I've only had one psychiatrist, and he is the standard by which any future pdoc will be judged. (Hopefully I'll never have to go to anyone else, but you never know.....) I think the best attributes are honesty---you don't want someone who will sugarcoat things---and a willingness to listen to you. It's no good to go to a doctor who dismisses what you tell him and acts like he's the only one who knows anything.

I would add to that a sense of humor. Psychiatrists are not generally known as having that quality, but mine's a hoot! He can be VERY serious when he has to be, but he uses humor to loosen me up and get me to spill things I hadn't even intended to talk about, which makes for better therapy. This approach probably doesn't work for everyone, but it does for me.

Good luck in finding the right doc; sometimes you have to do some shopping, but hopefully you'll get lucky. A good psychiatrist is worth his/her weight in gold.....if it weren't for mine, I wouldn't be here to make these recommendations.