Dr. Harry Z Coren, MD

This guy is only in it for the money. He missed an appointment with me and didn't even apologize. My husband had to miss work so I could go. Now he's playing head games with me and saying I cancelled an appointment when I have phone records proving I called ahead of time. I'm not the only reviewer to experience this manipulation, go look at his yelp page.

Appreciate his positive influence on who I am today

In my son's own words. Dr. Coren is a great next step! After being in treatment since the age of 8 and now 16, this past year his doctor became ill and suggested Dr. Coren as a replacement. Making the transition with an open mind his experience to date has been remarkable. As parents of a child who has required treatment from a very young age, it has been our mission to gather as much information about his condition, what his choices are for treatment, and what the long term effects his condition will have on his life. In addition, we have carefully researched what the side effects will be, if any, of treatments we may have chosen as maintenance over the years. Lastly, who we have chosen to help our son did not come without scrutiny. His first psychiatrist came highly recommended by one of the most recognised pediatricians in San Francisco by his peers, and many parents alike. After 8 years of developing a trusting relationship with his psychiatrist and it became necessary to… make this change, we still continued to keep our son's best interest in the for front. Having the utmost trust in his doctor, and the treatment he had been receiving over the years, this is OUR son, and as parents who make informed decisions we went back to his pediatrician for a second opinion on Dr. Coren who we were about to allow our son to go to for trust and confidence. Let's just say we've done our homework which brings us to this: Fulfilling our need to always stay informed, we carefully monitor sites that offer opinions regarding doctors or professionals that we are either seeking out or using, and after reading the reviews that are provided here we felt compelled to comment. Considering the circumstances bestowed upon us by our fate to have a child that is effected, we can say without a doubt we know more about this then we would like to. We also know that you don't have to be in the mental health profession to become a good judge of character when selecting a doctor and seeking treatment for a family member. What can happen however when your dealing with mental health issues is that no matter who you are, or what your profession, you can feel quite desperate to solve a problem that often times can be over whelming and has no simple solution. In the process of trying to regain control of yourself or trying to help a family member and not achieving an immediate fix it is easy to feel as if you've failed, and this simply is not true. It is easy when we find ourselves in these positions to want to blame others to lesson our burden. With the knowledge on the subject that we have acquired over the years I would find it hard to imagine that someone having ties to the mental health profession would even begin to consider that a psychiatrist would be able to narrow down a patients problems in just 2 one hour visits unless they were experiencing much of what I just described.( Which for those of you who are using this site as a reference- this is the average time for a psychiatrist visit.) Developing a relationship with a psychiatrist is something that takes time. Let's remember, the patient is being asked to share their inner most thoughts with an absolute stranger, and in many cases these are children. The foundation needs to be laid, and a trust in place before the doctor can even begin to get the patient to start to reveal their inner most thoughts, fears and emotions. Often times psychiatrists, in particular with children, choose the casual nature of board games to create an atmosphere that allows for candid interaction. For our son it continued to be a part of his relationship with his long time doctor over the years that was the stage for many conversations that were very revealing and helpful. As well as a journal of drawings and many conversations about things my son enjoyed doing. Personally, after years of observing our child in treatment we would now fear any doctor that claimed that after 2 simple visits they were comfortable giving our son a formal diagnosis. By the way, a diagnosis is with you to stay. Mental illness including depression, which is part of it, is invisible and hard to pin point with many illnesses having overlapping symptoms, so an accurate diagnosis can be both difficult and take time. Another words don't insist on one immediately because once it's given, and if not correct, good luck trying to have it changed. Our personal thought is that after doing plenty of research on the mental health industry in many ways they are still in the dark ages. Although your options have increased, in many regions of the world and even in the USA not everyone is accepting of those who are diagnosed with mental health conditions. Often times they're judged with cruelty and descrimated against. For us more importantly then the diagnosis a treatment plan (psycho therapy, medication, what ever..) should be in place. We have realised that when seeking treatment for a child you have to be open minded and patient. Children's bodies are changing constantly, and so is their chemistry which can also effect their treatment. Unlike any other time in history, sufferers now have choices. If you remain open to these choices, remain patient and find a doctor that your child bonds with and trusts, you will find that as a parent seeking help for your child there is relief available, and the possiblility of a healthier life. Remember choosing to blame a psychiatrist for you not finding the reason for a problem immediately could be premature. Be patient! Also, often times when your child is in treatment things are revealed that are hard to accept about ourselves as parents. We have to keep our eye on the big picture. We bring our children to these doctors for help, and sometimes that also involves making personal changes ourselves. If you're not willing to meet these challenges it could

Have always had a wonderful experience with Dr. Koren. He really cares about his patiences.

I can't really rate Dr. Coren's professional competencies as I was not his patient, my son was. However, as a mental health professional, I considered his approach to somewhat unorthodox and not really applicable to the problems my son was experiencing. Since my wife and I dissolved our marriage my son's grades and attention to detail began to slip and I thought he may be a bit depressed. Truthfully, I chose Dr. Coren because he was the only Psychiatrist with current openings under my health plan. According to my son, most of the four sessions he had with Dr. Coren consisted of playing board games. I'm not sure what assessment can be garnered from this but being opened minded I didn't question the course of treatment. However, when we had a parent, physician meeting after the fourth session, he was unable to offer any insight as to what, if anything was bothering my son. His comment was, "These things sometimes take time". Did I mention I work in Mental Health? From my experience after… the first one to two contacts with a patient one has a pretty fair idea what was going on. I was a bit confused by his assessment. It was at this point I began to have doubts about Dr. Coren's abilities. The coup de grce however came when he called me asking for clarification of my son's birth date and my health insurance number. He questioned why I had given him a wrong birthday, I had given him my daughter's birth date in error, and why I had given him a wrong insurance number. I informed him that when we met to set up the therapy sessions for my son, he was the one to write down my information and any error made was on his part. He seemed very annoyed and accusatory in presenting these questions and when I questioned him about his behavior, he implied that he thought I was being dishonest with him and then he became quit nasty. When I informed him that I thought his behavior was unprofessional, he really went off and began to forcibly argue with me. I fired him on the spot. I've never experienced anything close to this from a medical professional and I question this man's stability.