Tamara Pincus, LICSW — Counselor in Washington, DC

I was just looking for contact information to transfer records to a doctor in my new state of residence, and was shocked by the rating I saw here. I received the best care I could imagine from Tamara Pincus. Our sessions were incredibly healing and validating for me as a survivor, especially as I tried to move into a healthy relationship with my body after trauma. I was listened to, understood, empathized with, and given tools to help me move forward. As a queer person with multiple other marginalized identities, I felt like those intersections were taken into account and informed our sessions as well. Yeah, my jaw dropped at what I read and saw here and I had to post something, even tho this is a public forum. Wildly different experiences, it’s hard to understand how they could be talking about the same care provider.

It's taken me a long time to feel comfortable sharing this publicly, but I feel very harmed by the therapy I received from Tamara Pincus. I sought her expertise while in a very vulnerable place and not only felt like she truly could not have cared less about me as a person or a client, but was actively unprofessional. She did not listen to anything I said, asked off-topic and unhelpful questions, looked away from the screen (we had 5 telehealth sessions) for the majority of the session time (including down in her lap, on what appeared to be a phone), and did not show any care or compassion when I would cry or reveal my trauma. It was actually a very harmful experience that I believe did a great disservice to me as a traumatized individual in the realm in which she supposedly specializes. I hope she has improved since then but I feel a duty to warn people if they are already dealing with sexual trauma to not seek care from her.

I cannot recommend this practice after my experience. My therapist was Reese Hebrank. My first session included honest communication about trauma I’ve experienced and continue to experience. I communicated that I believe this trauma has led to suicidal ideation, and that I had no specific plan for suicide. I stressed that the help I needed should be focused on helping me work through trauma issues before suicidal thoughts turned into plans. Mr. Hebrank and I agreed on that path for therapy. I opened up and trusted him to tell a portion of my story to him over approximately ten appointments. He charged $160 for each, and my insurance did not cover it. My participation relied upon the expectation that after taking these sessions to tell my story, he would then offer therapy and provide information, resources, and coping mechanisms for my trauma. Instead, after I told my story over a couple of months, he fired me as a client citing that he felt that the “level and kind of care (I) need is outside of (his) scope of experience.” This was completely inappropriate at this time. I believe he should have stated this upfront when I gave him a summary of the depth of my trauma in the first session. This was a waste of my time, and an abuse of my money and trust. I can say for certain this experience has altered my ability to trust therapists in the future. I’m leaving this review to help other patients who may be searching for a therapist who will not only listen, but who will also provide quality care in return. I got nothing more than an audience during my time here. I did contact Mr. Hebrank prior to this review to provide feedback on my experience. I received a reply void of an apology or acknowledgment that this approach is unethical.