So you’ve decided that you want to talk to somebody. What next? Here are a few ideas of what to look for.
Look for somebody who is a licensed mental health professional. Licensing boards are responsible for making sure that they only give licenses to people who have met that state’s requirements. Examples of mental health professionals who are licensed by each state include counselors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, and social workers. (The word “therapist” can appropriately apply to any of those specific types of mental health professionals. For example, I am a licensed professional counselor, so I can call myself a counselor and a therapist.) A person without a graduate degree in a mental health field cannot be licensed as a mental health professional. Lots of people identify as helpers, but a state license means that you have been vetted and approved by the state to help people in a specific way. You can search for licensed mental health professionals through your state’s licensing board website.
Look for somebody who is board-certified. When you see a medical doctor, you look for a physician who has had specialized training in cardiology, obstetrics, dermatology, or whatever type of care you are seeking at that time. Board certification for mental health professionals serves the same purpose. It shows that the clinician has met the governing board’s specific and usually extensive requirements for that certification. You can verify that a counselor is board-certified through the accrediting body’s website (example: the National Board for Certified Counselors VerifyNCC feature).
Look for somebody that works on what you want to work on. Just like there are many medical doctors with many different areas of specialty, different clinicians will specialize in different presenting problems. It’s okay if you’re not sure of everything you want to discuss, but come up with a couple words for what you’d like to work on and use those to guide your search.
You can focus on:
specific emotional experiences (examples: depression, anxiety, anger),
thoughts (examples: low self-esteem, poor body image, no motivation),
behaviors (examples: self-harm, substance use, gambling),
identities (examples: LGBTQ, female, racial/ethnic minority),
or life events (examples: new parent, loss of loved one, job change).
Look for somebody who seems like a good fit for you. It’s one thing to know that the person has the legal qualifications and the experience to be your counselor, but you want to maximize the chances that this person in particular will be helpful to YOU. Many clinicians use Psychology Today or their own websites to advertise their services, so take advantage of these opportunities to get an initial feel for the person. Do you like how they describe themselves? Their clients? The work that they do?
Look for somebody who fits your financial and scheduling needs. If you need to use your insurance benefits, find somebody who accepts your insurance. If you prefer to pay out of pocket and avoid involving insurance, you can do that too. You can also ask if the clinician has a sliding scale for fees, meaning that they may offer you a lower fee based on your income. You also want to make sure that this person can meet you when and how you want to meet. If you’re only available on Tuesday afternoons, make sure that you find somebody who has availability on Tuesdays in office or online (if they are a board-certified telemental health provider and you are interested in online therapy). Services like Acuity make it easy for potential clients to see a clinician’s availability. You can see my scheduling page as an example.
These are a few ideas of where to start when looking for a therapist. After you’ve identified a counselor (or two… or three…or more!) that you’d like to consider, give them a call or send an email asking for more information! The next step begins when you connect with a potential clinician.
What else is important to you when you’re looking for a therapist? Comment below!
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