Thanks everyone. It sounds like most people go ahead with the first couple visits, and make a decision based on that. It's hard for me... the whole concept of therapy doesn't feel good to me (!!!) and I'm sure that the previous bad experiences make it even harder.

Lolagrace - thanks! It's reassuring to hear that you haven't had any issues with privacy, or any interaction at all really, with your insurance company. I'm not sure that I could deal with having to defend my need of therapy. And, you're really lucky that your instincts about therapists seem to lead you to good ones! I think my instincts are broken!

Thanks Stopdog. Was there anything particular you asked, or looked for, in the first phone call? Phone screening seems like it should work, in theory, but I'm not sure what to ask. Maybe what I ask doesn't matter, maybe asking anything will get me a good enough window into how they answer questions and deal with clients?

Justdesserts - thanks! I don't really have many people that I can ask for recommendations. Someone here was kind enough to give me a very good recommendation, but the T is out of network for me, and doesn't have normal parking at her location (she's in-town, so parking is on the street, and I haven't really learned how to parallel park, it's not something I really ever need to do). I have another recommendation from my chiropractor, and the T sounds really smart and kind, but again, she's not on my insurance.

I'm struggling with the in versus out of network thing, b/c my out of network coverage got much worse this year. The deductible went up to $6000 (!!!) and the reimbursement is only 40%. It's not useful. In-network would be much more helpful in covering the costs.

omegalamed -

Thanks, Watebear... when you say that "when I got there, they weren't willing to work in that way" - what happened? Do you mean that they weren't willing to answer your questions? Or to let you ask questions? Telling someone to just come in is a bit difficult, due to the cost... it seems like you should be able to get a feel for whether you like the T before spending money. The costs would add up quickly, I'd think, without much in the way of benefits. Could you imagine if companies had to pay job candidates to come in and interview?!

You're really lucky that your T is supporting you through the transition! I think my old T would be willing to do that, but isn't sure how. He looked at the list of Ts from my insurance company and pointed out a couple that had been around a long time, but really, he just knew their names, he didn't know them personally.

Thanks everyone!