Ponessa Behavioral Health – Lancaster

Well I still am relatively new to the area and to this clinic but I will say from the experiences I've had so far they are well run, caring and extremely attentive to what a person needs. I, myself was just sitting here… thinking about why I wasn't feeling 100% and bam before I even got to call them I got a call from a CRS working at Ponessa. That is a definite good sign. The other two workers, and the two up front clerks were all professional. I even signed up to Genoa Pharmacy there because of how convenient and cooperative they were. Now I can pick up, have delivered or mailed my prescriptions; and if I am short on money they send them anyway! So, this place gets a 5 star in my book and I will return to add more reviews to them. I do have to point out, as to reading their reviews, that some of these parents should be ashamed of themselves. They bring their kids here to help, immediately slap away the help and blame the fine people here when they should be aware of their own shortcomings as parents. I'm sorry if that's rude, but I'm not sorry because these people are too kind to point out what horrible jobs you have done as parents. Most of these stuck up parents have no clue about anything; all these medications and a procedures and appointments take time- both for the child and the worker,- and they don't get that preparing food for kids is not what the kids came for, and professionals aren't there to be your yes-people. They are going off what the child tells them( and if you are in the room you're never going to get an honest opinion from kids because a lot of their issues fall on you as the parent-but you can't admit fault because it's be the right thing to do and you are only thinking of how it affects you and not your kid). And everything just takes time to open up, medication to work, trials and tribulations. I just think these parents need to take a hard look at why they are there in the first place. If we as people cared for children as much as society says, there would be a lot less children in pain. Again I'm sorry but this needs to be said. You are the cause. It comes down to how you raise them, how much attention you give them and not your phones. You realize that parents of well adjusted kids actually out time and effort into the kids? Their families are the only thing important to them, and they make sure the kids know about it. They don't leave kids every week with some stranger so you can go out and have a good time while showing your children that you matter more than them. That's what it looks like to kids. And if you got upset over this, then I did my duty. Good parents won't get upset about this. And there sure won't write a review to bash this fine facility pretending to be a child like I've seen in the reviews. Appalling. Thank you Ponessa, there is no amount of gratitude in the world for what you all do for the children, adults and communities. You have my complete approval.

They never answer the phone, when I call I’m always sitting on hold for 45 minutes to an hour with no answer.

Do not send your kids to the day program ! The day program is awful, they have a “Dr” who wants to prescribe and change meds that make no sense and get pissed when you call them out on it! My daughter was put on ADHD… medication and she doesn’t have ADHD!! She shook uncontrollably for 3 days and had a severe panic attack from the med ! Then they tried to prescribe her seroquel for DAYTIME! That makes her sleep so that was DECLINED ! They constantly wanted to make changes to meds !! Finally I had enough and I told them the doctor was no longer allowed to have any medical say on medications that I would see my family doctor . Well they don’t like that, of course! I took her to my family doctor and got her on the correct meds and off all of the unnecessary medications they had her on !!! Parents need to seriously advocate for their children !!!! No one wants to walk around like a zombie on meds they don’t even need !!! They recommended a different program for her and discharged her with nothing set up and no after care plan !! Nothing was ready for her when she was discharged and they didn’t care what was going to happen ! They serve the kids disgusting food - mainly just cold chicken and a side ! Small, cold portions ! She wouldn’t even eat ! Which is horrible for a child on medications to not have food in her stomach all day ! Their “comfort room” is not comforting at all !!! It’s like a closet sized room with a mat on the floor ! How’s that comforting ?! Maybe paint something calming or cheerful on the walls and make it actually mentally comforting!! That’s what the room is for !

I attended the TW Ponessa day program, it wasn’t terrible other than a boy in the younger classroom getting locked in the “comfort room” which was a literal dungeon to us kids, you wouldn’t go there to take a break and… to go there and be relaxed you would mainly be there for punishments, but the boy banged his head and face into the wall, he messed up his whole face, there was blood everywhere, the staff saw it going on and still decided to stand there and not do anything about it, they then had to call an ambulance to take the boy to the hospital. The day program rarely had drinks and sauces for the kids, you would get served cold chicken, and fries almost every day. The doctor that prescribed medications clearly was very unprofessional and did not care about our well being, tried to prescribe me unnecessary medications. Tried prescribing me medications that i did not need and that would make me sleep all day, my mom had to refuse every medication she offerd because it made no sense to put me on the medications she was trying to prescribe me, she once put me on a stimulated adhd medication, that caused me extreme anxiety and panic attacks, my mom had to get me off of the med safely, the doctor did not care what she put me though, because my mom refused to allow her to have any say in my medical needs they basically pushed me out of the program, recommending me to a different program because my mom would not allow them to prescribe me any new medications. They discharged me with no after care plan or anything set up. Also kids would always have vapes in the room, constantly trying to peer pressure you into vaping. The staff wouldnt do anything about it, nor did they ever search or even look, they never noticed.

Don’t recommend. They don’t answer or return calls for admissions. What a joke

The nurse I just spoke to was no help at all and beyond clueless. I guess they just give anyone a just here and she kept saying idk I then asked for her supervisors number and she stated she doesn’t know Lisa her… supervisor number but knows her extension is 4402. Sad part is this lady is a clueless nurse that was good for nothing but wasting my time today!!!

Absolutely the worst experience I’ve had my entire life. Out of all of my psychiatrist, therapists, counselors, hospitals, PCPs, specialists, you name it. I have never been delt with this extreme level of… unprofessionalism and lack of actually caring for patients. Every single experience is so negative, so stressful, and so disappointing I’ve chosen to completely give up on my journey of trying to gain a peaceful life and manage my ADHD. I would rather suffer and struggle with my ADHD, than suffer and struggle with these providers and nurses at this location. Dr Figueroa, Felicia (used to be Dr Dejesus) is late to every single Telehealth appointment. Not by a couple minutes. 10-25 minutes late! Even completely missing appointments. And for the appointments where I still had plenty of time left for my appointment she ends it early. There is never a real discussion, education, or compassion. She just wants to be told “do the meds work? Yes or no?” Doubled my dose and leaves. I’ve also had issues with her where I have to be off my meds cold turkey because she didn’t communicate with the insurance company correctly to get it approved. She never takes any accountability. And aside from those big things even in my time of her appointments her overall attitude is terrible. Like I said no care at all. I feel rushed. I feel unimportant. Honestly she makes me feel like an inconvenience just being her patient. No smile. No greeting. Always attitude. Nothing. Just wants to prescribe recklessly and leave asap. Btw she works from home. She is NEVER in the office. Any of my in office visits I’m sat in a dark room behind a desk. Facing a laptop. If I’m bending over backwards to see my provider in office then I should at least be met with the same level or respect and decency from any of my providers to get up, get dressed, drive over and talk to me face to face. The nurses and staff on the phone: Oh good god. The negativity and hostility and attitude multiply it by four. I’ve even got hung up on! I didn’t even get told “have a nice day, or I’m sorry we can’t do that for you.” Just straight hung up on my face. The amount of sass and hostility I’ve received from everyone on the line is intense. It’s seems like nobody in this building actually cares about the patients. Nobody wants to be a caring provider. Nobody wants to be patient and compassionate understanding or connect. They all act like they hate there jobs and the clients that give them a paycheck. It’s not even limited too negative actions, or verbal negativity, but even when they’re silent…. The facial expressions!!! The glares the snarles the eye rolling, the judgement

I liked it there. They were always nice polite they recommended inpatient care witch i did even though I was hesitant, but I'm trying to go back there for a mental health evaluation and treatment and for drug and… alcohol evaluation as well.

If I were you, I'd opt for in-person counseling if you come here. I personally lack confidence in the confidentiality of their tele-health program and this has led me to seek services from another provider.

They keep changing the schedules, and then they call you late to see you... I think it's disrespectful to the patients.

Very unprofessional handling called me and said my appointment was at 1pm and turn around said it was at 12:45 that they can't see me if I wanted to reschedule so they were going to reschedule me then and there I was… irritated to begin with so I said I'll call so I call and they said now they can't reschedule me because of missed appointments in the past which I'm responsible enough to cancel a day ahead of time and they said due to calling in they can't see me no more I maybe missed 2 appointments that I had to reschedule in a year which I don't get they were going to reschedule me on the spot but when I call in to reschedule they can't what of a joke

Horrible, absolutely horrible. You will wait forever for services and when you get them they cannot fill them right away. Then you get an Evaluator who values her reputation over doing what is best for the child. They… will make you jump through hoops then still not approve what you are seeking for your child. Again, her reputation. Rude, use their position in professional abuse and fail to live up to their mission statement.

The place is a joke, nobody there wants to do their job. They care more about the drug add. The therapists and office will ghost you.

Tried to bring in my grandson who has FASD. We sat through the draconian intake and scheduled with “dr.” Reis. Two weeks later, they called to reschedule. No problem. A couple weeks later, they called to reschedule that… appointment . Ok, unfortunate but it happens. Now, today, they called to reschedule again. To me, that’s unprofessional. Why would I want to bring him in there. Is this what every appointment will be like? Will my grandson’s prescription get refilled when the doctor reschedules again? If they don’t want to see a patient, they should say so, not blow off a young teen. I recommend “dr.” Reis get a job where she doesn’t have to see patients

My experience enhances as days go on, I love the weekly sessions & the way the things Damien learns actually stick with him. He utilizes his strategies & techniques. Ponessa has always helped Damien a lot as this is the… 2nd time he's been apart of this facility

Working with the staff at Ponessa has been wonderful and a blessing for me and my family. Without their continued support and guidance, along with a large dose of caring, I have been able to navigate all the… complexities of having a family member struggling with their mental heath. We would be lost without these good people. Thank you!

The Ponessa billing department has been excellent! Their detail with handling insurance claims is one of their many talents to ensure their patients do not worry if insurance will or will not cover the visits. Their… caring nature is reflected in all that they do! Way to go Ponessa Team!

I decided to start mental health therapy again. At first I was assigned to someone and I didnt feel a vibe with the person, but I decided to just give it one more chance. After the 2nd visit, I was thinking and feeling… like I was just too much for the lady I was seeing and like she really wasn’t going to be able to give me the help I wanted. I was going to stop going but my mom told me to ask to switch therapist. So I did. I had a guy call me and asked a few questions as to why I wanted to switch and after we talked, he assigned me to someone different that he felt would be a great fit for me. He was right! I started seeing Allison and after my first visit, I was so happy I didn’t stop going and made the switch instead! She’s amazing and made me feel so comfortable. She asked questions, she was engaging and Interested in the things we talked about. She’s very outgoing, funny and definitely cares! I’m excited to continue this journey with her! Very thankful and I didn’t have to wait just because I was being switched, I was able to get scheduled the following week! So word of advice, if you’re not really feeling who you’re first assigned to, ask for someone different! There’s definitely someone for everyone!

I see Alaina and she has been tremendous. She is patient and didn't rush getting to know each other to the point of comfort before getting to work on whatever issues needed to be addressed. I could not be happier with… my therapist here.

I cannot say enough good things about Mikaila Lugo-Schlegel! She actually listens to me and empathized, shows compassion and I am so grateful to have her as my practioner. Highly recommend 👌

I have been seeing Mikaila for about a 1 1/2 now and she is awesome! And most definitely the best person I have ever meet in this office. From the beginning, she has been very friendly. understanding, kind, considerate… and helpful as well as being very knowledgeable about her craft. I always enjoy meeting her and talking with her and staying on track with all her help. I cannot begin to thank her enough for all she has done for me. God bless her and keep her always. ❣️😊🙏

10/10 super cool

Dr. Dejesus is wonderful! She takes the time to answer all of my questions to gain a better understanding of my medications and works with me to help find the best plan of action. The team of nurses as well as their… front desk are so kind and will take all of your concerns seriously to ensure any problems get solved. I would recommend Ponessa Behavioral Health to everyone!

T.W. Ponessa is a great place for grieve counseling! Also great for case management to help find resources for rental assistance, and other resources! A great place!

I highly recommend ponnessa! The staff is always super friendly! My therapist, Isabelle Dzwonczyk, is absolutely amazing! She’s very patient and very kind!

I never had to experience any negative interactions with my counselor or any of the Ponessa Behavioral Health employees. In fact, I highly recommend Ponessa to anyone who needs professional behavioral health counseling.

I have received wonderful help & support with compassion, non-judgment, & finding solutions to any & all my situations. Rather than belittling me or making me feel some type of negative feeling. I truly love my… counselor & wouldn't trade her for anything! She allows me to feel safe & comfortable space to share anything & for that I'm extremely grateful because it's been awhile since I've had that. But it's all what you want to get out of things, & I want those things I know I'm capable & deserving of having! So, in order for that to happen, I must put in the work to get those things! & my counselor has been a wonderful healthy support to help guide me to the things I want back in life!

I find nothing wrong with this place my grandson goes there and his Therapist is the most wonderful kind heared person I ever ment she cares she listen to what you have to say you can talk to her about anything and she… understands her name is Isabelle Dzwonczyk she deserves a raise and a much needed paid vacation there needs to be more Therapist like her if she ever goes so will we please again give her a a raise and a much needed vacation. Thank you !!! Sharon P