Liberation Institute — Counselor in City and County of San Francisco, CA

It's hard for me to write a critical review of Liberation Institute since the only truly bad experience I had was group therapy back in 2022. Attendance was extremely low (often only me and one or two other people) and facilitation was horrible beyond belief. Libby never seemed to care about my feedback when I reached out to them repeatedly about the problems I encountered in group therapy. I have had nothing but wonderful and professional treatment by the folks who reply to emails and manage the intake process. I first connected with Libby as far back as 2016 for individual therapy. They've always been very kind when letting me pay what I can, even if it wasn't much at all. My therapist in 2016 was a nice person but ultimately he fell short and it was literally "talk therapy" which can only do so much for some of us; so it is with therapists who are still learning on the job. I have attended family therapy twice at Liberation Institute, once in 2022 and another time earlier this year (2025). My experience this year is where serious harm occurred and I felt the need to write this review as a means to warn others to please approach family therapy at Libby with extreme caution if you are in a vulnerable state, especially if you are potentially entering therapy with an emotionally dangerous family member. I went to therapy with a family member I knew was not well but I had no idea the danger I was placing myself in until the family member, who is a lifelong manipulative narcissist, easily manipulated the trainee therapist we were working with and created a very unsafe space for me, resulting in my mental health taking a severe blow that I am still recovering from four months later. Please be vigilant in general if you are in a fragile or defenseless state. I know this is hard since we often need therapy when we are in these places in life. In my case the harm wouldn't have necessarily happened were it not for my deceitful family member, so be extra cautious if entering family or couples therapy with someone who will likely attempt to hoodwink your therapist. In my case it was not only the therapist, but more a lack of proper supervision, and harm was allowed to persist even though I was very vocal in a courteous way about what was happening in front of everyone's eyes. Please proceed with caution.

Best talk therapist I have ever had. I have had many. That's my experience.

My experience at Liberation Institute has been wonderful, and I really appreciate their ability to bring financially-accessible therapy to people who need it! My therapist is truly incredible and I feel really grateful to have found this organization.

Took me multiple emails to finally schedule a session & they still didn’t meet my preferences for the kind of therapist I was looking for. Afterwards they dropped me without giving me any alternatives. The only reasons I am giving two stars instead of one is because the therapist I met with for 3 sessions was very kind.

I got two sessions with a therapist before letting her know I'd be travelling for two weeks. I got dropped for cancelling my scheduled appointments with her due to this travel, an action I had told her I would be performing, without warning or ceremony. I was not informed of the decision to stop working with me or being handed over to another therapist, who has not responded to my questions.