally, I would like 1 or 2 per week. During my time at Kaiser Wateridge, I also took a codependency class. This lasted 8 weeks and was VERY helpful. Finally, I took part in the 3-​week Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for depression. This is held MWF 9am-​12pm and incorporates light exercise, medication questions, discussions, and tips. For someone who is depressed, just getting out of the house can be tough. So I found that this program helped to me break out of that pattern. As I stated earlier, the classes are the greatest strength of Kaiser. I wish that it were easier to schedule regular appointments with therapists as we were advised to ask our therapists about certain things during the group sessions. While I still have a lot of work to do in order to feel better, having support from the Kaiser staff and other patients gives me some hope that it will be possible.
Check-​in is on the first floor through the doors to the right as you walk into the lobby. The parking validation is located at the information desk to the left. Restrooms are straight ahead and to the left.

It’s located about 15 minutes from home, so I should say right off the top that this is one of the main reasons I chose Water Ridge to begin with. but after becoming a patient, i came to appreciate the people who loved their jobs and seemed to take great pride in their work most of all. i have never liked going to the doctor, and my visits to Water Ridge are probably the closest i’m ever going to get

I take my mother in law here and yet another canceled appointment from this god awful place, they are very unorganized and at this point useless.

I will update my rating if I EVER manage to get an appointment at this location without it being canceled or having to go through another ghetto «receptionist» (the second of whom put me on hold for 6 minutes and then hung up on me because I asked for the area code when she gave yet another phone number to call in an attempt to get an appointment). okaaaay. I have been trying to get an appointment for 3 months now with a specific doctor and I give up already, which I imagine is what they want. With all the money Kaiser gets for «care» that people can’t seem to ACTUALLY RECEIVE, you’d think they could hire qualified people for customer service. it’s great managed care all right: with little actual «care» THEY MANAGE TO SIPHON CASH OUT OF MY WALLET EVERY MONTH FOR, WAIT FOR IT… ***NOTHING***!!!
Four months later I got an appointment. Have to wait another 6 weeks to see the dr again. Cool. Not. «Thrive»? Hah!

I really like this Kaiser location. I find the professional services they offer at this location are always just that, professional.
Without going into my personal medical history, this Kaiser location offers a host of different services that my GP doesn’t. And they do a good job with it. There have been times I haven’t been satisfied with my caregiver or admin service, and the administration seems to be responsive to my concerns.
The only advice or problem I have for this Kaiser location is that the traffic at the parking payment booth can be really frustrating at peak periods. I wish they had more than one place to pay and leave.

I made an appointment with a psychiatrist to discuss options for anxiety. I was given an appointment date and time and the name of the doctor I’d be seeing, but when I received the appointment reminder by phone, the name I was given was that of a completely different person, a licensed social worker.
I called the facility, confused, and to say that the receptionist was no help would be an understatement. She interrupted me constantly and succeeded in making me feel like I was annoying the crap out of her. She kept sighing and cutting me off in mid-​sentence. I felt as if she was going out of her way to make the conversation difficult. I received the same unfriendly, unhelpful service in person. It was like the receptionists were herding cattle rather than greeting and directing patients.
On my second visit, the person who checked me in was nice, but failed to give me any instruction on where I was supposed to go, and as a result I waited in the wrong area (the same waiting room I had used on my first visit) and was 20 minutes late for my appointment, even though I had arrived 15 minutes early, as they advise.
By contrast, the doctors here are absolutely amazing. If you can get past the awful service on the phone and in the reception area, it’s actually worth it for the quality of care you’ll receive. At least this has been my experience so far. I have nothing but great things to say about the medical staff, but this facility needs work as far as operations in reception go and it would be so incredibly nice if the reception staff was made up of kind, welcoming individuals.
You also have to pay a dollar each time you come for parking. Without validation it would be much more, but you still owe a dollar every time.

They have the rudest receptionists I’ve ever experienced at a kaiser.

I am not thrilled with the counseling care available through my Kaiser plan. I didn’t really want to go to therapy in the first place, but I am having difficulty balancing my work and my personal stress, while still trying to afford time to do things that are good/​fun/​healthy for me. I am one of those people that gives and gives and forgets about myself, and then people get mad when I take personal time because I’m not available to do their stuff for them anymore. So I called Wateridge and specifically requested to speak to someone who could help me develop the tools to balance my life, to help me be able to kindly say «no» sometimes, and to help me learn to manage stress and a little anger. I was unfamiliar that Social Workers do therapy; I thought social workers were people that helped with elder abuse, child abuse, poverty, etcetera. So I called and asked to see a psychologist, as I didn’t feel that I needed medication for clinical depression or anything requiring a psychiatrist… The receptionist said, «OK. We have one.» I was surprised and said, «all the rest of the people are psychiatrists in your facility?» And she said, «No, we have MFTs and LCSWs.» And when I asked what those were, she sighed like I was trying her patience before explaining that they were Marriage and Family Therapists and Licensed Clinical Social Workers. So I explained what I was looking for and she gave me an appointment with a woman three weeks later. I cannot even tell you how many times in those three weeks of waiting that I nearly called to cancel.
So The Big Day came and I met with a woman who asked me a bunch of questions and I got sad, teary, angry, etc, She gave me kleenex and then told me she was «The Gatekeeper» who would assign me to my therapist. Wait. Wha??? So then I told HER what I wanted out of therapy and she assigned me to the ever-​wise «First Available.» What a freaking joke.
So First Available cancelled on me. Next Available wasn’t available for another several weeks. Next Available and I did not jive at all. She only recommended I take a bunch of workshops, including a Workplace Stress course offered only on Thursday evenings, which I can not attend because I have to work. She actually said, «If your job is so stressful, you should just quit and find another job.» I SOOOOOO BADLY wanted to go back the next session and say, «OK, Next Available, I followed your advice and quit my job. I will be losing my Kaiser insurance in a few days, but I wanted to let you know that I don’t really feel better. What do I do now?» But I refrained. I returned for the next session and Next Available recommended a bunch more workshops, which I pretended to be interested in because she kept bleating about how she couldn’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. Then she said, «So after you take these workshops, I guess we could meet one more time if you want to discuss how the workshops helped you.» Yeah. No. No thanks.
I actually am going to a Mind Body Stress workshop in the Health Education department within the same facility. It is free and offered on my day off. It is two hours a week for 8 weeks. Validated parking is only $ 1. What the hell, right? No harm in it. Even if I get one little helpful bit out of each class, that is 8 bits more than I had before I began, and at least I have an excuse to turn off my cell phone for 2 hours each week. That is less stress in and of itself. It is a teensy little bit New Agey for me, but not too bad. At least nobody wears Patchouli. (Strongly scented perfumes are actually against the rules there, thank goodness.)
I might seek a second therapist at some point, but I will really try to get a referral from someone who I know. My whole thought process on going to one-​on-​one counseling was as follows: If you have a dog with behavior problems, you wouldn’t take her to a group training class to solve those problems. It would be a better use of your time and money to take her to private training with a behaviorist. Silly me. It seems that, at Kaiser Permanente at least, human behavior modification is done by having your Social Worker refer you to a group class. Hmmm…

I like this location and I like the doctors here. I feel taken care of here. If I ever have a issue (like my first doc I didn’t like) they recommend a new one. Great staff to check you in also. No attitudes here. Parking lot is underground and they have a hand car wash if you want to wash your car while you do your appointment. Only $ 10 for a car wash and $ 1 for parking with a validation. Also there is a 24 hour fitness here and a large outdoor area for walking running or playing sports all owned by Kaiser. I went for a walk with a friend the other day and it was so nice and it has lots of trees. It feels like you took a trip outside of L.A. for a minute.