A few years ago my sister wanted to participate in a study fdor people with schizophrenics in their families. She claimed that the researcher Ava Allman just wanted to speak to us both and then do a brain scan on her. I had to agree so I did until she asked me to sign a release giving Allman access to my files. Instead of respecting my refusal she came back claiming that access to my files was only a formality and they weren't going to look at them. Being medicated I don't have much resistance and I offered a modified release which should not have been accepted. I spoke to her for a minute she only wanted to know 'where I came from' and that I had been diagnosed at age 18 (incorrect) and she joked that she had to speak to her ethics officer. My sister spoke with her at length and I wonder if emptying her mind to a psychologist was a good thing since you know what they suspect when the diagnosis is schizophrenia. She never had the brain scan but some time later she somehow does not trust me anymore. When you sign a release giving access you are giving permission for someone to discuss you and that can have consequences. I think of it an example of black breaking the rules with some real damage.

Terrible. Waste of Money. Cold. Made me feel nervous and uncomfortable.

Therapy with this woman was such a waste of my time and money. She did not have a good grasp on my situation because she was too lazy to do any real work with me. She kept trying to put a "bandaid" over my problems and refused to address issues that were important to me. She made me uncomfortable from the begining. During the first session, I gave her some info on my background and told her that I was there to work on anxiety and trauma related to my childhood. Once I had explained myself, the first thing she asked was "are you gay?". I was surprised because I had not mentioned anything about my sexual orientation since it has never been a problem for me and was not a topic I needed to discuss in therapy. When I reluctantly answered that I was queer, she looked slightly disgusted and asked me "how do you know for sure?". I was shocked and slightly confused that my sexuality was being questionned. It seemed that she asked out of her own curiosity and not because her job required it. She then told me that we would not be discussing my childhood because "you can't change what happened". At the time, my self esteem was so low that I went against my better judgment and accepted that maybe I would never get closure for the abuse that I suffered. As the months passed, she kept giving me poor advice especially pertaining to a big decision related to my academics. At that point I woke up and realized that I deserved a better psychologist. I ditched her, went against her advice and got myself a proper trauma therapist. I'm so happy that I ignored her advice and went to someone else. Do yourself a favor and avoid Dr. Allman. You'll be grateful you did.

No matter how much I explained, she never seemed to understand my problems. Instead of making the effort , she would jump to conclusions without bothering to understand my issues which made me feel like my problems were just another pay check to her. At times her tone was condescending and she routinely dismissed my feelings. Also, I got the impression that she was impatient for me to leave before my hour was done so I often felt uncomfortable during our sessions. Worst of all, she lacked empathy during some of my most difficult moments. Currently seeking help elsewhere.