Shannan Hermann

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER Shannan Hermann at LifeStance Health for psychiatric care. Our experience with her was one of the most disturbing, disgusting, and unprofessional healthcare experiences I have ever had. My husband was already struggling significantly with his mental health when he began seeing her. Within only a few weeks, she changed his psychiatric medications multiple times, including taking him off a medications abruptly. He subsequently experienced horrible, extremely difficult withdrawal symptoms. Even more concerning was the way she communicated with him. He tried to explain the combination of symptoms he was experiencing, and she told him that it was impossible to have those symptoms together. Instead of feeling heard or supported, he left feeling invalidated and as though he was even lower than before!!!! She repeatedly told him that she “knows her limits” and “stands by her limits.” Knowing your limits as a provider is one thing; abandoning a struggling patient after… only a few weeks and two medication changes without making him feel heard or supported is another. She told him that she treats bipolar disorder all the time, yet ultimately told him there was nothing else she was willing to try and that she could no longer help him. When I tried to advocate for my husband and ask questions, I found her communication to be incredibly dismissive. I even asked about her professional experience and how long she had been practicing, and she would not answer my question. I have never experienced this kind of interaction with a healthcare provider before, and I find it especially troubling in the context of psychiatric care, where patients may already be struggling with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or other serious mental health challenges. These are people who are often at their most vulnerable. They deserve to be treated with patience, dignity, compassion, and respect. To be clear, my issue is not simply that a medication didn’t work. I understand that psychiatric medications often require trial and error, and that providers have to make difficult treatment decisions. My concern is how my husband was treated throughout that process and how quickly she decided she could no longer help him. Our experience was deeply upsetting and left us feeling dismissed and completely unsupported at a time when we needed psychiatric care the most. Based on our experience, I WOULD NOT recommend Shannan Herman to someone seeking psychiatric treatment, particularly someone who is already vulnerable or struggling with their mental health. I am sharing this because reviews on the LifeStance website may give a very different impression than what we experienced. I believe prospective patients deserve to hear about both positive and negative experiences when choosing a mental healthcare provider.

Shannon is the worst. She is dismissive and rude and does not listen to her patients. If you come to her already on medication she will wean you off suddenly and abruptly with no regard to how it will effect your system. She believes SSRI's and stimulants cause bipolar disorder and refuse to prescribe them for children. If you are referred to her run away.

Awful. Rude and stubborn. Does not listen to patients. I had 4 sessions with her trying to give her ideas a reasonable try. She took me off my meds and put me on something that made me feel terrible. When I explained to her how I was feeling she suggested a similar medicine. When I refused that she refused to treat me further. So now after 5 years I am suddenly on no meds at all. I wish I had listened to my gut at the first appointment. Now I’m completely out of luck and worse off than when I started. Do yourself a favor and keep looking. This lady wasted a month of my time and my money only to leave me hanging with nothing. She’s not worth it. Trust me."