Babak Badkube
1/5
After researching options in Krefeld and calling a few practices in order to try and meet some practitioners for an initial consultation, Daniela Bertram was the first to respond to me and offer me an appointment only a day after reaching out to her. The morning of, I visited her office at around 8am. Unfortunately, it proved to be a complete waste of time and energy for me.
My experience: From the moment I met her until I left her office, she was rather impersonal and cold, and demonstrated an air of indifference, and ignorance (towards me). Having already made the trip, I decided to give her and the moment a chance, anyway, and see what would come out of the experience.
1st she made me fill out 3 documents pertaining to data privacy and compliance. After reviewing the signed documents, she demonstrated her first glimpse of irritation/frustration towards me, because I checked that I wanted to be contacted only via email. She was irritated, because she wanted to be able to contact me by phone and paper mail (what's app was also an option). I explained to her that my choices were based on my preference for email over paper based mail, and that I hadn't checked the phone option only because we hadn't established a mutual fit and a willingness to work with one another, yet. She didn't appear flexible, so I decided to give in and allow her to call my phone, too. (I'm mentioning this particular detail of my visit, because it demonstrates the conflicting nature of her statements towards me during the course of our session). She also inquired about my general availability for possible meetings, which I couldn't define precisely, yet, because of my lack of understanding for the structure and frequency of therapy sessions.
After finishing the paper process of the visit, she asked me to explain to her why I had decided to look for psychotherapy. To help facilitate her professional understanding, I provided a transparent picture of myself and my situation. After only about 15 min of answering a few questions and providing background info, she concluded our session, only to inform me that her practice was completely full for at least 12 months and up to 24 months, depending on my availability.
I asked her why she didn't inform me of her inability to accommodate me before we started our session, but she didn't have a feasible answer for me. I explained to her that I was disappointed about the session and that I made myself vulnerable, telling her about myself and my family, only for her to tell me the inevitable?
At the end, she asked me if I wanted to a certification for our session. She printed a piece of paper with a preliminary diagnosis. After reviewing the paper, I immediately noticed that her statements were conflicting with the statements on the certification she printed out. When I informed her, she apologized and printed a new piece of paper for me with updated diagnosis and details of our session.
When asking her additional questions in conclusion of our session, general questions about the benefits and characteristics of therapy, I perceived her behavior as impatient and a bit rude towards me.
Conclusion of my visit: Very disappointed in my first experience interacting with a therapist. I almost feel used and sort of fooled by her. Not entirely sure whether she just didn't want to work with me as a person or if she invited me solely with the objective of earning money for the intro session. If she didn't believe I was a fit for her, she could and should have articulated it directly, especially as this sort of relationship must be mutual in nature, anyway.
