Brooks Renana PHD

Rae M. _{on Yelp}

Mar 19th, 2019

Let me jump on the the pile and say RUN FROM HER. She cannot keep appointments and will stand you up.

Laura S. _{on Yelp}

Sep 17th, 2018

I saw Renana Brooks for about six months back in 2005. I chose her because she was close to my office and accepted my health insurance plan. My experience with her was much as others have written here: she fell asleep during sessions (when I complained, she said I lacked compassion for her fertility issues); she claimed to be well-connected with the White House and Congress as a political/communications consultant and talked a lot about her influence in the Democratic party; and her questions and observations were basic, trite, and sometimes dismissive. She often turned discussion of my concerns to her own interests. She was also terribly disorganized, ie, missed appointments, misfiled paperwork, and was unkempt in both her office space and physical appearance. The experience was disconcerting, even frightening. It took me a while to forgive myself for taking so long to see that something was wrong with her. With all due respect for whatever issues she may have been suffering, physical or mental, Renana Brooks is a danger to others and should not be in practice as a therapist. Avoid her and take the time to find someone who's competent, respectful and professional. There are lots of good therapists out there - she isn't one of them!

Kayla B. _{on Yelp}

Aug 27th, 2013

I completely concur with the other reviewers. This woman is a fraud and deserves to be stripped of her license and right to practice. She is a total disgrace to the field. I had almost an identical experience. She was late or skipped appointments. She fell asleep during sessions and told me "not to take it personally." She openly spoke about other professional engagements, including her work on various political campaigns. She even had the audacity to ask for feedback on messaging for one of her clients (during our session, mind you). And to top it all off she asked me to broker an introduction to a former boss who I mentioned in one of our sessions. She was hoping to advance her political consulting work. Naturally I stopped seeing her after a few of these incidents. The kicker happened a few months later at a friend's party. I overheard a woman talking about a nightmare therapist who missed appointments and was totally irresponsible. I politely asked her if she would mind sharing this doctor's name. You can pretty much guess the rest. Dr. Brooks preys on young, ambitious and overworked professionals who are simply looking to restore balance and quality to their lives. Working with the right therapist can be a beautiful thing. But this woman is all kinds of wrong. If negative stars were an option, I'd take it.

Catherine A. _{on Yelp}

Feb 3rd, 2012

DISRESPECTFUL! WASTE OF TIME!!I scheduled an appointment with Ms. Brooks after going through my insurance's website. When I called, she herself answered the phone and booked the appointment with me for a weekday morning at 7:50am. I showed up around 7:40 the morning of our session (which I had in my calendar and planner and know I didnt get wrong) and SHE DID NOT SHOW UP!!!! How unprofessional and rude. I waited only til around 8:00 because of course I then thought, I might as well get to work on time if this irresponsible person didn't even have the decency to call me. I seriously have no idea how her "business" even functions. I called her office and left a message and she has not returned this call yet. It has been 2 days.Now, if I was someone with a serious medical/ psychological problem like depression, imagine how this kind of behavior from a medical professional would have affected me. Thankfully, I am not but I don't think people like Ms. Brooks should be allowed to behave like this and claim to help people.

Nicole F. _{on Yelp}

Jul 24th, 2009

I found her to be very unprofessional. She would not even sit up straight in the chair, she would slump over, when she talked it was hard to hear her because of this. The first appointment I had with her she told me I was "far worse" than I think I am and I had better see her for 4 times a week. I told her this would be hard for me and her response was, "okay well you came to see me I thought you wanted help. Do you want help or not?"She gave me a 9 page back to back questionnaire about myself I was to fill out prior to the next visit. I did so. On the back was just a list of "any additional information/concerns." I did not fill it out because I had just done 9 back to back pages about my whole life. She was frustrated I did not do it, and did not read any of the other pages.She has a very negative attitude. She tells me that this is because I have never known "true therapy" as well as the fact that her main clients are people in "political power including the white house."I would not recommend this woman. If you don't have anything huge to work on, then she might be fine. But if you are depressed/anxious and having trouble getting out of bed, she is not the answer. Her response to me saying, "I feel lonely" was to "join a club and meet people. Get over it." Everything related to DC and she told me if I was unhappy here, to just go and move. In my opinion, that is the advice I seek from friends, not someone I am paying $20 an hour to see.The classic thing were her parting words when I told her I wanted to see a new therapist. She told me that the way you know you have a good therapist in DC is if they return your call. She then says: "Although, I returned your call...but that was a fluke I never should have done that."Keep in mind this is just my experience, but I honestly would not recommend her.