Dr. Rivka Rivi Ben Dor, MD

Great psychiatrist. Very smart, friendly and dedicated. She makes me feel at ease with each visit. I highly recommend

Calm, focused on the patient, non-judgmental, dedicated professional.

I will start with the positive things I have to say about Dr. Ben Dor: she is very thorough in her intake and follow up sessions (I saw her for med management, not psychotherapy) and she does send scrips in promptly to pharmacies and would call during the week to check how I was doing on a new medication/dosage. The office is also clean and has plenty of free parking so as not to add to the stress of getting to appointments. However, I found her difficult to connect with and she disregarded my assertions that I had not reacted well to past medications, barely consulted the genetic testing I had done, and subsequently didn't believe me when I said I felt worse on the med she put me on, which made me feel too tired to function and more depressed than before. I brought a family member in to explain the change they saw in me, she insisted my problem was that I was too anxious about the medication, so I was imagining side effects. In spite of the fact that the med didn't seem to alleviate… the symptoms I came in to treat, she insisted I stay on it because she doesn't believe in changing what meds her clients are on. She recommended expensive outpatient hospitalization program but couldn't give us much of any info on the programs. Seems like something a psychiatrist should know about. (To be fair, she did call a program after we spoke. But I'm glad I didn't follow that route which can cost the equivalent of a college tuition, and I question her recommending it because of that.) Anyways, it turned out I had Bipolar disorder, which she barely screened me for in spite of my sister having it. So that was why I was not reacting well to the SNRI and why I was so tired. I wish she had been willing to listen to me and reevaluate things. Beyond my specific situation, I found her intimidating and difficult to talk to, perhaps because she has a tendency to ask lots of questions in an interogative-feeling format, so if you're shy and easily intimidated, she may not be a great fit. My intake took 3.5 hours and my followups typically took an hour or more, to give an idea of how intense it could get. I think she cares and knows a lot, but can lose sight of the bigger picture, especially if her authority is questioned. Ultimately, you should listen to your gut when choosing someone to work with. Don't settle and ask questions to see if the doctor is approaching mental illness with the same perspective as you. I did not feel respected or listened to by this doctor. If you have a complicated case when it comes to meds, I would recommend someone else.