Heidi Schelling Psychologist PhD, LCSW

Dr. Heidi Schelling was comfortable and easy to talk with. She seemed to really understand how obesity is impacting my life and the hopes that come along with weight loss surgery. Clearly she knew what she was talking about and offerred some helpful guidance. Dr. Schelling was supportive and understanding. I would recommend her to anyone.

My interview with her began with my relationship with my father. It was very bad and abusive when I was a child. I spent more than 10 years in therapy to learn to deal with the pain it caused and to overcome personal problems caused by our relationship. She asked me to describe in detail some of the physical and mental abuse that I received. Thinking this would be helpful to me I told her the details, but in an unemotional manner. Through the whole thing she kept telling me, "Oh you poor thing. It must have been awful for you." To which I replied, "Yes it was." At the end of my 3 day evaluation she told me that I needed to call her office and set up an appointment with an assistant of hers, and that I needed probably several years of intensive psychotherapy because I did not cry when giving her the details of the abuse that I went through as a child. I explained to her that I had already been through 10 years of more of one on one therapy and group therapy to help me deal with it and that I had cried and cried until I sometimes felt I had no tears left during these sessions. However something positive came of them and that is that I was able to confront my father about the way he abused me and the problems it caused for me. He apologized and asked for my forgiveness. We talked several times with each other about what had happened and as a result he and I came to understand each other better and I have forgiven him. Because of this I can now talk about these things without crying. It wasn't alsways so. I have put it behind me and have moved on with my life. However, Ms. Schelling disagreed with what I had to say and told that the therapy I had received was not enough, and if I didn't follow through with what she told me to do she would make sure that I never got the surgery. She also told me she would tell the doctor about my smoking and that he wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole if he knew about it. I have since quit. Although I feel that her analysis of my mental condition was unfair and that she was just trying to get more money from me, and that she was extremely unprofessional by making threats towards me, one good thing did come out of it. She told me about this Web site and the great support and information I would receive here. I would not recommend her. Ps. I went to my weight doctor's office and told them what happened. They wrote to the surgeon and the insurance company in my behalf. I have been approved, I have seen the doctor who told me to quit smoking, which I did, and I HAVE A DATE.

SHE SEEMED TO BE A VERY INTELLIGENT PERSON AND ALSO EASY TO TALK TO.