Total Spectrum Counseling, A Psychological Corporation - Arroyo Grande, California

Danielle Simpson

This review is in reference to my experience working with Timothy Cooper and Joel Schwartz.

The primary reason I decided to work with TSC was because, during my initial intake call, I felt like Timothy understood how disappointing and damaging my previous experiences with past medical and mental health professionals had been. I felt validated and reassured that this experience with TSC would be different. I finally felt like relief -- and support with serious cognitive impairment and neurodivergence challenges -- was just around the corner. Unfortunately, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Working with Timothy quickly became very frustrating due to: 1) his lack of responsiveness, where he'd go weeks/months without providing me with an update on next steps, 2) his impatient tone when conducting the assessment, 3) and his sheer lack of professionalism. For example, he conducted my assessment in a public environment where others could see/hear me, and shared about his personal life via text as the reason for delays in our progress.

Eventually, it got so difficult to work with Timothy that I requested that my individual therapist step in to complete the assessment with me. After nine painful months, I received my final report, and I requested that Joel Schwartz, the head psychologist at TSC, be the one to review the report with me. Joel was also unresponsive and unprofessional, expressing minimal regret or concern about (nor responsibility for how negative of an experience I was having with his practice. In our first meeting, he showed up unprepared and unfamiliar with my case, only to skim my report and tell me that it appeared incomplete. We had to meet again in order for him to finish up my report appropriately, but he was late to our appointment, then took weeks to provide updates. I experienced his bedside manner to be quite callous and lacking basic levels of empathy.

The report itself contained basic inaccuracies that didn't resonate with what I'd shared during the assessment process. For example, despite me repeatedly telling Joel that my symptoms had emerged prior to ever having Covid-19, the report that he ultimately delivered leaned heavily on a diagnosis of long Covid-19 as one of the main causes of some of my symptoms. He also delivered my report without offering to explain its contents to me; it's a dense document written for a practitioner audience, which means that without guidance from Joel or another practitioner, it's very difficult for me to understand.

All in, it took TSC 360 days to conduct, complete, and deliver my assessment, which was nine months longer than the original timeline I was given, a time during which I was strung along, re-traumatized, and ultimately, harmed instead of helped.

It's hard to explain to those who don't struggle with mental illness how deeply painful it is to get handled so irresponsibly by those to whom you're paying large amounts of money for expertise and support with mental illness. The hopelessness and despair that I felt at the beginning of this journey were only compounded by my experience with TSC, and I now feel worse about my condition than when I started. I felt repeatedly dropped and hung out to dry throughout my time with TSC and I would strongly discourage anyone seeking mental health support from working with Timothy or Joel.

Quique Autrey

As a mental health professional who has worked with neurodivergent clients for many years, I cannot recommend Dr. Joel Schwartz enough. He brings years of experience and knowledge together with a real ability to connect with the lived experience of his clients. Joel and Total Spectrum Counseling are definitely worth your consideration.

Traci Lowenthal, PsyD Creative Insights Counseling

Dr. Joel Schwartz and his team are incredible. I've sought his guidance many times with regard to difficult and challenging clinical situations. He creates a wonderful community of support as well, in various forums. If you're seeking care, I can strongly recommend his organization.

Kristen Zaleski

Dr. Schwartz & Ms. Schwartz are experts in neurodivergent conditions and are the image of what ND affirming care should look like. I had a great experience recently when I referred my own client to them for psych testing. Not only was it a great experience for the client but the report that was written was one of the most comprehensive and affirming-minded I have ever read in my 20-year career. I dont hesitate to refer to this practice.

Sarah Jeffryes

I highly recommend Total Spectrum Counseling. I have had the pleasure of sitting with four of their therapists in different capacities and find their knowledge, lived experience and compassion to be second to none. Their practice is a safe haven for all neurodivergent populations looking for strength based support. I am excited to see they are training other professionals in the field and hope that the great work they are doing with the Neurodiversity model inspires others to do the same.

Andrea Beaudoin

My interactions with Dr Joel Schwarz as a colleague have been amazing. He has so much knowledge and integrity. He is so willing to help others and share his knowledge and experience. I highly recommend this practice!

Michael Anthony Nalepa [Therapy UnScripted]

I have worked with the staff of Total Spectrum Counseling -- primarily Joel -- for some time. They are a wonderful collective of clinicians and the epitome of Neurodiversity Affirming Therapists! Strongly recommend.

kat kat

We were recommended this practice by another therapist based on their specializing in autism. About 40 mins right before the initial consultation appointment this morning, the receptionist emailed to cancel, saying that their therapist Amaris will not take appointments unless payment was received the day prior and apologized for not mentioning it sooner. The tone was very "matter of fact" and did not try to make things right other than to reschedule for a later date. There were over 8 emails with the receptionist to set up this appointment, and she never once mentioned anything about payment. There was no phone call or anything to request payment once Amaris realized that she didn't have payment.

And the kicker? We called the practice to figure out why this happened and the receptionist was full of "ums" and "uhs". We asked whether Amaris knew that payment was never requested of us, and it was radio silence. The question was repeated and she would not answer and hung up on us and immediately blocked our number! We used another phone to call and it worked just fine.

So... this is what passes as mental health help these days? They work with clients who already suffer and have difficulties opening ourselves up for mental health help and keeping with tasks like appointments, so they should know better! People with mental health issues have a long journey of trying to find the right trustworthy therapist and this just shows what a messed up industry this is.