Sharon Packer MD

I had more of a «weird» experience than what I would call a «bad» one. Her communication was actually really great; called me back right away, accommodated my urgency, and was able to email back and forth very quickly. That was the only good part of the whole experience. When I got there, her desk was completely cluttered and honestly, I was afraid the paperwork I gave to show her would get lost in the shuffle. There’s an expectation and standard I expect when I go to a mental health office. This was not comforting not to mention the plethora of tchotchkes and just «stuff» everywhere. It was distracting, but not in a good way. She’s rather hard to understand when she speaks and she never really looked at me when I was speaking. like she was thinking a million other things while trying to also interpret my situation. I don’t think looks matter either, but the headshot of her on the website and this site is misleading. She looks like an absent– minded professor… not a professional MD… honestly, I am more put together even when I am being strangled by anxiety.

She is horrible. Her office is like a hoarder’s mad house, but that’s not the point. She does not really listen to you, even when she is the one who asked a specific question. Her only aim seems to be prescribing medications (I ended up with 4 different medications to be taken on a daily basis), completely ignoring you when you have (medically documented) side effects — she would just treat them by adding an additional drug. Her visit lasts no more than 5 – 10 minutes, just the time to write down one or more prescriptions. She made me feel extremely uncomfortable with her attitude and comments.
The last straw was when she give me an appointment at 8 am and did not show up. When I called her to ask what was going on, she told me that I was the one who missed the appointment… that she said was scheduled for a few days before… but she had actually written the date and time of the appointment on one of her cards, so I know I had it right. She ended up sending me a letter to charge me with $ 65 for the no-​show. I didn’t even bother to reply… If she formally asks me for the money, I will just take out the card with her handwriting and the correspondence we had after the missed appointment. And will take the whole matter to the Board. Stay away from her, period.

I don’t usually write reviews but I had to speak out about this woman. First off, her photo is very misleading, looking as if she is a professional doctor, when in person, her office is like a hoarders house and she was a mess of a woman. Second of all, I’ve never felt more disrespected by a doctor. She barely listens to anything you say, constantly yells «WHAT» at you while you’re speaking, and is overall just a rude and insulting person. She made me feel 100 times more anxious and all I would say is save your money and don’t waste your time with this woman who should not be practicing.

I originally got her name from my insurance who told me if I saw her I’d be fully covered. She said she would accept my insurance then she said she wouldn’t. I showed her that she does in fact have a contract through my insurance company (I called them 3 times to verify with 3 diff reps) and she then told me I would have to pay the full price of the visit until I met my deductible. I told her, I already spoke to the insurance reps and they assured me the deductible will not apply for mental health visits or CBT. At hearing this she declined to take me as a patient.

I’ve just returned from a first appointment with Dr. Packer. Like many others who have posted reviews about Dr. Packer I have never done so before. My experience was so disturbing that I feel compelled.
Obviously the pre visit paperwork is her effort to avoid the mundane task of collecting and printing the intrusive information. The sheer number of emails required was absurd.
Upon arrival my instinct was to leave immediately. The office is dirty, messy and the entrance door was wide open making the waiting room visible to anyone passing in the hallway. There were three patients waiting, most unusual in a single doctor mental health office. Again, I should have left. I came with my paperwork complete but it was never even looked at.
The doctor was rude, distracted, unkempt and seemed to have a pronounced hearing problem. She asked no questions relating to my present concern concentrating more on my insurance and what it did not cover. She became quite concerned when learning I work for a GOV. agency. She asked «are you investigating bad doctors».
She had no therapist to recommend, but immediately felt I should begin long term medication for depression. Not the concern I came to her with. When I refused she became a bit hostile and said she would not be able to assist me. I left and will make a formal complaint to my insurer and the AMA.

Rude, condescending, greedy & insensitive. She charged me $ 65 for a missed appointment & then took my $ 50 co-​pay for a 5 minute appointment where she dropped me as a patient. WTF?!

I’m seeing nothing but negative reviews on here which makes me nervous. I’ve only seen Dr. packer once but my experience was good. She read the paperwork I filled out, talked to me about what she thinks my proper diagnosis may be, and agreed to not switch my medication when I said I didn’t feel comfortable doing that. She also asked me to write in a journal about my panic attacks so that she can better understand what kind of panic attacks I experience. I also asked her to contact my (talk) therapist about my diagnosis and she called and left a message for her before I even left. She does make you fill out a lot of paperwork, but the paperwork was pretty helpful and she obviously read it beforehand.
I’ll update further if things with Dr. packer get weird but so far everything has been positive.

This woman is one to stay away from!
I’ve never written a review on Unilocal before, but you know that one experience that leaves you so bitter that you feel the need to signup just for that? This is exactly that experience.
I definitely echo all of the previous reviewers’ comments and would like to add my own. This woman is an extremely cold human being. Considering she is supposed to be a doctor, she has definitely not taken any classes on how to interact with people. She has a belittling attitude towards her patients, which seems like the wrong way to deal with a patient who’s coming to you for help.
Furthermore, she seems like a crook when it comes to money. She overcharges on the copay, and then actually negotiates with patients on how much a visit should cost! And to top it all off, when my health insurance expired, I went in to discuss the possibility of rescheduling until I reattained it, and she first mentioned that I needed to pay a $ 25 cancellation fee. After giving her $ 40 and asking for change, she only gave me $ 10 back! She ushered me out the door, and when I asked for the correct change back she refused to give me the correct change — by the way, we’re talking about $ 5 here! She is a doctor… and I’m her patient! Totally unbelievable experience where I left the office feeling like I had been scammed. That’s definitely a first when it comes to doctors.
This woman is a horrible human being that does not care about patients and only cares about making money (cash preferably). STAY AWAY!

Every negative review on here is spot on. For one thing, Dr. Packer’s waiting room is incredibly off-​putting, like a gardening granny’s closet exploded all over a dim Soho office. Secondly, she makes you go through an entire paperwork song and dance before each FIFTEEN MINUTE visit, and then she doesn’t even look at what you’ve written, just taps on her iPhone and half listens to what you’re saying. Her practice is very drug-​mill feeling, and there seems to be a steady flow of people going in, getting meds, and leaving. I’ve never seen the same person twice.
Perhaps most importantly, though, is that Dr. Packer never seems to check with insurance companies about copay (I’ve seen this criticism on other review sites). I misunderstood something about my deductible and turns out Dr Packer was charging me more than double the rate. She did refund me the money, but it took several back and forths with her and she told me that she knew I’d gone off my meds because of «all the emails.» I definitely felt belittled.
I thought all of this was odd, but went with it. Still, she made me uncomfortable with her stiff bedside manner and arbitrary-​seeming rules. Then I saw the reviews on here and elsewhere and realized I wasn’t alone.
Still, I didn’t have as negative an experience as I could have, and for that I am thankful. I now see another doctor.

Unfortunately, I had a disappointing experience here (like the others) and would not recommend her to my enemies, let alone friends. Read other reviews — they are all accurate.

Dr Packer is the worst doctor I have ever worked with and considering I was being treated for depression, it made it so much worse. She is truly a whackjob and please reconsider before you decide to save a few bucks because she is listed as an accepted provider through insurance. She should not be allowed to practice in New York! She terminated our relationship after 2 years because I asked a few questions about my treatement and was not comfortable putting a new drug into my body without first asking some questions. She said I was non-​compliant and would only continue to treat me if I would see her for talk therapy. Of course she would need to charge me full price and insurance will not cover it, but it was her only option for me. Packer is trully the most disorganized, rude and unprofessional doctor I have ever had to deal with.

Wow — this lady is the absolute worst. Just interacted with her on the phone/​e-​mail and everythign everyone else here has said is spot on. Thank god I checked Unilocal.This lady appears incomptent and rude. Quite frankly, if insurnace is going to be paying for your appts — might as well find a real doc who went to a solid school and has basic manners. This lady is a pure quack and to be avoided.
Judging from her other reviews the only good thing to be said is that she appears to be consistent — consitently bad.

She is the WORST. Totally unprofessional and scams your insurance. Would NOT recommend her even to an enemy. The other negative reviews all speak for themselves. Wish I would’ve seen them before encountering her!

This lady sucks. She wouldn’t deal with me on the phone. When she finally called me back, she left me a message that «email works better for her»…how quaint… I had to remind her i even existed to try and get an appointment. She barely squeezed me in, seemignly against her will… And when i called to reschedule due to an emergency. Guess what? it went to voicemail. I emailed her 2 hours before my 10 am appt… and she informed me she would NEVER be able to reschedule me. What a quack. Save your time. Oh the worst part is she has no receptionist so you have to fill out tons of paperwork yourself. It’s ok, she’ll email it all to you beforehand. I wish i could give her less than one star.