Riverside Psychiatric & Counseling Association

I’m a strong believer that with psychology the patient needs to make an effort to find a psychologist/​psychiatrist/​therapist that works for them and their needs. I found that at Riverside Psychiatric. I believe the negative reviews on this page reflect a skewed version of encounters with the doctors and staff. Personalities either clash or work together. It seems the negative reviews are of the former. Riverside and their doctors, I can say with confidence, saved my life. I’ve been seeing various doctors, including Nancy Pecen, for over 15 years. I had severe ADD in high school, was prescribed Ritalin, and was able to graduate. Dr. Pecen did that. I’ve been seeing Chris Rhone for my regular therapy for over a decade. I was suicidally depressed. Chris talked me through it. Chris Rhone did that. I’ve had my issues with them, with billing and scheduling and cancellations, but Riverside has done so much good in my life that I can overlook those frustrations. Not every psychologist/​psychiatrist/​therapist can help every single patient. Personalities clash, but when you find someone you can can work with, they can save your life, literally. Riverside Psychiatric did that.

Dr. Pecen is as the other review stated– blunt. She is also rude and crass. She swears, talks to you like you don’t speak English or are a dummy, and her bedside manner is an absolute joke. As noted in the other review, she refuses to prescribe any medication with addictive properties but will give anyone a antipsychotic… Clearly I see the treatment path here. She assumes before she speaks to you that if you’re under the age of ehh I’d say about 24 she’ll consider you a ‘drug seeker’. Ok doctor. The only useful drug ever asked for was Prozac.
EDIT– When the behavioral health charge nurse described PECEN as blunt, and says she’s never met her … That leads me to believe she’s nuts. Changed to the office of Linden Oaks instead.
(Another edit– upon thinking about it– Dr. Pecen prescribed my girlfriend, when she was merely 15, ambien!!! And then klonopin and ADHD meds. Hmmm. She changed her approach over 3 – 4 years it seems huh. Wonder why…)
The staff is OK; they couldn’t give me change for a $ 100… Dr. Schneider is nice and professional. One receptionist or whoever she was rolled up in a huge bimmer and plopped right down in her chair not doing much yet refused to take my appointment making me wait for another lady to be free. She actually was such a slacker she didn’t even look up!
I will have to have a lengthy discussion with the administrator of this crappy establishment about Pecen as her blunt and ignorant mouth RUINED A FAMILY. RUINED. RUINED.
EVERYONE (that’s seen her as the patient) says the same things that she is RUDE and crass. A doctor swearing is highly Unprofessional. Maybe it was just me or the group of people. But if it was just me I demand a refund of my 20 $ copay. That’d be about 100 $ worth of copays as she has you come back once a month to tell her how you and you’re antidepressant are doing…
IF I make another appt. I will be most definitely sitting down with Dr. Sheikh or whoever the manager is. God forbid it’s the big bmw lady. Haha they all drive BMW’s!!! She had THE BIG WHITE ONE. yes I am aware of who you are!

So I have to split the difference on the two people I have seen out of here and give it a 3. I have strongly considered downgrading to a 2 but haven’t concluded if it was the «counselor» or the office staff that screwed up so I will leave it at 3.
The psychiatrist, Dr. Pecen, is super cool. She is blunt, honest, and doesn’t over medicate. She will not prescribe anything with addictive properties unless absolutely necessary and refuses to prescribe sleeping pills. She suggests a homeopathic route first and increases the dosage incredibly slow.
The other provider I saw, Christopher Rohne, was far less understanding of my needs. I came in with a long history of Major Depressive Disorder. I expressed this to him also informing him that this episode was predicated by a medical issue that caused an inability to drive and an incredibly sudden loss of independence for an unknown length of time. The very next week, his office staff called me asking me the morning of to move my appointment up to 3 because he wanted to get off early. I expressed my frustration to him; he said «I don’t understand why this would upset you.» I told him «I don’t understand why you don’t use electronic records or mark which clients are not flexible in their scheduling or mark those who are emotionally triggered by a lack of independence.»
I didn’t go back. I don’t recommend him as he is insensitive to a person’s needs. I am unsure as to how he is listed as specialized in self-​abuse. He seemed ignorant of the concept of emotional triggers.