Dr. Daniel Murray Blumberg, MD

This was my first psychiatry appointment ever. I've been seeking possible anti-anxiety medication. Blumberg was one of the only ones who had availability and now I know why. It was one of the most uncomfortable, inappropriate and unprofessional encounters I've ever experienced. We barely scratched the surface before he was prescribing something to me- he didn't even explore other options. He was unpleasantly sarcastic, condescending and arrogant. He took advantage of his power and didn't seem at all concerned with actually helping me. At one point as I was describing my anxiety he asked out of the blue: "how many boyfriends do you have?" I was so caught off guard. This was not at all relevant. After that he said: "whether you like it or not you're very attractive". So beyond inappropriate- I was shocked. I could not have gotten out of there faster. Please, don't waste your time with him, especially if you're a woman. It was creepy and he shouldn't be in practice anymore.

Has no idea what he's doing and no bedside manner to boot.

Saw Dr. Blumberg for 2 years. He provided excellent care. He was patient, receptive, intuitive. I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.

Dr Blumberg is the most human allopathic doctor I have met in a long time. He sees the person as a whole and is able to look "beyond the box" and truly see what is going on. He allows his patients to help direct their treatment in order to give them more self power and is a wonderful, caring, compassionate person.

Has absolutely no bedside manner. Has broken patient confidentiality.

I never saw Dr. Blumberg because he refused to see me. His reason (which he kept referring to as his "idiosyncrasy") was that I smoke cigarettes. Now, I understand that, as a physician, he doesn't agree with it and would rather not have a patient who does. I am schizophrenic, and part of my problem is that I smoke a lot to self medicate and wish to quit. I thought seeing a doctor about my illness could be the first step to doing this. I could have forgiven him this prejudice if he wasn't so insistently RUDE to me. When I told him I needed help because my illness was making me a danger to myself, he said that he was "sad for me" but refused to even take my calls unless I waited a month and quit smoking and then literally HUNG UP on me. This smug, strange man made me feel like even more of an unbalanced, unwanted degenerate who wasn't even worth seeing in person if I was a filthy, diseased smoker. You would think that a psychiatrist of all people would be a little more understanding of… human weaknesses, but apparently treating someone with an addiction is just too hard for him.

I have been sick for 8 months and Dr. Blumberg always felt that I had a physical element to my illness, but other doctor's and tests showed negative. He began guiding me in handling the possible physical problem, took me off all medication, encouraged me to seek natural healing techniques, such as Qui Gong. I got better and know he saved my life.

Within a few minutes I received a diagnosis, was not explained it, expressed concern and fear about the " disorder" . I was told I was free to leave and there was the door if I wished.I told him I wasn't about to run out just because i didn't understand and like the " label". He then told me I also had the option to jump out the window if i wished, with a smile on his face. And, he does not deal with people with this disorder because success rate is low and the patients are too difficult. But good luck to you, good bye. The hour was not even over. There is supposedly a very high suicide rate with people with my " disorder". At 9 pm, going home alone, with no computer to even read up on that disorder, I consider Dr Blumberg's behavior not only non compassionate, but downright irresponsible. The kind of event that could put one over the edge.

The phone interview itself was strange and that should have been my first clue. I kept the appointment anyway and it was a complete waste of my co-pay. The doctor greeted me in in shorts and no shoes. Ok, it IS Santa Cruz, but he looked more like he was going to the beach. He had difficulty listening to me talk without interrupting me. When he had to "process" what I was sharing, he had to sit yoga style on the floor, but what was weird was he put his hands on his head to "think" and did so for a while giving me the creeps. He then informed me that it would take several visits before we could begin real therapy. Ok. I don't have any personality disorders -- simply depression and PTSD. It's not rocket science. I believe that this doctor is in the system to milk clients of money and did not feel confident that he would be any help to me at all. In fact, I think he needs help. I would not recommend him to anybody.

I found this doctor creepy, his office smelled moldy, stale. He would say he has some good exercises to treat my problem, but never quite got to them. Did not seem to listen when I said medication was not working, he would refer back to 3 months prior when I said they might have been effective; hey doc wake up!