Dr. Angela Marie Castellanos, MD

Dr. Angela Castellanos was my therapist from approx.Sept 2025 to Jan-Feb 2026. After some thought, I truly feel people deserve to be aware of some things about Dr. Castellanos. My physical health declined from Nov-Jan except I didn't yet know what was wrong. Only that I had bizarre/serious neurological and psychological symptoms and felt awful. It turned out that I had a serious disorder called vit B6 toxicity, but I didn't learn what was wrong for a few months. I kept canceling appointments when I didn't feel well enough for therapy. There were enough things that were said to me by Dr. Castellanos that I didn't get the sense she believed me that I felt very unwell, physically, but I didn't know what was wrong. I believe she felt I was canceling because I didn't feel like doing therapy, which wasn't true. Back in November, one of the topics we discussed was that my feelings kept getting hurt by people not responding back to me. Dr. Castellanos said to me, "It's so hurtful when… people do that". I will now discuss why I feel Dr. Castellanos is insincere in the advice/guidance she provides to her patients in sessions. About a month ago, with the help of my new therapist, I started circling back to people in my life I left confused from Nov-Jan, when I didn't know what was wrong with me health-wise, but something was clearly wrong with me. Dr. Castellanos was absolutely on that list of people who I wanted to share that I unknowingly had vit B6 toxicity and I was sorry for the confusion. I sent an email to Dr. Castellanos, explaining all of this. I apologized for the cancelations. I also thanked her for referring me to Case Management, which has been an enormous help. As a therapist and mental health professional, Dr. Castellanos made the decision to not respond back to my email at all, clearly apologizing and seeking closure. I feel a short and sweet response was absolutely warranted. This was following her acknowledging back in November that it's so hurtful when people don't respond back to you. I do not feel Dr. Castellanos is sincere in her therapy sessions, but she gives the impression that she is. Lastly, back in January, I did ask her if I could take 2 weeks to make a final decision if my physical health could permit me to do weekly therapy. Dr. Castellanos could have responded any way she picked. She told me that I could take 2 weeks to decide. I got back to her about 10 days that I would like to continue with therapy. The response I received was she no longer had availability in her practice. Dr. Castellanos discontinued me as a patient without telling me first that she was doing so. I strongly feel when I asked if I could take 2 weeks to decide if I'm well enough for therapy, she very much should've said something along the lines of, "Yes, you can take 2 weeks. But please be aware that your spot may fill up while you use this 2-week period to decide". I'm still not clear why she wasn't upfront with me about this. There are SO many therapists in Santa Barbara. I really recommend seeking a therapist other than Dr. Castellanos. I now have the best therapist of my entire life. He has helped me more in one session than Dr. Castellanos did in months. We all deserve a therapist who is sincere and upfront at minimum.