Philip A Grossi, MD

I have been seeing Dr Grossi way over 10 years now. I have been depressed
since I was 16 and until I met himI had just been «dealing with it» as best as I could. I have seen literally dozens of doctors in my life (I am now 54) and always felt lost and alone and felt all the other doctors were just throwing different medications at me to see if anything worked. After meeting Dr Grossi, we tried several different medications and found that something off-​book worked wonderful for me. I now run my own business and my family sees a huge difference in me. Chris, his right arm at the office has always been a godsend to me. There are not words to express my gratitude to both of them

I have been going to Dr. Grossi for about 4 months now and honestly the only thing I could complain about it is one instance where I had a long wait time but it was clear the doctor was dealing with a lot of patients that day.
His receptionist is quick with responding and VERY accommodating. She’s always doing what she can to help me out with prescriptions and appointments and most doctors I’ve had in the past, receptionists could care less about the patients.
As for the doctor, I like him. He doesn’t grill you with unnecessary questions but just treats your like a regular person having a regular conversation. He allows you to open up when your ready which I believe reveals trust and understanding.
So far everything has been great with his office and I’ll continue to seem him until I’m persuaded otherwise!

I have been a patient of Dr. Grossi for many years. I initially sought treatment for severe attacks of generalized anxiety. Thanks to Dr. Grossi I have not experienced an anxiety attack for almost 10 years. Treatment for mental illness is not an exact science. Different medications work for different people. Dr. Grossi is not the type of doctor who is going to have a patient walk in and say I have been to a different psychiatrist and this is the medication I want/​need. There is too much abuse of psychiatric medicine and his ethics are above that. He is going to do his own evaluation of a patient before he dispenses any type of medication. So if you’re doctor hopping, do not expect him to just hand you a prescription. He has ALWAYS listened to my input on how I feel, adjusted meds when necessary and has NEVER pushed meds down my throat. In fact we have worked to keep my medication dosage at an effective minimum. If I ever have a concern or question, I can either call the office or email Chris and I have always received a prompt response. I have emailed Dr. Grossi personally and he has also responded promptly.
Not every doctor is a perfect fit for every patient — and not every mental illness can be treated 100% and it may take time to find the right medication for each person. As with any doctor, if you don’t have a connection or feel comfortable with that doctor you should seek medical care elsewhere. My experience with Dr. Grossi has been positive; he genuinely cares, he listens and has always been responsive to my personal situation and needs.

I would give this doctor negative stars if I could, because he’s caused me to become nothing but MORE SUICIDAL than I was 30 years ago, and every time I think about him I want to slash my wrists or shoot myself in the face. I hate the motherfucker with a passion. Because of him, the last 30 plus years of my life have been nothing but shit and pure agony. This man knows how to destroy someone’s life and he takes great pleasure in doing it. I’ve had a fantastic doctor for the past 20 years, but I’m afraid nothing can make up for the damage done by this man, he was more harmful than the abuse and all the beatings that I took from my family and my two husbands or any or my abusive relationships because I used to be lost without a bully, and that’s just what this doctor is, a bully.
Dr. Grossi was my therapist (I prefer the word shrink) for nearly ten years from the age of 22 to age 31 or 32, and at that point he just ditched me and left me without a doctor. Nice huh? Just what you want from a therapist when you’re going through a nervous breakdown and feeling like you’re losing your shit. During the time he was my doctor, he mostly refused to speak to me at all during our sessions, he just sat there and bummed cigarettes from me which we smoked in his office (this was prior to 1993 when smoking was outlawed in public building in California, I’ve lived here forever, and I’ve been in therapy forever.) He also insisted that I take lithium, for years, despite the fact that it made me vomit blood and chunks of my stomach lining. I was tested repeatedly for lithium toxicity by my mother who was a hemotologist who had been working in her field since before I was born, and probably began her career before Dr. Grossi did. So now my hormones are wasted, the lithium has now caused permanent damage to my hormones and my thyroid. I should have sued this bastard while I had the chance.
The absolutely worst thing he did was that he violated my doctor patient privilege, which has gotten me disinherited from tens of millions of dollars of my father’s estate. My family owns an oil company, but I’ll never see any of it thanks to Dr. Grossi. I became his patient after i was hospitalized at Good Sam for eleven days, and sexually assaulted and accused of lying by the staff both times until the men in question went and tried to assault someone else who wasn’t as successful at fighting them off. I had to start young, I’ve been doing it since grade school. And I was sexually assaulted by a staff member at Good Sam who somehow managed to get my phone number and address out of the records and started following me around and calling me at home after I came home from the hospital. Dr. Grossi seemed to blame me for this, like the typical rape victim who wore a shirt that fit too tightly or a skirt that was a little too short I guess, but all I was doing was trying to go to sleep and minding my own fucking business so I’ll never get that dimwitted logic (can’t argue their way out of a fucking paper box.)
So yes, getting back to the absolute worst thing, I was hospitalized at age 22. Legally an adult, and I had been mourning my dead husband for the past two years which is what sent me over the edge in the first place. But every time my Dad called and pressured Dr. Grossi for information about what I had told the doctor privately during session, Dr. Grossi told my father word for word everything that I had revealed to him in private, without me knowing about it. I had never signed any sort of consent form or waiver or release, nor had I given any sort of oral consent. So he violated the privacy act of 1974, and I could have sued his ass for malpractice, if I hadn’t been so bullied by my father who was holding that multimillion dollars and everything else in my trust fund that he didn’t have any legal right to but he just took it anyway. My Dad’s a con artist and a creep and so is this doctor which is why I was so suckered in by him for so long. Don’t let him play you like that.
Do yourself a favor and do a little research on this guy on Duck Duck Go, and see who he really is.

Dr. Grossi rocks! What a gem locally to find and get straight to the root of my problem and he is all about results! Changed my life and wouldn’t trust anyone else. He is extremely knowledgable about medicines and he is easy going and not just interested in what insurance you have. I feel extremely lucky to have found my way to this office. His staff is very accommodating as well and quick to reply by email, too! One of the best decisions I made all year was to see Dr. Grossi.

Medication is not a perfect science when it comes to determining what is the right course of action. I’ve been on 5 different medication types at different dosages in my lifetime. It took me though Lithium to Welbutrin to various other ones I’d rather forget. Cocktails that disagreed with my stomach. Medication that messed with my immune system, Medication that did nothing but make me feel even with no heart and soul to speak of. So if your looking for a wonder drug, One that will do everything for your ONE situation. You better be ready for a long road and be willing to build a trusting relationship with your doctor. If you feel the first impression leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, Then move on. Dr. Grossi was able to undo all the medical crap I went though with Stanford for 5 years! I lost 5 years of my life trying to work with Stanford and a doctor WHO REFUSED TO LISTEN. He would not let me try another drug. They wanted to add drugs on top of that drug and send me to Therapy. If you want to be jerked around by a medical staff that sticks you with doctors in training then by all means, go to Stanford or the other drug dispensary doctor you read about on Unilocal.FOR ME. I’ll stay with Dr. Grossi.

Dr Grossi’s office just started ketamine injections for depression. It’s still in the early stages («zen» room still not set up as of August 2013), but good luck finding another office around here that is advanced to use ketamine!

I’m actually shocked at the 5 star reviews. I went here based on these reviews, but I didn’t have the best experience. Being my first time seeing this shrink, I was expecting at LEAST an hour long analysis since that had been the case with past psychiatrists I had been to. I was pretty disappointed when it turned out only being a 30 minute appointment. The appointment felt rushed and I didn’t feel like Dr. Grossi really cared about my well-​being and he seemed quick to put a label on what was wrong with me. And on top of all of that, I paid a whopping $ 500.

I am mortified to see all these high reviews. I took these high reviews seriously when choosing a new psychiatrist and thought he was great… until he took me off all my meds (that had been working fine) for 2 weeks and put me on another med that he just kept increasing the dose of every time I told him I thought I was not reacting favorably to the drug. I also told him that I couldn’t not take a certain type of drug, but he put me on a similar one that left me in need of immediate hospital admission.
I would not return to him if I were paid what he must make in a year.
And the nice and smiling picture of the secretary? That is the only time in a dozen appointments that I ever saw her smile… the most sour receptionist I have ever encountered.

My 14 yr old son has been seeing Dr Grossi since he was 10. He is a very kind and well rounded person in addition to being very good at psychiatry. He doesn’t just dispense meds, he talks to you and takes the time to figure things out. I have been to many psychiatrists and I find him to be one of the best around.

Dr Grossi is an amazing doctor. He listens without judgement, but he will challenge you in order to get you to get honest with yourself and with him. He wants to HELP you get better — not just put a band-​aid on your symptoms.
So only go to him if you are willing to work. Because he will work to make your life better, but you need to do your part as well and he will help you to figure out what it is you need to do in order to make that happen.
I know he has helped me by giving me my correct diagnosis, meds that are helpful and questions about my life that were provocative enough to get me to take a hard look at myself. I cannot say enough how insightful and helpful he has been to me gaining control over my bipolar and thereby gaining control over my life.
Oh, and BTW, Chris, his office manager ROCKS! She always does her best to get me in to see him as soon as possible when I need to! Thank you, Chris. :)

Dr Grossi and Staff are extraordinary people. From the support up front to the care Dr. Grossi provides, they take a personal interest in your health and well being. I have seen many Physicians and all I can say is that it does not get any better than this!
— A

Absolutely hands down the worst experience of my life. Based on Dr. Grossi’s stellar Unilocal reviews I gave his office a call, his receptionist was clear that I would need to pay $ 500 for a consultation as they do not work with Aetna. I was told to arrive at 2:15 pm and expect to stay 1.5 hours as this was the first visit. I in fact arrived at 2:00 pm to ensure all the necessary forms were filled out (including a very heavy handed legal document only allowing arbitration under his terms, not cool but desperate folks have no choice) .
I was called into his office at 2:20pm and inquired how much time I have to to which Dr. Grossi replied, «as much time as you need». At this point I feel very comfortable and open up, I get very little feedback and then very curtly he says, «our time is done» and was told our session was over and I was asked to leave at 3:00pm (30 – 45 minutes short of set expectation), I expressed my disdain at his lack of professionalism and he could truly care less. How many legitimate businesses can charge $ 500 for 45 minutes?
So what I learned in my brief 40 minute visit, he only works 2 weeks a month and would not be willing to work with me, unacceptable. His clueless receptionist should have made that clear during my call that he works half a month and spends the other half in some far off ranch. In addition the wonderful receptionist entered our session unannounced to confirm the dosage of the previous patient’s prescription, absolutely astonishing.
In my opinion Dr. Grossi has created a legalized drug dispensary business, based on his limited feedback during our session and the scheduling of back-​to-​back 45 minute client sessions with what appeared to be drugged out teenage waste cases.
Parents, keep your kids away from this completely unethical and unsympathetic creature. Adults, you have been duly warned that this person will cause you permanent harm unless of course you need a fix.

I have just started with Dr. Grossi, but having finished venting in a scathing review of my previous pdoc, I wanted to come here and sing his praises a bit.
Dr. Grossi takes the time to listen to and answer my questions, even going into details like the chemical composition of the drugs he is prescribing. When I had a bad side effect, his assistant talked to him and called me right away to tell me what he recommended (in that case, to stop taking the med).
But the best thing so far is that he took a lot of time in our first consultation to diagnose me himself rather than relying on the diagnosis of my previous pdoc — which turned out to be a good thing, because my previous diagnosis was WRONG! No wonder my meds hadn’t been working well!
It’s too early to tell if the new med regimen is working, but I feel optimistic knowing I have a plan and knowing that I can trust Dr. Grossi to listen to me about side effects and help me find the right drug cocktail to keep me healthy.

I had to respond when I read «C.H“‘s reviews.
First, Dr. Grossi is still very much in practice. I have been seeing him for several months on alomost a weekly basis… and I just saw him 5 days ago. Of course he is all about meds,…your going to a psychiatrist for christs sake, not therapy! He is there to diagnose your issue and PRESCRIBE MEDS. If your looking for someone to talk to for about an hour than you should be looking for a therapist, not a psychiatrist.
I have to say, Dr. Grossi is WAY better than a different psychiatrist I used to see.
He talks with me for a good 20 minutes, often more which is pretty un– heard of on the psychitarity world. His office has been nothing but accomidating to me, and I have NEVER EVER had to submit my claim to my insurance compay, nor ever asked to do so. The front office lady Kris does that all for me.
I also dont believe he has a reputation for giving patients whatever drugs they want. I think this is the most ridiculous statement i’ve ever heard! You do want to get better, no? Would you rather see a doctor who says ok, lets see if this goes away, or wait a ouple weeks and tell me if you still are severly depressed… or whatever your issue is then maybe ill prescribe you something? Didnt think so. Your there because you need help, right? He will provide it. Simple as pie people. People complain because Dr. s wont prescribe the medicine they need, then they complain because they do prescribe meds! WTF…
Anyways, I love Dr. Grossi because he has been SO wonderful with me, I really couldnt ask for a better Doctor! He is so warm and caring and I have not been an easy patient to treat, we have had to try several different combos, but with that, he has not given up, he… consistently gives me hope, when i have lost mine… He also has the motivation for both of us when ive lost mine! My calls ALWAYS get anwsered back, and on several occasions he himself has called me to check on me!
He is CLEARLY very well educated and I love the fact that he stays up to date in the psychiatry world and writes frequently in his blog. (
) I absolutley love his mind, the way he thinks, (outside the box frequently) and his patience, his persistance, and that he is not afraid to try different combos that a lot of other doctors wouldnt… and i fully trust him. I have had to try quite a few different combos, and I have never had a bad reaction, ever. The most I have had was some headaches but that was the worst of it. He takes time to anwser all my questions, he listenes to whats been going on with the meds ANd my life and takes into account all the aspects of what i need before prescribing. He gave me one of those mood journals to fill out on a daily basis. When I bring it in, maybe every couple weeks, he doesnt just glance through it in one minute… he actully sits there and reads it and looks at everything, reads the notes on the next page, compares other months. I mean Ive sat there for a good 10 minutes while he’s reading the journal. A little strange sitting there in silence, haha but i just read all the titles of his huge ceiling to floor bookshelf of like 100 books! But more than that i Like that he does take the time to really read my notes and understand whats been going on!
I absolutley love my pdoc (and Kris!-she is a dream! & Dr. Grossi’s right hand woman!) and wouldnt trade him for anything!

I believe this business no longer exists or is in the process of closing. After numerous calls, messages, and emails over a month period; I have heard nothing. Such a pity as I have heard great things.

I have been a patient of Dr. Grossi for over 10 years now. He is one of a kind. He has seen me through times when most doctors would have given up –he never did. He still hasn’t, If I could award him a gazillion stars I would.
When you ask Dr. Grossi something he isn’t sure about, he doesn’t give an pat answer, he’ll opens up the browser on the computer and researches it and then talk with you about it. I gone in for my appointment and there he was reading a text on different medical issues related to psychiatry. I admire any individual not just doctors who have a quest for more knowledge. His patients benefits from it and so does he, it makes me feel good to know that he is learning as he is helping us live.
He listens and he hears. If you tell him you are still not feeling good or he sees how you are behaving he will do something aside from over react. Well I could write a book about how this man has helped me. Suffice it to say if you need a psychiatrist or even a second opinion this is the man I would go to, I would not him pass up. Someone like him not only comes by infrequently but is hard to find. He is truly the gold standard of doctors and human beings.

dr. grossi literally saved my teen. she had been «quickly» diagnosed with depression by another psych~ my teen was getting worse not better. i did my homework and found dr. grossi. with all his experience and wisdom he diagnosed my teen: bipolar, depression with anxiety. with this diagnosis my daughter’s therapist said «made sense.»
dr. grossi explained to me that with bipolar ~ if the patient is medicated for the depression portion of this disorder and not the manic phase of the disorder ~ these individual commit suicide. you can see how grateful i am to have found dr. grossi. my daughter is doing much better… she will graduate high school. she has gone from failing classes~ to a 3.80 gpa~ and will graduate!
all with the help~ correct diagnosis by dr. grossi ~ a listener, interacting with my teen on her first visit ~ seeing/​hearing her~ a veteran in his field ~ a true professional
dr. grossi’s front office~ is amazing~ she is friendly, personable and always makes sure there is an appointment available that works with my teens schedule. she and dr. grossi are a great team.

Dr. Grossi is great! It took years to find a psych who is actually a normal human being! Dr. Grossi cares about side effects that bother you. I feel respected and valued in his office. I feel safe and comfortable there too. The office manager (Chris) is very helpful and genuinely cares. I definitely recommend Dr. Grossi if you want to be heard by your doctor and have your concerns properly addressed!

Ive been seeing Dr Grossi for over 10 years. This man has saved my life on many occasions. He truly is a caring doctor, very knowledgable about ALL aspects of his field. He’s willing to try combinations of drugs to help in the most serious of manic/​depressive episodes. Plus, he actually talks and gives advice whic most psychiatrist dont do. He is a very humble man, very well studied, and very compassionate and patient, and most of all honest. His receptionist, Chris is the best, she is like an angel sent from heaven, and can usually squeeze you in when youre in a dire situation. I highly recommend Dr Grossi, truly a great man and a great doctor