Wisdom Traditions Counseling Services – Anchorage

This place is COOKED 😂 I reached out to Wisdom Traditions seeking mental health support and was turned away/denied care on January 16th. When someone is struggling enough to ask for help, being refused rather than… referred or supported is unacceptable. My caseworker seemed to disengage once my situation became more complex, rather than adjusting the approach or connecting me with additional support. If you’re dealing with more than a straightforward case, be prepared that you may not get the follow-through you need here. This reflects a broader problem with an already overstretched mental health system in Alaska, and I don’t want anyone else to walk in without knowing what to expect. I’d strongly encourage this practice to review how staff handle intake, refusals, and more complex cases so people aren’t left without options when they’re already struggling.

I think based on reading the other reviews we are all getting the same experience. The front desk doesn't seem to know what they are doing, the one on one counselor never calls back and whenever I placed a note for Ally… to email me she simply rarely did. The group meetings were actually decent but if you a military veteran simply attending for trauma, they will treat you like you just got out of prison and are legally mandated to attend the sessions. I think they treat almost everyone like drug addicts because most who attend are likely drug addicts so they don't differentiate between those who legally must attend and those who are volunteering to be there. I was on a video call with KoKo (counselor) and she randomly realized I was being driven around by someone during the meeting and she said that legally she wasn't allowed to talk to me without first knowing the name of the person driving me around, and of course the person driving me around was weirded out by her request and denied it. So, the session ended abruptly. That was just one example of being treated very strangely as someone who volunteered to be there. I tried to get Ally to call me about the level of uncomfortability but I never heard back and they sent me an email telling me that they terminated my "care".

I started at wisdom traditions for outpatient therapy, I liked all of my peers in my group but my personal counselor not so much. Communication was very poor on there end, so I eventually quit attending the program and… asked my PO if I can attend elsewhere due to the issues I had. Wisdom placed me with a counselor named Kyoko, who I could barely understand most of the time, everytime we spoke I could tell she truly didn’t care for me but was rather just judging me. The other counselors were okay but unfortunately I never got to do a one on one meeting with any of them. But Overall the place is great, you can get out of it as much as you put into it.

Im my opinion this is an amazing place changing lives for the better

Wonderful experience. My counselor has already helped so much.

I went to a great Biohacking workshop there. Super informative!

I don’t usually leave negative reviews for medical or counseling places, but my experience here was honestly a mess on several levels. There were multiple scheduling mix ups with different staff, which was frustrating… on its own. When I brought up concerns with my counselor about my partner’s confidential information being shared with me, the issue was suddenly escalated to the director without any warning. The director called me directly and gave a long speech that felt more about protecting Wisdom Traditions and liability than actually addressing the issue I had. She never followed up when I tried to get clarity in writing, and she did not give a straight answer about why or how information was being shared between providers. The whole thing came across as defensive, dismissive, and impersonal instead of supportive. The combination of poor communication, lack of transparency, and how this was handled at the leadership level made it really hard to feel safe or respected as a patient.

When I attended Wisdom, I found the front desk staff to be highly inept, and they would not enforce office policies consistently. Scheduling issues, mask policy not being enforced by front desk so in turn getting… redirected by medical staff, etc. I missed several one-on-one appointments and therefore my plan of care suffered and failed. I also find that the counselors do not seem to be able to tell when someone is perpetually distressed to the point where they are still drinking. Another criticism I will list is the Friends and Family night, while the idea is nice, the Friends and Family that get to attend one night a week free of charge take space away from those who are paying for this care, and the paying single participants are forced to sit in the background, not completely a part of the group. It doesn’t feel great. Finally, I will let people know that Dr. Mack is highly unprofessional and cruel to people he has met and known for a total of 10 minutes. He is not someone with tact or even empathy. You would be in shock if I wrote what he said to me in this review, as it was that disgusting. Hopefully this review can inspire change from within the organization. My progress in sobriety was not aided by this establishment.

These people refused to help me totally lied said they would help charged me for an assessment then shut me down and cannot give me a reason why!

The communication with the front office is absolutely terrible. I never received a call back after being told I would get one. I’ve had to call numerous times and practically demand my medical records after 30+ days of… waiting for them. While a patient, I never had access to my treatment plan on my portal, even though they claimed they fixed it several times. Overall, I would not recommend Wisdom to anyone.

I started treatment at wisdom immediately after I got out of inpatient. Everything was good and I had no issues. They reported a bunch of misconduct back to my leadership and then end Up dropping me after I wrote a… report about a woman named Karen. I was being extremely respectful and trying to get her to understand my point of view, but she just ended up calling me inconsiderate. After making a report and talking to the director, they diverted the incident with a bunch of things that I did in therapy and threw it all on the table at once. I opened up and they got a lot out of me. She then asked what can I do and I just said if there’s anyway you can just talk to Karen and ask her to be a little bit more respectful in a situation that was unexpected. This all occurred on a Friday I didn’t get told about being dropped from IOP until Wednesday now I’m going through adverse separation through the army after serving for nine years because I was a treatment failure. I never thought that this is how my career end.

Horrible communication between the staff. I need some important documents for my case and any staff member is always gone for the day. This treatment facility makes me lose my patience.

I've been trying to go here for 4 months. I'm about to give up on this place because they are impossible to work with. Zero communication, they just transfer me around to different people. Nobody knows what's going on.… Its been extremely frustrating at an already challenging time.

Wisdom Traditions programs are top notch. The people really care and they are well trained

Edit to add: I had a negative review here, but was asked to remove it while a patient so I changed it to this. I highly recommend against them. Now I’m no longer with them. I recommend Bridges Counseling Center. I'm… seen at Wisdom Traditions frequently and they have staff that seem to want you to feel as well as you can. Sometimes things can move a little slowly due to lack of staff answering phones, but the people here are good at what they do and want you to feel better.

Ugh, round 3. If they prove me wrong, this will change. Communication is awful and we have so many regrets.

I gave 1 star because 0 wasn't available... This is after being a patient of theirs for around 2 years via Zoom... They didn't listen to me and misdiagnosed me... Do not go here if you have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, POTS… or if you suspect you're autistic or have adhd!

They help you to heal with kindness and love, don’t wait any longer to start the best journey to heal

I was in a low place in my life and I got so much support from everyone at Wisdom Traditions. Connection is very important, and I feel genuine caring and a warm welcome whenever I go (in person or Zoom) to alumni… meetings. It's reassuring to know that people can get better and STAY that way!

The gal I first did all my therapy with was great and then my husband and I did more with a man and he called me malicious and hung up and the next two weeks that we called him back for a meeting he wouldn’t answer. He… worked here at wisdom traditions. I called to get my paperwork back that I signed out for nine days ago and she told me it was two weeks and the gal on the phone told me That it’ll take four weeks so I asked to talk to supervisor and she asked me who I spoke to last. Really? Get some competent people

I only put 2 starts because I haven't been there yet I just have a question, do they take medicaid for the services they provide? I am looking for counseling but I need somewhere that accepts medicaid. Thank you. 😊