Dr. Kathy Marshack, PHD

I went to her for hypnosis to deal with chronic back pain. I found her to be very unsympathetic and uninterested in helping me while trumpeting her 'amazing' personal experiences with group hypnosis.

Dr. Marshack had a deep understanding of the symptoms of HFA and their effects on a family and its homelife. She also has small steps for each family member to try to work on to improve habits, communication and connections.

Invested a lot of time with her. She turned out to be two faced, narcissistic, lacks empathy and care for the individual person. She has her narrative and if you question it or don't agree with her she shames you. She will claim to be an aspergers expert but doesn't know how to effectively handle both realities in a couples session without negating one person. Don't express feelings, it's not safe. She is traumatized and cannot be professional if you trigger her. It's really disheartening.

Dr. Marshack is one of the few people on earth who addresses the “invisible” effects of AS (level 1/aspergers) on the NT spouse, the AS spouse and the family system. Her mission is to help both spouses not only improve but thrive in intimate relationships with the challenges of AS. Her approach is stubbornly forthright. I feel her heart is in supporting NT spouses/children, but she also coaches people with AS. Positive change must begin with the NT spouse because the AS spouse doesn’t see what to do. AS spouses should applaud her efforts in supporting their NT spouses. Many of these relationships naturally fail whether the couple stays together or not. She offers clarity, and while it can feel like Pandora’s box for both spouses, I find her honesty and insight to be spot on. There’s no room for defensiveness, blame, denial here because she understands this dynamic so well on an intimate and academic level.

She’s providing false narrative that autistic people are abusive and manipulative and cause our partners to need therapy. She perpetuates myths that we lack empathy (not true at all). She’s causing real harm to the autistic community.

Dr. Kathy is a professional and truly demonstrates passion at what she does. By the time most have arrived at her door, a lot of trauma has occurred. I was married and shortly after could not figure out what changed in the man I married. Slowly I started to see my husband had a second life... His behaviors so “off”. He always told me he was so happy and we were a perfect couple. It took Dr. Kathy not even 2 hours to completely diagnose my husband. She couldn’t have done a better job helping me understand what was now on my plate and where I would be in 5 years if there was no change. She nailed it. It was tough to swallow. If someone tells you how to make your life easier, would you listen? This woman has dedicated her life to help others. She personally can relate in many areas. Ask her about her Meetup group and many conference calls she offers! Meet friends who can relate. I feel She rates low because the truth is hard to swallow and she can’t force change. She provides options.

Excellent

Dr. Marshack specializes in alienating people on the spectrum from the rest of their family. Her books sound written as a personal vendetta, where she portrays all people with Aspergers as psychopaths, narcissists and aggressors. Maybe she skipped on all those researches claiming that people with Aspergers, especially women, are highly at risk of being abused, raped and themselves falling prey to narcissists?

Her ideas about autism are not merely wrong, they are both absurd and damaging. I have trouble even putting into words how disgusting her ideas are to me. She thinks as Autistics we are somehow lesser, not deserving of equal treatment. She thinks we are bad people. She's a fool. Please for the health and safety of your family do not see this doctor or use her techniques.

Not Recommended

Dr Marshack knows a lot about autism and Aspergers from a scientific point of view. However, like most doctors, she thinks the same about everyone who has these conditions when there are unique differences in each individual and circumstance. Her services did not work for us, they actually made life worse off, and we felt brainwashed by her after seeking a new perspective on autism.

Dr. Marshack is friendly and personable, but she's sorely lacking in personal insight. She may be an expert on autism, but she doesn't seem to be able to help patients on any kind of an emotional level, especially when it involves couples trying to connect. She should stick to writing books.

Kathy. Marshack is dangerous and teaches unhealthy attitudes about Aspergers/Autism, including black and white thinking and misdiagnosing.

She is insightful, very professional and is an expert in entrepreneurial couples. Highly recommend

My family left before she moved to Portland. We stopped seeing her when she was breaching confidentiality between us and started practicing pseudoscience on us.