My insurance has covered my therapy without limitations. In fact, they have a separate phone line and department to deal with mental health which I have found works well because they are trained just to deal with questions pertaining to such matters. I have had no problems with confidentiality. They have a diagnosis code of course, but really, beyond them paying my bills, I've had no encounters with them whatsoever.

I've never prescreen therapists prior to meeting them. I just go to the first session and decide from there. Working off of my insurance list, the options were limited, so I knew I wasn't going to be meeting a bunch of them. Either the ones on the list were going to work, or I was not going to be in therapy. Paying out of pocket was not an option for me. I was fortunate that the first one I tried was a great fit and I worked with him for over 10 years.

I've never asked a therapist if they thought they would be able to help me with my issues. I always have made my decision based on how comfortable I feel initially and a sense that that therapist does "get" me pretty quickly. For me, that has worked well. I've left a number of therapist very early on because I knew almost immediately it wasn't going to work. The ones I felt positively about have always worked out for me.