Dirk de Brito, MD MPH

I am glad I did not read the negative reviews because I might not have scheduled an appointment with Dr. de Brito. As it is, I have seen him three times over the last two months. I find him funny and refreshing because he says whatever enters his mind, which is sometimes a metaphor or quirky analogy. I am in the «love him» camp.
Since I have never seen a psychiatrist before, I have no basis for comparison. However, I am a mental health professional myself and would not hesitate to make referrals to his office. He is extremely knowledgeable about medications, which is the most important thing. He called me personally when there was a problem with a prescription.
I am going through a divorce after a long marriage and was at a crisis point when I sought treatment. I have experienced relief from a serious depression in a relatively short period of time. I am grateful for his help and support.

This man is sicker than any of his patients. There is no way he should ever practice medicine. The care, or lack there of, I received from him caused my illness to progress. Rather than help me he hurt me. Do not even consider going here.

No star to give here. First 20 minute appt in September prescribes pills. Schedules follow up, I show up and the dr. Is on leave. Then they proceed to rush me out through the back door cause it was closing time. Said they’d call me to reschedule. No call. I call and I’m
Told the same thing. Today I’m here for appt and the receptionist doesn’t look up when I ring the bell. She continues making her phone calls. She finally looks up to check me in. 20 minutes later another patient is called in by Dr. DeBrito. Which means I probably have an hour wait. The first time I waited an hour. Bad customer service, inefficient Doctor.

Here’s the thing.
Dr. de Brito is not a warm, cuddly blanket that makes you feel all fuzzy. Go somewhere else if that’s what you need.
I believe he knows his stuff.
Yes, he is energetic, creative and direct. I worked for many years in Advertising, on the creative side. That kind of personality I understand. I don’t need everything explained to me like a child. Just give me the bullet-​points. I can put two and two together.
I have never heard him raise his voice, with me or his staff.
He has always listened, never judged me. He makes a quick joke, I get it. He’s not trying to offend, at least I haven’t seen it. He’s just quick and witty and it makes his day more enjoyable. Maybe others just don’t get his sense of humor.
Believe me, I’ve been to bad doctors.
Dr. de Brito is not one of them.
Don’t you think it’s odd that people either love him or hate him.
When people don’t get you, they tend not to like you. You challenge their intelligence.
Go figure.

Dr. Dirk de Brito is a great Doctor, I am so happy I choose him because his treatment helped me in a tremendous way. I put off seeking treatment for a long time and wanted to avoid my issue. However, Dr. Dirk de Brito was positive, supportive and made me feel comfortable about my decision to finally seek treatment. He is confident about his treatment and it worked! Just after a couple of months, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I am living a more productive life. In addition, the environment and staff are friendly, and they were very helpful to get approval from my insurance. I highly recommend Dr. Dirk de Brito :-)

I changed to Dr Brito, and i’m happy with him, this is the best choice. My daughter is happy, very professional and is helping my Daughter

Dr DeBrito is amazing! He gets to the root of your issues in very little time. He knows just what to ask and listens for the answer! He’s brilliant!

Tried to get help for my dads depression. Dr. DeBrito was taking personal and business calls throughout the duration of our appointment. He also was making calls to the hospital and calling in prescriptions to the pharmacy for other patients during our appointment. I told him I thought it was inappropriate to do during our visit. He started to yell at me and he left the room for 5 minutes to make another call. Our appointment was for 230 he did not see us until 330. He kept yawning every couple of minutes for the rest of the appointment. Was not paying attention to us because of the calls he was on. The whole experience was such a joke I thought I was on a hidden camera show. His office and and the way he acted we very unprofessional. He is kooky and cocky. The Dr. was so bananas he made my very sick father look like the a pleasant and healthy man by comparison. There has got to be better psych Dr. s in the area. Just keep looking and find one that you are comfortable with.

Absolutely the most unprofessional office/​office workers ever. Waited over 2 hours after appointment time to be seen. Dr was very rude & instead of the 40 minute session, was only in for 15 minutes. Will not be going back!

This guy is the absolute worst. Not only is he creepy, egotistical, and unprofessional, I saw him once and continued to be billed after I paid him, for over a year. And he hit on me. His license should be revoked.

Dr. De Brito has been my doctor for over a year. I came to him for help with my ADD and depression and anxiety. I am going through a divorce and a career change, he has been so helpful getting me through this most difficult time. He is a great listener and I truly believe he cares about me and my future/​happiness. If you are looking for a doctor that is honest and and truly really wants to help, look no further. I am grateful to have found him.

Okay so i call to make an appointment and the receptionist takes my insurance numbers which i gladly give. Than she asks me for my credit card number. «Why do you need my credit card number?», I ask. «To insure that you show up for your appointment», the receptionist answers. «I’ve never heard of that,» I say. «Well, we have so many patients that we need to make sure you’re going to show up,» she says.
Super bad business practice, if you ask me. Starts the relationship off on a bad foot. But I’ll play along.
«Okay,» I say, «may I have the doctor’s credit card number? Just in case, I mean» «That isn’t our policy,» she says. «oh really? But what do I do if Dr. Dibrito has an emergency and doesn’t show up or is late?. My time is valuable too. I need some assurance that my time is not going to be wasted.»

She seemed insulted. I wonder why.

My son saw Dr DeBrito for his meds and his associate Dr. Zarate PhD for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for over two years.

My problem with the office is this. The staff, while courteous, are woefully under-​trained or over-​worked or both, specifically with insurance reimbursement standard operating procedures. Over the past two+ years, I have dealt with at least 10 different staff people. trying to work with this office to get reimbursed for 15 appointments with Dr. Zarate at $ 150 a session.
Each staff member I spoke to over the past two years has given me the «You are our top priority» run around. Nothing has been done. No reimbursements have been made.
The staff member I talked to two months ago is now gone and Idecided to try one more time. Two weeks ago, I went to DeBrito’s office and spoke to the office manager who assured me she would get this done. A week later I called to check on the progress; she no longer works there.
I have written two letters to Dr. DeBrito personally (one in Oct 2014 and one in June 2015) asking for his attention to this. I have received no response from him or anyone in his office. I have filed a complaint with the Medical Board of CA, and I will be filing an additional complaint with the American Psychiatric Association. My next stop is my lawyer.
Unless you have money to throw around… avoid this office.
There is a wonderful facility for treating anxiety and depression in Glendale, the Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center. I suggest you go there.

As a psychiatric patient it is rare that anyone takes you seriously. You would think however your psychiatrist might give a damn. I have spent over45 days trying to get two medications pre-​approved through my insurance company. I have gotten nothing but lies from Dr. De Brito’s staff as to whether or not the authorization was sent as stated. They refuse to provide me, the patient a copy of these faxes that have been allegedly sent to my insurance company.
I have been trying to get a hold of the prescribing psychiatrist, Dr. Handy for over a week. His office staff, today finally advises he is in a personal leave. I have an appointment in 3 days. No clue when they were going to get around to telling me this either and no response to my phone calls of last week from a psychiatrist or staff to gauge the urgency of my call. I need the meds, then I will be switching again. Ending up in the urgent care this weekend and not being on a recommended course of treatment does not bode well for psychiatric patients who showed up saying, I am in trouble and deteriorating fast, please help me. I give up.

Ok, to those who complain that he’s late or unorthodox/​arrogant and «forces» drugs on you… come on… first of all, it’s a freaking Doctor’s office, all doctors in any profession are always running a little late. I’ve never had to wait more than 5 or 10 minutes to see him. Be a little patient, he can’t jump to see you the second you get there. His ways are definitely different, but saying he’s unorthodox puts a negative connotation on it. He is the way he is because he knows wtf he’s doing and is brilliant at it. He’s extremely smart and intuitive, and doesn’t waste your time. I have been to tons of different Doctors over the course of many years, and Dr. de Brito is THE BEST DR EVER. He’s a genius, figuring things out quickly about me that I never even knew. AND he was able to prescribe medication that for the first time in years, actually WORKED for me. He knows what he’s doing, and if confidence comes off as arrogance, then go see someone who is not as good, doesn’t know what they’re doing, and treats you like a baby because you’re too sensitive and get offended. Dr. de Brito changed my entire life, he is the reason I am where I am in my life today. And he never forces any meds upon me; if I have a concern with a medication or don’t want to take it, he’ll recommend a different one. And he also tells me things I can do naturally to help myself, like eating habits and exercise and such. He truly cares and wants me to get better.
I also want to mention how fucking amazing and brilliant DR. STEINBERG is… I really have no words to express his level or intuition, intelligence, and pure genius. I have so much respect for him, and feel like a new person after every session. I wish I could see him every day, he’s amazing.
Thank you both for improving my life and being there for me.

I’ve been a patient of Dr. De Brito for a while now.
He’s a really good doctor.
He’s helped me a lot with things other psychiatrists I’ve seen haven’t been able to succeed with.
I highly recommend him.

I have been a patient of Dr. De Brito’s since February 2014, and I am extremely happy with his care. I have had several psychiatrists over the years, and based on all my experiences, Dr. De Brito is truly a great match.
He is highly qualified, with educational bling that definitely impresses. His personality is assertive with a curiously personable arrogance. I admit that at first I was a bit taken aback by his intensity, but I quickly saw that this is one of his strongest traits. He creates a very safe feeling, like you will be taken care of if its the last thing he does. In many ways, and I think the polarization in his reviews is evidence, either you click with him, or you don’t. For me, his personality instills confidence in his care. I think it’s important to remember that he is a psychiatrist and not a psychologist. He’s addressing brain chemistry first and foremost. I think his insistent style is the only reason he was able to discern that my previous diagnosis was completely askew, a discovery which has immeasurably changed my life for the better.
He has ample support for administrative tasks which means that somehow, someway, someone makes sure you are a priority. I had ridiculous dramas with my new health insurance and though it took some time to go through all the various red tape, they were able to help resolve everything on their end. Much respect is due to his entire staff, who clearly work their butts off and display incredible fortitude. This is especially true of his new assistant/​office manager/​right-​hand-​man!
His office is in a beautiful building that, while currently being renovated, feels welcoming and professional. Refill requests are promptly addressed, which is much appreciated. I do miss the appointment reminder calls though.
While his appointments always run behind, I just plan to bring my work in and tend to that while I wait. The calming fountain and serene Planet Earth movies certainly ease the experience. This level of care is worth the wait, because he doesn’t skimp on time, always making sure to check in about matters that are not simply related to medicine.
Dr. De Brito is at the top of his game, and while you will probably have to hang out in the waiting area for a bit, he is 100% worth it!

Awful. Always late. Always. The final straw was when I showed up for my appointment and he had already left for the day! The receptionist had to call him. He claimed he was 5 minutes away. It took him an hour to get back. I kept saying I had to leave to go to work but I wasn’t allowed! When he arrived he ended up taking three personal phone calls. And repeating to me the same exact lines (I’m not kidding literally word for word) about using Tinder as a way to get out there and practice getting ready for a real relationship. What does that have to do with ADHD? I lost the clients that I was late for because of this appointment.
It gets better (well worse).
I told the receptionist I would not be coming back and to cancel my future appointments. She agreed. I had to rush out to go to work.
She didn’t cancel them. Up until today, I kept get harassing phone calls about my appointments. I would call and cancel every two weeks. Sometimes with a human and sometimes with a machine. Sometimes I would call just to confirm I had been taken off the schedule. Yet, I wasn’t. Today, I talked to the only competent receptionist who assured me I was taken off the schedule for good. We will see.
I should also mention Dr. de Brito once forgot to date my prescription leaving me high and dry at the pharmacy. And having to make an unnecessary trip to Pasadena.
He also kept me nice and drugged up (and I don’t mean that in a good way).
AVOID. AVOID. AVOID.

This is a man to be avoided at ALL costs. I refuse to address him as Doctor. Punisher, belittler, rude, aggressive, egomaniac. I went with my husband for his first appointment. Da Brito yawned the entire visit. He was assuming, a poor listener… took several phone calls, yet we waited 45 minutes to see him. He tried to change all meds my husband was on. When he declined, he put down his Doctors advice. He made outrageous statements regarding my husbands personality, because my husband disagreed with him. STAY AWAY FROM THIS MAN IF YOU WANT TO GET WELL. It’s terrifying that he has the possibility to destroy people who really need help. It’s that serious… SEEK HELP ELSEWHERE!

I wish I could leave NEGATIVE 5 STARS! I want to make it very clear; this man is a 1^st degree quack. He is a glorified drug peddler.
He will only prescribe new medications for which he receives kickbacks. I have an extensive history with Major Depression and it took many attempts to find an adequate medication. I finally switched to MAOI’s which have literally been nothing short of a miracle for me. I also am a recovering addict.
This man all but forced a script of Vyvanse on me. His logic being that I simply had untreated ADHD. (Which I was treated for in the past and contributed to my drug use.) I declined and Dirk became extremely hostile.
He argued with me all the way out into the lobby more or less calling me stupid, and then proceeded to raise his voice towards the receptionist all in front of clients. He was entirely different then when I first met him, he reminded me a bit of myself during active addiction. Eerily reminiscent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Fortunately I found another doctor who was willing to work with me and help me continue treatment on another MAOI that wasn’t too expensive for me. De Brito attempted to leave me high and dry, untreated for depression and in early recovery from addiction; in hopes that I would have to come back and take his vyvanse which as he put it, «would make me feel good.»
He berated me for not taking a prescription amphetamine because I am a drug addict in recovery. The reason being that he couldn’t receive a kickback for my generic drug. Unbelievable, stay away!