Kaiser San Francisco Psychiatry — Psychiatrist in City and County of San Francisco, CA

This review is for simply trying to schedule an appointment. I am not new to mental health/psychiatric services, and I know what I need. However, I am new to the area and my employer uses Kaiser Permanente. In short my experience so far with KP sucks. I get the sense nurses and providers are way overworked. It is nearly impossible to get a simple intake appointment with the department of psychiatry. Im considering outsourcing services and paying out of pocket so I don’t need to deal with the frustration of this heinous system. I’m also deeply alarmed at how easy it would be for someone to slip through the cracks given this convoluted and frustrating process.

It was only within the past four years and some change that I began digging into therapy and opening up, in spite of mental health discussions and interpersonal communication being unsafe and void in my household. No one talked about mental health and most certainly didn't speak about invisible disabilities. I struggled greatly in my 20s, silently but I pushed because that is what adults are expected to do. It wasn't until my early 30s that I realized the way I was internally couldn't be kept in for much longer. I did my own research and having worked with youth and adults on the ASD spectrum, I resonated far too deeply with others' lived experiences both verbally and non-vocally expressed. In 2024, is when I started to take the first steps to reach out for intake appointments for ASD assessment. For those of you perceived and considered as "high functioning" and "high-masking" femme presenting and perceived folx, this review is for you. Finally, got with Kaiser for the first time in my life and scheduled an ASD intake for adults for myself. My experience had me gobsmacked, anxious, disappointed and unable to unmask. I was drilled with questions, consistently cut-off and the format for gathering insight into how I present my autism was severely lacking and archaic. Not only that, the video call was absent of cultural sensitivity and inclusivity, void of a trauma-informed approach and extremely sanitized. Prior to intake there was no exhaustive gathering of information and from point of scheduling to the appointment, there were several months to have gathered more information. After a little more than an hour being asked about how I made friends growing up, how I performed in school growing up, if I was sick as a young person and answering a lot of questions in yes/ no format not being allowed to qualify my answer, I was met with, "I just don't see it." Way to gaslight me, Kaiser and fam. You don't know me. The PsyD in question came highly educated and specialized in adults with autism. I disagree with their, "I just don't see it." Don't go through kaiser for ASD assessments for adults. Just save up your money, go private or try through your nearest ALTA Regional center. Honestly, just go private. NOT Culturally sensitive NOT Trauma informed NOT comprehensive in understanding high-masking, high-functioning, femme presenting and femme perceived adults. NOT a comprehensive intake process

Impossible to get thru. I made an appointment for my son. That appointment was mysteriously cancelled with no notice. Called back to reschedule. Was on hold for 30+ minutes. Was finally talking to a human being and mid-sentence got transferred to a different facility and put on hold again. Blown away that my family collectively pays $12k+ per year in premiums to access this level of incompetence.

Kaiser Mental Health of San Francisco has been one of the worst experiences for me as an adult who is experiencing mental health issues. It's also been a horrible experience for my son who is 11 years. We have been trying to get him assessed for autism. There is no direct number to connect with the therapist or their office. There is a general number to call with automatic options. When pressing the number for the office, it says they are experiencing a problem and does not connect. I been waiting for 3 weeks for a response from the therapist. When emailing the therapist they will not respond. When my son had a session, I asked for a direct number and explanation. And they just go around the topic. Its highly weird and a very strange feeling. I'm currently on hold with the mental health office of SF they said they will look into my complaints and reason for calling. I been on hold for 28 minutes. While they are supposedly figuring out what's going on. I'm very skeptical that they will get back on the phone. I HIGHLY DON't recommend kaiser. They seem nice but aren't helpful or welcoming at all. If you are reading this. I recommend you to post your honest opinion about your services. People need to know what they are getting yourself into.

This review is ONLY to provide help to people having these horrendous experiences with Kaiser SF Psych. I gave 3 stars just so this will stand out. Don’t give up hope on help. I’m a psych patient with Kaiser for over a decade. Daly City is NOT like this. From what I hear S. San Fran is NOT like this. I know its out of area but Campbell/ Santa Clara are NOT like this. I can’t guarantee to anyone that they will find immediate relief but I swear I was shocked reading these. I have had awful experiences at all Kaisers with other depts but what is being expressed here is reckless and unbelievably cruel. Try other avenues, be very clear about your level of distress and be VERY firm about not being rerouted to unhelpful avenues. To the best of your abilities be clear, be articulate, and stress your urgency. I have Bi-Polar disorder, ADHD and chronic anxiety. I’ve been “in the game” since pre-adolescence. Please don’t give up hope. Also, if there is a localDBSA or similar group you can often find resources through peers. Love and support to all of you and that Dr Gina that keeps getting name dropped needs pressure under her professional profile (I’m sure there’s plenty but chime in if you haven’t.)

DO NOT BOOK WITH DR. GINA CLARK. I had a video visit with “Dr.” Gina Clark after my previous Kaiser psych doctor was leaving. I had already been on a treatment plan for my ADD and was just looking for a Dr to continue it and listen to me. As soon as I got on the call, Gina Clark said she was “confused” as to why i was on ADHD meds as she didn’t see evidence of me “having adhd.” Previous to this i had had 2 evaluations through another dr and my Kaiser psych doctor which were both 2 hours long, with multiple sessions and both resulted in ADD being my diagnosis. Right off the bat she didn’t care to hear me explain my issues or experiences and just blatantly dismissed me. She talked down to me as though i was 5. She made me feel hopeless, stupid, and alone. She shouldn’t be a doctor and shouldn’t be working at Kaiser taking any patients as she could cause someone major damage. She’s the worst excuse for a doctor. She is the exact reason why people with mental health issues are scared to get help in the first place!!!!!

More than disappointing. Kaiser’s Psychiatry Department is nearly impossible to access. Calls are put on hold for hours, voicemails are full, and when I finally get a list of therapists, none are accepting new patients. This has been an issue for years, making it extremely frustrating and painful for those seeking mental health support. Kaiser needs to do better.

I'm not normally one to write bad reviews here, but the level of incompetency at this office is completely shocking. They could not fulfill the most basic requests for a external referral (delays of over a month with no follow up). Hanging up the phone as well instead of doing their job. Absolutely awful

If you would like to select your own therapist within Kaiser, don’t even try to come here to the SF Location. They assign you to who they want and when you would like to select a therapist within same kaiser location, it’s a hassle. Worst part it’s that these therapist state accepting new patients. We pay a lot of money toward our insurance for terrible service. In October after open enrollment, will be leaving Kaiser. I’d rather be able to have another insurance where I can select who to see and not be assigned someone randomly. Part of healthcare, is being able to find those providers who you can build trust with and be provided great care.

Very frustrating experience trying to book an appointment to be tested for ADHD. There's seems to be lots of confusion internally about processes. It's hard to trust anyone you speak to as the staff have often given me incorrect information that other staff refuted. They transfer me via phone all over the place. At one point I was even transferred to an out of state call line, they were so confused why I was transferred there when I live nowhere near that state, before transferring me back to a line I had initially called a couple of transfers ago.. I finally was able to book an appointment after endless waiting and reexplaining. However, when I go to my portal to attend appointment the day and time of, it says I actually do not have an appointment. After further calling and waiting, it turns out the Kaiser provider cancelled last minute. And I received no notification of this through the portal or email. I feel that management needs to train their staff to be on the same page of what the internal processes are and knowledge of their services, not to mention the rude tone of voice many of them have. For example, during some type of prescreening intake, when I asked the guy on the phone if he could clarify what exactly is one drink (when he asked how many drinks do you have in a week.. like a shot? A cocktail?), he responded condescendingly and unhelpfully with "i dunno, i don't work at a bar. Just whatever you think."