Personality Connect

Choosing a therapist can be a daunting task. If you feel clueless about where to begin, here are a few helpful tips:

1. The Type of Therapy AKA: Treatment Modality

What to Look For:

Every therapist has a different way of doing therapy. It’s often referred to as treatment modality, theoretical orientation, etc. there are some well-known and established forms of therapy. Some of them include, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Solution-focused Behavioral Therapy (SFBT), Trauma-Focused Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). These are some of the most popular ones for adults, although TF-CBT is often used for adolescents and is not always geared to adults, depending on the certification. There are other forms of therapy such as Human Givens, The Gottman Method (mainly constructed for married couples but it’s also very useful for single people), in other words, there are a lot of different styles/methods to choose from. Most therapists use an integrated form of therapy and try to work within a client’s perspective. Depending on what you are trying to work on in therapy will depend on the style of treatment. Some are more universal than others (i.e. CBT) vs. the Gottman method that is primarily used with married couples.

What Not to Look For:

Don’t have tunnel vision and turn down a therapist you think doesn’t offer the specific mode of treatment you’ve been told works. All can work very well; it really depends on the issue that’s being treated. Just because one method worked extremely well for your friend or family member doesn’t mean it’s going to have the same effect for you.

2. Insurance:

What to Look For:

If you have insurance find out which places accept your plan. If not, what are the out-of-pocket expenses? Figure out what works for your budget and if you can make the commitment and not just start for two sessions and then quit. Some places offer free therapy for a short period of time so that may be an option if you cannot afford therapy at all.

What Not to Look For:

Pretty much whatever works best for your budget, try it and stick to it.

3. Credibility

What to Look For:

A licensed therapist (every state has different titles for licensed clinicians, these may include but aren’t limited to: Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Clinician, Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Social Worker, etc.) had to complete at least 3,000 hours before they became fully licensed and passed at least one national test. In some states they have two tests that a therapist had to pass depending on the licensure and degree.

What Not to Look For:

Some people believe the school a therapist attended will automatically produce a better therapist. Whereas I can understand this line of thinking it’s not at all accurate for therapists. Therefore just because someone attended a higher-ranking school on paper doesn’t make them a better therapist. As one of my grad professors used to say, and I paraphrase – Some B students make better therapists than straight A students. He wasn’t lying. You can’t really go to school to learn how to be a great therapist – you either have it within you or not. School helps you learn the ethics of the profession, theory, techniques, etc.

3. Experience

What to Look For:

Identify the area you’re looking to treat (i.e. eating disorders, etc); if you’re looking for your teenage son then search for a therapist that says they have experience working with that population. If you’re looking for a marriage and family therapist, there are Gottman Institute trained therapists who had to take an extra certification course in order to be listed on the website; they’re great options, however they’re not the only option for marriage therapists. If you’re looking for a therapist who treats children with severe trauma search for a therapist who works with children and families in that area or see who is recommended by your pediatrician if they have people they know.

What Not to Look For:

Since prejudices exist it’s hard to express the difficulty of working with someone when they don’t feel you’re qualified because of your perceived ethnicity, age, or sexual orientation/gender. People assume a lot and not every assumption is accurate. There are benefits to having more experience as a therapist but there are also benefits to not having as much experience as a therapist. Some people joined this field later on in life and they have a plethora of experience, even if it wasn’t in the traditional in-office setup. Assuming your therapist looks too young and isn’t qualified is a really ignorant way of choosing a therapist, sometimes people look a lot younger than their age. the flip side, turning down a therapist because they look older than you would prefer in your sight is also very ignorant because they may be a perfect fit for you.

4. Progress:

What to Look For:

Yes, measurable goals are usually very nice to track progress and most therapists have a certain method for tracking your progress. Experts all agree that it is really the therapeutic relationship that makes the difference, therefore regardless of modality or specific interventions, it’s the relationship between the therapist and client that predicts a better rate of progress and success, especially according to the client. Which this brings me to the second half of this part –

What Not to Look For:

A therapist to instantly make all your problems go away. We’re not Disney Wizards. Although this is well-known a lot of people wonder why they are not feeling better after a couple of sessions of therapy. A lot of people wait a while before attempting to engage in therapy, and when they do, there’s a lot to work on!