NJBH - affiliate of LifeStance Therapists & Psychiatrists Paramus - Paramus, New Jersey

sylvia sikorska

Please read my review fully so this does not happen to you.
I called back in July to make an appointment for an evaluation. I was given an appointment for November 25th (this is important to the story) the person on the phone took down my insurance information and told me that the insurance is accepted she let me know that someone will be in touch with me to go over details, which was the case during the second phone call I again was assured that my insurance is accepted NEVER ONCE HAS ANYONE SAID THAT THE INSURANCE WAS AN ISSUE. Between July and November I spoke to the staff SEVERAL TIMES. Each time I was assured that everything was in order and that the insurance was accepted. I even verified with insurance myself just to make sure.
FOR OVER 4 MONTHS I have been lead to believe that everything was good.

3 WEEKS before my appointment I once again get a call from them verifying my insurance and I was told that someone will call me back! After one week I called back to make sure that everything was okay since no one called me back where I was told that they verified that I will not have a co-pay and to be ready for my appointment I even received my appointment link.

ONE WEEK before my appointment I get a notification that my appointment was CANCELLED! Why? Because the insurance isn’t accepted, all of a sudden after all this time it’s no longer accepted?

I immediately called and was told that someone will be in touch, I have yet to receive a phone call from a supervisor on this matter. I sent a message on the portal as well and nothing! So this is why I’m writing this review I have been ignored for 3 weeks.

THIS PLACE WASTED MY TIME by falsely making me believe that I would receive the care I need 4 MONTHS OF WAITING TO BE DENIED CARE.

Had the person who is in charge of this done their job from the start I would have been able to find another provider that does accept my insurance i am once again going to need to wait even longer now. This sets me back almost an entire year!

C.A. W.

I was referred to here by my OB for an appointment with a reproductive psychiatrist specifically to discuss taking methylphenidate during pregnancy. I was told by the person on the phone booking the appointment that she would book me with someone who fit that description. When I had my appt, that was the first thing I brought up, and the doctor, Dr Varma, said that not only is she not a reproductive psychiatrist, that "there are no reproductive psychiatrists in NJ" (quite a statement to make, but I guess she knows all of the psychs in NJ). I said I wanted to discuss taking methylphenidate during pregnancy and she said she's not up to date on the research but doesn't recommend medication for ADHD in general and ultimately, after a lot of back and forth, added that with 3 months until my due date I should try to "just figure it out", to which I replied if I could do that I wouldn't be on it when I'm not pregnant, and I said it's a good thing I'm not suicidal because I wouldn't want to have just figure that out. When I said the appointment was going nowhere and we were going in circles she said that it's not her fault and that the people booking the appointments don't know the doctors' specialties, to which I said that they probably should if they are booking the appointments for them. So overall it was the most worst experience I've had with a "doctor" or medical practice (in this case, I would greatly emphasize the term "practice"). I would not recommend this place if you actually want to achieve anything. If you're fine with any random Dick or Jane and don't care if they are competent, professional, or what you need, then feel free to give it a shot.

Also, they text you a link to your appointment, but when I tried to connect, the "doctor" was five minutes late and then her video was frozen and she couldn't hear me, I left and tried to reconnect and waited another 5 minutes before having to call her coordinator to get her to rejoin, and when it still didn't work she told me I needed to use Chrome on Windows not my phone, to which I said maybe they should tell you that when they text the link to your phone... Seems like this place needs an overhaul to be functional.

Also, I should've read the other reviews. Pretty much all of the "positive" reviews lack any detail and are very short. Wonder how much they cost...

gerimiah

I’ve never experienced such poor service from a front desk staff in a medical office before. Since early August, I’ve received multiple phone messages asking me to call back, only to be told each time, ‘Oh, never mind, the doctor still doesn’t accept your son’s insurance.’ After weeks of back-and-forth, they continue to fumble basic communication, keeping me on hold for 20 minutes before hanging up, asking why I’m calling as if it wasn’t clear, and refusing to pass along a simple message to the doctor because my son ‘isn’t a patient.’

Their indifference and unprofessionalism is shocking, especially for a clinic that claims to specialize in mental health care. My son, who is diagnosed with autism, will not be patient here, and LifeStance should be ashamed. They’re supposed to help people, not add to the frustration when clearly they are calling for assistance. Let that sink in.

Joann Rosales (Jojo)

I called this number, and the person who answered stated that the psychiatrist only prescribes medication. Does not talk to the patient or evaluate. Then she said she had an appointment for July 2025. Are you insane? What's wrong with this world prescribing meds without evaluation first and, on top of that, can care less about speaking to the patient? Shitty doctors

Keyser Soze

There explanation of the services on their website they provide are quite misleading. Specifically the substance abuse section and medication assistance treatment. The young lady on the phone was very nice but, the U.I on their website needs a major overhaul in my opinion.

arielyss vargas

I have only had good experiences using LifeStance. They are very professional and efficient and even more important than that they are kind. I highly recommend.

Sigourney Saah

Dr Varma was really nice during my first appointment and I felt comfortable.

Joshy Kurzban

Dr Varma has gotten things wrong every time and keeps insisting on in person as the only way to do things then changes it to telehelath last minute every time. And Telehealth glitches every time. Even on the phone and staring at my chart she sends the medication to the wrong place despite all my reminders. And when she says she will do something she doesn’t. And trying to rectify it takes too many phone calls with too many prompts.
Every dr I’ve had spends most of the session in silence not talking to me as a person but reading a script and typing in silence. It’s very awkward and impersonal.
She also fills my prescriptions too early saying it’s fine and then it’s not fine and I run into more hurdles despite me addressing the issue beforehand and then saying it’s no problem and it is. I put my trust in them and I was wrong to do so.
I was told the transition changing states would be easy and it has not been. No one has their ducks in a row.
Their whole system is flawed.
Especially in NJ.
I’ve tried to address my issues with them and they haven’t risen to the occasion.