I came to deal with Dr. Yager as a result of a mutual client. I represented a soldier in a DUI case who was suffering from PTSD arising from his service in the U.S. Army. In order to get "Manny" (not his real name) into a veteran's diversion program at the court, I had to immerse myself in his history and the circumstances that led to his PTSD. I am not a mental health professional, but, I have a private interest in understanding the human mind as the subject is inextricably interwoven into my profession, whether in dealing with clients, judges, witnesses or jurors, so I try to absorb as much as I can on the subject. Manny had been referred to Dr. Yager by his previous doctor when he was given an assignment to San Diego. It was the most fortuitous thing that could have happened for Manny. Unfortunately, as often happens in San Diego, the City welcomed Manny to town with a DUI arrest, and he was referred to me by another soldier I had previously helped. When I met with Manny, he was just racked with emotion. Concerned with losing his career on top of his well-being, Manny was distraught, depressed, scared, angry and completely bottled up. He had received inadequate treatment from multiple sources prior to seeing Dr. Yager, and skeptical about his prospects of recovery from the nightmares and hyper-alertness that dogged him. Sadly, I have observed this to be an all-too common pattern for those suffering from PTSD; it seems the medical profession is still lacking in tools for effective treatment, which was the case for Manny. Thankfully, Manny followed through with seeing Dr. Yager. As it happened, Dr. Yager's methods really clicked for him and he made incredible progress in a short amount of time. Meeting with Manny regularly and seeing his transformation was fascinating. Hearing Manny describe the changes he was experiencing, almost as if he was an awed bystander, was emotionally satisfying and intriguing to me. Dr. Yager has the gravitas to call bullshit on you. If you want to get past what is holding you back, is there anything more beneficial than being called out by someone with the wisdom to recognize it? When it came time to present Dr. Yager's observations and treatment plan to the court, he was incredibly gracious and informative. He was generous with his time, as I asked him questions that went beyond the immediate relevance of Manny's case, hungry for his knowledge and wisdom. He provided me with necessary documentation for the court, from which Manny's diversion was crafted. As Manny's program ended, Dr. Yager was again incredibly helpful and earnestly interested in Manny's success, providing documentation I needed for the court and prosecutor. The diversion was successful and Manny's case was dismissed, assuring that he doesn't carry a criminal conviction as a result of his "self-medicating" to deal with the mental scars his service left on him. Dr. Yager gave him the tools a man of action needed to move forward. I deeply appreciate what he did professionally for Manny and his personal commitment was what I wish all the mental health professionals I have dealt with, offered. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Dr. Yager to anyone. Including myself, as I think a little mental tune-up might be a beneficial thing for me... and he's just the kind of mechanic I need. read more

Dr. Yager has changed my life infinitely for the better in so many ways, his personality, professionalism and methods have greatly benefitted myself and well being in every way! Even my Significant other has noticed a large change. For a lot while I wasn't sure what was going on but Dr. Yager dig in and in no time we had a plan and path for getting through it. I strongly recommend this amazing doctor and man to anyone who even has a hint of an issue or anyone that just wants to talk to someone with his skill and experience. If I could give 10 stars I easily would! read more

Received a phone call today from this Dr. Yager that was beyond inappropriate and unprofessional. To force a patient to return and using the words "if you bring your butt back here...." highly inappropriate even after repeatedly being told "i don't need the therapy but will return when I do". It is not ok to say to a patient "if you bring your butt back in, i will wave this cancellation fee". I had called his assistant in advance to cancel a couples therapy he had suggested during my own therapy. He threatened that i signed a contract stating there is a cancellation fee of $100. I signed the papers he referenced to for appointments for myself never signed anything for couples therapy. I called in advance and spoke to his assistant to cancel as my boyfriend had an emergency and even then I didn't have to as this appt. Is not binded by any contract he refered to. I felt uncomfortable on many instances that I kept note of in every visit of the 4 visits because of things he said and/or did (I've never been to therapy and didn't know whether it was ok or not and figured if I feel uncomfortable again I would stop going). I paid in full all my dues and have been ethical in my dues and across the board. DO NOT USE THIS THERAPIST. read more

I've found Doctor Yager to be incredibly professional and incredibly helpful. His methods have done wonders for me. Highly recommended

I was negatively impressed with Dr. Edwin Yager. I'm writing this review so that other parents have full information on which to base any decision to see Dr. Yager. Summarizing, Yager states on his website that he follows the law on confidentiality. However, once parents have taken the time and incurred the expense to leave work, take their child out of school (if necessary), drive to Yager's office (over 20 miles one-way, in our case), and sit through about 10-15 minutes of the initial therapy session, he then tells them that he doesn't follow the law and that if they don't agree that he does not have to follow the law, then he will not treat their child. By way of specifics as to what happened with us, my son (an early adolescent) has separation anxiety and has had it since before pre-school. He has had some treatment in the past which had been somewhat helpful, but his condition had recently flared. An M.D. wanted to put our son on psychotropic drugs, but my wife and I wanted to try more cognitive behavioral therapy and other non-medicine treatment modalities before putting our son on medicine. We researched hypnotherapy and learned that it is a valid therapeutic technique that can be helpful as one tool in a therapist's toolbox. We found Dr. Yager on the Internet. He touts that he specializes in hypnotherapy (or "subliminal therapy," as he likes to call it). We researched his entire website, including the section entitled "Confidentiality," where Yager explains the law on confidentiality and states that he is "bound" to follow the law. We took our son to see Dr. Yager. About 10-15 minutes into the session, he told us that we, as our son's parents, had a right to be present during the hypnotherapy session and that if we chose to sit outside during the session, he had a legal obligation to tell us what was said during the session, should we later ask. He then said that he doesn't follow the law and that if we didn't (1) agree to sit outside, and (2) agree not to ask either Yager or our son what happened during the session, then he would not treat our son. He essentially wanted to impose a "cone of silence" over what happened during the session. This put us in a very awkward position. We had already invested time, money, and energy to be there, and our son was already invested in the process. I would never have taken my son to see Yager had I been aware of his requirement that I waive certain legal rights before he would treat our son, but inertia was already in play, and so I tried to reach an accommodation with Yager. I voiced to Yager that I fully understood the need for our son to be free to express himself without fear that I might find out what he said, but I also voiced that I felt uncomfortable that Yager wanted to isolate our son in a room under hypnosis and then impose a "cone of silence" even if our son wanted to talk to us about what happened during therapy. I also felt uncomfortable that we had a psychotherapist who was not going to follow the law. To be frank, the whole thing seemed a bit fishy to me, especially the way that he waited until we had driven there and the session was in progress to spring his ultimatum on us. Yager ultimately begrudgingly (and I mean begrudgingly) allowed my wife and me to stay through the initial session, stating that he would continue with the session but that he reserved the right to terminate the session at any time. I have a number of problems with how Yager conducted the session (his cell phone rang loudly in the middle of the supposed hypnotherapy; from my son's vocal mannerisms, he did not appear to be hypnotized at all; Yager wasn't listening to what my son was saying, etc.), but I won't spend time on those, as this review is getting long enough already. At the end of the session, Yager pronounced that in all likelihood my son would no longer have separation anxiety. That was a bit surprising, since our research on hypnotherapy suggested that any significant problem of longstanding duration would need at least a handful of sessions, if not more. Just as a matter of common sense, if longstanding and deep-rooted separation anxiety could be remedied so easily and quickly (one session cure!), then there would be a lot more healthy patients and a lot fewer psychologists. I subsequently had an e-mail exchange with Yager where I tried to convince him that he should disclose to parents in advance that he doesn't follow the law and that he requires parents to waive certain of their rights before he will treat their child. I even drafted some language for him to add to the "Confidentiality" section of his website. He resisted agreeing to give parents any advance disclosure. Yager's hypnotherapy session made no dent in our son's anxiety. Yager was outside of our insurance plan. He charged us $190 per hour, which rate, in my opinion, was highly excessive for what we got. I would not recommend Dr. Edwin Yager. read more