Dr. Lisa J Beisel

Dr. Beisel has a telephone screener in order to pick and choose her patients based upon method of payment (cash strongly preferred, most insurance rejected), even though she is listed as taking insurance from numerous companies. $ 330 for 1^st visit. Read the other reviews, no sense in repeating the nightmares. Happy Halloween.

honestly i don’t even know where to begin to describe the miscarriage of the medical profession that occurred during my two visits with this woman. the main reason i scheduled with her is because i needed a shrink asap to manage the meds i am on for ptsd and she was available. i will never make that mistake again.
firstly, her assistant was very curt and slightly obnoxious about things (i.e. 3 day cancellation policy (wtf?), payment has to be received up front and have your check ready (like you can’t wait the 30 seconds it takes for me to fill out a damn check?)). when i did arrive at her office, beisel came out and seemed flustered and slightly agitated that i was there early. how dare i?! she led me into her office and asked me to sit. she then began the run-​of-​the-​mill intake questions about why i was seeing a shrink, blah blah blah. her tone and facial expressions were very snide and condescending. when i tell her that i have been diagnosed for ptsd from a sexual assault, her tone did not budge. usually a decent mental health professional will go into the whole «i’m so sorry that happened to you» rigamaroll which she did but it seemed canned and a bit forced. she began to ask me very detailed questions about the incident, completely ignoring my emotional issues.
she spent a great deal of time focused on things that weren’t relevant like past relationships, family dynamics, and the like. i mentioned a relationship that occurred after the rape that was incredibly unhealthy and an admittedly horrible choice on my part. she replied with «people who go through trauma can exhibit borderline characteristics.» most don’t know what borderline means but as i have a masters in counseling and work with a couple of borderline clients, my head nearly exploded. i’m not going to use this space to explain what borderline personality disorder is so if you need to google it, i’ll wait.
ok, so by this point, she’s insinuated that i have borderline traits and that i’m bipolar which makes no sense because i have never had a manic episode and the relationship choices that i made after the rape were directly affected by the rape. cause and effect, pretty basic shit. the whole experience was infuriating at best.
i met with her a second time because i forgot to cancel the appointment 3 BUSINESS DAYS BEFOREHAND and i was not going to pay this hack. we start chatting about how i’m doing and she begins to seem frustrated and irritated. i cut her off and say «i feel like you are being condescending right now by the way you are talking to me. in fact, the only reason i’m here is because i forgot to cancel my appointment 3 days in advance. honestly, i didn’t feel like you were very empathetic in our last session.» this sent her into a fit of defensiveness, deflection, and anger the likes of which i have never seen from a medical professional. she began to outline how her behavior was not what i said that i FELT it was, meaning my interpretation was wrong. she went on ad nauseum about the work she does with veterans and ptsd and stated repeatedly that she has never heard this complaint from anyone ever. i will admit that my emotional reaction to her unprofessional and rude demeanor could have been a tad disproportionate on my part, after all i have ptsd and am very sensitive and there’s no way that she could be exhibiting any of this behavior. she actually said i was attacking her character. when i called her out on being defensive she kept putting the onus on me insinuating that my experience was wrong.
the absolute best part was after she chilled the fuck out and let ME get us back on track, she mentioned that perhaps the way i perceived my sexual assault should change because my rapist did not intent to rape me. i wanted to vomit.
in conclusion, this woman is hands down the worst mental health professional i have ever worked with and i strongly urge anyone who needs psychiatric help to receive services elsewhere. far, far away from her.

I would give Dr. Beisel 0 stars if I could. The worst experience I’ve ever had with any doctor, ever! She is brusque, uncaring, narcissistic, and completely unprofessional. Within first minutes of consult, she asked about my happiness with the election. When I refused to answer because I felt that was private, she would not let it go. It took 2 more refusals for her to move on, like a dog on a bone! She projected an air of judgement and no compassion. I totally felt like I was nothing more than a waste of her time. And I paid for that! The clincher was when I was walking out into waiting room and she said «she may or may not take my case». Not something you want to hear when you’re visiting a psych for depression. Not to mention she freely breaks HIPAA laws! I am so glad I got away before giving her another dime. Stay away and put your $ with someone of value! Sweet Rachel, you need to get a new job!

CAVEAT: This woman is dangerous.
After being charged an administrative fee of $ 35 (a first time for me after years of psychiatric treatment) as well as my copay, I spent a good forty minutes being told that more or less, my bisexuality and polyamory were neurological disorders that harbored much more treatment than would be entirely necessary. Tack on loaded questions, the ominous required cash *up front* payment, and that at the end of the appointment when I believed I had potentially left my keys in her office that she would not allow me to reenter to search and insisted on looking herself, I very much so believe that were I not more secure in my identity, this woman could have made me feel like a terrible human being.
If 0 stars were possible, I’d gladly rate her this. I’ll pretend that the one star is for her assistant Rachel, who is one of the sweetest people I have ever encountered.
Regardless of if she’s in network for your insurance or not, there are better choices. Do the research and go out of network if its necessary, as this woman is not only a waste of money and your time, but also a potential psychological health hazard in herself.
The fact that people like this are allowed to toy with anyone’s brain chemistry via pharmaceuticals is terrifying.

I can recommend nothing about my two-​visit experience with Dr. Beisel. She seemed fixated on money, for one thing – had to pay up front, no credit card, as well as a $ 75 «one-​time administrative fee.» I suspect she gets this extra cash up front because she has so few repeat clients. The second visit, no lie, she cut me off mid-​sentence when my time was about up to say «That’ll be $ 35.» When I wrote the check out to «Lisa Beisel,» she handed it back to me to write «M.D.» because she «didn’t go to medical school for nothing.» Apparently, she did, because the service itself was no less horrifying.
This is the last place I should have gone when I was in the depths of depression. Her questioning style was extremely confrontational, and her observations were given with an air of accusation. When I told her personal details about the things (yes, choices) that had led to my situation, she was completely unsympathetic. She said things like «You’re smarter than that, what’s your IQ?» I don’t specifically remember her saying «What is WRONG with you» but that was the subtext of every question. That was the question I came to her for HELP with!
Finally, she prescribed me a drug that made me really sick. Obviously, she can’t control side-​effects. But when I told her at my next visit, she chastised me for not taking different actions than I did. Many years later (the amount of time it took me to brave another psychiatrist), I found out that the drug was actually contraindicated for the condition she diagnosed me with. What the heck?
I had been going through a phase of wanting to have only female professionals in my life, just thinking it would be a fun and feminist way to narrow down my choices. This experience made me realize that was a poor idea. I should have done more research before going to her. Thank goodness we have Unilocal now.

I wish I could give Dr, Beisel a better rating because I only saw her once. But when I left I felt worse than when I went in. She only takes cash or check and you have to pay her before she will see you. She also charges a 20.00 fee if you need a prescription filled without going to her office for an appointment. I have never had a doctor who charged me for needing a prescription refilled.
The main reason I am not returning is because of the way she talks. She repeatedly asked me the same question in different ways until she got an answer she wanted. She also seemed rushed and she didn’t seem like she was really listening. I am glad she got me on some meds, they really help. But I will be going to a different psychiatrist from now on.