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How to select a therapist?
Pacificstar
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My insurance covers a certain number of visits/ sessions, but I have no idea at all how to select a therapist. The insurance webpage gives me almost no information. Also, the potential service providers could be psychologists, therapists, social workers, etc etc. I don't really know what the difference is between the first two, and I don't want to go to the third.
Can anyone give me some insight on how to select a therapist/ where to go for reviews? Any buzzwords I should look for or avoid?
Can anyone give me some insight on how to select a therapist/ where to go for reviews? Any buzzwords I should look for or avoid?
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When you do select someone, make sure you ask them what methods they employ during a session. My marriage therapist (whom I like) recommended my personal therapist (who is literally steps down the hall). I didn't ask her what type of therapy she employed and for a couple of sessions, I was doing a lot of talking but not getting what I wanted back from her (which in this case, was help in trying to motivate myself to do certain things I was currently having trouble doing). It turns out her method is drawing all the emotions out of clients and using that to incite revelations. For me right now, it's not exactly what I need and though we've talked about it and are adjusting our sessions a little bit, I'm not too confident in the outcome and might need to find someone new.
Finding the right therapist is hard. Sometimes it's a crap shoot and you won't get lucky your first time around but you'll eventually find someone that clicks.
If possible, I would see a Psychologist over a 'therapist'. This is because a Psychologist is trained to use effective therapeutic techniques based on scientific evidence, whereas you don't have that guarantee with a non-Psychologist therapist.
Please shoot me a PM if you add me so I know to add you back.
I would highly recommend getting one and then, after a visit (you should get on a regular physical schedule), ask for recommendations for therapy. Be specific about what you need to address, anxiety, depression, etc.
They can direct you to a place.
I have a lot of physicians in my extended family and friends network. im not interested in a GP referral because any GP I get through my insurance will have zero history with me. So I would not be at all confident that they would refer me to someone who would be a good match for me. I'd much rather just select someone myself.
Unless you all think it's necessary I would rather not talk about why I want some kind of therapy.
You don't need to be specific with us - but even a GP new to you can get a rundown of your history and what your needs are in a confidential environment and make some recommendations that come with a lot of experience and knowledge behind it.
My wife is a physician and I have a bunch of friends who are also MDs etc. I would never go to them because it is a conflict of interest and you want someone who isn't biased by knowing you personally. Also an official referral from your GP tends to speeds things up in regards to seeing a specialist or therapist. I see a sports therapist for hip issues for example, if I tried to get in without talking to my GP first I would have been waiting for awhile.
of course depending on what type of therapist you are looking for wait times could be long or non existant.
Look, I'm not interested in debating the value of having a GP or not. I'm not really looking for help with that. I'm also not looking for help with HOW to get in to an appointment. I'm more looking understand how other people have found help. I guess some portion of people were referred by their GP.
Has anyone else had different experiences?
It really boils down to making an appointment and seeing how it goes. There is no magic bullet or keyword that is going to make it work for you.
You really push down the value of a GP in this process - they have access to a huge amount of resources. So - fine, don't do that. You said you have a extended network of physicians? Then go to them. They should be professionals and understand this process and should have some great resources beyond what we can provide.
And for the love of all don't parse out social workers - LMHC(grad level psych majors), LICSW,MSW's, and Psychologists - all of them are great and they will often refer clients to one another depending on specialties. Social workers make up a LOT of the therapist pool and you will do yourself a disservice by being cutting them out.
Well at least here my insurance usually doesn't cover it unless I go through a GP, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case for many. I did get a therapist through a family connection once, but that didn't amount to much.
You can google reviews of psychologists in your area, but there are a few problems with that.
Also without telling us why you want therapy or what you want from therapy it's kind of hard to help, because it's a huge and varied field. This is a guide to finding therapy from WebMD. It lists the different professions and tells you what to look out for and such. It's in the anxiety disorder category but applies to any therapy.
Also, friends and family are only helpful up to a point, as are reviews. Therapy is very personal and what works for one person doesn't work for the next, and you need to find someone who you feel reasonably comfortable with. You are better at knowing what you want than others. Selecting someone yourself isn't a guarantee though, a lot of people meet several therapists before they find one they actually get results with. It's a matter of trying out until you find it.
That's not how my insurance works, I am not in an HMO or otherwise gated by a GP to be seen by other medical care providers.
My issue is that lately I've been hairtrigger emotional, but only for negative emotions. I get angry much faster than I ever used to, and the ensuing fallout is pretty bad. In retrospect, the anger is justified but the way it comes out is way over the top. I also get sad easily and I am tending to brood over problems much more than I ever have before. I'm also a lot less motivated than usual, and have been procrastinating INSANELY outside of the office.
Hope that's helpful.
Good therapists are two things:
1. Approachable - If you don't have a level of comfort, you will never be honest with them. This is why some people can't see women/men as they naturally won't ever be able to take off one of their veneers.
2. Dedicated to your improvement - someone who just listens and doesn't provide thoughtful or useful input and progress isn't a help.
Other things to look at during the search:
Are you working out? Sometimes you can self-regulate (to a degree) through endorphins etc. and it will help your emotional state.
How's your mindset? Shoot me a PM if you want, but I recently had to go through a "de-jerking" process myself that's been pretty tough, as it can be hard to break apart your own internalization process and rebuild it with a more positive spin.
I think a psychologist first is your best bet. They use cognitive behavioural therapy where you identify behaviours and thoughts that are hindering you and try to change how you deal with them. It's easy to reinforce your own negative behaviour, and a psychologist can help you find out why and how you're doing it and work with you to combat that behaviour. In addition they can refer you to psychiatrists and such if needed, so they're a handy starting point if you haven't had psychological care.
Also most psychologists specialize in certain areas, and in your case I suggest looking for one who specializes in anger/depression issues. Edit: And in your age-group, which is useful because there might be certain age-issues they are experienced with.