Helaine Z. Harris, An Awakening Center

lisa from toluca lake: I have never taken the time to review someone on Unilocal except for Helaine Harris. I wrote the review because it became clear to me that she did not have the experience and the knowledge to help a severely sexually abused, tortured, stalked woman gain confidence and bravery in order to come up with a plan to extricate myself from a frightening dangerous nightmare. I wrote the review because HER choice to hang the phone up on me (though she had previously offered to be the one I could call if my abuser showed up and she in turn would call for help) was the complete opposite of what she told me she would do and what i had depended on. I would not want other women who may be living the nightmare I was to be taken in by someone who tells her she can help in a situation like this when she will not do it. I know today having got the right help after she hung up on me telling me «she could not speak to me because she had a book interview» that the professional and correct thing to have done when I first asked if she could help me would have been to advise me of the various domestic violence agencies and therapists who work in conjunction with law enforcement and other groups who truly are able to help a domestic violence victim leave the state in secret and get to an undisclosed safe house.
In addition but not even important after all this time is the fact she admitted she knew my abuser should have been another reason to refer me to another therapist.
Lisa, Helaine’s Spiritual Awakening center somehow popped up on one of the social media sites i am now on. Many years have passed, I have survived, My abuser is dead. I wanted to see how Helaine has grown in all this time and if she at last had a focus or a speciality that she had chosen instead of saying she could help heal whatever one’s issue was. I waste no time with grudges, She made some bad choices. I came with cash because I was driving an hour away to meet in secret. Its over. I am grateful I am still alive.
Lisa are you a friend, relative or public relations damage control aide or intern of Helaine Harris? I ask this because you wrote” I do not know what Lauren A from NJ is talking about.. Why would you? (unless she breached patient counselor privacy and spoke to you about my sessions with her) Isn’t the purpose of Unilocal to review someone or some venue based on your own experience? Whoever you are, I don’t believe Unilocal is a venue for you to be commenting on my experience with her. That belongs to me and has nothing to do with you.
In reading what you wrote“helaine is one of the most caring loving therapists i have ever known” Really Lisa, do you frequent many? «She completely cares about her clients and is an incredible listener” How do you know? Does she discuss the sessions with you? „Helaine has very talented and capable interns as well for those that need a sliding scale“ Those are not the comments of someone who is her client. Are you an intern?“I would recommend her to everyone I know and do!» Are you her PR AGENT, DAUGHTER OR DO YOU JUST KNOW LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO NEED THERAPY? It’s a great bio. And I imagine she does have some of these qualities, Lisa. But she did not have the skills to do what I told her I needed help with.
And by the way, LISA, that spiritual woman you describe who launched the Awakening Center and her book about the same time I was shelling out cash… not on a sliding scale by the way… navigating my way across town in between jobs to escape from the marquise de sade stalker abuser that nearly killed me that day… had no business saying she would be able to help me extricate myself from this dangerous nightmare. To be critical of myself I must admit when she took me in the closet and asked if my mother played pattycake with me after i told her i was an extremely abused child I knew she had no experience with that or wasn’t listening to what I told her. Maybe she was writing her book or counting her cash in her head while I was talking. Unfortunately for me I did not know who else to call. I did not know at the time that there were agencies, domestic violence counselors. She was the only lifeline I had at that time. She did not advise me there were qualified therapists and specific organizations who specialize in dealing with victims who are dealing with daily severe domestic abuse who need to get to a safe place in order to stay alive.
Why am I taking the time to write about a situation that conjures up the worst for me? Because my review and revealing all that I never wanted to might prevent someone from making the wrong choice by choosing a woman who was interested solely in furthering her own career and had no ability to help me. I am taking the time to write this so that no other woman chooses this type of therapy when the consequence of choosing someone who purports to have experience she does not can result in death at the hands of their abuser.

I have been going to Helaine for years– and there is a reason for that. She truly cares about you not only as a client, but as a person. The thing that I love most about going to Helaine is that she uses both traditional therapy as well as holistic techniques. She is clearly gifted and very passionate about what she does. Like Lisa S, I find myself recommending Helaine to a lot of people that I know could use her help.

I do not know what Lauren A. from NJ is talking about. Helaine is one of the most caring, loving therapists I have ever known. She completely cares about her clients and is an incredible listener. She also has the added bonus of coming from a spiritual point of view, which I love. Helaine has very talented and capable interns as well, for people who need to seek therapy on a sliding scale.
I would recommend Helaine to everyone I know and I do!