This requires some time and patience.
There is one very obvious reason that a good therapist can be hard to find: There are A LOT of us! If you do a Google/Bing/Yahoo search for a therapist in your area, you will find page after page after page listing all of us. You will also find many of us listed on certain paid sites (such as Psychology Today). These sites are great, but you will be bombarded with blurbs that we have written. Eventually the blurbs kind of sound the same and you do not feel that you know who to call.
Steps to take to decrease your number of choices:
1. Do a Google search for the kind of therapist you are looking for. Some examples: “Family Therapy [enter your zip code or city name],” “Teen Therapist [zip code or city],” “Couples Counseling near me.” Find the sites of a few therapists who stick out to you and read what they have to say. If you find any therapists who you seem to like (as much as you can after reading their blurb, anyway) write down their name or bookmark their site.
2. Keep looking. Check some of the sites that rank high when searching (such as Psychology Today, Inclusive Therapists, MN LGBTQ Therapists, etc.). Within the Psychology Today (or other therapist directory websites), you will search for a therapist by zip code. This kind of search is a good starting place, but you will (again!) find that there are A LOT of us listed! (I just did a search for my zip code and got 86 results! Wow!).
After getting your results by zip code, you can make your search more specific by selecting categories (Child or Adolescent, Addiction, Anxiety, ADHD, etc.). Using these specifiers will help you find a therapist who works with whatever it is you want to work on in therapy.
3. Read some blurbs. Make note of therapists who stick out to you.
4. Google these therapists names. See what else these therapists are involved in to get a better feel for who they are.
5. Do a YouTube search of the therapists names. Some therapists have YouTube channels and you may have the opportunity to listen to them speak, see how they interact, etc.
6. Ask around (if you feel comfortable). Ask your physician if they recommend a particular therapist. Ask a clergy member or friend. Ask the parents of other teens or the school counselor (if you’re looking for a teen therapist). Check your teen’s school website as they might have a section for counseling recommendations.
7. If you intend to directly use your insurance for therapy, you can look up (usually online or by phone) who is in-network with your insurance company. They will probably have a very long list of people in your area. Those of us who do not directly contract with insurance companies will not be listed here.
Okay. Now do you have a couple therapists selected?
1. Once you have a therapist (or two, or three, or four!) picked out, call or email the therapist. See if the therapist will meet with you (I call these sessions meet-and-greets) for a short time. This kind of a session is usually free. If the therapist does offer something like this, I would encourage you to schedule this kind of session. This will allow you to see how you feel when you sit down with your chosen therapist as well as ask any questions you might have.The connection you feel with your therapist is going to be very important as the relationship between the two of you is one of the main pieces that will help you make change in your life.
2. If the therapist does not offer a free meet-and-greet, see if they are willing to have a brief phone conversation with you. You can ask them questions such as:
A. What is your educational background?
B. Are you licensed?
C. Are you an interactive therapist or are you more of a quiet therapist?
D. Do you have experience working with __________ (LGBTQ concerns, gender identity, severe depression, etc.)?
E. What kind of session times do you currently have available?
3. If the therapist does not offer a free consultation/meet-and-greet, you have to decide if you want to schedule the first session with your chosen therapist. The first session is generally more expensive than other sessions. You will usually need to complete paper work for this first session.
This is a brief summary about some of the ways to find your therapist. Has this been helpful? Good luck finding someone who is a good fit for you!
Blog written by Sentier therapist and owner, Megan Sigmon-Olsen, MSW, LICSW
