Anonymous
Disappointed by the service almost entirely
Unfortunately it’s been a rocky road with Cerebral. Due to the extremely high demand of therapy ( including all other services cerebral provides) it’s been difficult to find a therapist and even a prescriber. Understandable, given covid and just the general surge of accessible talk therapy. My first prescriber seemed to be in a hurry with the appt. and very quickly wrote me a prescription. I decided to have the Rx filled and discuss this further with the therapist. Unfortunately zero days were available the first week of the month with my therapist ( understandable) so I schedule the first available I could find, week 2 of the month). The therapist didn’t show for the first appt. and I was quickly assigned a new one… the following week. I felt honest connection with this new therapist. She hit many marks for me and I felt so secure and ready to work together. ( I’ve had therapy in person and remote on and off for years so I had some idea of what to expect and what I might be looking for in a therapist). We scheduled for my next appt. and within a few hours of my appt. was abruptly taken off my schedule. I have no idea if the therapist no longer works for the company or just realized they couldn’t take on another patient, but I was extremely upset. I was reassigned to someone new quickly, but they didn’t have anything right away, so it took a week for our first session which meant I was 3 weeks in on the month and had only had 1 therapy session, but already paid the full amount (4 sessions a month) and after my first session with my 3rd therapist, which took place in the last week of the month, it was time to be charged for the next billing cycle. I reached out to my coordinator to help me schedule for the 2 missing sessions I had paid for, no response. But I continued on with my new (3rd) therapist. She was very new to this job and was still gaining her “ externship“ hours and working under/with a licensed professional. I was informed of this and preferred someone more seasoned and maybe older than me, but she was kind and I wanted to try. Also, I needed to get going with therapy. We had 5weeks together, I believe. And it was fine. She wasn’t my favorite therapist ever, but she is and was good. I felt heard and mostly understand by her. She was extremely supportive in our sessions and I felt 80% comfortable with her. I just didn’t feel the full on connection with her. She didn’t nothing wrong and was extremely professional. And I truly appreciate her. But I felt that I should try and find someone that I was better suited to, eventually. I decided to try and either pause or switch my plan to something with less therapy solely because of financial reasons. I wanted and still want full ( 4 sessions per month) therapy, but rent unexpectedly went up and my hours were cut at work. Knowing I would be ok for a month without therapy to have the chance to catch up financially seemed like my only option, but once again the coordinator didn’t respond to me. I had been given 3 coordinator by this time. Mostly because they just weren’t responding to me. Because of this frustration I switched my plan from therapy to a Counselor because my billing cycle was the following day ( and my next therapy session was on the same day, the last of that second billing cycle) and I literally couldn’t afford the $385 given my situation. Well, you guessed it I lost the last paid for session with my therapist. Honestly, I understand that switching the plan before my least session would be risky, but I also couldn’t afford to be charged and since no one was responding I kinda panicked. I’ve reached out and asked if I could at least have the two sessions that i never got during the first month due to being reassigned and I was told no. And of course they weren’t willing to do anything about the the last session I missed due to my changing the plan. I’m more upset about the first two sessions. Did I mention that I now have a new prescriber?! She is lovely and I do feel that she is great at her job. I just feel like this company needs more people. And at this point I’m 3 months in on a new medication, first time medication user so I’m trying to stick this out because the medication has helped slightly and I don’t want to just abruptly stop taking it, but I do believe once I can find a primary physician I will be leaving Cerebral because even though the majority of therapists and prescriber have been of quality, I’ve had such poor service and communication with my billing/scheduling issues. In a year, perhaps cerebral will be better. I do believe their intention and mission statement means well, but they just don’t live up to their own standards. At least not yet. I for one feel exhausted by it… and let’s be honestly I have enough to worry about given that I’m coming to them with anxiety and depression. Another company could take my $385 for therapy.
Response from CerebralAug 10, 2022
We're sorry to learn that you've encountered challenges while using our platform. We strive to provide a safe and supportive environment for all of our members, as this is a key part in healing from mental health struggles. We sincerely apologize that this was not your experience at Cerebral. That being said, we appreciate you taking the time to reach out and provide this feedback. Your feedback allows us the opportunity to improve our services for others.



