fINDING A THERAPIST
How and Where to find a therapist?
I’ve worked in the Emergency Room for almost 3 years now and I get this question all the time, “how do I find a therapist?” Simply deciding to start counseling is a process all on its own and unique to each person. Once you’ve committed to starting counseling, the next question arises… where to even start? Where and how do I look for a therapist? With COVID, do I find an online therapist or someone to see in person? Is it ok to ask my friends and family for recommendations? Let’s break this down.
Your Insurance Provider
If you have insurance and are hoping to utilize your coverage and benefits, start with your insurance provider for in network providers. Insurance companies often have a website or app you can use to find providers who are in network and who are currently accepting new clients. Some insurance providers even have a phone number specifically for behavioral health coverage (another term for “mental health”) which you can find on the back of your insurance card. You’ll want to ask your insurance company about coverage including copays and number of allowed visits. Often, you’ll find it’s not as straight forward — some insurances allow a certain number of visits based upon a mental health diagnosis while others allow a certain number of visits based upon visits per year with no requirement for diagnoses. Additionally, some insurance providers require your mental health clinician to submit treatment plans and clinical notes. If you don’t want your insurance provider to have access to your mental healthcare, you may want to seek private pay options and bypass insurance coverage — of course, ask your insurance provider what they require from your mental health clinician to learn more.
Place of Employment or Education
Often, large companies, universities, and schools offer counseling services. The services provided are heavily dependent upon the organization themselves with regard to number of allowed visits, costs, types of service, and who is eligible. Typically, counseling services through organizations like these are more limited, some require small co-pays while others are completely free. Many fear that going to a counselor through their place of employment or education will result in their organization learning about the nature of the counseling visits — it’s important to ask someone at the counseling service about their confidentiality practices and polices. Generally speaking however, therapists are ethically and legally bound to your confidentiality. This is often a great choice if you’re looking for something brief and more specific like burnout or stress management.
Primary Care Physician
Your Primary Care Physician (PCP) likely has referral information or may even have a mental health clinician on staff, often a social worker. There are two benefits when requesting a referral from your PCP. First, they likely know someone who already works with your insurance provider. Second, if you would benefit from medication management, either long-term or short-term, the mental health provider your PCP refers to likely already works closely with your PCP, ensuring better continuity of care and ultimately less work on your end.
Online searches
General search engines like Google are great for finding a plethora of information. However, when looking for a therapist there can be some drawbacks. What you search for will give you different results. For example, if you search “therapists near me” you are likely to find massage therapists, mental health therapists, physical therapist, etc. Point is, it’s not very specific. If you search “Mental health counselors in Seattle” for example, you are likely to find larger companies, both local and national, that employ many therapists and providers. This is a great option if you’re looking for an agency that can provide both mental health and medication management services. Most companies that you find by searching this way are going to work with insurance or offer higher price private pay options — after all, they’re larger companies with overhead costs.
If you’re looking for a local or private practice therapist that offers more flexibility, then one of the most popular search engines is Psychology Today (https://www.psychologytoday.com). This website offers many filters you can use that allows you to narrow down your search, kind of like looking for a place on AirBnB — you can specify your insurance coverage, your major area of concern, prior and current mental health diagnoses, gender identification of the therapist, location, etc. The website ensures all listed providers are certified by their accrediting bodies and with the state with which the provider operates in, so the vetting is safe and secure. The caveat with this website is that you will be doing a good amount of legwork to find a therapist, meaning you will likely have to call or email multiple providers before finding one that is currently accepting new clients and one that suits your needs. Additionally, it is up to the provider to ensure the information on their profile is up to date, which some are not and results in additional legwork on your end (i.e. whether or not they are currently accepting new clients).
Friends and Family
Ok, this is a grey area for both you and providers. You want to ask friends and family about their therapist and if they’re seeing new clients, but you also don’t want to see the same therapist as them for many different reasons. Similarly, therapists aren’t always open to seeing friends and family members of existing clients. This is especially so when your friend or family member sees a private practice therapist.
Now, asking your friend or family member for a referral or recommendation isn’t off the table, it’s just a little trickier. If your friend or family member sees a therapist at a larger organization with many therapists, it may not be as problematic to ask what organization. However, if they see a therapist in private practice, asking for a referral is a bit more nuanced.
If your friend or family member raves about their therapist and you want something similar, what you can do is ask them to ask their therapist if they know anyone who is currently taking new clients. Like most other professions, therapists network with other therapists. So while your friend or family members’ therapist is likely not the best option, their therapist will likely have information to provide that can help alleviate a lot of legwork in finding a local therapist for you. For example, if my private practice has a waitlist and not accepting new clients, I am connected to many other local therapists who are not on a waitlist and can see you right away — this is an unwritten courtesy in the mental health community. It’s very important to note, however, that asking your friend or family member to do this for you is a tremendous favor for both them and the therapist and certainly one most are willing to do!
Online vs. In-Person
In the height of COVID, one major question people are asking is “do I need a therapist that I see face-to-face or one that I can see online?” You’re not alone. Clinicians are also having to ask themselves the same questions “whether to offer in-person or online only services.” What’s more, the answer to this question varies depending on state and local guidelines along with the clinicians’ comfortability. Ultimately, you as the one seeking counseling are the one that needs to decide what you’re most comfortable with, but what you are able to find may depend on what’s even available in your area.
If you are seeking online only options, there are many national companies that offer teletherapy options via video and even text. Of course, if you would like someone local who understands your community better and who you may one day be able to see in person, then a local therapist is your best option.
I always tell people that finding the right therapist is a lot like dating — it may take seeing a few different therapists before you find the right one. I advise people never to stay with a therapist if the connection doesn’t feel right. And most importantly, this is a conversation that any good therapist is prepared to have.
