LifeStance HealthReviews of lifestance.com

The Doctors are good. The app is the WORST. The customer service is marginal. Not even going to bother with specifics. Try and find a good doctor through your provider.

I wasn't able to find a place on the LifeStance webpage to write a review about my provider. Is this on purpose? Where do I go to do this?

I’ve been a patient with LifeStance for a few years now. When I started I was extremely optimistic as my med provider seemed extremely personable and I felt like we clicked. I was also set up with a therapist who although very young seemed eager to help, kind and made me feel comfortable. These things quickly changed. My review will only be about my med provider experience. After a few months, I was dropped by my med provider, she felt I had missed too many appointments. I took issue with this because #1 we disagreed on how many appointments I flat out “missed” versus rescheduled, or was unable to connect via LifeStances VSee app for telehealth appointments. #2, there was zero prior communication stating I was at risk of being dropped due to anything being wrong. But, c’est la vie. I was set up with another provider easy enough. This relationship never worked for me, simply because I was set up with the opposite sex, and I had a hard time opening up. This provider, I will say worked with me to the best of their ability and always made me feel seen. Quite some time in, I felt like I wasn’t progressing and requested to be transferred to a same sex provider. This ultimately was a huge mistake. I was connected with an elderly woman who simply wanted to know what I wanted prescribed. My meds remained pretty much the same as they were when I transferred, as I am not a professional in psychiatric medication and she was extremely unhelpful with making suggestions for anything new. I stayed with this provider for sometime trying to navigate proper dosages and such, until she dismissed me as a client for addressing a problem. I was being prescribed a medication that at low doses is used to help with sleep. At higher doses the medication can be extremely sedating, cause weight gain, and for me was causing a night binge eating disorder. Being able to sleep at night, is a huge problem for me, so this medication is extremely important to me. During our visit she asked me what she always did, “What are you on, and how many milligrams”. I gave her my answers. This particular medication I let her know I was experiencing side effects at previously prescribed doses, and specifically stated I would/could and was only taking a minimal dose. When she sent my medications to be filled at the pharmacy she purposefully sent this medication at double the milligrams I stated I was taking. Her reasoning was that I “seemed” to bounce between the two dosages. I filled the prescription with her comments in mind thinking I would be able to cut the medication in half. After picking up the medication, I learned it’s not a medication that can be cut in half. I reached out to her via the patient portal as instructed by LifeStance, only to receive a response stating that she would not call in another prescription because I filled the original one, and that I needed to make another appointment to discuss options. I thought this was unfair, as she, the experienced professional, should have known when prescribing the medication that it could not be taken at the dose I told her I was on. But, I followed her demands and tried to make an appointment; I couldn’t be seen for another 3 weeks. So I sent another message via the patient portal, expressing my frustration and concerns. It wasn’t my fault it was prescribed incorrectly. I should not have to suffer because of her mistake, I rely on this medication to help me sleep, not sleeping well for 3 weeks will be a nightmare. She responded a week later telling me she would be transferring me to another provider. LifeStance sent me a text message asking me to call because my provider had made a referral for a new provider. I called and I was set up with one, given an appointment time, and sent intake forms. I also made a complaint regarding what had happened. Then the day before my appointment, I get a call from LifeStance telling me they have to cancel my appointment because the provider had suddenly become no longer a “match”. The agent wanted to offer “resources”, and informed me that I had plenty of medication to last me until I was able to be seen by another provider in a different clinic. I asked to be told why I was being dismissed from the clinic altogether, and was unable to get any answer other than “the provider is no longer a match” while in the phone. LifeStance worked well for telehealth, but I cannot recommend their med providers, or the company as a whole. There is very poor communication, and no accountability.

If you want to get hounded by billing all the time and have them never fix anything you tell them to, don’t use this company!! My therapist, Sabra Walters is incredible I’ve been with her since COVID began and it has really helped me through some hard times. Dr. Carrisimi has been a huge help too getting me on medication that has helped a lot and helps me adjust anytime I need to. I wish I could leave this company and go somewhere else but I have started over with therapists more times than I can count and I can’t do it again. They might kick me out though because they threaten me every time a bill is overdue that I can’t use the services anymore which is horrible to threaten your patients they can’t have access to mental health care anymore because of money. I don’t make a ton of money and they expect all of their patients to be rich to pay their prices. I am on a payment plan for past due balances and when I wasn’t they wouldn’t stop hounding me about getting on a plan. I live paycheck to paycheck I need money for other essential things and it seems like billing has no sympathy. I have a current balance and I don’t know why I have one when I was told they would charge my card automatically for each appointment and they never have. They keep changing systems and lying about billing processes and don’t keep their patients up to date on any changes. I have tried paying through their new portal but it doesn’t work. I just tried again today and it finally works but their idea of payment plans for current balances is a joke. Paying $1,000 a month to pay it off is not something any normal person can afford. Life is expensive and people don’t make that much money. My therapist also contacted them to change my insurance information and I never heard from them that it was updated. So since september my claims haven’t been going through because they won’t contact me to help change info. You would think if the doctor reached out they would get back to me but nope! How are you gonna beg for money but don’t get back to someone when info needs to be changed? They are so money hungry! There billing hours are also ridiculous as someone with a 9-5 job I cannot call during work hours and they always wanna call me at the wrong time then they close at 3 so I can’t even call after work so how am I ever supposed to get ahold of anyone? I hate this company so so much just how they handle billing alone. The providers are great.

Unbelievably frustrating experience working with this company. My daughter's therapist worked for a different organization that was bought by Lifestance. It's been nothing but a headache since they took over. Billing is ATROCIOUS! For the first 6 months, I never received a bill. I finally proactively called and they told me I had a $400 balance and I could pay through the portal. I had never been told about the portal since they took over. We never received any introduction to them whatsoever. I also asked why I hadn't received a call about the balance and I was told they were short-staffed. Every time I call I have to leave my call back number and wait hours or even days for a billing person to call me back. The portal itself is useless. Very limited functionality. You can't cancel appointments. You can't see statements. The most recent frustration was my daughter turning 18 and me losing access to the portal for privacy reasons. I had to make three separate calls to regain access and each time the rep told me something different. It's still not resolved.

Be extremely careful! Even if you tell them in advance you're going to miss the appt but am fine with being charged, they'll hit you with a $150 "no show" bill. People with severe mental issues come to see a psychiatrist so there should be some leeway especially if it's the first time. It feels like stealing candy from a baby! If you use this service, make sure to do it with a supportive person who will help follow up. Also this is strictly online which doesn't feel the same as being in person but they do accept most insurances. My psychiatrist was kind and knowledgeable and it was a pleasure working with him.

I have had ups and downs with Lifestance. I was struggling for months to get my diagnosis when the psychologist I was assigned had me jump through a thousand hoops only to get told my symptoms were "too mild" for medication (they are not) (this decision was made after only an IQ test and two questionnaires, and my partner's questionnaire was weighed more heavily than my own). I broke down to the psychologist and after actually being able to explain my symptoms, he finally, finally agreed to get me in touch with a prescribing Dr. I didn't love my Dr, I felt like she was only half-listening to me, but I grit my teeth and sucked it up to get the medication I needed that greatly improved my quality of life. But now... With my medications experiencing a shortage, I called local pharmacies and found one that carried my medication. I called and messaged the office MULTIPLE TIMES to move my script over and it took a solid week to get any kind of response, and only after explaining my situation in a frustrated tone to support staff today was I able to get any kind of help. A WEEK IN. It was apparent to the staff assisting me today that my psych was not responding to my messages, and I was not able to get in touch with her directly (no direct line to the Drs? For mental health concerns? Seriously?). Then, my psych tells me she sent the prescription... but she sent the wrong prescription to the new pharmacy, under the impression that my usual prescription is "out of stock everywhere". I informed her that I had called the pharmacy and they confirmed that they had my usual medication in stock, and to please send a script for that specific medication. Finally, after calling back and forth with the Lifestance office and my new pharmacy all day, I finally got my medication. After a week of struggling to get in touch with my Dr. I was also experiencing difficulty with the office's automated text message system. When a prescription is filled, you get an automated text with a link to a website that tells you what was filled and where. Every time this happened, the website said the script was filled at my previous pharmacy... leading me to believe that the script was not sent to the correct place. The online portal/telehealth stuff is clunky at best and a detriment to patient care at worst, the Dr was unresponsive and communicated poorly with me both in appointments and outside, and my only saving grace was the wonderful staff member, Kim, who was so kind and helpful to me today as I was breaking down in tears over the phone in frustration. Having ADHD then jumping through multiple hoops to get a diagnosis, medication, and continuing that medication during government-mandated shortages is hard enough. The professionals I have seen so far made it hell to get the care that I needed and now that's two for two on healthcare providers that made me feel unheard at best, ignored or brushed off at worst. Safe to say I will be seeking out a new prescribing Dr, as the support staff are being very helpful in finding me someone else, even offering to see someone tomorrow (I work full time and cannot get the time off, unfortunately). If this second Dr doesn't work out, I'll be seeking care elsewhere. I would give one star, but I'm giving a whole star just for Kim. She saved me today when I was about to break down over the phone just trying to get my medications so I can live instead of survive.

I am spending more time sorting out Billing than the therapy itself. I only had 1 session and my therapist wanted to schedule my next appt and spent time telling me how long it would take to help me.