Dr. Aarons has been such a huge blessing to me and my family. She has given me tools that I will carry for a lifetime that bring healing and confidence. I struggled with severe anxiety, due to traumatic events in my life that left me searching for someone who would understand me and show warmth and caring throughout my healing process. She helped me find my confidence and my voice again. I'm so glad I found her and would highly recommend her. read more

Please do not schedule an appointment with this women, and please read the reviews which are hidden. She is the most rigid, uncaring "professional" I have ever interacted with. She cares nothing about helping people except enforcing her 72 hour cancellation policy and blabbing about how she "wrote a book". When I tried to explain to her that I have a chronic pain issue and have a very difficult time traveling, she couldn't care less and was extremely condescending. It was honestly the most upsetting experience interacting with her on the telephone, and I can't even imagine going to her for any sort of assistance during a difficult time. Please stay away from her. In response to Rachel: I didn't FAIL to show up. I called with three days notice and CANCELLED the appointment. You refused to let me cancel and stated you were a professional and were going to be paid for your time. Saying I did not show up on your billing statement is a LIE. With the help of the Grieving and Counseling Services of Santa Barbara Hospice, I have reported your unethical billing practices to the Behavioral Sciences Board of California. I can only hope the other "disgruntled" persons do the same. ****For the "disgruntled" individuals, here is the link to report Rachel Aarons. https://www.breeze.ca.gov/datamart/loginCADCA.do;jsessionid=47076E95B7BA00B45535EF60592598C2.vo7 Scroll to California Board of Behavioral Health Sciences, then scroll to Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Then write your complaint The website will time-out without warning, so write your complaint up in a program and copy and paste it into the window. It is a fairly easy process, and I highly recommend you do this instead of being extorted to pay for services you cancelled/didn't receive. read more

Rachel B Aarons, LCSW - Statement for an appointment I cancelled with three days notice! Unethical billing. Have reported her. - Counseling & Mental Health Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Dr Aarons is a skilled professional healer and I can't say enough good things about working with her. She is thorough, professional, and caring! I was specifically looking for an EMDR therapist for anxiety. The 3 sessions made a huge difference. The effects were amazing. I was able to attain a big goal where I had been blocked for years. If you are willing to take responsibility and move forward in your life, then Rachel Aarons is the right choice. read more

Hit a rough patch and thought I'd see a counselor. I'm new to the area and wasn't quite sure where to start so I basically googled a list of therapists in the area, closed my eyes and pointed. (not really, but maybe I'll try that next). Dr Aarons called me sometime shortly after i filled out a questionnaire and we arranged a time for an appointment. She explained that i needed to cancel 24 hours before the appointment or I would be charged the full amount for one session. Sure thing, I never cancel. I thanked her for fitting me in, to which she replied "Oh it was no problem at all. Now that I make my own hours I am able to work whenever I want" and went on to basically say that she likes to work three days a week and her schedule was wide open. It didn't sound weird until everything else went down hill. She asked that i arrive 15 minutes early to fill out paperwork. Seemed reasonable. We picked a day and were good to go. The day of the appointment, I had taken down the wrong address, of course, and called her when I was running late. Now, rather than being fifteen minutes early as requested, I would be five minutes late to the actual appointment. Better late than never? I sat in her waiting room and started to fill out the paper work that she left for me. 1. One medical history sheet. cool. 2. One agreement to a "wrap up session" should I choose to stop seeing her for whatever reason... wait. What? Basically, if I decided to stop going to her, I would have to come back to tie up loose ends at $180 a session. Hm. I don't think I'll sign that one. I'll discuss it with her. 3. One agreement to pay for session in cash or check prior to the actual session. Is this standard? Shouldn't she have told me about that before the visit? I don't generally carry checks or $180 in cash with me at all times. Maybe I'll just discuss that with her too. 4. One extra optional form that describes how Dr Aarons specializes in EMDR therapy. According to her website "EMDR therapy is the most rapid processing method available today. Most of my clients have been able to resolve one major issue in their lives in just ONE EMDR processing session with me: for example, depression, anxiety, PTSD, childhood abuse, lack of confidence in social situations or business, relationship issues, pain." I didn't fill that one out either. Now, by the time i had filled out some of these forms, and decided not to fill out others, Dr. Aarons phone rang in her office. She answered it and apparently it was someone calling her regarding a property she rents out. Apparently they left it totally trashed and every little detail about that renter (the fact that it took 17 hours to clean the apartment after they moved out, the fact that the renter didn't give notice so their fees were still accumulating) was easy to hear through the one thin wall separating the waiting room and the office. Basically, there was absolutely no privacy if someone was waiting for their appointment. Every single breath made in that office could be easily heard in the waiting room. Now, it was 20 minutes after the appointment should have started and Dr. Aarons was still on the phone. Is it weird that she didn't come out to get me? to check? At this point I was going to be paying $180 for 25 minutes of a session and if that didnt go well I would still have to go back for one more session? No thanks, Dr. Aaron. I left and she called my cell just 3 minutes after I drove off. She left a message saying "I'm sorry that YOU CHOSE to leave without speaking to me. I didn't hear you out there. You should have knocked on my door. Unfortunately as we discussed, you will still be charged for the full session". I may have been late to the session, but she's the one who missed it. I called her back the next day and left a vm explaining my thought process sitting in her waiting room. She never called back but promptly sent a bill for the session. I just feel bummed about the whole ordeal and wish I had gone elsewhere. read more

Rachel B Aarons, LCSW - Ugly tone. Unprofessional. - Counseling & Mental Health Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Dr Rachel Arron is an amazing person and therapist! I've worked with her for years and know that she truly cares about helping her clients and is a very kind and caring person with a huge heart! I don't know why other reviews here are so negative, yes like any business there is a cancelation policy, this is not out of the ordinary, anytime you book an appointment for even a massage they have a cancelation policy! I've had to move appointments before in advance and she was willing to work with me. If your looking for a very experienced professional that is very kind and has so much knowledge Rachel is for you. Thank you Rachel for all you do! Truly an angel! read more

Dr. Aarons knows what she's doing. She has been practicing EMDR for many years, and I went to her after a friend of mine cleared up a major phobia in one session. I was impressed and totally blown away with my friends results. Upon meeting Dr. Aarons I was impressed with her genuine kindness. And she was incredibly helpful to me in dealing with a problematic situation. She had an alternate view on the issue and it really helped. I highly recommend Dr. Aarons! read more

During such a difficult time with personal relationships I found myself needing guidance with how to approach family and loved ones. I had never really been open to the idea of therapy before but with a new year I knew I needed a new approach. Having worked with Dr Aaron's , I have grown personally and in my abilities to deal with difficult family relationships. My newfound self awareness and self esteem has spilled over into other areas of my life, including my professional life. I owe that to the amazing work that I have done with Dr. Aaron over the last year. Her policies are straight forward and stringent but if you are committed to your own growth and responsibilities to follow through with your appointment, like any other place of business, you should be able to accept what you are comfortable with knowing you get a contract up front to read in detail. Her prices and her value are set by her and like any quality work, you pay for what you get. She is couture in the world of mental health and her EMDR process is totally worth the price tag. I have grown decades in one short year and understand so much of my past, and in the end I'm better and healthier for it. read more

I believe I started seeing Rachel at the end of 2014 and into 2015. I came to because we were told that EMDR therapy was a better option for those with PTSD when cognitive behavioral therapy was not satisfactory. I have met with so many therapists in my life, I am 26 years old now and finally understand, after having an awful experience with Rachel, and now meeting with a Psychologist I really love, that not all of them can help you, and that its never your fault if you can't built a trusting relationship with them. This was my problem with Rachel, trust. Like other reviews have mentioned about her billing, she charges ASTRONOMICAL amounts for her services, and god forbid if you have to miss an appointment. I was seeing her in Santa Barbara in person for a while, Then had to have an email correspondence relationship when I had to go back to college in the spring. I was given some work to do while I was there, and emailed her how I was feeling. The response was never anything but what I owed her, financially, and me apologizing and that we would get her the payment. To speak on the actual therapy that we did: I have never felt so blamed for what happened, and made to feel like I was this awful manipulative person for my coping mechanisms. In case you read this Rachel: my new psychologist has since explained to me why I self destruct and has given me tools so it hasn't happened again, you know, actual help instead of telling me how much I actually want to "hurt those around me" and that "I don't care about anyone but myself". You were so off about me, and I tried so hard, but you told me I wasn't trying hard enough. I hope others come out and talk about their experiences with you, I was quiet for years because I blamed myself and felt scared to admit that I was in a more serious form of therapy. I came to you because I needed help, my aunt helped me pay your outrageous sums because we believed you would HELP ME. Thats not lack of effort, thats me needing a guiding force to lead a positive life and you used your guiding hand to draw the negative feelings even further in. I am so sorry for anyone who has had a similar experience to me. I felt intimidated, and blamed myself and believed for so long I was a bad person with help from Rachel. We are responsible for our actions, and the way we take information, but when we come to professionals, like you, for help, that means we ARE trying. read more

When I sought help from Dr. Rachel Aarons, I knew what I wanted to work on. I had tried for many years with different therapists, and still had deep seated issues I wanted to address. She explained her billing system to me at our first meeting. I agreed to her terms and signed her contracts. When I decided to go through the process, I was all in. I wanted to give it my best effort. Throughout our work together, my experience is that she cared very much for my well-being. She often told me she would awake in the middle of the night with an insight into what might work in my treatment. This is a testament to her involvement with her patients, that even when she is sleeping, she is thinking of ways to help. If I was ill, we sometimes had a telephone session rather than in office. She worked around my difficult schedule, and we made it work together. My experience with her EMDR process helped me to release deep and painful memories. She also counselled me in how to best address ongoing difficulties with family members. I would not hesitate to recommend her to others who are seriously committed to doing difficult work. read more

I can understand why people complained about what they complained about. I am not surprised. One time I ran out of check, I had to convince her hard to wait for the next appointment to give her the payment. No consideration by the fact that she is not covered by my insurance and that I have been paying the full fee out of pocket. I signed up with her out of desperation and her insistence that she is the best and the only one doing what she is doing. It really turned me off big time when I was summoned for jury duty and tried to cancel the day before. Not only did she say that I had to pay the full fee nor offered to reschedule. SHE SUGGESTED THAT I ASK MY MINOR CHILD TO RIDE UBER". So I responded, "Isn't that child endangerment?". She apologized after, but that just tells you about her. So when I told her that my child is no longer seeing her because we can no longer afford it, she had to insist on one last goodbye meeting where she would give my daughter a form to fill out. She said it is very important. I doubt it. read more

WARNING! Do not schedule an appt with Rachel Aarons, save yourself the time and money. She's dreadful. All she cares about is money. First paid session, spent 30 mins on her payment policies, 10 mins on self marketing, and 10 mins pushing a therapy technique that she is certified in, which later she said would not be appropriate to consider. 2nd seesion-20 mins on insurance talk, 10 mins on her talking about her new house and son (who cares) and trying to convince scheduling more frequent and longer sessions in the future (its all about racking up charges for her). After 7 sessions all like that, all talk about herself and money and no therapy or interest in the patient, (BTW:payment was never an issue) and after she wasted 16 mins of a paid session to record a payment, I asked her to please do billing outside of a paid session, she replied "you don't expect me to do anything on my own time?", I answered, YES, and she stuck her tongue at me, like a 3 year old. Not playful but mean, rude, immature and really scary. She is a very unpleasant woman with a very dark, negative personality. I witnessed her yelling at a patient who came into her waiting room, I was shocked to witness such horrible temperament. She is horrible to be around and was a complete waste of time. Run from this woman! read more