Reviews of Access Mental Health (Psychiatrist)

P Samson

The level of incompetence among staff members is absolutely mind boggling.

Candice D L

Ive reached out to access for direction for support a few times (for myself and family members). Their support has always been helpful and kind (esp my support today). With some frustrating experiences mentioned in these reviews, I wanted to share my positive experiences. If youre unsure of where to get help, this is an excellent resource that can help with direction.

Cecilia

Called in and was l i t e r a l l y laughed at on the phone when I asked for help finding a doctor. The lady on the phone seemed more unsure of what they were able to do than I was. Absolute joke.

Kayla Elizabeth

Reached out to AMH during the peak of covid shutdowns and admittedly did have to wait a long period before being matched. BUT now that I have been, I am working with the most wonderful counsellor + team. She is a thoughtful, active listener. I think this will be a great catapult and lay the groundwork for future treatment. Getting quality support is hard, but I think AMH as a resource in the free healthcare system is greatly beneficial. If you're waiting for a sign to access some help, please take this review as that sign. Initial intake and accessing the right people was a bit hard as I was bumped between Sheldon Schumer and the AMH line... So a bit dodgy..... but am happy now I waited it out.

Nicole Gillis

In the beginning I was very hopeful. My intake interview on the phone felt professional, however in hindsight that's probably because my GP was sitting right next to me. It took over two months for me to get into the required info session, and another week for my phone call from the intake coordinator, who told me that I would be place in an evening group program in about 5-6 months. So I waited for my phone call, which, despite what their files say, I never received (and can prove!) I got my letter in the mail stating that my file would be closed by x date if I didn't reach out by then, so I contacted them right away. After playing phone tag for three days (and never getting a single voicemail from them until I called them out on it!) we were finally in touch, just for me to be told that I was to be scheduled for something TOTALLY different than I was initially told and that they "were doing me a favour because my file is supposed to be closed" (this is despite the letter in my hand from THEM telling me the file would be closed if I didn't reach out by four days AFTER the date I was speaking to them). I was then told they left me messages on x,y,z dates when they didn't even call me (and again, I can prove). This is all coming from a MENTAL HEALTH program, implying that I'M a liar, when they can't/won't even do their jobs. Honestly, this is not the solution, it is a significant part of the problem. If you need these services I would encourage anyone to seek this ONLY as a last resort, keeping in mind that the entire program and their intake staff are incompetent.

Sara Stoner

Karen was excellent today helping me find resources. She explained the services well, was confident and you could tell she cared. Very competent, professional and helpful. Thank you.

86thislove

This system is a joke. You have to wait way too long if you have severe depression or suicidal thoughts, that’s if you get a good appointment time at all. Who they recommend either moves or they kick you out after a year (sorry but mental health problems don’t end after a year). The patients know more than the professionals so you’re better off reading self-help books. Also if you complain about anything it’s always your fault. I’d rather pay for help at this point.

Allannah Morris

I just called this place. The woman said to call back because there was to much noise on my end. People need help, regardless of their circumstances. ???? I will for sure keep you guys posted

Tish

Access mental health has always given great direction and been very helpful, as far as I know they don't do any therapy but rather assign you to places they'd think best fit you, then it is up to that office to assign you a counselor. A few times offices have assigned me therapists I was unsatisfied with, but that's not fault of the Access team. They're a great starting point, at least, if you don't know where to start looking. You don't need a referral either which is helpful :)

Kari Heinrichs

It’s nice to know that AHS is the largest single employer but nobody can answer a phone. Tax dollars at its work.

Armored Empire

This system makes me feel worse off. It’s such a demoralizing feeling when you need help and all’s you get is the same run around and get pushed to the side. It makes me wanna stop trying.

La Flaca

Its crazy enough that one is barely motivated enough to even seek help, but the fact that the “help” makes you give up even more is just crazy. One thing that bothers me is that most of these mental health centres are closed on weekends, im really sorry but depression doesnt Take weekends off

wattpad spam

I can’t speak for any other clinician at this place, but for the lady that talked to my friend today? Blows my mind how she’s even employed. She took over a month to muster up the courage to speak to someone about her experience with her mental health and how unusual/extreme it’s been for her in the last few years and she said “what in the world are you talking about?” and nitpicked at her words, saying “not to use words like that” even though it perfectly described how she was feeling. She sobbed after the phone call and feels like she can never talk to someone about it again because of how badly she was let down. Shame on you for employing people who invalidate the experience of someone who’s mentally ill and even had a doctor referral for their symptoms. Saying that lady is a joke of a clinician is an understatement.

Lyndon Underwood

This service is an absolute travesty. Truthfully you're likely better off struggling to deal with your issues instead of contacting the farce that is this garbage, trash, useless service. Called after months of building up the courage only to be pawned off to another service before I could even talk about my issues, great work by your so called mental health "professionals". It'd be a good start to hire people who actually care and are considerate about the situation of their clientele, you know people who are suffering with mental health issues, instead of shuffling them along for someone else to deal with. Its beyond me how you could have mental health service that operates the bare minimum amount of hours, 8 am - 4 pm, really? I guess its not really an important service, or at least that how this piece of garbage institution views it. Do us all a favour and get rid of this waste of time, thank you.

Hell Bound

My personal experience has been great. My one on one therapist is caring and is well versed in the group DBT I also attend. This service has helped me overcome a great deal. Even through Covid, I have had access to my therapist through phone sessions & will be starting DBT again over zoom very soon. Everyone there is working really hard to continue providing much needed mental health care, now more than ever. There will likely be a wait but get on that wait list & be patient! This is an underfunded FREE service! They do the best they can with what they have. There are also a number of other services in the city like The Calgary counselling center, YWCA & the mental health crisis centre that can offer help and if your in a real pinch, Text 45645 5PM to 1PM in canada and a safe caring person will text you back immediately And continue to text with you. It’s a free service to anyone who needs someone to talk to.

missk h

Continuous cancelled appointments on behalf of the therapists to the point where I seriously began questioning whether or not they were mentally healthy enough themselves to help anyone else. I seen Nathan and Burton at Sunridge, and while both were nice they both didn't offer much more than a bunch of fluff and excuses. I personally would not recommend if your experiencing deep rooted issues as they will likely just gloss over them because of their own incompetence. Therapy i thought would be helpful but it just added on more stress.

Mike B

Why even bother, just a waste of everyones time...

TheKidCannibal

An absolute travesty doesn’t begin to cover it. They sent me to the most negatively rated physiologist they could because she has no clients. Anika atigari. Please do google that name. Great. Now I can go another 5 years without help. The more you interact with our government the more Reclusive you will become. Truly no help is there.

Ms. K Casey

Access Mental Health is a punishment. After waiting for over a year to see someone, I was treated like they were doing me a favor even seeing me. When I complained about regular access to a therapist (they apparently all work part-time and your lucky to get an appointment every couple months), I was labeled as abusive, because I complained? At one point I was medically disabled in serious-but-stable condition after two months in hospital, three surgeries, hemorrhaging out three times, five units of blood and barely able to walk; I had the audacity to be 7 minutes late on Calgary Transit as I was so weak I could barely walk; I was snottily told the Dr. had left and then dismissed. No appointment was ever rebooked! After they ignored my numerous voicemail messages; I too, gave up. This is abuse; and NOT by the patients!

Darlene L P

Only bother to attend this program if you want to be immediately diagnosed with a mental illness after a 6-month wait - heads up it is not otherwise a therapy or counseling center... Best to call 211 if you're looking for counselling resources.

Kayla SaysSomething

I have had a number of experiences over the years with AMH. Did they help me? Yes. However that help took me 8 years to get going through Alberta's health care system. Its very unclear on how to actually get help in this province. There are a number of offices under mental health and no straight forward way to get to them or what the process is. Also you have to have a referral from your GP most of the time. In my experience, I spent years working with GPs explaining myself and getting prescribed improper medication, or refusal to refer me, because GPs don't actually understand MH as the specialists do, and it's still kind of weird for them. However I did lodge a complaint with the province and I had it sorted and a phone call from a clinic a week after. I think they investigated a number of clinics and doctors once they knew what was happening... Anyways, it was a solid 14 months on the wait list, just to do the intake. Then to explain your story and get a proper diagnoses and meds about a month.... I was allowed to see the Psychiatrist I had been working with only for a while....then they put me on to a councillor, who was a fabulous person. I would say that the councilors are okay if you're new to therapy. The plan for me was that I would get a certain amount of appointments with her and then be released. Midway through, she moved on and I never heard from the clinic ever again about a replacement councillor. And for me and my illness, that was a hard blow. I have always felt like the level of professionalism, explaination and information was not there. The structure of Access mental health really is not ideal. It's convoluted and very difficult to navigate. I have met some people that I offered to help through it because they had the same experiences as I had and the frustration level is high. Also some people give up, because it takes too long or they feel hopeless. I really hope that over time, more attention will be put on mental health and funds will be distributed properly to have something solid for people who are suffering. Also, ongoing care is key. Not just a band aid approach to be able to address the numbers. So I gave a 3 because part of my opinion is about the province as a whole and the other is about once I actually got into the program. I started seeing a private doctor which has been amazing, and I'm fortunate that I can do that. But I feel that I cannot take the risk ever again with the public system due to the level of care I need and expect for my illness. It's just not a realistic situation for people with a serious mental health disease. If anyone reads this and is struggling in the system, please take your health into your own hands. Also, try looking into private health clinics and see if it's possible for you to get into one. Don't wait on anyone. Ask the questions, get the answers you need and if you don't, move on down the road to find what you need.

Devon Stock

I went to my family doctor who made a referral for me to access mental health. They do not call you, you have to call them after about 3 days (processing time) to speak to a mental health clinician. I was on hold for about 30 minutes. I spoke with a man who quickly put into motion a plan for me to see the appropriate professional for my perceived issue. The process including hold time took about 45 minutes. I wrote down what was important for me to disclose so I could make sure I remembered it all. Brady was very easy to talk to and overall this was a very pleasant experience. I would not hesitate to use this service again!

Crafty Cookie

Takes forever to get in and when you finally do you get a psychiatrist throwing a prescription at you without taking more than 10 mins to not listen to anything you're saying and invalidating your perspective because they are the expert. It's unfortunate how many of us suffer in silence for no ability to get genuine help in this system.

Leadway Productions

My nicotine addiction is a better help to my mental state than Access Mental Health

Mattao Boyd

I have been waiting almost a year for help. when i call i am given a generic answer about a wait list. i stated that it's insane to me that this takes so long, people are considering suicide and you make them wait a year for help? mental health support is a joke in this country, we would rather give heroin addicts methadone than help me with a problem that could end my life. she told me i was being inappropriate, and i told her making people wait a year for help is inappropriate, and she hung up on me...without a single word....what kind of a joke are you guys? "call center" employees right....

Kayla Reynolds

Was supposed to have an appointment this morning, they call ten minutes into the appointment and cancelled, why don’t you just close over this week then, it’s Christmas holidays!!! People actually need help and with people with issues, this gives them anxiety. Now I have to wait over another THREE WEEKS. In total now I have waited over 1.5 months! Ridiculous! The lady who cancelled the appointment was rude and unprofessional and the counselor has switched. When dealing with mental health issues this makes this completely inappropriate, you are dealing with people with high anxiety and major issues!!! You are part of the problem. We will see how it goes in another three weeks when or if I get the appointment. Not impressed at all. NOT ONE BIT!!!

Makennah Bostock

The woman I talked to on the phone today was incredible. She gave me so many resources to to access, she wanted to know how I was doing. And truly seemed like she cared about me and my well being. Thank you for your kindness and knowledge????

Frank Firth

So I have been asking for help since Sept 2009. There have been multiple incidents that could be seen as suicide attempts and a level of depression that was described as severe. In 2012 I got to see a Psychiatrist and he told me all about how he has had a hard life. How the village he grew up in in Africa was wiped out in some form of attack and how I being a middle aged white male had no reason to be depressed. The nurse therapist yelled at me that I was wrong when I wanted to talk about what I was good at in an attempt to try and re build some self esteem. Both the therapist and the psychiatrist made a point of telling me I was not allowed to talk about the things that were bothering me. So I went back to work, and had a melt down after a while as predicted by everyone. August of 2017 I end up at the hospital suicidal so the response was to send me to a new psychiatrist that spent the sessions telling me that I was a failure and with "you" people we should just right you off. Not once could the psychiatrist even be on time for my appointments even when I am the first appointment of the day, yet if I am not registered by 15 min before the appointment I have disrespected them and missed my appointment. Today my appointment was canceled without notice as they could not contact me on my phone. I had the reception call my phone and it worked fine but I am the liar. It has become apparent to me that the only thing that will result from asking for help from the Alberta Government is you will be ridiculed, lied to and about, insulted and told its your fault they won't do their jobs.