I had known Boris Rubinstein for many years before becoming his patient, and because of that history, I trusted him. I assumed that this long familiarity would translate into especially careful and thoughtful treatment. Instead, what unfolded over nearly two decades was an experience that I later came to understand very differently once I stepped back and looked at the full picture. Throughout those years, I was kept on extremely high doses of a benzodiazepine typically used short term, along with more than forty or fifty psychiatric medications over the course of treatment - sometimes as many as seven at once. Whenever I asked about long‑term safety, I was reassured. Only after becoming drug‑free did I understand how much the medications themselves had contributed to the suffering I was living through. Because of pre‑existing relationships, I was never billed - despite never having asked for free care. At the time, I interpreted this as generosity but later came to understand it very differently. Eventually, I learned that this kind of "professional courtesy" is considered unethical by the APA, and I came to see how the lack of normal boundaries kept me tied to the situation in ways I didn't recognize then. After I ended treatment, information I had shared in confidence was disclosed to people outside my care without consent. Seeing the effect this had on them was extremely upsetting. The impact of this entire experience has been profound: on my health, my finances, my trust in mental health professionals, and my family relationships. There is far more to this story than can fit into a single review. For those who want a fuller account, I have created a detailed video describing my experience and the events that followed. It is publicly available and can be found by searching Boris Rubinstein. While this reflects only my personal experience, what I came to understand in the end was nothing like what I once believed. read more

My son has an autism spectrum disability. Over the years he received treatment and services from numerous providers. Ultimately, he has done very well, attending mainstream schools for high school and college, even studying abroad in Israel, where he recently spent one summer at a Yeshiva and another at Hebrew University. My son used no functional language until he was nearly five years old, and his disability continued presenting as quite severe for some years afterward. In terms of his development, my son has exceeded all expectations. He made such impressive gains, but not until we left Dobbs Ferry and his treatment was no longer directed or influenced by Dr. Rubinstein. My impression of Dr. Rubinstein from our family's experience is that he has some very outdated views of how disability should be managed, along with low expectations for those who live with disability. I don't think the doctor was particularly concerned about outcomes for my son. Neither did he seem to care if my son was experiencing unnecessary discomfort or pain. Dr. Rubinstein pressed us to medicate my son with a variety of psychotropic medications, none of which were helpful. My son reacted badly to these drugs. One caused behavioral disinhibition, making my son do impulsive things he did not do when not on that drug. On another medication prescribed by Dr. Rubinstein, my son experienced severe head-jerking tics as the drug cleared out of his body every evening. It was such a relief to my son when he was taken off that drug. Dr. Rubinstein's proposed remedy in that situation was not to take him off the drug but to add another one, the atypical anti-psychotic Risperdal. I don't know why Dr. Rubinstein was so heavy-handed with the prescriptions for a child not exhibiting unmanageable behaviors (nobody else who saw my son suggested any need for meds). I'm glad my husband and I sought second opinions. As for the drug that caused the head-jerking, a pediatric neurologist told us my son should avoid not only that medication, but everything in that family of medications. We experienced an additional complication due to the doctor's social connection with my mother-in-law; they were long-time friends who had attended high school together in Mexico City. While the expectation of the family was that my son would receive "extra special" attention and better care due to this social connection, in reality it created problems. I was always feeling the push to go along and agree with this doctor so as not to rock-the-boat with my in-laws, even when Dr. Rubinstein's advice was not working for my son. I also remember hearing from Dr. Rubinstein that I needed to "try harder" to gain my mother-in-law's approval - this at a time when I was in his office and was supposed to be getting advice on managing the care of my child with a disability. I replied that I always treated her with respect and expected the same from her. I found his comment off-putting as well as off topic. The entire family worried about my son's prognosis, of course. Some in the older generation seemed to respond to the stress with attempts to hijack the decision-making role away from my husband and me. That caused strife in the family. Unfortunately, where Dr. Rubinstein needed to reassure the grandparents while reinforcing appropriate family boundaries, the doctor seemed to do the opposite. Nobody in the family benefitted. My son is now a young adult. He is emotionally resilient, adventurous, confident, and happy. Navigating the process of obtaining services for my son for his disability was a challenge, and there were setbacks along the way. Dr. Rubinstein seemed to cause a disproportionate number of the setbacks for my son while also increasing stress and strife for our entire family. I do not recommend this doctor, Boris Rubinstein, MD. In my experience his medical advice is as flawed as his judgement in general. - My son has read and approved this review for posting online - read more

Fantastic doctor, turned my life around. I saw him when I was an adolescent and he figured things out that no other doctors could