Dr. Bertram S Nayfack, MD

I want to state right up front that I haven't been a patient of Dr. Nayfack's since he left his Bel Air office about 4 years ago, though I did see him briefly at his Baltimore office before deciding, with great reluctance, to see someone in my local town just due to the cost and difficulty of getting down to the Baltimore office from where I live. I first came to see Dr. Nayfack in 2003 after having suffered an episode of extreme trauma over the several years immediately preceding this date. I was in my mid-30s at the time and had been having problems since another traumatic event that happened when I was only 9 years old. I had been recently homeless and my life was in shambles. Nothing was going right, and I was becoming extremely paranoid and delusional. Dr. Nayfack made my care a priority and agreed to see me 3 times a week for like the first year or two that I went to see him. We never met less than once a week except toward the very end of our time together. Dr. Nayfack… always treated me with kindness, respect, and dignity, and would usually see me for up to 45 minutes at a time, telling me on occasion that he was giving me, a poor person, the kind of care that usually only rich people got. I really appreciated his generosity of time, expertise, and spirit then, and I look back and am just as grateful today. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been his patient for nearly 13 years. Dr. Nayfack is an extremely wise, thoughtful, and intuitive man. He is a wonderful doctor and the fact that he's still seeing patients at the age of 80 speaks volumes about his commitment to people and making the world a better, healthier place, one person at a time. I give him, along with my own family, credit for saving my life, and I have told him so. Now, I'm doing much better and I feel great. Life is a joy again, something I didn't think could or would be possible around the turn of the millennium. No one is paying me to say this and I have nothing to gain by saying the things I'm saying. All I have to offer is my undying gratitude, and I can assure you this is all coming straight from the heart. Dr. Nayfack deserves an award for meritorious service to humanity. He is one awesome dude!

He was my psychiatrist at Chestnut Lodge. He was inappropriate and unhelpful. That was 1983. Maybe he's gotten better.

Con: I agree with other commenters that the wait is excessive. I think I waited almost an hour. I am lgbt, and he asked me questions about that which weren’t relevant to my treatment. I understand why he broached the subject, but he brought it up again later after I’d clarified that I didn’t think it was relevant. I asked if he had experience working with adult adhd. He said his experience was primarily with juvenile adhd, but I’d be considered a “pediatric” case because I’m a college student, and my problems are similar to a high school students. I’m 23. I file my own taxes, I pay my own rent, I manage my own health care, I spend hours on the phone arguing with insurance. ADHD affects *all* of those things. He tends to steamroll you a bit. If you’re a timid person, or have trouble contradicting authority figures, you’re probably gonna have a bad time. For example, I mentioned that I *might* want to switch to a new medication. Next thing I knew I was almost out the door… with the prescription, when I was just *thinking* about it. Pro: -A lot of those criticisms are true of *most* psychiatrists I’ve had. - he didn’t try to push his pet diagnosis on me. -when I *did* clarify that I wasn’t set on starting the new medication, he slowed down and became very accommodating - he seems to genuinely care about his patients. He keeps artwork an old patient gifted him. - maybe its because he’s also a therapist, but he *didn’t* try and shove higher doses down my throat without talking things through. I once had a psych up my dose after I spent most of the session complaining about side effects. in general, he seems reluctant to fix every problem by adding more drugs. I appreciate that. - did not try to diagnose me with bipolar just because i talk fast. That was refreshing. - wanted to know about my support systems. I appreciate the holistic approach. Ultimately, I chose not to continue with him partially because of the lgbt thing and the wait time, and partially because I found someone closer to where i live that cost me less.

Dr. Nayfack was great. He was a little late for our appointment. Butt he took time to get to know me and the problem. Seemed very caring and interested in finding the right formulary. I’ve tried lots medications from ther doctors but he found the perfect treatment. I haven’t felt this good in a long time.

Dr Nayfack is a condescending and arrogant practitioner. Like others have stated, I feel as though he enjoys to play games... He has made disparaging comments about other psychiatrists which I found to be totally unprofessional. I did file a grievance to UPC and no response. As someone in the healthcare field, I urge you to seek care elsewhere.

Never on time, doesn't discuss medications, won't let you try a different med if the one he gave you isn't working. Never prepared. Can't remember my name even though I've been seeing him for 4+ years. Literally makes me have a panic attack.

Sometimes this place feels like a total scam and it's unbelievable that Dr. Nayfack is allowed to practice. He's a quack that needs to retire and stop putting people's lives at risk with his carelessness and stupidity.

All he does is talk about freud and my mother. Hes litterelly insane. YOU CANT TOY WITH MY EMOTIONS OR MY HEAD BERT!

Took days to write a prescription when I was out of meds, very unwelcoming and even sometimes downright mean, one of the worst mental healthcare providers I've dealt with. My first appointment with him was a 20min wait and 6 minutes in the office.

He's certainly intelligent but he seems to play games you when you're with him. He's very often deliberately obtuse when you try to explain a problem or issue you might be having. I certainly have never felt comfortable opening up to him in any way and on occasion when I try to he does little to make his patient at ease. If anything he tries to rile you up further. Not the kind of game I want to play in therapy. He's also announced my prescription at me through the reception window into the lobby (where I was) while there was another patient in there (waiting right next to me). Direct violation of HIPAA.