Dr. Deric Vernon Ravsten, DO

I've seen many mental health professionals over the last few years. I had a traumatic event in my life that caused some severe ptsd. Dr. Ravsten made sure to let me know if wasnt a big deal to him though. Surely his mindfulness class would fix it all. When it didn't I was told it was my fault for not trying hard enough. I'm positive if I met him on the street he wouldn't recognize me, but he said a lot of negative things in his little notes he typed during each session without looking at me. He "diagnosed" me without any testing and never even heard my full trauma. He likes to throw out ssris no matter the condition. Currently, my new doctor is truly helping me, but I've spent a few sessions working to undo some of what Ravsten did. I regret ever stepping into his office.

Dr. Ravsten likes to speak with medical terminology that is not common to most patients. If you don't understand, he belittles you. He did this to my teen son who was having a hard enough making it to the appointment. He had us in tears and worried the mental health system was not going to help us.

Dr Ravston is very knowledgeable in the administration of psychotropic medications. I have suffered from mental illness for most of my life and have ran the gauntlet with psychiatrists. I have been over, under and incorrectly medicated by every "specialist" I saw until I met Dr Ravston. Although his bedside manner leaves something to desire I feel like I'm properly medicated and feel better than I have ever felt in my life. Also, his staff is very courteous as well as highly professional.

He was not at all engaging. All he did was type. I didn't feel like he listened to what I said and will not be going back. A total waste of money.

I was referred to Dr. Ravston by a friend. My expereince was not good. He was too busy typing to care. He never looked at me. He was snippy. He seemed unhappy himself. He did not have a good "bedside manner", he seemed rushed. I will not be returning to him. The staff there was very stiff as well. The receptionist didn't look at me either and was all business. My appt was actually last month, they never called to see why I am not returning and why I cancelled my appt either. I notice by the other reviews the typing bothered other people as well. Hopefully he reads there and gets a clue that it is not nice to care more about your computer then a person.

I wasn't impressed with him after my first visit, but after I went in again my opinion of him improved. During my visits he sat at a computer and typed notes as we went along. I don't know if he chooses to do this or if it's mandated by the group he's part of, but it's a bit awkward. And he seemed to be more concerned with getting things typed in than actually listening to me. Although he does give you a copy of the notes (part of which details what steps you, the patient, should take) at the end of the visit, which seems like a good thing. I might not be remembering correctly but I think my initial visit lasted about a hour and subsequent visits were a half-hour. At the end of each visit he does some sort of brief standardized assessment: asking you to remember three or four words and then seeing if you remember them at the end of the questions, asking what today's date is, and things like that. I think if any of the other psychiatrists in Pocatello were accepting new patients I'd at least try them and see if I liked them any better. But, as it stands now, I'm happy enough with Dr. Ravsten.