8 reviews for Tokyo Meguro Counseling Center that are not currently recommended

• 

  • Marie N.
  • Kamitakada, 中野区, Japan

  • 0 friends
  • 1 review

  

  3/17/2017

  We went to see this practitioner with an expectation of no non sense, international couple counseling and he disappointed in every way possible. The short version: he appears and behaves unprofessional, your Japanese partner won't be able to understand his "Japanese", which he describes as fluent on the website, which is far from the truth and he will force his judgements on you before even listening to your story in detail.
  
  The longer version follows: my Japanese partner and me booked some marriage counseling after experience some troubles, in the hope to have a neural 3rd party help see each other's point of view in new light and offer genuine, professional advice. Quite the opposite awaited us once we entered "Dr." Berger's "clinic". He operates his practice from his messy and unkept apartment in setagaya-ku (NOT Meguro as the name suggests). His welcome was less than warm and he had an air of annoyance about him, never mind that he charges twice as much as other practitioners in Tokyo.
  
  He started by asking us robotically a catalog of questions. Whenever a response exceeded about a minute, he cut us off by saying: "Yeah, I already know that." Not really the point of therapy where you want to relieve your heart of pain. Regularly, my Japanese partner would say that he couldn't follow and that he couldn't understand "Dr." Berger's Japanese. It was obvious that his Japanese knowledge was less than superficial.
  
  Finally, he dismissed us with telling us that my husband, as all Japanese people, is unable to relate a western person on an emotional level, that I will be miserable in Japan if I stay and that I better care to find a western guy asap because my best child-bearing years are running out (I'm 32).
  
  When I asked by email to cancel a future appointment a week in advance, "Dr." Berger threatened me with Court if I do not pay the fee.
  
  Please stay clear and save your money, time and yourself this disturbing experience by all means. As I found after some research, he has lost his license in the US and operates illegally as a councilor in the US. It is obvious that his bitter life experience has warped him into a pityful oyagi, trying to drag young foreigners in Tokyo down into his tomb.
  
  Stay clear, see the Tokyo Counseling Centre in Shimokitazawa instead if you are looking for professional, compassionate practioners.
• 

  • J K.
  • San Jose, CA

  • 0 friends
  • 1 review

  

  9/22/2016

  Signs of a scam artist
  - website too full of qualifications
  - he answers his own phone (no secretary)
  - on the phone is pushy and rude
  - his primary goal is to get you the email sign up sheet to lock you in to his unreasonable terms of payment
  - terms say you have to pay for missing an appointment or cancelling
  - payment by Paypal (no professional would do this)
  - no waiting room so he said, "Don't come too early!"
  
  Even though he said "No first time cancellation fee" when I cancelled he THREATENED me that he was going to make me pay and pay court fees! Extortion is part of his practice?!
  
  Dr Douglas Berger is a CROOK! A scammer! He takes advantage of people who are distraught and vulnerable. He should be thrown in jail!
  STAY AWAY!!!
  
  Dr Scammer's website
  japanpsychiatrist.com/do…
• 

  • Neptune R.
  • 新宿区, Japan

  • 0 friends
  • 1 review

  

  7/30/2016

  I'm really not surprised to see these other two reviews. I was recommended to Doug Berger by the parent of a friend after I was raped in Japan. She hadn't had therapy with him before but she must have heard of him.
  
  I went to see him for a session and he was rude, condescending , and neurotic. He told me I smelled bad(?!). He basically blamed me for being raped. He told me I should be more careful and I shouldn't go out alone. He said that I had probably given the rapist 'the wrong idea' and had made him think it was OK. When I was describing what happened I looked away from him as I didn't want to look him in the eye, and he waved a piece of paper above his head to catch my attention, as if I'm a dog.  He told me I should quit drinking even though I didn't even suggest I have an alcohol problem. He also tried to suggest I have ADHD just because I'm messy and disorganised.
  
  He bullied me into booking another appointment and I left the session feeling awful. I didn't want to go in for the next session and I felt pressured. In the end I cancelled the appointment and he said I had to pay the full fee for the session anyway, so I had to go to his office anyway and give him the money (13000 yen).
  
  Then as months passed I spiralled further and further into depression and psychosis, one night at about 3am during a bad episode I sent him an email in desperation asking about the ADHD, just for advice on whether I should pursue it with my school psychiatrist who I was seeing at the time. I was grasping for any kind of imagined solution to my suffering. We then had an exchange of emails in which he basically said he can get me drugs if I put 13000 yen in his paypal, and I did. The email exchange was very unprofessional and strange, it felt like texting with a drug dealer (he used phrases like 'I can help you', and 'did [school doctors] balk at giving a script to you?', and he didn't sign off his messages).
  
  After this he proposed a few times for me to come in, and offered Skype as an alternative. It seemed like he was very flexible about times, and didn't decide on a time with me until after I transferred him the money. We made an appointment at 10:30pm (strange office times for a doctor) and of course I dreaded seeing him too much and missed it. He then refused to give me another appointment and refused to even discuss it with me, saying he's 'spent too many emails on this', whatever that means. So I lost another 13000 yen to him for nothing.
  
  This man has no concern for his patients well-being. He's basically a glorified drug dealer and scam artist who takes advantage of vulnerable people and is borderline abusive. The name 'counselling center' is misleading. There is no 'center', it's just his apartment. He is not helping people, he is running a business, and got a few of his friends to help him make it look like a legitimate therapy center (his main associate Douglas Eames, according to his website, does not have any qualifications in medicine or psychology). He is a sad and small man with obvious personal issues which he projects on his patients. STAY AWAY!
• 

  • Oda K.
  • 八千代市, Japan

  • 0 friends
  • 1 review

  

  7/26/2016

  I was looking to get counseling here, and saw Dr. Berger's advertisements everywhere. Her offered counseling in English, and is licensed to practice in America. I called him and let a message. I had to wait for him to call back, so in the interim I went to work. When I got off work, I chatted with a friend on the way to the station. After she heard who I had called, she warned me away from him. Her friend had gone to see him for depression and left his office in tears; he told her that it was her fault she was so miserable in Japan, because she wasn't fluent in Japanese. He claimed he was fluent in Japanese, so she had no one to blame but herself for her own misery. (never mind that coming to Japan is a huge adjustment for anyone, and sometimes people do struggle.) In short everything she had heard was that he's a verbally abusive, condescending, hateful person
  
  I am not fluent in Japanese, and struggle with anxiety, depression, self-injury and a history of abuse. I wasn't looking for a trigger for my issues. He called directly after I got off the phone with my friend. I told him I'd speak to my husband about some things, and call him back.
  
  I never did so, figuring her would get the hint. I ended up being called several times by him, and his supposed "associate", who just so happened to share his first name...and had the same voice. I had my friend listen to voice mails left by both. It was really creepy. I'm not sure why he's so desperate, but I've never heard a single good thing about this man. He has Reddit threads dedicated to exposing him, and not a single person has a positive comment.
  
  As hard as it is to find quality mental health care here, nothing is worth going to Dr. Berger. You can find therapists who do therapy via Skype, if you need it.
• 

  • Apple N.
  • Manhattan, NY

  • 0 friends
  • 1 review

  

  2/1/2016

  Please do not even think about trying out this center. Dr. Berger unfortunately turned out a psycho, to say the least.  Please kinldy have a read and protect yourself from his harrassment.
  
  I made an appointment with him over the phone; a confirmation email was going to follow. I never received an email. As I was going to give him a reminder call about the confirmation email, I googled him and ran into numerous negative reviews. So I let it pass.
  
  Lo and behold. He googled me (it is rather simple to find me as my name is the first to appear) and called me at work and my secretary, asked to speak to whoever my boss would be, every hour (7 times in one business day!).  To be clear, I never gave out my work information or work phone number.  My secretary got scared because Dr. Berger talked in such a malicious manner (he sounded like a yakuza - was her description!). The reason being, he wants his "cancellation fee"!!  I did not believe what was happening. This is a certified counsellor, psychiatrist, life coach, whatever he claims himself to be to help people in a challenged, emotionally charged situation.  
  
  Because I had to protect my secretary, I called him and explained that this is a harrassment and he needs to stop.  He asked for the cancellation fee. He threatened (or tried to threaten) that he will report this to whoever my boos is..??? - which does not affect me at all, personally. He will sue me and fight me in the court.  He will contact my employer to collect the fee.  ... All of which, I do not care as I do very well in my career.  However, I am sincerely concerned that how his behavious can potentially affect other people.    
  
  I resorted to reporting him to the police.  The police had a talk with Dr. Berger directly and concluded that he is not a reasonable guy with common sense.  Dr. Berger is in a profession where he deals with highly personal, sensitive and confidential information.  He uses it to threaten his potential patients.  I was explicitly instructed to not make this cancellation fee payment that he claims I owe -- because he repeats this behaviour if he can collect this way.  Probably he was able to do this in this market, Japan, where people avoid conflicts.
  
  Out of all sincerity and humbleness, I am stunned that a person with this character and professional ethics are allowed to work as a counselor.  I am currently contacting various associations to report his ill behavious - Japanese Medical Association, Japanese Association for Cognitive Therapy and the Japanese Association of Behavior Therapy (while he is not registered there, these associations are responsible for his professional work ethics) as well as American Board in Psychiatry, American Board of Medical Specialties where he claims to be qualified to practice.
  
  Please feel free to respond to this posting if you have any questions or experieced similar situations and would like to do somethign about it.  I am sorry for all those who have to go through this unpleasant process.
• 

  • Patrick N.
  • Manhattan, NY

  • 37 friends
  • 7 reviews

  

  4/1/2017 Updated review

  I've known and have had ongoing sessions with Dr. Berger for a number of years. He explained to me that my depressed moods were actually part of an illness called a mood disorder, not really my fault at all, though I thought they were. He supported and counseled me, and recommended some medical treatment that has improved my moods and associated negative view on life. Dr. Berger is rapidly available by e-mail whenever I have an issue and I am now enjoying personal and professional success in large part due to this treatment. He is honest and caring for my well-being, I feel he is as knowledgeable about his field as I could expect from any doctor I could find in the U.S.

  

  3/28/2017 Previous review

  I've known and have had ongoing sessions with Dr. Berger for a number of years. He explained to me… I've known and have had ongoing sessions with Dr. Berger for a number of years. He explained to me that my depressed moods were actually part of an illness called a mood disorder, not really my fault at all, though I thought they were. He supported and counseled me, and recommended some medical treatment that has improved my moods and associated negative view on life. Dr. Berger is rapidly available by e-mail whenever I have an issue and I am now enjoying personal and professional success in large part due to this treatment. He is honest and caring for my well-being, I feel he is as knowledgeable about his field as I could expect from any doctor I could find in the U.S. Read more
• 

  • John M.
  • Whitefish, MT

  • 0 friends
  • 1 review

  

  2/12/2017

  Today I realized that I have been going to see Dr. Doug Berger for 16 years now. I would like to highly recommend him as a caring supportive therapist who does his best to give each patient the therapy he or she needs.  At first I went every week to see him because I was suffering from the effects of extreme anxiety that was reeking havoc on my life. I could not sleep and my professional life was falling apart. Doug strongly suggested I take medication and I followed his advice. I believe the medicine helped alleviate the extreme anxiety I was experiencing at that time. As my anxiety settled back to a tolerable level I was able to engage in talk and group therapy. Good therapy I believe occurs when the patient and therapist focus on the here and now during therapy sessions and I think Doug tries to do that as much as possible. Through talking about our relationship in the sessions and the things happening in my life I was able to realize a lot about myself. This has helped me make better life choices that have made my life more enjoyable and have given me confidence. Now I see Doug once a month and no longer need medication. Everyone is different but I hope that reading about my experience will encourage readers who are thinking about getting help to do so. Entering into therapy was scary and it helped me to do some reading on therapy in general and more specifically on anxiety. Thus, I encourage you to do some reading on therapy as you begin your therapeutic journey.
• 

  • Max G.
  • Tanglin, Singapore, Singapore

  • 0 friends
  • 3 reviews

  

  2/1/2017

  I read the previous 2 reviews out of curiosity and frankly I was amazed at the content and level of vitriol, it sounded to me like a totally different person they were describing.
  
  I am not a habitual reviewer of things, a friend who wrote a book once told me that most of the positive reviews on Amazon were his! Also these 2 reviews are so hypercritical, rambling  and negative on every aspect that I suspect they say more about the reviewer's mental  than the reviewed's level of care.  However as a long standing patient and beneficiary of Doug Berger I feel motivated to try and come up with something a bit more balanced. Rather than the outspoken, bullying and hyper critical individual described here if anything I have always found Dr Berger, or Doug, to be patient and if anything too slow to come to any judgements or form an opinion. He is the real deal, for example show me someone in the US who has been practicing in any profession for a long time who wasn't licensed "a long time ago". I was licensed a long time ago as an accountant, does that make me or any other long practicing professional incompetent?!
  
  When I tried to find someone to provide therapy in Japan there were very few options, what impressed me about Doug was that in a field where anyone can do a short course and set themselves up as a therapist, he was properly qualified and trained and also was a long term Japan resident who spoke Japanese well and understood the culture. A lot of people's issues relate to childhood and upbringing and history, but for expats an understanding of the cultural stage on which these issues are now being played out are crucial in my opinion. The fact that he even exists at all in Japan where the domestic infrastructure is not set up to help foreigners is frankly a godsend.
  
  My experience with Doug goes back 17 years, when I first contacted him I was in a bad way suffering from chronic depression and anxiety which had invaded every corner of my life. I felt increasingly isolated  and it is not an exaggeration to say that if it hadn't been for the positive role for change in my own life that Doug has played, then my life would be very different today- and none of it in a good way. As it is I now lead a full life again  and although a lot of the "work" has been my own Doug has been a catalyst and has always been there for me on the journey. As far as I can remember for example apart from schedule misunderstandings he has never not been there at the appointed time which along with his patience and persistence speaks to his professionalism and sense of dedication. I do not always agree with his analysis of a particular issue and he is a tenacious debater but always in a supportive way and often hindsight has proven him to be right. He is not infallible but then who is?
  
  The hourly rate may seem a lot but compared to other professions I suggest you do the math, clearly he is not in it to get rich. To sit listening all week to unhappy, depressed people moaning about their lives is not for everyone and takes a certain robustness of character and I have no idea how many hours a week he can do but I bet you it is quite limited. Unhappy people tend to blame the world for their problems and/or when this is not working they blame the doctor! Don't shoot the messenger. I suspect also that any patient that is over abusive in the initial assessment is likely to be politely declined, the risk of violent and unhinged patients is not to be taken lightly, after all it is not an average cross section of happy well adjusted society we are talking about here! My own experience is that I was very critical and negative about the world and humans in general but I have gradually come to realize that a lot of my problems were of my own making. Unhappy people will often blame anyone but themselves-including the doctor- and often have a victim mentality where they see themselves as the victim of unfair bullying etc etc.
  
  On the issue of medication, yes Doug is an MD by initial training and as such I think he is a big believer in the efficicacy of modern drugs to treat metal issues as well as more conventional physical ailments, what are humans if not chemical machines. In the early years I just went for individual and group therapy, and resisted the option of talking medication for several years. When I eventually agreed I have found it very helpful. medication is not a magic bullet and doesn't take you straight to happyland but in my experience it has a role to play in stabilizing the situation and making life more liveable on a day to day basis.
  
  Talk therapy is not an easy option and is not for everyone, for one thing it can be very slow and often takes years. From my own reading into the subject a key to making progress in terms of change and self development  is the establishment of a trusting, caring relationship between the patient and the care provider. This requires time and the right attitude from both the patient and the docto