When I started looking for a therapist, I had no idea where to begin. It took me about 2 years of working on myself privately to realize I needed to listen to recommendations of working with a therapist and from there, I was lost on how to find the best person to work with me – especially since I had no interest in asking for advice from friends and family. I didn’t even want anyone to know I was attending therapy in the first place. But after seeing my doctor in a very dark depression rut, I took her advice of finally going to a therapist.
Now that I feel like a seasoned therapy goer, and more than happy to share about it with anyone, and I have some tips on how you can find the right therapist for you!
1.Think of who you want to speak to
Your therapist is going to be with you to work through some of your hardest times and help you to grow so its important to think about who you want to speak to. Maybe you want a motherly or fatherly figure, someone around your age, someone that looks similar to you, etc. Take a few minutes to imagine who you would be most comfortable with before you start looking at therapist profiles.
2. Go to PsychologyToday.com to search for a therapist
With your ideal therapist in mind, its time to go to a site to help you search through a database of therapists. I’d recommend going to PsychologyToday.com, select “Find a therapist” & look through their filters to narrow things down.
This is what the page will look like and the drop down filter options:
The different filters are; Issues, Insurance, Gender, Types of Therapy, Age, Ethnicity served, Sexuality, Language, Faith and Price. Don’t let yourself get too overwhelmed here, start by selecting just a few of the filters. For me, I filtered based on location, gender and type of therapy – if this is your first time trying therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a great place to start. From here, you can see what each person looks like and a little bio on them.
Once you find a few therapists you’re interested in, read more about them, check out their website and see if they feel like a fit. You might even find more therapists on their site that you might have interest in – this is how I found my first therapist!
3. See if your work has an Employee Assistance Program
Employee Assistance Programs through your work can have an offering of therapists that have reduced rates for their sessions or completely free sessions. For me, I didn’t know this was an opportunity available, so I want to make sure you all know this is an option. Typically this can be found under your employee resources or you can reach out to HR for direction to the program.
4. Reminder it might take time, keep trying!
It might take you a few therapists to find the right one. Don’t give up if the first one isn’t the right fit, try someone new!
Many therapists offer 15 or 30 minute sessions which you could try first to see if they feel like the best person for you. You might want to try two sessions before moving on to really give someone a shot if you’re on the fence. In these sessions, go in with an open mind and if they end up not being the right one for you, thats okay.
If this approach doesn’t work for you, see if any of your friends are seeing a therapist that are taking on new clients. This isn’t a guarantee that they will be the perfect one for you but it might help narrow down your search.
I hope this helps in your journey of finding a therapist!
If you’re in crisis,
Call: Crisis Services Hotline available 24/7: 1-844-437-3247 OR 911
Text: 45645, 4 PM – 12 AM ET
Go to the hospital nearest you
xo Meg
