Mind Connections Specialist Health Services

I've been going to the Mind Connections Bella Vista practice for over a year for management of adult ADHD. The Admin staff are wonderful, and Dr Ismail is excellent and takes a holistic approach when considering treatment options. Cannot understate how much of a difference it has made to my day-to-day life.

My husband and I had an appointment with Dr Riaz Ismail today.
Dr Ismail is the best psychiatrist we have seen thus far. He is so easy to talk to, very empathetic and willing to help wherever possible. Dr Ismail is careful about the medication dosage, he considers compatibility with other medications the patient is taking. We were very happy with the service provided today. Thank you.

What a wonderful group of people from the receptionist to the psychiatrist I couldn’t feel more comfortable. Thank you

I saw Dr Howpage back in 2021 and out of three psychiatrists I have seen in my life she was the worst. I felt like she was not listening to a thing I was saying and several times she would make the comments 'you look so sad, are you sad? ' Umm of course I was sad and having a miserable time otherwise why else would I go there!

She also dismissed the fact I needed my anxiety medicine to help with my OCD, telling me I'm way too young to be taking it and I'm going to get addicted. Also tried prescribing me one of the most expensive anti depressants that was not covered by PBS (which I didn't end up getting).

Well lucky for her I'm not addicted to anything and I've found another amazing psychiatrist who actually listened to me and worked with me to find the right medicines for my conditions.

Easily the worst place I’ve ever been pathetic, appalling, have no words other than wow no diagnosis nothing didn’t even ask, got nothing out of these phyciatics just sad money wasting company.

No words other than discussing don’t want any comment back thanks just leaving this hear for people to read

The receptionists at your service were so lovely and caring, I take my hat off to them. After I burst into tears at their desk after my appointment they were so comforting.

However, Dr Padmini Howpage failed to treat me in the correct manner. I suffer from depression, anxiety and ADHD. I came to your service for help but instead stated a few comments through out our session that had the opposite effect of help. Dr Padmini Howpage told me, You don’t even know who you are as a person, Sarah will be Sarah in six months time and also stated to me am I speaking English or Greek. She also stated that I may not also have ADHD?

She didn’t want to prescribe ADHD medication to me because I had bad habits? But that is one of the major symptoms for ADHD. We tend to be disorganised, and can’t complete tasks or find it extremely hard if we manage to do so. She told me Sarah will still be sarah in six months time but Sarah in six months time went for doing nothing to starting an apprenticeship and working fifty hours a weekly.

She did one good thing though. Because of her she recommended me to my current Psychiatrist and he is amazing. Without my ADHD medication I wouldn’t be able to strengthen my brain and function like a proper adult.

My outbursts were so bad, and effecting many people around me. Not all people with ADHD experience this but without this medication I wouldn’t be able to strengthen the link between my baby brain and adult brain and due to this I would convert into a childlike manner when I have a trigger which leads to these outbursts. Without my medication I do have bad habits like disorganisation, unable to complete some tasks, and the above mentioned.

Once again thank you the receptionists for their kind service

I am a patient of Dr Padmini Howpage and what an incredible Psychiatrist she is. She offers valuable feedback and guidance, is honest and even calls out my excuses. I am grateful that she has my best interests at heart. Dr Howpage is a valuable asset to Mind Connections and I highly recommend.

Dr Howpage has been my treating psychiatrist for over a year. During this time she has provided me with helpful guidance and advice in regards to medication and my mental health. I have found my appointments with Dr Howpage to be positive as she helps me to make well informed choices, she listens attentively and takes into consideration my concerns and thoughts in an understanding manner. She is very encouraging, down to earth, patient, calm and has an uplifting attitude. Through her professionalism and practice I can see she has my best interests in mind as her patient and truly cares for my wellbeing. I would definitely recommend seeing Dr Howpage for treatment, she has been a blessing!

I had been trying to find a psychiatrist for about four months with my mother and had absolutely no luck until one of my mum's friends mentioned that she had taken her son to Mind Connections and that they always have their books open.
My mother hesitated but eventually gave them a call and got a great response from the receptionist. We were booked in and ready to go on the day (11/12/2022), but before we left I decided to read the reviews about the psychiatrist that I would be interacting with, Dr Padmini Howpage.
While looking at the reviews I saw that all of the negative reviews were getting a lot of the attention, and I found some of them quite funny because of how ridiculous they are, after reviewing the reviews I had mixed thoughts, all of the reviews were equally good and bad as if they were perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
But after my experience I realised that I needed to tip the scales. My past paediatrician never spoke to me once about how I felt on my medication and often changed them, I felt left out.
But when I had my first paediatrician things were very different, when I went to see him he would ask me how life was treating me and we would have a generally great conversation, and when I met Dr Padmini I had the same feeling, a feeling of mutual respect and understanding, I am grateful that I have finally got a doctor that is quite favourable and is meaningful in the way that she talks and listens to what you have to say.
I would highly recommend any person that requires either a psychiatrist or a psychologist to come to Mind Connections because their doors are always open.

I had my 3 appointments with Dr Padmini Howpage. She was very nice, she listened to me n gave me good advice.the medication she prescribed me is showing good results, so I will highly recommend her

After having bad experience with specialists before i had pre read reviews here and didn't expect much. I however was relieved after my visit with Dr Padmini Howpage. The only issue was no parking with such a busy building.

The receptionst responded to my email on the same day and provided booking urgently. Dr. Howpage is an excellent clinician. She help me through challenging time in my life and really get back onto normality. With help from Mr Paul Salviani, I am on the road back to my normal self. Even though I have relocated interstate, I am continue to receive consultaiton via Skype. I have always taken mental health as not so important compare to physical health but now I know that they are both equally important and affect each other.

I was just reading the previous review about the receptionist and was thought I would like to give my two cents here. My son has just started seeing psychiatrist Dr Howpage, who so far we have been really impressed with, and today saw psychologist Paul Salviani, who seems like a good fit for my son. We were seeing a psychiatrist at the hills clinic prior to coming here. One of our reasons why we left that place was the hopeless receptionists, not passing on messages to the psychiatrist and when needing his script refilled and was down to the last tablet, we expressed our urgency trying to get hold of him. In the end I had to get an urgent script from his paediatrician. So in saying that, when I rang up to make an appointment and told her my current situation she had such empathy for our situation. It would have been a 2 month wait but she managed to get us in within 3 weeks. The times I have been there at Norwest it has been so busy that switch, This receptionist is so busy, but she is so professional. I have said to my husband how good this woman is and I couldn’t handle being on a busy switch like that, and still seeing to patients coming in, rudely interrupting her whilst she is on the phone and her keeping calm. I had a bit of a chat to her today and she is so lovely. I don’t know her name, but she knows what she is doing. I think she is a huge asset to the practice. I didn’t give 5 stars as we have only had a few appointments. But so far we are really impressed, and no I don’t have any affiliation with the practice. I just like giving credit where credit is due. So hats off to you Receptionist. Ignore that previous message. Obviously a person who has no idea what a busy switch can be like!

I have been a patient of Mind Connections for four and a half years now. From the very first appointment I was treated with empathy and respect.
All the staff I've met from Michelle at Reception through to Sienna who administers my TMS therapy are exemplary.
I'm now under Dr Padmini Howpage and previously Dr Singh.
Daya too always greets me warmly and is a great guy.
I'm lucky I was referred here, and can't speak highly enough of the treatment and courses via St John of God I've completed.

2/3 of the receptionists that I’ve dealt with are utterly rude and don’t listen one of them wouldn’t listen and just talked over me and gave me information I didn’t need. It is a shame as they’re the first people that you see and talk to they are also representing the company. After coming here for 1-2 years i finally have a good psychiatrist who not only listens but tries to help in other ways then just medication and answers my questions and investigates properly she doesn’t just say an answer like she can’t be bothered and sends me away after having 4-5 other psychiatrists I can finally say I have one I’m happy with and trust if I could of given her a rating on her own it would definitely be 5 stars.

Horrible staff don't listen assumed i was a child asking to talk to my dead mother rather then my wife and asked for school reports from 20 plus years ago completely useless practice

Lovely people that care about your well being. Receptionist is utterly lovely. They doctors have taken good care of me for the past few months. Couldn't ask for more. Thanks guys

Had a great experience with Dr. Padmini Howpage on my first visit. She listened to my concerns. She was very pleasant to speak to and
Looking forward to seeing her again and commence with her recommended treatments.

Absolutely amazing, reception was amazing and so was my doctor, dr Ismail, he gave me the confidence to progress through life to be the best I can and helped me medicate myself to be the best person I can for my family, amazing 100% would recommend for anyone that's in honest need of help don't be afraid to call they will help you they honestly care!

Dr Howpage is the worst physiatrist there is. She did not let me speak most of the time, and the time she did, everything I said was invalidated. She completely disregarded everything and told me I have a problem and should let a phycologist know that I'm apparently crazy and need help. She laughed at me when I told her what was going on in my life. I was in complete shock the whole time and couldn't believe she was speaking to me like this. I can't believe her licence is even real because everything she says about herself is fake.