I saw Dr. Ahlborn because I wanted to find a health psychologist to help me cope with chronic…read moremigraine headaches. Unfortunately, I found Dr. Ahlborn.
The short of it: Dr. Ahlborn talks about herself all the time, interrupted me constantly, dispensed unqualified and ill-received legal advice, and is extremely RACIST. This woman does far more harm than good, and should NOT be a practicing psychologist.
The long of it:
My first appointment with Dr. Ahlborn was in January of 2006. During this first session, I was a little surprised by her "method." She was extremely talkative, and I was appalled when she answered her cell phone in the middle of our appointment. Although I was unhappy with her behavior, I returned a couple of weeks later--my insurance covered six free visits to a psychotherapist, and I suppose I felt that I had nothing to lose. During my next two appointments Dr. Ahlborn continually talked about her personal life; in fact, she seemed more interested in sharing details about herself than she was in helping me work through my problems. She continually interrupted me or talked over me. I was beginning to lose faith in her ability to help me, and I had completely lost my patience.
At this point I felt that she wasn't a good therapist. It wasn't until the last session, however, that I realized she shouldn't even be in practice.
One of the issues I was attempting to deal with was my living situation; my apartment was falling apart, and the landlord would not terminate the lease. I mentioned this to Dr. Ahlborn, and she responded by asking if the landlord was black. She informed me that if the landlord were indeed black, my boyfriend and I would have a harder time getting him to do what we want "because he'll have so many people in the community backing him." She went on to tell me that my boyfriend and I should simply walk out on our lease, and said, "Who cares?" when I put forth the possibility of getting sued. She told me to take my boyfriend's name off the lease so the landlord can only sue me, and since I "don't have anything, he can't get anything." I was clearly angered by her suggestion, and responded that I had no desire to ruin my credit. "It won't go on your credit report," she answered. I could not believe that she was continuing the conversation despite my clear agitation. I insisted that being sued was a huge black mark on a credit report. She followed up by saying, "so it goes on your credit report. Just have your boyfriend rent the next apartment." She then returned to the issue of race, informing me that she used to work in the prison system in Ohio, and she couldn't get ahead because she "wasn't black."
I cannot even begin to explain how angry I am; her behavior was incredibly inappropriate on so many levels. First, it is not Dr. Ahlborn's place to pressure me into making legal decisions. She is not an attorney and thus should not be dispensing legal advice, especially when I did not ask for it. I made it abundantly clear that I did not appreciate her input and that I did not agree with her point of view, yet she continued to push the topic. Secondly, she referenced the African-American community on several occasions and appears to believe that African-Americans in Ohio---perhaps everywhere---receive an unfair advantage. This point of view is extremely racist.
As a doctoral student in psychology myself, I am familiar with ethics, boundaries, and the therapist's role. I can confidently say that Dr. Ahlborn seems to have no concern for any of this. At the very least, Dr. Ahlborn should have taken my possible feelings about race into account before speaking (I am in an interracial relationship), but her political and racist views have NO PLACE here, no matter what my background. Her personal views should never enter the room to begin with, but it shows a special disregard for the therapeutic process to have ignored her client's background and possible feelings about this topic.
Finding a good psychologist can be a difficult process, as there are a lot of licensed therapists who do not do their jobs well. Dr. Ahlborn's personal life and politics should not enter into the therapeutic atmosphere; the fact that I am aware that she has a college-age daughter, does not appreciate her husband's driving skills and possesses racist viewpoints prove that she has no regard for boundaries or the therapeutic process.
