Dr. Shamala Vasant Kanchan, MD

I was seeing a very good therapist, but since my therapist and I thought I may need medication, I made an appointment with Kanchan on Zocdoc. She charged me $500 for the first visit. I thought it was a bit high, but that’s fine. She prescribed a month worth of my meds without refill, and asked me to come in the next week. I thought she was going to give me my refill then, but she had a different agenda. When I went in the next week, she showed up 20 minutes late for a 45 minute long session. She sat me down in a chair and started what she called our “therapy”. For most of the session she talked about nonsense like why one shouldn’t be afraid of death, which had nothing to do with my problems. At the end, she didn’t give me the refill I thought she was going to give me. Instead, she asked me when I could come in for our next session. I told her, as I had told her several times before that, that I was already seeing a therapist twice a week and I was happy with my progress there. She… kept insisting that doing therapy with two therapist would be very helpful for me! Money is the only thing she’s after. She doesn’t care about your well-being. At the end of that 25-minute-long session, she charged me another $420: $200 for a med-check (which is supposed to be 30 minutes) and $220 for “therapy” (which is supposed to be 45 minutes). Needless to say, I left and never looked back. I am going to report her to whoever’s in charge of making sure that psychiatrists don’t prey on their patients. If you had a similar experience with her (which based on reviews here a lot of people have), I suggest that you report her too.

She was angry and dismissive because I didn't log in online earlier even though I came a minute earlier to the appointment. She was extremely rude and insensitive. She showed 0 signs of empathy. This was my first and last session.

I would have given this woman 5 zero stars, she is rude and very unprofessional. She can be damaging for someone's mental health. We took an online appointment for my sister. She charged $500 for an hour session, the session ended in 45 minutes and she didn't even order the 2 out 4 medications at the pharmacy. When we sent her a message she didn't respond. We tried to talk to her over the phone, once she said "I'm busy" , we called her after sometime, she said "hello" and disconnected the call. I have never come across any physician who is such a thug!

Shamala Kanchan should not be in business, should certainly not be seeing patients and shouldn't be handling anyone's mental health. I made an appointment with her on Zocdoc and after waiting unacknowledged in her waiting room for a half an hour, finally knocked on the door I assumed was her office. She answered and when I introduced myself and told her that I had an appointment she told me that I didn't. I informed her I made the appointment on Zocdoc and she told me 'I never confirmed that appointment!' I said that I received a confirmation of my appointment from Zocdoc and she said that I didn't, that Zocdoc doesn't send confirmations, that she does.' I asked her, 'so, is that your typical communication? You have appointments available, and then when patients schedule them, you ignore them?' This woman should not be in charge of anyone's mental health.

Dr. Kanchan knows her stuff and is qualified, knowledge-wise, to be an excellent psychiatrist. However, she displays an emotional callousness that I find deeply disturbing. Kanchan worked with my father for several years. Under her treatment, his emotional state improved significantly. However, due to some cultural beliefs of my parents, my father ceased taking the medication on his own volition and then spiraled horribly. This was, obviously, his own fault. However, Kanchan's reaction to the debacle was extremely callous. When we returned to her care to ask for help, she reacted to my father's suicidal condition with a tough-love coldness that was deeply unsettling. Yes, my father needed to be chastised for his behavior, but she paid absolutely no regard to his delicate state. The last time we visited her, we told her that we unfortunately could not proceed with her treatment due to the costs and were transferring to another doctor. She took the news deeply personally and… was very angry. When my father expressed his concerns about his ability to endure the transition to another doctor(which he had been extremely worried about), she brusquely told him that she could not help; instead, she criticized his decision to transfer, told us that the institution he was about to enter would give him poor treatment and then dismissed us. Horrified by her reaction and assuming that he had no hope left for recovery, my father spiraled. The second that he left the office, he turned to me and said "I'm dead." Later that night, he attempted to commit suicide. As I said, Kanchan is medically knowledgeable. However, she displays a coldness and callousness that I believe make her unfit to work with patients under extreme emotional duress. This is why I cannot recommend her services.

I was a patient of Dr.Kanchan's for a few months. She doesn't accept most insurance plans and charged me $350.00 a visit, sometimes wanting me to see her twice a week. I told her that I was on a very limited income and the meds she prescribed me were very expensive. It didn't matter to her that I was becoming bankrupt from her very high fees and the expensive meds. She offered no sliding scale for lower income patients. Aside from her expensive services, Dr. Kanchan's style is pushy, abrupt, forceful and lacks compassion. She not only misdiagnose me, but she actually began to doze off during one of my sessions with her. What really irked me was her trying to push her belief in God, Jesus and spirituality on me. I was very uncomfortable in wanting to tell her that I'm an atheist. I was being polite in saying that I had different views regarding spirituality and religion. She said to me, "What do you mean by different?" In a very condescending tone. I wasn't going to contest the… matter. She was clearly using an offensive, pseudoscientific approach during my therapy sessions. Religion and spirituality have NO place in science and medicine. I was extremely disappointed as a patient of Dr. Kanchan, and heartbroken over the financial crisis she caused me. Let me just add that she misdiagnosed me with clinical depression and anxiety. I went to see a psychologist who was recommended by my primary care doctor who formally diagnosed me with Asperger's a form of autism. Now I'm being treated by a great therapist who offers lower cost treatments for lower income patients. No thanks to the inferior "care" of Dr. Shamala Kanchan.

Seemed most excited when she got the $450 per visit. It was a bait and switch. Diagnosed me properly but did not give right medications. I finally gave up and found a doctor who took my insurance.

Dr. Kanchan was rude and unprofessional. She made blanket statements that were not science or research based. Her style is aggressive and didactic, rather than patient and open.

Dr. Kanchan's office, situated in a business complex, is plain and dark. The waiting room which consists of a small couch, a dying plant, and loud bird noises emitting from a speaker, leads into her office which consists of old chairs, a black leather sofa, and a stereotypical reclining chair. Her desk is laden with piles of paper. She has one wait within eyesight without truly greeting them. She had to be reminded of the paperwork. During the session, Dr. Kanchan was aggressive and blunt, asking pointed questions and lecturing advice without truly listening to or empathizing with the answers to her questions. As a mandated reporter, she seemed to question whether and when a report should happen and lacked knowledge on who is responsible for such reporting. She made blanket statements such as when a woman cries, she loses her man, stating that this was based on research. Throughout the session, it seemed more important her to appear right rather than for her to listen to her… patients. Keeping an eye on the clock, her final prognosis was that the patients should deal with the matter on their own.

I wasn't sure about seeing this doctor, however, I was so glad that I did. She was kind and she really listened. When I left her office I no longer thought that I was losing my mind. I was going through a stressful time. She helped with my sleep problem with some meds for awhile and I feel so much better. I no longer need them. I saw this dr for several visits and it was well worth it.