How to choose the best therapist for you
Written By: Amanda Swisher, LPC
When it comes to choosing a therapist, many are left wondering, where do I even start? I’ve fallen victim to that mentality myself, and I am a practicing counselor! But it is a valid question: Where do I start? Do you look online? Do you call them up? What about insurance?
Logistics aside, there’s also the matter of how to choose someone you think you’re going to work well with. Many clients have given up on therapy because they’ve chosen someone that they think they’ll work well with, based on the one paragraph introduction on whatever website we’re using as a platform, but when they get into their first session, they receive a completely different experience than what they were expecting. How do you receive/pursue care when you don’t know what to expect or what the process even looks like?
Questions to Ask Yourself
One of the best, and first, places you should look to find the therapist that is going to be best for you is really with yourself. When thinking of pursuing therapy, it’s imperative that you know why you are seeking it, and the only one that can give that answer is you. First question you can ask yourself for reflection can simply be: What goals do I want to achieve through this process? Goal creation is an important part of the therapeutic process and being able to provide your therapist with your goals right out of the gate is going to give them an idea of the areas that you believe you need improvement on, and provide a direction for therapy to pursue. It will also help you determine what kind of therapist you would like to see. Do you want to overcome your fear of flying? Or maybe you’d like to process a traumatic experience that you can’t quite shake? Regardless, this gives you direction: Someone who specializes in phobias or someone who provides trauma focused interventions would be a good place to look.
Another good question to ask yourself: How much do I want to spend? Therapy, while sometimes necessary, can become costly very quickly. What kind of insurance coverage you carry may determine what kind of therapist you are able to see. While no one enjoys calling their insurance carrier, they are going to be the best available resource to tell you who and what services they are willing to cover. If insurance is not an option, there is the out of pocket route. Any counseling office you call should be able to give you an estimate of how much a session will cost. They will also be able to let you know if they work on a sliding scale, or if sessions are reduced cost if meeting certain criteria.
Lastly, it may be helpful to ask yourself if you know anyone personally who has been to therapy before. Would you be willing to ask them what their experience has been? Knowing someone who has gone through the process before can be immensely helpful. They will be able to help you understand how they started, and what worked best for them. Everyone is of course different, and different things will work for different people, but it could give you ideas for your search that you hadn’t previously considered.
Questions to Ask Your Therapist
After some reflection on why you would like to start counseling and exploring what you are really looking for, it’s good to start thinking about what you would like to ask your therapist. You should always feel comfortable bringing any questions you may have for them in your first meeting. Not every therapist is compatible with every client, and that’s okay! Asking questions is how you’re going to find out if the therapist you’ve chosen is the right one for you.
One important question to ask your therapist is what kind of credentialing they have. There are several different types, such as a licensed professional counselor (LPC), a psychologist, or a psychiatrist. If you are looking for someone who will prescribe you medications, a psychiatrist would be your best choice, while a psychologist or an LPC would be more able to work closely with your primary care physician to help you determine what medications are right for you. Asking about their credentialing can also give you greater insight into their background and the kind of subjects that they specialize in, such as marriage and family therapy (LMFT), substance abuse, or sexual health, to name a few.
You can also ask how much experience they have working with people who are experiencing the types of issues that you are having. If they don’t have much experience and work with differing populations, you may be better suited to working with someone else. But not having much experience, doesn’t mean that they can’t assist. It may be that they just haven’t had that type of clientele come through their door. I encourage you to explore with your therapist their comfortability in being able to assist you to determine if you’re both a good fit.
Another important question could be what kind of treatments they have found effective in resolving the type of issue that you are experiencing. Every therapist has a differing school of thought that they are most comfortable working out of, and asking a question like this can give you greater insight into how they plan to approach treatment. Being able to have a blatant conversation about the style that your therapist likes to use is going to greatly inform you on how comfortable you are going to be. Do you need someone who is going to push you? Do you need someone who is going to just let you talk and let you do more of the leading in session? Or do you want your therapist to do more of the leading? The only way to answer these questions is to ask.
Trying to find the right therapist for you is a daunting task, but we can make it a little easier on ourselves. By engaging in personal reflection about what we really want and need, and not being afraid to ask the tough questions of our therapists, we may find that starting the journey towards therapeutic healing is much less scary than previously anticipated.
