Two Brattle Center, which has been providing excellent clinical care in Cambridge since 1996, has undergone a transformation from a large clinic focused on intensive outpatient programs to a more streamlined clinical group focused on individual and group therapy, clinical consultation, referrals and training seminars.
Currently, we offer a DBT skills group, Advanced DBT Skills Group, psychopharmacology consultation, psychotherapy consultation, individual psychotherapy and adult ADD evaluation. All Two Brattle Center clinicians have intensive DBT training as well as broad clinical experience.
Currently, we offer a DBT skills group, Advanced DBT Skills Group, psychopharmacology consultation, psychotherapy consultation, individual psychotherapy and adult ADD evaluation. All Two Brattle Center clinicians have intensive DBT training as well as broad clinical experience.
Services
Dr. Wheelis received her M.D. from Boston University and completed her psychiatric residency at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA in 1989. She founded Two Brattle Center in 1996 and has been its Director since that time. In addition to her work at Two Brattle Center, Dr. Wheelis is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School and teaches at the joint Massachusetts General Hospital / McLean Hospital Psychiatric Residency Program.
Reviews (2)
Wiiliam B.
Aug 14, 2014
Dr. Jerram's DBT group was a nightmare. For the first 12 of 24 sessions, one member literally dominated over 85% of the group's weekly two-hour time frame. This member claimed to be in the group because she couldn't stop stalking her neighbor. However, I later realized that her problem was more pathological. This member distracted the group's focus from the workbook, deviated us from presenting our homework assignments, from giving feedback to each other, and berated anyone who tried to intervene.
Several times, during break, this member invited me to her Yoga studio, asked me if I'd give her a massage. She wouldn't stop crowding me. I felt suffocated, and it made it very difficult for me to contribute, concentrate, gain rapport with the other members, and to feel safe. After a month of being in the group, I expressed concerns, via email to Dr. Jerram, and within the group. Dr. Jerram initially acknowledged that this member's tangents had become an issue, responded that he was going to devise an intervention strategy, but nothing changed. Additionally, there never seemed to be an open, candid discussion with her about how illogical her stalking problem was (she spoke about it constantly), nor did they attempt to help her to focus on the workbook material, allow others to speak, give feedback to each other.
At the core, DBT is about mindfulness, but this group seemed to revolve around this one member's problem. I had also left a voicemail to see if Dr. Jerram would see me individually, because I wished to speak with him about how frustrated I was. He responded five days later, apologized by saying how busy he was, that he had just forgotten that I had called, and couldn't meet with me.
He also didn't speak with my counselor, after my therapist's repeated attempts. I eventually realized that this group member's issue had manifested within the group--i.e.,t he need to control everything. Her issue wasn't about stalking: it was about control, and she had taken the group hostage, targeting anyone who tried to help.
I can honestly only recall one topic of conversation, where she mentioned something relevant to the workbook material. After three months of speaking over everyone, dominating the group discussion--and because Dr. Jerram had been utterly impassive--I could hardly contain my anger, and lost my poise--e.g.,"What do you need?!" She attacked, quite literally hissed at me for the next several sessions.
She eventually left the group, and Dr. Jerram was angry, terse with me for the remainder of my time in the group, mostly interrupted me mid-sentence, despite my overall quietude, helpful feedback to other members. Other members had been upset with me as well, only they hadn't been regularly attending, or were new members--hadn't experienced the extent of how disruptive, controlling this member had become.
I also don't think that they were aware that she had been hitting on me during break, which had gotten on my nerves, and is against group policy. I could only begin to really focus, participate, after this group member departed. However, more than three months of my time in the group had been wasted at the expense of this one member's issues, and Dr. Jerram's utter lack of leadership.
I also can't say that Dr. Jerram's advice was always accurate. For example, there was ongoing discussion about food, weight, dieting, namely vegetarianism. It would always frustrate me to listen to Dr. Jerram approve of someone's vegetarian/vegan diet, because vegetarian diets are devoid of many essential nutrients, can cause anemia, gout, and may be contributing to psychological issues.
I can also attest that several group members became noticeably worse during their time in the group. For example, one member mentioned that Dr. Wheelis, the group psychiatrist, prescribed him medication that made it painful for him to urinate, that the medication was contributing to his amnesia. He dropped out of the group before finishing even half of it.
Another member would often attend reeking of marijuana, showed significant weight gain, and seemed to be getting increasingly worse. In my last two sessions of the group, another member claimed to be in severe distress, had mentioned that she had basically given up all hope in changing. Overall, while I think that the DBT Skills Manual is helpful, I can't recommend this group to anyone who is looking for something to help them. Dr. Jerram had been so unhelpful to me when I was in dire need of his assistance, and I didn't feel comfortable confiding in the co-leader, since she hadn't even graduated from college, was so inexperienced.
The group sessions are also filmed, so that Dr. Wheelis, and others can view them. This had been unbeknownst to me, prior to joining the group, and I think that it is really invasive. I'd strongly recommend looking elsewhere for your DBT needs.
Several times, during break, this member invited me to her Yoga studio, asked me if I'd give her a massage. She wouldn't stop crowding me. I felt suffocated, and it made it very difficult for me to contribute, concentrate, gain rapport with the other members, and to feel safe. After a month of being in the group, I expressed concerns, via email to Dr. Jerram, and within the group. Dr. Jerram initially acknowledged that this member's tangents had become an issue, responded that he was going to devise an intervention strategy, but nothing changed. Additionally, there never seemed to be an open, candid discussion with her about how illogical her stalking problem was (she spoke about it constantly), nor did they attempt to help her to focus on the workbook material, allow others to speak, give feedback to each other.
At the core, DBT is about mindfulness, but this group seemed to revolve around this one member's problem. I had also left a voicemail to see if Dr. Jerram would see me individually, because I wished to speak with him about how frustrated I was. He responded five days later, apologized by saying how busy he was, that he had just forgotten that I had called, and couldn't meet with me.
He also didn't speak with my counselor, after my therapist's repeated attempts. I eventually realized that this group member's issue had manifested within the group--i.e.,t he need to control everything. Her issue wasn't about stalking: it was about control, and she had taken the group hostage, targeting anyone who tried to help.
I can honestly only recall one topic of conversation, where she mentioned something relevant to the workbook material. After three months of speaking over everyone, dominating the group discussion--and because Dr. Jerram had been utterly impassive--I could hardly contain my anger, and lost my poise--e.g.,"What do you need?!" She attacked, quite literally hissed at me for the next several sessions.
She eventually left the group, and Dr. Jerram was angry, terse with me for the remainder of my time in the group, mostly interrupted me mid-sentence, despite my overall quietude, helpful feedback to other members. Other members had been upset with me as well, only they hadn't been regularly attending, or were new members--hadn't experienced the extent of how disruptive, controlling this member had become.
I also don't think that they were aware that she had been hitting on me during break, which had gotten on my nerves, and is against group policy. I could only begin to really focus, participate, after this group member departed. However, more than three months of my time in the group had been wasted at the expense of this one member's issues, and Dr. Jerram's utter lack of leadership.
I also can't say that Dr. Jerram's advice was always accurate. For example, there was ongoing discussion about food, weight, dieting, namely vegetarianism. It would always frustrate me to listen to Dr. Jerram approve of someone's vegetarian/vegan diet, because vegetarian diets are devoid of many essential nutrients, can cause anemia, gout, and may be contributing to psychological issues.
I can also attest that several group members became noticeably worse during their time in the group. For example, one member mentioned that Dr. Wheelis, the group psychiatrist, prescribed him medication that made it painful for him to urinate, that the medication was contributing to his amnesia. He dropped out of the group before finishing even half of it.
Another member would often attend reeking of marijuana, showed significant weight gain, and seemed to be getting increasingly worse. In my last two sessions of the group, another member claimed to be in severe distress, had mentioned that she had basically given up all hope in changing. Overall, while I think that the DBT Skills Manual is helpful, I can't recommend this group to anyone who is looking for something to help them. Dr. Jerram had been so unhelpful to me when I was in dire need of his assistance, and I didn't feel comfortable confiding in the co-leader, since she hadn't even graduated from college, was so inexperienced.
The group sessions are also filmed, so that Dr. Wheelis, and others can view them. This had been unbeknownst to me, prior to joining the group, and I think that it is really invasive. I'd strongly recommend looking elsewhere for your DBT needs.
K. D.
Jan 17, 2012
