Dr. Alison A Golombek, MD

man i have a whole list... 1. i was not told how long the appointment would be exactly but it was meant to be around an hour. i was still there after 3 hours. 2. she threatened to call CPS on my mom for no good reason. my mom is an amazing mother and is nowhere near abusive. 3. she got uncomfortably close to me and, in an extremely threatening tone, accused me of attempting to manipulate her. i was not, and it was extremely unprofessional behavior from her. 4. she accused my mom of pushing drugs on me and tried to convince me my mom was a bad person (while my mom wasn't even in the room to defend herself). my mom has never pushed drugs on me nor said/done anything that hinted at that. 5. she likes to make up things i might hypothetically do (despite the fact 99% of the time i never would've considered those things) and then gets angry at me over them 6. broke confidentiality. it was in a small way but it definitely makes me trust her less than i already did 7. she tried to convince… me i only dislike her because of "past negative experiences" despite the fact that she is the worst psychiatrist i have ever talked to and is actively damaging my mental health. 8. mockingly referred to my self harm scars as "scratches" and laughed when she saw them i would not recommend her as a psychiatrist and while i'm sure some people have had good experiences with her, she's been incredibly harmful to me.

Our teenage autistic daughter has been meeting with Dr. Golombek for about a year. She takes as much time as it seems necessary for each appointment. Our visits have ranged from 30-75 minutes. We have made the most headway on addressing anxiety and OCD than with any other plan or doctor in the past 3 years. Dr. Golombek has connected well with our daughter (not easy to do for a caregiver) and also works well with us as the parents. Dr. Golombek also explains her approach clearly. We have visited many doctors since our diagnostic period over 12 years ago. Dr. Golombek is in the top third of all of the doctors we have worked with (there are many).

We were recommended to Dr Golombek by our daughter's psychologist, but were very unimpressed. We spent an hour with her before she met our daughter, explaining about our child and her anxiety and how she is more than extremely reluctant to take any medication for it. When our daughter met with her a couple of weeks later, Dr Golombek plunged right in and said, you need medication. She then tried to backtrack with some 'softer' talk, but the damage was done. She obviously hadn't listened to the details of our case. Very unimpressed and would not recommend her.

My daughter has been seeing Dr. Golembek for two years for anxiety. She is thorough and smart and very careful about prescribing/over prescribing. She spends much more time with us than other practitioners and seems to really care about my daughter's health. She can be blunt and very forward but also funny. Overall excellent diagnostician.

She's terrific. Spends a lot of time talking with my son to really get a feel for what's going on with him. And really knows her stuff. We're finally getting the answers we've been needing for 4 years with her. So glad we found her!

This doctors seems to be available and have all the time in the world. Yes, I agree with the other reviewers-she is funny, but that's just not enough! It is not true she closed her practice, she does accept patients, so I don't know where that came from.I felt she spent a lot of time chatting with my daughter (she is loud so I could hear her from the waiting room)but in the end she just referred us to a counselor.I expected a more comprehensive treatment plan after such a long evaluation!

I feel very lucky that I was able to get appointments for my boys before Dr. Golombek put a hold on taking new patients in her private practice. She is very knowledgable, helpful and funny. I like her, but most important, by sons like her. If you are fortunate enough to become a patient I think you will be very satisfied.

I couldn't disagree more with the above rating...lots of people go to a child psychiatrist seeking an easy fix and whatever medication they think will "manage" their child. Dr. Golumbek is thoughtful, brilliant, caring, very committed to her patients and down to earth. Unlike most psychiatrists, she doesn't "over-medicate" a child to the point where you can't even recognize the child. She's conscientious, takes her work very seriously and doesn't rush to judgment. She takes whatever time is necessary to understand the situation and the child. Incredibly refreshing and responsible in a city where most docs won't hesitate to prescribe a cocktail of medications, see the child every three months and "hope" it all works out.

Dr. Golombek seems very hesitant to engage in any kind of treatment. It feels she just wanted our money. She did not add any value whatsoever, did not come up with a diagnosis and ended up refering us to another doctor. If you are looking for a runaround, she's your doc!