Lauren Puma

**BEWARE - POTENTIAL HIPAA VIOLATION AND THERAPIST MISCONDUCT** I wrote this review to protect my voice and others following Wellness Road Psychology and Dr. Lauren Puma’s shocking and reprehensible behavior. I DO NOT recommend you come here unless you want to be met with gaslighting and stonewalling. I am using a pseudonym for confidentiality. I saw Dr. Puma for ~2 years before I asked her for a letter to support a reasonable ADA workplace accommodation. She for whatever reason believed the accommodation constituted a legal matter (it didn’t), so she said she was going to bill me $1,000 an hour to write the letter. She assured it me it would take less than an hour to write the letter. I was extremely confused but vulnerable so I agreed at the time just to keep things moving. She sent me the letter, but said it took 65 mins (after I gave her a full draft) so I had to pay more than what was promised. She never explained why it took more than the hour she said it would. I was confused… and asked her to check with her head doctor if this should really be billed as a legal matter since there was no legal proceeding. I said I’d pay if ultimately needed. She double checked and turns out she was WRONG - the head doctor said it didn’t need to be billed and I didn’t need to pay her. She said she’d send me the letter and I assumed the matter was resolved. Nope. Dr. Lauren Puma then proceeded to SCOLD ME for 40 mins (during paid clinical time) for “going back on our agreement” because it was about our “relationship" and she "cared a lot about me." She framed my request for clarification as a personal betrayal. I recorded the whole conversation out of fear for my safety. Even after the billing issue was resolved, she vented to me possibly because she didn’t like the outcome (ie. not getting paid). She said “here I am putting in all this time and energy…” So what; was she planning to spend less time and energy if she knew she wasn’t getting paid? It gets worse. She later claimed she couldn’t write me any more letters for the accommodation I was seeking, and during my treatment suggested I: 1) quit my job outright or 2) get anti-anxiety medication, consulting another psychiatrist if one won’t prescribe it because it’s controlled. This was appalling, so I told her I needed to process and that I had concerns. At our next session, before I could share my concerns she told me she was terminating me as a client. She claimed it was about me “constantly talking about accommodation letters” which was hindering my “progress.” This is after she spent 40 mins of a session venting to me because I didn’t pay her for the letter. I confronted her about my concerns at this point and she deflected everything. Not only was I now out of an ADA accommodation during a crisis, but I was also out of a therapist too. I became extremely depressed. I was still trying to be diplomatic, so I filed an internal complaint to the head of Wellness Road, Dr. Philip Glickman. I sent him a clear narrative of everything that happened. He responded saying he “reviewed my treatment record” and that following this “internal review” he “determined” that Dr. Puma and Wellness Road followed “clinical and ethical standards.” I responded asking how her personal emotional ventings after she found out she wasn’t getting paid for my letter were aligned with any standards. I also asked what records he reviewed since I didn’t authorize him to review my HIPAA protected records. He said he had no further response and did what he was legally and ethically obligated to do. He then said he “closed” my file and shut down the conversation entirely. I still don’t know if HIPAA was violated and how Dr. Puma’s personal emotional ventings were aligned with any clinical standards. Please protect yourselves, don’t fall into the same trap I did. It’s not worth it, find another practice because I think you may end up needing therapy to recover from this therapy.