Carlat Paul B MD

I’d like to add some more balance to these reviews. I’ve been seeing Dr. Carlat for several years in one of his group therapy sessions, and I credit him with helping me save my life. Not in terms of actual suicide prevention, although he’s done that with others, but in terms of helping me rediscover my potential after years of low self-​confidence/​esteem, chronic depression, and an unhappy marriage. One of the things I value most about his practice is that he mixes it up. At times he sits back, participates in the discussion, and gently directs it if needed. At other times he is proactive and directly confronts those who have a hard time breaking through. When a person has spent years in denial, it often helps to have someone speak the truth, with care and without judgment.

Dr. Carlot may have years of experience, but there are some issues that seem to be related to his age. He either didn’t hear, or didn’t pay attention to much of what I said. He constantly asked questions that I had already answered, in previous sessions, or even minutes before. I got tired of answering the same basic information questions over and over again.

Dr. Carlat is a well seasoned psychiatrist, into whose office I’m glad I’ve found myself. He is to the point, and is very methodical and pratical to his approach in psychiatry.

Without going into too much detail, as these types of reviews can be the most sensitive, I will preface by saying that this man is elderly and has probably seen many clients in his day. As someone trained in client-​directed therapy, through social work, I went into this session with some really basic expectations of the clinician — that they listen, process that information with an open mind, and work with me to figure out some next steps toward symptom relief. In my opinion, this doctor did none of the above; he told me there was basically nothing wrong with me (Hello, I’m here for some help, please), barely followed anything I said and asked to speak with former therapists. Worst of all, he ended by giving me a directive about a major life decision. This is a major no-​no in the therapy world, today.
I imagine things were a lot different in 1959 when Dr. Carlat graduated med school.