Dr. Ulla Kristiina Laakso

I have been seeing Dr. Laakso for 8 years and have found her to be a wonderful, caring, and compassionate doctor. She is completely professional and treats her patients with respect and dignity. I consider myself very fortunate to have Dr. Laakso in my corner and would strongly recommend her to anyone who needs a friend. more

I am very disturbed that this woman is still practicing...I thought she was strangely rude and impatient during our talk together.\r I was even more put off when she tried to prescribe me medication to treat bipolar disorder. She then tried to avoid giving me a real diagnose. She just handed me the prescription paper and drug name. I had to ask her straight out ""are you saying I'm bipolar?"" which she finally said yes to. \r 1. What type of professional doesn't address your diagnosis before giving you pills\r 2. More importantly, I don't have bipolar disorder!\r \r This seems like a scam to me. Why is she constantly pushing pills fo bipolar disorder and adult ad/hd??? Why not just admit to specializing in maniac depression?? She seems qualified enough...why can't she diagnose anyone with anything else?\r She distorted me words. Refused to let me explain or elaborate with relevant information to her generic questions (""yes or no answers. thats it""). It was just an awful experience and it sickens me she still has a medical license. more

I find it extremely disturbing that this woman is still practising, she is very dangerous. She misdiagnosed me with bipolar disorder about ten years ago and prescribed medication which was very detrimental to my health and well being. What does it take to have rogue practitioners like this put out of practice? I see on another website that she has a couple of malpractice settlements, one with a larger than average payout, but with the number of people that she has harmed over the years she really should have had her license revoked. Please, please do not go to this doctor, even if you have been referred to her, she should be avoided at all costs. more

I am saddened to read that other people have had the same HORRIBLE experience that I had with this woman, who should not be allowed to call herself a doctor in my opinion. I was looking through some old paperwork and found a prescription she wrote me back in 2007 for (yup, you guessed it) DEPAKOTE. I googled her today to check up on her, hoping that she had been forced out of practice by now. But, no, I see that she is still taking advantage of people who are suffering and vulnerable and coming to her for help. When I went to her, I had been on Zoloft for years (prescribed by my General Practitioner) but I decided I wanted to get a ""real psych doctor's"" opinion because it seemed like the Zoloft wasn't working as well as it had been and I was quite depressed about some recent physical injuries that were bad enough for me to have to take disability leave from my job. On my first visit, after having me sit in a room by myself, watch a video, and fill out a survey, and then meet with her for maybe 5 minutes, she also MISDIAGNOSED me as BIPOLAR and prescribed me Depakote. She also prescribed me RESTORIL, as I was having trouble sleeping, and told me I needed to dramatically change my sleep schedule and start going to sleep at 9:00PM. Like others, I guess I was so desperate and she seemed credible enough that I gave it a try. It was a disaster. Horrible side effects - nausea, dizziness. I was much worse off than before I saw her and could not function for days. It seems like she is doing some kind of study for herself or the pharma company that makes Depakote perhaps? Thank god I have since found a real doctor/psychiatrist who takes the time to sit and talk with me (for 45 minutes each time) and works in partnership with my therapist to make an accurate diagnosis (I actually have chronic depression & anxiety) and prescribe the proper medications. I can't remember how I found out about her but it was really one of the most TRAUMATIC experiences of my life. She may have helped some other people, but just please BE WARNED, be cautious, get a second opinion, and know that there are other well-qualified doctors out there who won't push their own agenda on you. more

You will walk into her office, impressed by her pedigree, office decor and full of hope. You will meet her, she won't allow you to speak. Instead, she will ask you a list of questions about your family's history of mental illness- convinced that everyone in your family has mental illness. Even though you are barely allowed to speak, she will declare that she has the perfect solution for you. Then, you will watch a video tape that is all about bi-polar disorder. I've never been diagnosed with that before. Despite never having exhibited symptoms of mania, you will walk out with a prescription for Depakote ER, which is used to treat bi-polar, especially controlling the ""mania"" which I never had. She will often prescribe a cocktail of other drugs to go along with it. She is convinced of her treatment despite the fact that you are barely allowed to describe how you feel. Depakote is a strong drug and I would caution against taking it unless you truly have bi-polar. I left the office, and never went back. Second opinion... next! more

I would give her a negative number, but that is not availble. This woman should not be practicing as a doctor. She has no interest in treating her patients. I agree with the below remarks concerning her only diagnosis being for bipolar. She took me off my previous medication and put me on a medicine treatment for bipolar. We went over how I do not have bipolar disorder several times. I have never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but being a trusting patient who was referred by a doctor she likes (who will be told to update her referral list not to include this woman) I took the new medication. I had severe side effects. I thought it was just stress, until the effects were so bad I could barely walk around my room without feeling so dizzy and tingle-ridden that I called her office to see what I should do. Well that was no help. She says to only call 911 if the office hours are closed. My effects were bad, but not 911 costs bad (I would just need to know to stop taking it). She only had a number for physicians to reach her after hours, so I called that number. Nothing for over a day. I called my aunt who is a psychiatrist and thankfully she was able to help me. I had to immediately stop taking the medication. She said it was wrong for a psychiatrist not to have a doctor on call on the weekends and a line for messages to always be checked despite office hours being closed. I truly believe had I continued the medication my effects would have made me become bipolar. This woman needs to review the Hippocratic oath and DO NO HARM! RUN RUN RUN away and do not ever look back if you even consider seeing her. DO NOT be fooled by her awards all over her office praising her as ""best this"" and ""best that"". She must have gotten it all done at Kinko's. I will now be seeking treatment elsewhere and pray that I NEVER have to have that bad of an episode again. more

I've been seeing Dr. Laakso since 1996, during which time she's been extremely helpful, professional, and knowledgeable. She has helped me enormously.\r \r I went to her when I was hopelessly depressed (and, as it turns out, 'clinically'), and the medications she prescribed turned my life around for the better. \r \r Had I known Dr. Laakso in my 20s and early 30s, and been able to take the medications she prescribed, I might have lived a more fulfilling and 'successful' life much earlier. \r \r I was wholly open to her interpetations of my illness; after describing it for about 5 minutes, she said, ""I think I can tell you the rest of your symtoms,"" and then did so, with 100% accuracy, even to the time of early morning I would suddenly awake with a jolt and be unable to return to sleep. \r \r I recommend her highly; most of the happiness I have known in the second half of my life, I owe to her. \r \r By the way, In regard to some of the comments here, Dr. Laakso did not, and never has, diagnose me as bi-polar. more

after reading all the outrageous reviews online, im stunned that she's still treating patients. I had the worst experience with her, similar to the other complaining patients. After i informed her at my first visit that i was on lexapro for years and was feeling fine, she nevertheless proceeded to decrease my dose and told me she had no replacement plan but we would see after i was off lexapro. Questioned further, she recommended various drugs generally prescribed for bipolar disorder, which i never had and schizophrenia, which i also notably do not have. I got out of there as fast as I could and I see now how lucky I was to terminate treatment with her before she completely destabilized me with her incompetent medical advice. Question is, how is she still allowed to treat patients? Most of the other patients I encountered in her waiting room behaved like zombies and her staff is rude and of very low intelligence. more

Where do I begin? not everyone is Bi-Polar but Dr Laakso thinks so, she prescibes meds like candy, the most uncaring Dr I have ever met, she does not listen to the patients concerns, but some of the most gorgeous offices I have seen, if this is what matters to you, she only prescribes meds and doesnt listen or care about a thing you have to say, the worst experience of my life and the drugs she prescribes are mostly new, guess she is in with the pharmacuticals co's. DREADFUL and SCARY experience Pros: YOUR BI-BOLAR EVEN IF YOUR NOT Cons: INSENSITIVE, UNCARING more

Dr. Laakso is skilled at finding the medication that works best for a patient. However, for patients that are stable, she still requires an office visit for each prescription citing NY State Law. However, NY State Law does not require a visit for each prescription and also permits the mailing of prescription (see NY State Health Publication # 1477). Dr. Laakso won't do the latter either. Pros: Dedicated to finding medications that work best for patient Cons: Requires office visit for each prescription more

So I was a patient of Dr. Laakso for two years. Right from the beginning she insisted I was bi-polar. She is the only doctor who has ever diagnosed me as such, and I've had easily a dozen other doctors diagnose me as having clinical depression with no trace of dipolar disorder. Looking at her office you see that it's more of a factory geared toward bi-polar ""treatment."" If you don't happen to be bi-polar... well, you are now! So I resisted taking the bi-polar meds for a long time, but after a while I went in another major depressive episode and decided that I'd at least give Dr. Laakso the chance to prove me wrong. We tried various meds for bipolar, and they didn't work. Ultimately I ended up having an acute crisis in which I was convinced that it was my destiny to commit suicide. I'm sitting in her office, literally crying, after having told her that I've been seriously thinking about suicide and can I PLEASE go back on the meds that at least worked a little. She argued with me, then eventually wrote a prescription for my old meds (at ONE QUARTER the dosage I needed) and stormed out of the office. What kind of doctor walks out on a crying patient who has stated that he is contemplating suicide? This doctor should be stripped of her license to practice, at the very least. Stay away from her if you are looking for real treatment. Pros: You don't have to wait long. Cons: She will misdiagnose you and abandon you in a crisis more

I have been seeing Dr. Laakso for several years and have found her to be very pleasant, knowledgeable, and professional. While I was pregnant, we discussed weaning me off of lexapro and she indicated that it was actually very effective at small doses. I went from a dose of 30 mg (prescribed by a past doctor) to 5mg. I have now had the baby and am back on 10 mg. She never pushed high doses of medication or any medication really. I did have to watch the bipolar video which many reviewers mentioned on my first visit. I am not bipolar, and she never tried to push that diagnosis on me. Our appointments are very fast but she is not my therapist, therefore I never expected to sit there for a long time. I have also had colleages see her who have had nothing but positive experiences. more

I saw Dr. Laakso in Jan 08 to get help weaning off Zoloft & avoid SSRI discontinuation symptoms. Her diagnostic approach is very formulaic and definitely geared towards a bi-polar diagnosis (although, she also did mention ADHD but that was in relation to children she treats). Yes, everything and everyone is very well organized and she is impeccably dressed, but I had the same experience as the previous reviewer.The patient is only a piece passing through this well oiled machinery (Chaplin's movie Modern Times comes to mind). She met with me to take my medical/psych history and told me to please answer her questions with either ""yes"" or ""no"" (if life only required ""yes"" or ""no"" answers we all would be in really good shape). After meeting with her, I was brought to a small room where I watched a video of appr. 5 different bi-polar patients describing their symptoms and had to jot down those statements that I felt resonated with me. Then I met with her again, and she told me that getting off Zoloft would take about 9 months (I had been on it for 4 months at the time). But, I could speed things up if I were to take Depakote!!! In the moment, I agreed and she handed me a pre-printed sheet of paper entiteled ""Depakote"" where she plugged in the dosing schedule that she deemed appropriate for me. There were a couple of other things that made me feel very uneasy. I went to a different psychiatrist and weaned of Zoloft in 6-8 weeks, there were a couple of weeks that were rough but now it has been 2 months after my last Zoloft dosage and I am fine. Bottom line, I never had bi-polar, I had mild depression and my primary complaint is anxiety disorder. I shudder to think what shape I would be in now had I followed her treatment plan. I am so glad I followed my instincts and went for a second opinion. Don't let the glitzy facade and the well organized way in which the office is run distract you.Pay attention to how you as the patient - the person are being treated. Pros: Nice ambience Cons: Very rigid diagnostic approach, patronizing at times more

Ulla Laakso has been reviewed by many of her former patients on the ratemds website. Like many of the other patients on the Rate Your Doctor site she diagnosed me with bipolar disorder and prescribed Depokote. Since I?d taken Zoloft and Paxil in the past (both of which I?d had good results with) I was surprised by her conclusion. When I asked her why she felt I was bipolar she told me that I was the patient and she was the doctor and it was her job to ask the questions? Since I didn?t think I?d done anything to overstep my bounds I went with a different psychiatrist. It?s been a few years since I?ve seen her but after reading the reviews on the Rate Your Doctor website I wanted to make sure readers here new there were other opinions about her too. Cons: I felt that she diagnosed me without listening more

Dr. Laakso (Ulla) is a wonderful German or Austrian doctor with great taste in clothes and a knack for finding the perfect combination of Meds to help with whatever mental illness you may be struggling with. I've been with her for four years and really trust her. Her one quirk is that she WILL repeatedly suggest that you go to bed each night at 9:00PM and wake at 5:00AM. I mean who can realistically do that?\r \r The problem is the woman who work at her front desk. She's a total bully - a grumpy woman with a chip on her sholder. Calling to change an appointment? running late? need a refill? You have to deal with her and she makes things as difficult as possible! It is a bigger problem than it might seem. I always dreaded having to call, and now I'm just going to look for a new psychopharacologist (sp?). After all, this is an office that caters to people with mental illness. You'd think they's at least hire somebody nice.\r \r (In addition to this front desk woman, the customer service at Dr. Lakkso's office is pretty poor in general. For example you can't leave a message after hours with appointment changes or questions - very frustrating) \r \r The bottom line is that this sort of office should make you feel better and improve your health - not make you afraid to call!! Pros: Great Doctor! Cons: Really, really, uncaring staff!!!! more