Simple Steps to Finding the Right Therapist

So you’ve decided to go to therapy…congratulations, that is a huge step!!….but now what? How do you pick the right therapist? That is the million dollar question that I am here to answer in fairly easy steps that will get you linked with a therapist who you feel comfortable with who can support you!

1. Finding therapists to choose from. This is a LOT easier said than done. It may feel like there aren’t any therapists out there, but I promise you, there are…we just unfortunately have to know where to look. There are a bunch of different ways to look for a therapist:
   1. Ask your primary care doctor. Primary doctors often have lists of therapists that they like to refer to or have good relationships with. Getting a personal referral is always really nice because if you trust your doctor’s opinion, you can trust that they’re recommending awesome therapists.
   2. Call your insurance company. If you ask your health insurance company for therapists in the area that they cover, they will give you a list. Now I do have to warn you…sometimes these lists can be very large and overwhelming, but it’s a good place to start!
   3. Search your zip code on psychologytoday.com. This is a great website where you enter your zip code and a huge list of therapists comes up that are in your area!
   4. Go to our good old friend, google. If you google “therapists near me” I gaurentee some therapists will pop up. More often than not, it will actually redirect you to therapist’s psychologytoday profiles…but google knows what it’s doing and where the therapists are!
2. Now that you have lists of therapists to choose from. How do you pick one?
   1. Narrow therapists down by necessecities. Therapists will list their location, their price, their hours, etc. These things are often necessary so we want to narrow these down first.
   2. Narrow therapists down by specialities. Therapists have these wonderful bios on their websites (or on psychologytoday) that share a little bit about their specialities. So for example, if you’re struggling with an eating disorder, you may want to find a therapist who lists eating disorders as a speciality. There is a caveat to this though. Often times, we aren’t sure what we’re struggling with. Maybe we have some anxiety symptoms, or depression symptoms, or struggling with an increased amount of stress. If this is the case, it is not as necessary to find someone who specializes specifically with what you’re going through.
   3. Narrow therapists down by style. Therapists will often share in their bios their style as well. For example, maybe they are more of a listener versus a therapist who likes to call you out. Certain styles may speak to your needs.
   4. It’s okay to judge a book by it’s cover. As much as we’re taught not to do this, if we’re looking at therapist profiles online and someone’s picture or bio just feels good to you…that’s okay! Therapy is much more about the relationship with your therapist than any specific specialities or style. It’s important that you feel comfortable and safe with your therapist!

Hopefully this can help in your search! As always, if you’re interested in a therapist here at Victor Counseling Practice, you can browse the “Meet Our Clinicians” page, or you can fill out this form to get a session scheduled!