Charlene Sabin MD — Mental health service in Portland, OR

Terrible experience working with Ms Sabin. Her questionnaire was extensive. I spent an entire week carefully considering my written answers, gathering references, and collecting paperwork. She did not read any of it prior to meeting me and I don’t know if she ever did. She did not recommend either me or my ex spouse for custody, which I thought was the whole point of the process. Her opinion was that we should continue coparenting without choosing a custodial parent. An opinion might have helped us settle. Her non-opinion led us to court. While testifying in court she changed her mind on the stand and decided to recommend one parent after all. She also misrepresented my desired custody arrangement, stating that I was trying to severely limit my children’s father’s parenting time. I had never said or written anything like that. Fortunately, my attorney had read Charlene’s contemporaneous notes from her interviews with me (provided in discovery) and proved that Charlene was misremembering and grossly misrepresenting my position. Ultimately, the judge ruled contrary to her opinion (that she had decided on the stand). I assume it was obvious to him that her opinion was not credible. Avoid using Charlene Sabin for your custody eval. My attorney said that she would never use her again. My experience was in 2020, but I felt compelled to write this when I realized she seems to still be working in this field.

Dr. Sabin's evaluation was impartial and just, without favortism or discrimination. The evaluation was thoroughly conducted and carefully determined. No on ever wants to have to go through something such as this but I am grateful for Dr. Sabin and the work she does.

I did not have a good experience. I had zero reason to go through this. My ex screwed up so I had to get an evaluation for parenting time? I already had it. I had to take a phycolgical exam 3,000. Plus this parenting time evaluation 4,000. Not sure how this wasn't fraud. I have zero tickets, past criminal record 100% clean, graduated with a Bachelors, Work full time, home owner zero debt besides home. The report was horrible and not accurate at all. I asked her to revise some things and was told I needed to contact my lawyer to have him ask her to change it. Oh yeah and I'm not even supposed to be able to read the report I paid for. I'm sorry to anyone that has to go through this. It was 100% a scam and a waste of time. Now I have to follow her recommendation to have a Parenting Coordinator for my wife's future parenting time. This will cost another 5,000. Try and have someone else do your evaluation whatever it may be. This is all a money making scam and these evaluators, phycologist, parenting coordinators work together to take your money with no remorse. You are just a screw up in their eyes. In reality they are the ones that are not mentally sound. I could have used this money for my children's braces and education for them. Instead I got scammed.

Only giving 1 star because zero is not an option. I'm not sure how this person retains her license to be a doctor or how she can say she is an advocate for children. She listened to and jumped in 100% with my ex wife's lies about my personal reference and never spoke to any of them. How can we do open minded research and not talk to every party involved? She recommended a parenting plan that would be okay if my ex wife was not alienating and removing me from my children's lives. She supported a judgement that my ex wife will not sign and has even further delayed the process of me being reunited with my children. Dr. Sabin clearly has no conscious or heart, especially not for children and families. As of today I will be lucky to have a judgement signed by September that should have been signed in June and this just continues the delays and manipulation from my ex wife that is fully supported by Dr. Sabin. Please run away from this business and doctor as fast and far as you can.

Like the family court system they serve, Sabin and her very petty secretary play fast and loose with children’s lives for money, serving themselves quite well while the communities they extort flounder and suffer. She recused herself because I couldn’t hear her on the phone, thought she was another spam call, and hung up with a brief epithet to spammers. The joy and entitlement in the secretary’s voice was pretty epic. Petty, petty people in a petty, destructive system and a petty, broken state and country. They’re supposed to rep and recognize good parenting. So, based on their example - reactionary, childish, apathetic, and unaccountable? What a disgusting country, disgusting bureaucracy, disgusting for-profit child and family services. In short, they’re not there for you or your kids. Like CPS and DHS, as far as kids go, Sabin and her petty, haughty secretary will put your children on the chopping block just to sneer and prove themselves the powerful ones, no matter who hires them. Stay away, if you can. Hope for justice; there’s none in this rotten state.

I was court ordered to have an evaluation completed on my daughters for purposes of our parenting plan. I, the Father of two girls in 2005, was to pay $3,500 for a few meetings with this "specialist". We were told not to coach the kids. It was entertaining to see the two children delight in their first acting role. It was horrifying to experience the outcomes of Dr. Sabin's intentional denial of that coaching and script recital. The youngest girl (4) said during questioning,"oh I don't know Doctor. My sister knows what to say, "SHE REMEMBERS EVERYTHING....ALL THE GOOD STUFF." I immediately repeated that quote to Sabin- who acknowledged my point - then but failed to report this obvious evidence of coaching. Sabine report without this information focused on the girls idealic upbringing with there mother- it swayed the court and appeals court and weakened my position to have visitation. A year later, my visitations became supervised through my ex's friend (another therapist in a network friends) one hour a month at $185/hr. 2015 I Finally heard from eldest girl, she was killed a week later....I dont know how to settle this loss.

If I could give zero stars I would. My children have been diagnosed with PTSD, depression and high anxiety due to Dr. Sabin’s total lack of insight and ability to evaluate humans. I gained back custody of my two children after they were placed with my abusive ex-husband per Dr. Sabin’s evaluation. My children endured severe mental, emotional, verbal, physical and psychological abuse from their father, as I warned Dr. Sabin, and she failed to listen me. She caused my children severe trauma and should be held accountable in many ways. She should not be allowed to conduct custody evaluations, nonetheless be involved with children my any means. Any doctor that believes and places children with an abuser should be ashamed of herself. DO NOT allow this woman near your children.

Her reports are riddled with inaccuracies. She often doesn't have to testify because cases settle with her words just becoming unchallenged. When challenged she does not do the right thing and correct her errors she digs her feet in deeper with no concern for the well being of children. Whoever pays her gets the upper hand and children are never listened to.

If I could give negative points I would. Dr. Sabin did not ever listen to a word I said. She could have prevented a lot of grief and heartache had she reported to the state as a mandatory reporter. She did not. The situation resolved eventually with no help from her. If you really want to throw money away, she's your gal.